The dudes from Delft sending Shivers down our spines
Interview : Dan Prince
Bart, Sam welcome to DMCWORLD…where in the world are you today?
Bart: “Thank you! Very cool to talk to you! Currently we’re both in Delft, our hometown. This is a small town in the Netherlands between Amsterdam and The Hague. We’ve lived here all our lives and 2 years ago we coincidently moved into the same apartment building, living only 2 stories apart.”
Well you have done it again – set our dancefloors alight with your music. This time around it’s ‘Shiver’ which as got everyone jumping around – dudes that is some scary deepness going on there! Why all the secrecy behind who was behind it though?
Bart: “Haha, ‘Shiver’ is a creepy track indeed, which also explains the mysterious video! For the release of ‘Shiver’, we were looking for a unique way to promote the track. Sam (Wezol) then came up with the idea and produced the video together with a friend of ours. The video has the same dark and mysterious vibe as the track. Spinnin’ then posted that video online as ID – ‘Shiver’ on their YouTube channel. Within a couple of days there were ten thousands of views and people were guessing for the artists behind ‘Shiver’ like crazy!”
Check the video here : https://www.facebook.com/mrbeltandwezol
An intriguing story concerning the start of this Mr Belt & Wezol journey for you, 2013 and the year you went to a different festival every week but shied away from the main stages and checked out the cooler, deeper stages instead. What was your thinking on those weekends, what were you hoping to discover?
Bart: “We were a bit fed up with the music played on the larger stages, so we searched for smaller, more intimate stages and festivals where a wider variety of music was played with as our goal; discovering new music.”
Sam: “We succeeded, but when we started exploring the top layer of these lesser known styles of dance music we discovered there was so much more underneath. Now, one year later, we’re still discovering new music and genres every single day. It’s weird to realize that one year ago we only listened to progressive house and hiphop because we just didn’t know any better. Music is being spoonfed to humanity by commercial radio stations and that’s fine and all, but there is so much more music to listen to. So, to everyone reading this I would like to say: Open up your ears and dare to go deeper than the top layer. It’s not just EDM and hiphop. I assure you, you won’t regret it.”
It is fair to say, the dance scene needs more people like you two. Everyone is so business and image conscious – you two have your tongues firmly in the your cheeks trying to bring the FUN back into our scene. Tell us the idea behind your monthly podcasts…
Sam: “Haha, great to hear that cause that’s exactly what we’re trying to reach! We made this project not just as a musical outlet but also as a creative outlet. This is why we try to do everything a little bit different and try to take our concepts to the next level.”
Bart: “For example: we want to offer more than just a podcast on YouTube or Soundcloud. Most DJ’s make a 30 minute mix and post it on YouTube, but that’s a bit boring isn’t it? Doesn’t everyone already do that? As a result: Mr. Belt & Wezol Room was born.”
When I told the Buzz Chart office I was interviewing you today they shouted “we love Mr Belt & Wezol, watching a video of them DJing together they look like they are joined at the hip like Siamese twins with 4 hands pushing the mixer to its limits!”. Thoughts on that little comment?!?!
Bart: “Haha, that’s good to hear! Yes, we are a DJ-duo and that means that there are 4 hands free to work the mixer. So why not use that advantage during the mixing? We are currently working on adding live elements to our sets. We hope to implement that pretty soon!”
What is the current top 10 you are spinning?
“That’s a difficult question! So much good music! But if we have to choose:
1. John Dalagelis, Fog & Kindimmer – Soulchords (Original Mix)
2. Mr. Belt & Wezol – Shiver
3. Route 94 ft. Jess Glynne – My Love (Low Steppa Remix)
4. Naxxos – New Orleans (Mr. Belt & Wezol Remix)
5. Frits Wentink – Mice
6. BS1 & John Roman – Dumbbell (Original Mix)
7. Mr Rich – Everybody Wants to be a DJ
8. Jesse James – Baby Boo (A Lister Remix)
9. Hot Since 82 – Like You (Audiojack Ruff Cut)
10. Mr. Belt & Wezol – Homeless (Original Mix)
Okay let’s rewind for a moment. You both hail from Delt, big time music lovers and close pals. It was only a short time ago that Bart’s focus was on eclectic house and Sam’s love was progressive house. Who were the artists you used to be into?
