BART B MORE

Killing It

Dutch DJ and producer Bart van der Meer, aka Bart B More, is bringing his crowd pleasing blend of house and electro to town tonight. He chats with JOSHUA HAYES about what’s keeping him busy off the road.

Speaking from his studio, where he was busily at work with German producer TAI, van der Meer says he’s keen to be returning to our shores after last playing Stereosonic in 2010. “It’s been one year since I’ve been there, and I haven’t had the chance yet to play all my new stuff for the Australian people, so, I’m excited about that,” he says.

There’ll be no shortage of fresh tunes for local fans, with van der Meer releasing five EPs in 2011, including his acclaimed The Ones EP with Harvard Bass – and that’s not to mention popular remixes of Sneaky Sound System’s We Love, and Sexual Lifestyle by Melbourne band Strange Talk.

In fact, Australia plays a part in the story of how his collaboration with TAI came to be. “I did a remix for him, of his single Big Bass Drum on the Australian label One Love,” van der Meer explains. “We got in touch through the remix and then we kept in touch and at some point we were like ‘maybe we can make some music together’. So he came over to Holland and we made a few records. The response to those records has been really [great], so we decided to work on more stuff.”

He credits their differing backgrounds (van der Meer has always focused on house music; TAI originally worked in hip hop) for their chemistry. “It’s really refreshing to have someone in the studio with a different background and different views on music,” he says. “We have the same taste in music and we’re both very clear on what kind of music we want to make - party music. Party electro techno.”

The last year has seen van der Meer focus heavily on collaborating with other artists, including Tommie Sunshine, Harvard Bass, Drop The Lime and AC Slater – although his partnership with TAI has been particularly fruitful, with their latest effort, Nobody Canna Cross It (Di Bus Can Swim) EP, released last Boxing Day.

But, in the meantime, he’s also working on a major endeavour on his own – his solo full length debut – which he hopes to release at the end of the year. “It’s definitely a great challenge,” he laughs. “It makes me a little bit nervous but also very excited to really show the world where I’m standing musically, at the moment. So far I’m really happy with all the tracks I have. I’m kind of nervous about how people are going to react to it, but as long as I’m really happy with it, I think that’s the most important thing.”

The nerves come in, he explains, because he’s experimenting with some different sounds and styles from what people may be used to. “There’s some stuff on there that people might find different from my usual [sound],” he says, before noting that the album will still be rooted in what he has always done. “My focus has always been on making music for the clubs, and that’s definitely what it’s going to be!”