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When Martijn Loot a.k.a. DJ Bizar-M and I first met, we dove into deep conversation for hours. Since then, we've become close friends, sharing many laughs. This week in the MY FIRST GIG series, Dutch Martijn Loot a.k.a. DJ Bizar-M takes the spotlight. "It was more clumsiness than mixing."
“I grew up in Kattenburg, Amsterdam, surrounded by music from childhood. My father, a hobby musician, always brought home new instruments. At home, my parents listened to The Doors and Pink Floyd. They were true hippies. This influenced me to explore music, especially hip hop. In the late ’80s, MTV aired a program, Yo! MTV Raps. I’d record it on video and then convert it to cassette tapes, so I could listen on my Walkman wherever I went.”
Scratching
“Around age thirteen or fourteen, I started scratching myself. I had a tiny turntable I practiced on. Through friends, I gained some recognition in the hip hop scene. My buddy Melvin was a good freestyle rapper. Soon, we formed a group called VSOP, which stood for ‘Vocal Sounds of Peace.’ We didn’t really perform; it was more of a street thing.”
Salt-N-Pepa
“At one point, Melvin and I went to Club Akhnaton in Amsterdam. Of course, we went to see artists perform, but one day I ended up scratching there myself. Here’s how it happened: I knew the DJ at Akhnaton, and he asked me to scratch for the American group Salt-N-Pepa. Yes, even on their hit ‘Push It.’ I didn’t know them, but I certainly didn’t turn down the experience. I ended up scratching throughout their entire performance.” (laughs)
Acid house
“I got interested in house through Public Enemy. Some of their tracks had spacey sounds that I loved. Later, I discovered acid house, and I was hooked. Wow, what amazing effects! During that time, I really wanted to learn to play synthesizer, and my mother was willing to pay for lessons at the music school. Unfortunately, they didn’t offer synthesizer lessons, so I had to settle for piano. I learned to read music and play piano properly. However, when the older teacher started pushing me towards classical music, I lost interest.”
Illegal parties
“As I mentioned, I lived in Kattenburg, an area where many illegal parties were held. By the time I was sixteen, I knew my way to the raves very well.” (laughs) “And honestly, I loved it! That’s where my love for house music began.”
Newspaper route
“At all those parties, I saw DJs mixing with two turntables. More and more, I felt the urge: ‘I want to do this too!’ I was still in school and had a paper route, so I saved up until I could buy two turntables and a mixer. It was quite a lot of money for a teenager.” (laughs) “They weren’t Technics, but the cheapest ones I could find, with belt drive. They were good enough for practice. Now, I needed records. I bought them from well-known record stores like Outland, Boudisque, Rhythm Import, and many others. Sometimes I spent half a day listening to records in those stores before leaving with my purchases. I remember the first house record I bought was a CD by Frankie Bones and/or Frankie Knuckles.”
Spider Willem
“Later on, I found out from a friend that Spider Willem lived above me. So one day, I knocked on his door. Willem showed me his huge collection of equipment. All the big DJs of that time, like Per, Neuv, and Gino, would spontaneously drop by at Willem’s place. When I saw them in action, I felt it in my bones: ‘I want to be a DJ too.'”
Flop
“And that brings us to my first gig. I was about seventeen or eighteen at the time. Although I practiced at home with my two turntables and mixer, I could barely mix. Then, a friend organized a party on Grasweg in Amsterdam-Noord. Since he collaborated with the JIP (Youth Indische Buurt) youth center in Amsterdam-Oost, part of the event was financed by the city of Amsterdam. My friend asked if I wanted to DJ. I said, ‘Okay,’ but I was a bit shocked when I saw the flyer. There I was, listed alongside Joey Beltram… That was a gulp.” (laughs) “To make matters worse, when I arrived, there was a huge amount of equipment in front of me that I had never worked with before. I was also unfamiliar with the Technics turntables. Hmm. It felt like a bit of a flop.”
Shaky knees
“Last but not least, there were many more people in front of me than I ever expected, about a thousand. Wow! That was quite intimidating. Luckily, I was just the opening DJ, but still… With shaky knees, I started my performance. Fortunately, I had prepared my set well musically at home. How did I solve the technical side? I just got started and threw in the next intro during the break. It was more clumsiness than mixing.” (laughs) “Fortunately, the audience didn’t notice my lack of equipment knowledge. I had a good selection of records, and everyone was dancing. In that regard, it went great.”
DJ Lewis
“It’s obvious that I wasn’t really satisfied afterwards. When I saw the other DJs perform, I could sense exactly what they were going to do and how to do it. So it was unfortunate that I couldn’t pull it off myself yet. I had the realization: I still have a lot to learn. Then I started practicing, practicing, and practicing. I also frequently used Spider Willem’s equipment. He taught me a lot. What also helped in my development was that the Amsterdam DJ Lewis often took me to illegal parties. There, I often ended up in the DJ booth and played for the audience. Eventually, you gain more confidence.”
Organic techno
“Where I used to love gabber, over time I switched to techno. Nowadays, I mainly focus on melodic or organic techno. People sometimes say I should start producing myself, and I’ve tinkered around a bit, but I’m a huge perfectionist. If I don’t like something, I immediately discard it. I simply set too high standards for myself.”
Tribe Radio
“During the COVID-19 period, I visited many underground parties but didn’t do much DJing myself. However, during that time, I had a biweekly radio show with René de Vries (Minimaster) on DHC.FM. I’ve since changed stations, and now I have my own fixed program, Tribe Radio, every Tuesday from 10:00 PM to midnight on Amsterdam Most Wanted Radio. I do this together with DJ Ephraïm Trenidad.”
“What I learned from that first time is that as a DJ, you have to appear confident. Otherwise, the audience will sense your discomfort, affecting the atmosphere. If you’re unsure, it seems like you’re fumbling. Of course, over the years, I’ve become more confident. The time for fumbling is over.” (laughs) “I’ve since played in many places, including events by WijGevenFeestjes, Technostage, Bizar Events, Event Horizon, Henk & Ingrid, and Multigroove.”
This interview with Bizar-M is originally published in September 2022 on This Is Our House.
