RB Exclusive Interview: Bakermat Shares His Passion for Soul and Jazz

Jazz, soul, blues, gospel and house music blend together in ways we never thought possible, and it’s all thanks to Bakermat (Lodewijk Fluttert), a 24 year old producer from Amsterdam.

Bakermat, traveled all the way to Arizona on April 3 to take over the Invasion Stage at Phoenix Lights 2016. His uplifting beats and soulful vibes brought the crowd and the happiness that evening, and his saxophone player added a unique element to his set which definitely set him apart from the rest.

Before his set, we got to sit down and talk with Bakermat about his passions, influences and future releases.

Your music has elements of jazz and soul, what makes you drawn to these influences?

“I’m really like an old soul in a young body. I really like the kind of old jazz and old soul. I love Aretha Franklin, that kind of stuff. And I still listen to that a lot, opposed to modern music. And I want to share my passion for that music with other people. And I thought, how do I do that? Give it a modern touch and that’s basically what I do.”

Have any life events ever influenced any of your songs or any of your music in general?

“Not a lot, but it had an impact on my life. I was just a student, I was studying psychology… and I wasn’t doing music at all and I was just bored one semester and I just took the whole school semester off, no classes no courses, and I started doing stand up comedy, I made a movie, because I wanted to figure out what I could do. I also made a track, and that track like became a hit in Europe, so it’s basically very random.”

And what track was that?

“The “One Day” track”

Bakermat- One Day (Vandaag)

I listen to Spotify at work and that track comes on my playlist all the time, and I love it, I love that song. I thought it was very incredible that you remixed Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech, I’m just curious why’d you choose to do that?

“I actually had a course which was about social influence and the Martin Luther King Speech was one of the examples and we had to deconstruct it in an essay. So I listened to it a lot and I thought like: it’s not really a speech, it’s almost a song itself. It’s a piece of music itself because he has like crescendos, and it’s so passionate, it’s almost like a piece of soul, acapella. And that’s how I got to the idea like I’m going to remix this soul acapella and just try to put some chords on it and I took it into life.”

You did it so incredibly. So did you think that “One Day” would turn into a hit?

“No, no. It was like the B-side for an EP on a very obscure label in France. The song was Zomer, with like a flute, it was like a happy song. They wanted to release that and they said we need a B-side for the other side of the LP. So I said okay I’ll try something with the speech I had. I made it in one day actually.”

Oh my goodness one day? Are you serious?!

“Yeah!”

It’s sad to say, but these words in MLK’s speech are still meaningful today, they still need to be heard. What part of his speech stands out the most to you and where are you trying to make the biggest impact?

“I think this nation will rise up. I think that we have to get over this shit. I’m actually surprised that we’re still not over this shit. That’s very sad.”

How would you describe your sounds?

“For me it’s not about the tempo or the kind of drums you use or whatever, I don’t give a shit. I make slow beats stuff as well, I don’t really care. I think the thing that defines my music it’s core progression, melody and the feeling you have when you hear it. That’s all. It doesn’t matter what tempo, how aggressive it is, it’s just feeling.”

You made your trip to Arizona all the way from the Netherlands, what is it like to perform internationally and what are some of your favorite places to perform?

“Favorite place of all time is Paris. I have a very deep connection with that city. I had my very first international performance there actually in the Bataclan, which is kind of sad. (Referring to the November 2015 Attack on Paris)

Amsterdam obviously really cool and in the US, I like the West Coast and the East Coast a lot. Like California is really really cool.”

I’m from California, so I love that.

“Oh no way! I fucking love California.”

So tell me a little bit about some of your recent releases.

“Well, I’ve done an EP with Goldfish in the beginning of the year. It’s just like a fun little collab that we just spontaneously did in Amsterdam in the studio. After that I did an experimental arty thing, because I want to keep doing weird stuff as well. But the next release is going to be radio again. It’s just a random, I don’t have any, like you have a certain line, I don’t have that. I just randomly put out what I think is cool.”

You do what you love, that’s so awesome. Speaking of Goldfish, I just saw them last month and they were incredible.

“They are! They are the most underestimated electronic act on the planet. I’m like a huge fan so I was very happy to collab with them. I don’t normally like to collab with people though. I have a very different vision about music than most people. I don’t think in genres. Everybody has like ‘I’m with that label, I’m with that crew or I’m with that type of music.’ I don’t give a fuck.”

I think that’s the way it should be. You should make what you love, and hopefully other people love it too. So, I’m always fascinated about how people get inspired in creating their music. What do you do to get in the right mindset of creating music?

“I have a bit of a ritual. I go into the studio. I have to have everything off my chest, all the business-y things and stuff. To relax, I always smoke a lot of cigarettes, which is very bad. I’m going to try to quit that, but that’s kind of a ritual. And I drink wine, red wine. Cigarettes and wine.”

Has your life changed since releasing your first song?

“Extremely! Yeah, because I paused my studies, I didn’t finish it and I’m really not cool with that, but I have no other choice because it was either: touring the world or finishing my studies.”

I would choose touring the world too.

“Yeah, way cooler. I’ve been touring for three and a half years now. And it’s amazing. I could even write a book about these three and a half years.”

You should!

“Yeah, maybe. *laughs*”

Are you still interested in psychology? Do you think you’ll ever go back to school?

Yeah I’m still interested, but I just read books now for fun. I don’t know if I’m going to finish the study, because I don’t know, I already did three years. I have all the knowledge already, I’d only have to finish like two courses and I’m done. But the two courses are shit. But I read my books and I’m cool. I have the knowledge, so I’m good. I don’t need the paper.

Any advice you would give to anyone aspiring to create music?

Never, never, ever do like a music course or production course or any kind of education in music. That’s not going to bring you anywhere. It makes you think in boxes, like that’s that genre and I have to make jazz right now. No, don’t think like that. Just mix it up, just go crazy, use a weird drum, do something extremely weird where everybody’s going to say “That’s not how you used to do it.” But that’s cool, that’s perfect, then you’re making something new.

Anything else you want to tell the people of Arizona?

Yes: buy my music, buy tickets to concerts. *laughs* I am going to go with a new record and it’s very different than my previous release. It’s going to be very house-y very happy, and there’s going to be a lot of releases this year.

Phoenix Lights will never be the same following Bakermat’s stunning performance, and we can’t wait to see what it yet to come from the exponentially growing producer!

Connect with Bakermat: RB | Facebook | Twitter | Soundcloud

Photo: Rukes