Focus on the Netherlands: Patrice Bäumel

Focus on the Netherlands: Patrice Bäumel

27 October, 2010 | 7.15AM

• Written by: Beatportal
• Filed under: Music News: focus on, netherlands, patrice baumel, trouw

Amsterdam’s Patrice Bäumel, already well known to clubbers for his releases on Get Physical, Trapez, and !K7, takes a step forward with the release of his debut album, Vapour.

It’s the inaugural release on Trouw, the in-house label of the Amsterdam club where Bäumel is a resident DJ, but it also reaches beyond the narrow confines of the dancefloor, augmenting clean-lined tech-house grooves with playful electronica and a gently melodic sensibility. “I want this record to stimulate the listener’s imagination and leave room for him or her to fill in the blanks,” says Bäumel. “Transparent, intangible, constantly moving—hence the album title.”

As part of our Focus on the Netherlands series, Bäumel brings his unique perspective to bear on the shifting landscape of Dutch electronic-music culture. Check it out below.

Which local clubs, DJs and record labels were most significant to you when you were first getting into dance music?

When I first started getting involved in the Dutch EDM scene, the most important clubs were Roxy, Mazzo and iT. Roxy was an old converted theatre and the hardest place to get into—club memberships were worth gold.

With the best DJs on resident duties, Roxy was on top of the clubbing food chain. People really made an effort to dress up for it, a lot of work went into the decoration. Mazzo was the polar opposite, very down-to-earth but still going off in a big way. A great place to meet people. If you were not into fancy dress but still loved your clubbing, this was your place. I loved their Saturday nights with DJs Carlijn en Cellie. It was a big gay club, but hetero-friendly. Divas, muscle men and extravaganza, the music was often a touch too cheesy for me.

The local DJ that influenced me the most was Dimitri. Every once in while you see someone who is just obviously so much better than the rest. He was like that. Always looking for adventure, the edge, always combining the crazy with the beautiful, a genius. Carlijn from the Mazzo was the best female DJ I have ever seen to this day, she had an irresistible techno groove and so much sex in her music.

Local labels I was really into were Fresh Fruit and Outland—both with a percussive and very happy sound to them. “Give It Up” by the Good Men, for instance, was one of the most played dance records worldwide at that time. It is hard to say how the Dutch scene influenced my music because there was a massive amount of outside influences as well—I have always bought loads of foreign records and listened to international DJs. But from Dimitri I have learned to look for interesting, often unlikely contrasts when blending two records, rather than mixing records that are similar to each other. You get a whole different kind of energy out of that.

What sets Dutch music apart? Is it possible to define a Dutch sound?

Globalization is doing a fine job at eradicating differences between regions. Just like you see a Starbucks or H&M in nearly every city on the planet, you can also see that since people don’t rely on local record shops any more, a certain dominant sound travels across the planet really fast; differences are generally small.

During the last three years, the Netherlands have produced a string of artists with a similar sound that has become successful quite fast, guys like Lauhaus, Julien Chaptal, Boris Werner, or Kabale Und Liebe. A very loopy, percussive, and pushing sound with a lot of emphasis on groove and drive—very functional, catchy and DJ-friendly. It’s a sound that lies somewhere between minimal, house, and techno and that is loved by DJs from either genre. But at the same time, Martyn and 2562 were coming with their dubstep hybrid sound that catered to a different, maybe more intellectual crowd. Delsin and Rush Hour were taking Detroit techno into new territories with artists like Quince or Newworldaquarium.

Many artists, including myself, do not fit into any of these categories. Rather than one sound, there has been a parallel development of different genres. That used to be different back in the days when gabber/hardcore seemed to be the only sound coming out of the country. Today, for its small size, Holland is one of the most productive places for EDM on the planet, with a very healthy club and festival scene to support the movement.

Which artists and labels from your country should people be looking out for, and why?

The first artist that comes to mind is Conforce. This young man from the northern part of the country makes techno music that has all the right ingredients—it is timeless, emotional, and focused. His track ”Joyless Mind” is breathtakingly beautiful. And there is more where that came from. The second artist that has caught my attention is Arjuna Schiks. He is very versatile and maintains a high quality standard across different genres. I have heard some unreleased material of his that was simply awesome. Like Conforce, he goes his own way will add more to a DJ’s record box than just another variation to the same old theme.

As a label to look out for, I would like to add our very own Trouw. With the backing of a world-class club behind it, Trouw will have an excellent network of artists lined up, combined with a commitment to put out original, challenging music. The first release is be my album Vapour, which will only form the beginning of a string of good music and high-profile remixes.

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