Chances are if you’re from Netherlands and a fan of dance music in general that you’ll have noticed the name of Jochem Hamerling. A DJ and producer, Jochem is also known for his work on the Boom Room, one of his country’s most loved radio shows for fans of discerning house, techno and everything in between. Besides the show, Jochem also releases great music, with his latest release, the awesome Speculation, a case in point. Out now via the Adesso label, we thought it a good time to put some Qs to the main man recently. Here’s what he had to say….
How are you, what’s good and bad in your world right now?
I am doing good! It feels great to see things are starting up again. We just had the first real party weekend in Holland where I played Thuishaven and a festival. The vibe was amazing. I have a lot of releases lined up that are about to see a release so I am very happy about that. What bothers me in these times is the amount of negativity and distrust in everybody who tries to get the world back together. Even now when things are looking good again, people still want to see the negative in everything. I try to ignore the negativity but that is difficult in this digital age. If i could i would delete all social media today.
How have you survived the last year? What got you through it?
I am in the very lucky position that i have two weekly radio shows on national radio where i play the music that i love for a lot of people. We even got nominated for THE most popular radio show in the Netherlands with The Boom Room. So even in this crazy year i was still very much involved with music on a daily basis. But of course everything else pretty much came to a stop. Past year has been weird and flew by extremely fast. I guess that’s what happens when there are so little opportunities to make new memories. But i did spend the year with redefining myself and my sound. I tried to learn new things as a producer and made a lot of music. The empty weekends made me realize i don’t need the amount of bookings I had before to be happy. I’d rather focus on the gigs that are special for me and the audience. I’d rather play one amazing gig a week than 5 average ones. I guess we’ll see how this plays out when the bookings are coming back in though.
Where do you stand on the people playing plague raves?
It depends a lot on the situation and location. I played a ‘plague rave’ at the very end of the pandemic. Vaccinations were already at 50% in the Netherlands and the crowd consisted of about 100 people under the age of 40. Everybody who was there trusted each other and I trusted them to stay home when they had symptoms. No one got sick after the rave. Was this ok? Not really. It was a selfish choice. But it was a decision based on the current vaccination state and trust in friends so that made me decide to go ahead. I don’t think it is ok to do events during a pandemic with hundreds of people you do not know in a time where we didn’t yet know where the pandemic was going. There is a difference between being selfish in your own bubble and being selfish no matter what.
Amsterdam is always so thriving when it comes to house and techno – the djs, the record labels, the record shops, the clubs, the festivals, why do you think that is?
Amsterdam is amazing and I am very proud of the city and everything that is going on here. I think there are so many factors that make Amsterdam so great for the dance scene. But the most important part is the work of the real dance pioneers like Dimitri, Eddy De Clercq and clubs like Roxy, Trouw and Marktkantine. It is because of them that everything started, keeps going and that we all were inspired. They paved the path for so many new talents and genres who created new pioneers in their own sounds and styles. What also helps is that Amsterdam is very international. The city is always open for everyone from anywhere so we have always been influenced by sounds from abroad as well. Amsterdam is open minded about pretty much everything and you see that in our club culture. Whether it be deep, melodic or hard and dark. We have it all, every weekend. I think that is amazing.
Does being from there mean you have a certain style, certain sounds that makes your music different to that of say someone from Germany or the US?
The great thing is that Amsterdam keeps me open minded about genres. I am not stuck on one sound because I hear so many different things. We have all styles handed to us every weekend in any of the clubs. So no matter what style you like, you can always find that one party that really fits what you need at that moment. That also helps when looking for inspiration for my own music. I get inspired by guys like Hernan Cattaneo, Nick Warren but also by Marco Carola and Archie Hamilton. The wide range of sounds helps me to stay creative and look for new things.
Tell us about your new one on Adesso Music – what inspired it?
Speculation is a track I have been working on for a few months. It was a very long process with the track starting out as a pretty minimal progressive track. I was very happy with the first original version but decided it needed a more dancefloor vibe. For me the track is a hybrid between the techy house sound that has become mainstream and the real progressive sound. I always look for vocals that give some depth to a track without being too cheesy. This resulted in the final version of Speculation. Response in the few places i played so far has been great so i hope this track has a long life!
What gear did you use to write it? Are you bothered about the tools you have?
I produce all my music in Ableton with the use of some soft synths but most sounds come from Ableton itself. I don’t think it matters in the end what you use or even how you use it. The most important rule in music is that there are no rules and that is very true when it comes to producing music. Everything can work.
Do you make tunes to play in your own DJ sets, are the two related like that?
I want to be able to play the tracks in my sets in clubs and on the radio. If i can’t do that i don’t release it. This doesn’t mean I have to be able to play all tracks all the time. I love to make some very deep tunes that I very rarely can play. But I love to have a wide variety of tunes. I am not a guy who can stick to a genre and create 25 similar tracks. Every track starts with a clean sheet and I never know where it will lead to.
Has it been weird making music with no club feedback, no DJ experiences?
Yes, very much. I noticed my music got more melodic and less dancefloor oriented. I also had more trouble with mixdowns and masters. Mixing isn’t my strongest point to start with, but now I also didn’t have the opportunity to test new stuff in a club.
What else have you got coming up/are you working on?
I have been working on a lot of music, ranging from deep house, to techno and melodic techno. Some tracks will never see a release, others are already planned. My biggest problem is that i cannot stick to one genre. I like it all. Besides this I am still busy with the radioshows on SLAM, The Boom Room and Exoplanets. The Boom Room covers all deeper sounds from house to techno and Exoplanets is a monthly show where I go for the melodic side of the spectrum.