Deserted Island Music label night

Yesterday it was time for the first Deserted Island Music label night.
The label I am running since 2011, and which has been expanded with various electronic music artists in recent years. So a good reason to present some of these artists live for an audience.

When I got the opportunity and confirmation to organize this evening at the pop-up location of the basement of the former V&D warehouse building in the center of Haarlem, I accepted this immediately. And then I had to set this all up in just one month. Besides all time and energy I put in promoting the event via social media, my label's newsletter, distributing flyers, and various other ways, I had the privilege to also get backing from connections related to local radio and newspaper on this short term.

This location has always been a nostalgic place for me, as I used to explore, listen and buy a lot of music and equipment, in the 90s and early 00s.
After January 2026 the location is most likely to be transformed into a permanent bicycle shed. In the meanwhile De Kelder ('The Basement', logical wise connected to the temporary venue) was set up to become an underground club for only three months.

Yesterday, November 13th, the moment was there!
Live on stage were Martijn Comes, Däcker & Skoulaman, Mäläskä and Feralia Planitia, taking off on 21:00, and ending at exactly 1:00.
Four live acts with totally different musical output, resulted into a nice variety of electronic music.
In between the concerts Basic Principles (who could not be here due to holidays) was featured on the video screen, performing brand new music as well as parts from his "Colours" album, exclusively recorded for this occasion.

Martijn Comes kicked off, but not before all visitors sang for his birthday. Then 40 minutes of dark ambient and deep drones passed in review. Partially outtakes from his sci-fi multimedia project "Frixtis", partially new music. Heavy and dark, but lovely stuff!

Followed by part 1 of three 10-15 minutes outtakes from Basic Principles' video concert. Recorded in his home studio, making use of synthesizers, a modular system, and various effects. Decorated with trippy visuals and lights.

Soundcheck.

Then, Däcker & Skoulaman improvised around their recent "Saudade" collaboration. A real treat for everyone who loves classic electronic music in the vein of Vangelis and Klaus Schulze. Yet recognisable, but sounding fresh. Always a pleasure to hear their musical output.

After Basic Principles part 2, I performed myself as part of the third act of the evening: Mäläskä. It was really exciting to make music again with this formation after quite a while, and even more because of a different line-up. Alongside Petter (guitar and looper), myself (synths) and usual suspect Tristan 'Lama Waaien' (bass guitar), we also invited Wouter Schaatsbergen on violin, with whom we have never played or rehearsed before. Got really inspired by this combination, which was built up slowly. And then, initially in the audience, it was spontaneously communicated during the - again fully improvised - gig that Joost Verhagen jumped in with his vocals, during the more energetic second part of the show.

After part 3 of the Basic Principles concert, it was already time for the final act of the evening: Feralia Planitia. As always, she delivered an energetic electro-set, which even got the remaining visitors dancing on the beats. 

Because the policy of De Kelder, it was not allowed to make photos and videos, so all attendees got a sticker on the camera of their mobile phones. I sneaked some, but please don't tell anybody! Luckily a photographer and camera man were present to capture the evening. Looking forward a lot to see and hear the results.

Despite the in first instance not-so-ideal time to organize this event (Thursday evening from 21:00 until 1:00), around 80 people found their way to the basement. In the end it all fitted, and worked out better than hoped for.

Although organizing an event is always time consuming, I felt rather relaxed on both the preparatory month, as on the day and evening itself. So I fully enjoyed every second of it! Also thanks to the De Kelder crew, as well as everyone else involved did their task brilliantly. So no issues, outside some random freezing of the video projector, while the laptop was still running. But hey, an event without technical problems is not an event!

So thanks a lot to everyone at De Kelder for their help and hospitality, the musicians who all managed to put on a great show, Micha (sound), Nausikaä de Blaauw (photography), David Smelik (video) and Paulien Bouw (merch sales and support), and last but not least everyone who visited the Deserted Island Music label night. Without any of you this evening could not have been successful.

Next stop: De Keuken at the Pletterij on Monday November 17th, where I will also have a stage appearance together with Däcker. We are going to give a preview of our upcoming collaborational project, due for April 2026.
Visit https://pletterij.nl/events/de-keuken-diy-broedplaats-4/ for details and tickets.