Bart: “My favorites back then would be Flume, Tourist & The Flexican.”
Sam: “A lot of different artists really. From the more progressive stuff from Adam K to the more trancey stuff from Kyau & Albert.”
What is the worst jobs you have ever had?
Bart: “That would have to be my first job ever. I was a dishwasher in an Italian restaurant for 3 euro’s an hour and the mace and rats ran through the kitchen during the job! Disgusting!”
Sam: “I actually never had a job I hated. #feelingblessed.”
How does it work in the studio – who excels in what department?
Bart: “Sam (Wezol) is the producer of all our music, and I (Mr. Belt) mainly mix the mixtapes and edit the videos. Together we come up with all the creative ideas like Mr. Belt & Wezol Room and Mr. Belt & Wezol’s College.”
When was the last time you had a massive argument over music?
Sam: “I think that would be about 2 months ago. Bart decided to try a new track at a pretty big show, which he had found on Soundcloud that very night. This track however was badly mixed and had a very weird structure which resulted in a bad transition from my side which I was pretty pissed about. Afterwards we listened back to the live set we did and we had a heated discussion about that track in particular. But apart from that we barely ever have a big argument about music!”
The Amsterdam Open Air festival last weekend looked incredible. Highlight of that event?
Bart: “That whole weekend was one big highlight but if I have to pick a particular one it would be the set on the campsite of Amsterdam Open Air.”
Sam: “Haha yeah definitely! We did a 2 hour set there and when our set came to a closing we decided to throw out some classics like Liquido – Narcotic and our own track Homeless, which always works extremely well on the dancefloor. The crowd went nuts!”
It may not be good for our image, but Mr Belt and Wezol really love…
Sam: “WAVE RACER! We’re not really into trap at all and obviously it’s not something that suits our ‘image’ but boy oh boy do we love Wave Racer. We just can’t wipe away the smile of our faces when we listen to one of Wave Racers tracks. We’re actually going to a gig of him next week in Amsterdam and we can’t wait!”
Where are some of the big events we can catch you this summer?
Sam: “We will be hitting up many stages this summer but the biggest would be the Duikboot stage at WiSH Outdoor and Tegendraads festival in Utrecht.”
A big quote from Faithless’s Sister Bliss last week in an interview in DMCWORLD…” For some, the goldrush for EDM in the US could be seen as progressive – as it uplifts our industry as a whole, it’s an entry point into dance music, so that genres like techno and deep house and the proponents of those more underground scenes start to get a look in as it creates a space where EDM fans can start to dig a little deeper.” What are your thoughts on that?
Sam: “I wasn’t aware of that quote but YES! This is so true. It’s amazing to see that the lesser known styles of electronic music are drawing more attention to themselves. The bar of getting in touch with these styles of dance music is getting lower and lower and I’m even hearing deep house on radio stations nowadays. We’re very curious for the future.”
What is the 1 dance music tune you wish you would have made yourselves as it’s that good?
Bart: “That has to be ‘Show Me Love’ by Robin S! When that track first came out you would hear it everywhere. You still hear it all over the place and you will continue to hear it for the next 100 years! What a classic!”
And finally, what is coming out next from you studio wise?
Bart: “Our remix of Naxxos just came out recently through Spinnin’ Deep. The 9th of July we’ll release a free remix which we’ll announce pretty soon and our remix of ‘Gecko’ (Overdrive) by Oliver Heldens and Becky Hill will be released on Pete Tong’s FFRR pretty soon as well! Beside that there’s a lot more stuff coming up, but we’re going to keep that a secret for now!”
Music: http://www.soundcloud.com/mrbeltandwezol
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/mrbeltandwezoltv
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mrbeltandwezol
Instagram: http://instagram.com/mrbeltandwezol
