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The Dutch Bjarne Nooter aka Tek-No-Bee has been around for a while. His sources of inspiration are amongst others Jeff Mills and Dave Clarke. In 2015 I interviewed Tek-No-Bee about his first gig. "Afterwards I got the opportunity to shake Marco Remus’ hand, nice."
“My interest in music exceeded that of most eight-year-old kids. Logically I took up the drums. Consequently, and by the books, when I was sixteen I was part of a band.”
Absolutely amazing!
“One day, I tagged along with a couple of friends. We ended up at this amazing party in the Westergasfabriek in Amsterdam: Awakenings! Wow! Such an amazing experience! Never before had I experienced anything like it. The music, the lights, the fireworks and the atmosphere. Absolutely amazing! Until the early hours of dawn, I totally freaked out on DJs like Jeff Mills, Dave Clarke and Carl Cox. When it was over, I thought: ‘This is wat I want to do when I grow up’.”
School party
“In my fourth year of high-school, I started organizing my own parties. While I was still in second grade myself, I already played at the fourth grade’s school party. When I was nineteen, I completely turned the switch. I decided to go for it! I bought my first turn-tables and started my quest for techno on vinyl. I acquired my first vinyl at Outland Records, situated at the Zeedijk in Amsterdam. Nowadays, naturally I buy my music on the internet.”
Disappointment
“My first real gig was at the Q-Dance DJ-contest in 2003. I was super nervous, since one of the jury members was DJ Luna. When it was my turn to play, it wasn’t very crowded yet. It was a contest… Unfortunately, I didn’t get chosen to play at the techno area at DEFQON 2003. That was quite a disappointment.”
Learning moment
“After this experience, I started playing where-ever and whenever I could. I saw all outskirts of The Netherlands. Every now and then I also played in countries like Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Germany. Every single one of those performances was a learning experience. Of course, sometimes you would make stupid mistakes by stopping the wrong track or pulling the needle away.” (laughs)
Pitch-errors
“One of my first break-through gigs unmistakably was the Hemelrave Festival in 2004 and the Legalize Street Parade. I was supposed to play in the techno tent for five hundred to a thousand people during Hemelrave, together with Marco Remus. Never before in my life I was that nervous. Fortunately, everything went well. Sure, I made a little pitch-errors, but I don’t think the crowd noticed. All things considered, it was a good gig. Afterwards, I also got the opportunity to shake Marco Remus’ hand, nice. At the Street Parade I played on the Technoville truck. Best of it all was that my parents and my friends were present. That felt like a huge support.”
Tontek Records
“Often, on beforehand, I selected the tracks that I wanted to play at a gig. Once I was there, I tried to read the audience and as usual, just follow my gut-feeling. My mentor and also the person who most stimulated and encouraged me, is Tony Demoet. In 2009 we started a label together: Tontek Records. For the past six years we have been selling music from our DJs as well as our own productions worldwide via the internet.”
“As far as music is concerned, I was most influenced in my youth by the place where I experienced a lot: Amsterdam. The Awakenings line-ups have had a huge impact on my DJ development and my style. Imagine artists like Dave Clarke and Jeff Mills. They were a major source of inspiration. Until this day, other artist’s performances inspire me. Techno is a new thing and I love that. It keeps on evolving.”
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This interview is originally published on October 21st 2015 on DJMag.nl.
