Interview: Frietboer

Frietboer is back with a new fresh EP. “Skeefhop” is a 6-beat instrumental EP with heavy drums and dreamy synth work. The Dutch producer flawlessly merges instrumental boom bap with futuristic beat sounds.  I had a chance to sit down with Thijs van den Bosch to briefly discuss his music.

Your alias ‘Frietboer’ makes sense in Dutch (freely translated: snackbar owner), but what’s up with that notable nickname?

My neighbour used the word frietboer kind of like a replacement for the word dude. “Check that, frietboer”. My neighbour stimulated me to make music more profesionally about 5 years ago. His voice can be found on all of my releases.

How did your next door neighbour stimulate you to be more professional when it comes to making music ?

He (Henk) explained me that in order to be a good artist, you have to be able to explain your inner (sound) self.  He heard me talk about distortion sounds and he told me to keep it like that. To keep it raw and direct. He has given me advice and support for years. He’s a writer and graphic artist, so he even made a cover for one of my releases. He’s always been a frequent visitor to our shows, regardless of his bad health or age. Without him I’d still be sitting in my attic…

What kind of equipment did you use to produce “Skeefhop”?

I used Ableton and Fruityloops, along with a few VST’s. I really don’t use any hardware. Everything is done with software except for a few samples, some shitty Youtube uploads, or sounds recorded from a tapedeck.

How’s “Skeefhop” different in comparison with your other releases?

Genres like Skwee or Wonky Beats are very present. And I wanted to bring a little more melody with this EP.

These days it’s hard to label instrumental music. Personally I would categorize “Skeefhop” as Futurebeat-meets-Electronic boom bap. But what makes this EP stand out in this abstract sub-subgenre?

Personally I think a noticable characteristic of “Skeefhop” is that the placement of drums is a little crooked.

Can you tell us what you’re gonna cook up in your ‘snackbar’ from now on?

Mainly I’ll be focussing on my Frietboerism platform/label. For example, I’ll be releasing new music from Belgian producer Ivolve, titled “The Magnificent Shape Of 8“. This release will be available on CD and is now up for purchase on Bandcamp. EPs by Eigenheimer and Filosofischestilte are up next. Besides all of that, I want to expand my focus on live shows with visuals.

1.Yellow 02:47
2.Clessy 02:32
3.Tronic 02:24
4.Inkt 02:26
5.Mitohne 03:02
6.Sloph 03:27

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