Here’s the scoop on Popronde: it’s a traveling festival in the Netherlands aiming to bring new Dutch musicians to the forefront in cities across the country. The groups are young, passionate about music, and vary from hot rockers in their early 20s to enchanting singer/songwriters, to really, really out there electronica. It’s free, it’s fun, and it’s hitting spots across the country from September to mid-November.
And it’s all about keeping things on a scale that’s more local, convenient and laidback. Clear your schedule and support your Dutch music scene. To guide you in the right direction, listen to our playlist, read our Popronde Profiles, and check out the agenda below:
Get to know Untrecht’s Bart van der Lee, a singer/songwriter who if he wasn’t from Holland would be from France (although he doesn’t know a lick of French).
Name: Bart van der Lee
From: Utrecht
Since: Since 2006, but I guess more professionally since my last album Between Tall Pine Trees (Sadness & Thunder) came out in August 2010 under the label Snowstar Records.
Sprekken: I only sing in English because I mostly grew up abroad and came to live in the Netherlands when I was 13.
Genre: Crude, murk, melancholic, twang, Americana and folk
Motto: If someone is emotionally touched by my music, then I did something right.
So what comes to mind when you think about the music scene in Holland?
I wish the country was bigger and could have more residents, because of that small scene where my music fits in would automatically be listened to and be appreciated by a larger number of people.
What’s something about Dutch music people outside of Holland should know, but don’t?
That we’ve got more to offer then they know of.
How did your music get started?
After graduating from the art academy a friend of mine said that if I wanted to do anything with music, which was quite a big dilemma at the time as I graduated in illustration, that this was the time. So I started up with illustration, poetry and making music, but after a few months it became clear that music was evolving the fastest. So I came to the conclusion that I would try to completely dedicate myself to music.
If you were stranded on an island, what five albums would you bring?
For the moment: Dear Tick The Black Dirt Sessions, Madrugada Madrugada, Nick Cave Murder Ballads, Sixteen Horsepower Folklore and Tom Waits Closing Time.
What’s the greatest part about playing music in Holland?
For me it’s that most of the time you don’t have to travel very far for a gig. This is also one of the reasons I live in Utrecht since it’s in the centre of the country; it isn’t to hard to get to the rest of the country.
What’s the worst?
That a lot of audience, instead of listening, can’t keep their mouths shut at a gig.
Any tips on breaking out in the Dutch music scene?
None.
Give us your best musician story.
Playing at Noorderslag last January.
If you weren’t from Holland, where would you want to be from and why?
France. I can’t speak a word of French but I love the sound of the language.
If you had to play at Eurovision, what song would you play and what would your costume be?
I would/will never attend to anything of the kind.
But if you had to play…
I’d play Stagger Lee by Nick Cave, performed like the official music video: deadly lyrics with exaggerated, sexy male dancers to provoke the regular music video industry and Eurovision.
And finally, if Geert Wilders was an animal, what would he be, and would you hunt him for game?
He’s not worthy of being compared with any kind of animal. But I would take the honour of being a leopard to claw him apart and tear him to shreds, slowly and painfully.
Bart van der Lee will be playing Popronde on these dates:
Zwolle: 10 sep – De Kleine
Amsterdam: 15 sep – Jet Lounge
Rotterdam: 16 sep – De Unie
Apeldoorn: 22 sep – Humphrey’s
Maastricht: 23 sep – Bij Jack en Lobina
Delft: 29 sep – Bierhuis de Klomp
Den Bosch: 07 okt – DIT
Groningen: 13 okt – Tante Truus
Haarlem: 15 okt – Vijfhoek
Alkmaar: 22 okt – Koek en Bier
Amersfoort: 29 okt – Coffee United
Tilburg: 03 nov – De Nwe Vorst
Den Haag: 05 nov – Bakkers Winkel
Leiden: 10 nov – Meneer Jansen
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