This post is also available in: Nederlands (Dutch)
We met in 2016, and since then we became good friends. In the same year 2016 I had a chat witch Ricardo Wortel a.k.a. Dutch DJ/producer Ricardo Carota about his first gig. "I was rewarded by the sight of all these happy, dancing people."
“What started out as writing hiphop lyrics soon evolved into making beats for local rappers. Later the hiphop beats were exchanged for minimalistic 4×4 beats. After six years of producing hiphop, this was a bit of a transition, but soon new songs began to appear and my surroundings started to pick up on them. Ricardos Raphie was born.”
Tricks of the trade
“‘You should play this live’, a friend said, who regularly came over to listen to my new productions. I had enough tracks of my own to fill an hour, so it was time to practice behind the turntables. Fortunately, being a producer, I was not afraid of the buttons on the mixer and with the help of people around me, I learned the tricks of the trade.”
Housefreakerz
“My first gig soon followed and was immediately a leap of faith: Housefreakerz on the beach at Castricum aan Zee. I had to open the event. I remember being pretty nervous. I had performed before, but on those occasions I held a microphone in my hand. Luckily, the organizer of the beach party was a good friend and he pulled me through.”
Own tracks
“In front of me were about a hundred people. I pressed play and my very first set had begun. All the hours I had spent in the studio were rewarded by the sight of all these happy, dancing people. Afterwards, a group of people came over to say that they liked the set a lot and appreciated that I solely played my own tracks.”
To vary
“Playing this first time definitely motivated me to do it more often and to produce even more music. I quickly went back into the studio to make new tracks so I could vary more in my sets. More bookings soon followed in local bars and clubs.”
Indian Summer
“At some point I was approached by a record label in the UK (Housewax Records). They wanted to release the song Combassio. For a producer this is of course the biggest dream. My first release was a fact. More followed on other labels and the bookings became more and more interesting. After less than three years of playing, I was asked to play at the Indian Summer Festival. This was a different level than I was used to and I enjoyed every moment of it.”
“This was followed by radio shows at home and abroad. I was also suddenly featured in the Free Your Mind Magazine. By then, I changed my artist name to Ricardo Carota. More bookings followed and not only in the Netherlands. I am currently releasing my music on various labels around the world. I recently signed with a booking agency and am still producing a lot, because ever since my first booking I’ve only played my own music. And for the time being, I will stick to that winning recipe .”
This interview with Ricardo Carota was originally published in June 2016 on DJMag.nl.
Who is Ricardo Carota?
Combine a lot of contagious stage energy plus the ability to create the most extraordinary music in his Netherlands based studio and this is what you get: Ricardo Carota.
Just when you thought it was safe and peaceful in the world of 4X4 music, Ricardo Carota came around with the drive to gain ground. Although Ricardo Carota started with producing hiphop music in 2004, other genres, which became the fuel of his passion, began to grow on him rapidly like buds do on trees during springtime. Techno, tech house and deep house are the seeds of his homegrown harvest. It was only natural that the next step was to sometimes leave his musical plantation and play his own music for live audiences. It went from sometimes to more often to most of the time.
This jack-of-all-trades does producing, DJ’ing, radio hosting/managing (50:Hertz Radio/Minitech Recordings Radio) and being A&R for Airborne BLACK. No wonder that Ricardo Carota cannot sit still. Playing along the establshed order (Roog, Kris Kross, Rob Hes, Drunken Kong, Ankytrixx, Man With No Shadow a.o.) never scared him. From one festival to the other (Amsterdam Dance Event, Defqon1, Indian Summer, Reespekt (DE), Promised Land). Smaller venue, large festival, national or international (Melkweg, Cruquiusgilde, RADION, Chicago Social Club, Club XXL, Club Pasha (Bali), Beachside (DE), Club Stalker). It does not matter for Ricardo Carota. He always makes sure to rock the place with unconditional determination. That applies in the same way for his productions which have been released worldwide throughout the years (Spain, UK, Romania, Columbia, US, The Netherlands).
The year 2017 is not only the year of his name-change (formerly known as Ricardos Raphie), but also the time to manifest. Moving more to the forefront so the ‘techonnoisseurs’ and other dance aficionados can really get to know Ricardo Carota and more importantly, his music.
More Ricardo Carota?
More First Gigs? Check all of them here!
