"Of course, there are some moments when it's a lot and other moments when it's a complete explosion of joy. It's really varied. I think looking back, I can be really proud of that little girl who's grown to be me now."
If there's one thing that you should know about Rochelle Dietz, it's that she does a lot - particularly in the world of music and arts.
"I do a lot. I like to keep myself busy with music and arts. As a DJ, a producer but also as a backstage worker, a sound technician... I like to have a varied work month. I like to have many different things to do. Which could mean one week I'm a stage manager and the other week I'm a community leader and the next week I'm... yeah, carrying lights from stage to stage." [laughs]
When it comes to music, one could argue that it was something that was rooted in Rochelle's life since she was born. "My mum would always joke that I was dancing before anything else. I was always into music, I've been a part of the children's choir, I started doing ballet when I was 2 or 3 years old, and that later evolved into street and contemporary dance... everything with rhythm!"
But wait, there's more. She also played the percussions at a rather young age. "I had a Djembé since I was 9, then it evolved into taking on music lessons, learning to play the guitar, singing in a band, being a part of musicals, and then... I discovered electronic music. I was around 20 or 21 and till then, I found something to always be missing with popular music for me."
If you remember the good ol' days when YouTube first came around, you really had to know what you were looking for. Meaning, we were pretty much at the mercy of what our friends, family members or self-discovery brought our way. Sure, Rochelle found popular music that she liked but something always felt missing. See, that wasn't a time of sneaky algorithms and smartly curated suggested playlists. So, when Rochelle moved to Utrecht from the east of the Netherlands, her exposure to new types of music and artists not only expanded, but it also left an ever-lasting impact on her musical journey.
"It was only when I moved to Utrecht, which had much more of a city-vibe with its festivals and events, I had housemates take me to certain gigs, and on one occasion I found myself in a Deep House tent at a festival in Utrecht, I remember being "What. is. this. music and why is it so nice?!" [laughs] I made a very deep dive into anything related to that. Also, discovering that I had been listening to Electronic music most my life not knowing it as such. And then I listened to House and thought that sounds just like what I used to play with my percussion group! That's how I got into DJing.
I got pulled towards minimal house, I found peace in the room between the beats. And it's very rhythm-based music, unlike pop music where it mostly doesn't exist. I started getting more interested in jazz and other rhythm-based music types like that, which was really cool" Rochelle continues.
But we all know what comes next if one aspires to make your own music. That's right, the equipment. "When I knew I was gonna study music technology, I needed a good laptop to actually work on. I worked for half a year at an office to buy my record players, buy my laptop and also fund my studies [laughs]. From there on out, I started getting so interested in all different types of electronic and non-electronic music. It was, and still is, an ongoing deep-dive in learning about all this. It's been almost 10 years now.
I just knew it was all about the music for me when I was doing all of this stuff, like in my student room I would roll out of bed, put on a record, think "Hmm, maybe I could mix it in with this record" and two hours later be like, "Shit, I'm late for school!". Music grabbed all of my attention and focus - which is actually a good thing for me because I can't focus on things I don't like."
At first, she worked with stuff she had been exposed to, learning from what the people around her knew, what her algorithm brings up or what her friends shared, but as time went on, Rochelle started finding her own niche and path.
"I like that with electronic music, you can be your band all by yourself. You don't have to worry if any of your 12 band members would show up for practice! You need no one. I like collaborations but I do also appreciate the independence", Rochelle shares.
On the topic of some of her biggest influences, Rochelle recalls "After I started to really fall in love with downtempo music and get more involved in it, my friend showed me Kaya Project, it's very world-infused music, there's a certain vibe and calm to it. At the same time, I also went to some festivals and I found out about some artists like Be Svendsen and Acid Pauli. I remember Acid Pauli was breaking out this really beautiful opera-like scene and I was crying. Full-on tears streaming down! If you can make people feel these kinds of emotions with your music, I think it's wonderful."
When it comes to genres and stuff, Rochelle likes to break the stigma on DJs, where a majority of people categorize and compartmentalize you as this or that. "For me, it's very important to go beyond that. I play my styles but at different moments, there may be different styles that's more fitting."
No matter at which stage of Rochelle's musical life she was at, she always took it seriously. "It has always been sort of a dream to be a professional, in everything that I did with music. Well at first, it was to be a dancer and then it turned to musician. It's always been in me to want to make something out of my passion. There were some times where I didn't act on opportunities because of the "baggage" that came with it, or expectations, unfairness, whatever. There's this saying in Dutch that roughly translates to something like: 'I wouldn't walk over dead people to get where I wanna be.' I always preferred to do it in a natural, more organic way. But yeah, I never knew that this was where I was gonna end up."
The first time it really hit Rochelle that this music thing was getting serious was when she performed at Tivoli Vredenburg in front of a big crowd. It was in a club room, with what she describes as serious equipment, speakers, a backstage and the whole works. "I remember being... so scared. It was only a 30-minute set but in a room full of people. I brought my vinyl collection and my hands were shaking like crazy. The first 15 minutes I messed up and I remember turning around at one point and saying to myself, "Do you wanna be a DJ?! slaps face You stop messing about now. You've got 15 more minutes to prove yourself. COME ON!" The next 15 minutes were awesome. You know, I think that little pep talk might've done the trick."
Something in Rochelle always felt it would be cool to make a career in music but in the course of everything she did, she also always had this lingering feeling that her purpose is connecting things and people with one another. "I think Birdcage Radio came from this very same urge to do that. To not only play music by myself and for myself, but to enjoy the experience with friends. Of course, this is something Nici (Nicolas) has also really helped engrain in me as he's been doing this for way longer than I have. It's become all about getting together, enjoying together and playing tracks. We would learn from each other, show appreciation for records and tracks, but at the core of it all, it was always about getting and being together. And that's also one part I really love about music and I thought, if it's really like this, then I can do this!"
Looking back at her journey, Rochelle says she feels like it's been a very long dream that's been just going on and on and on - but in a good way. "Of course, there are some moments when it's a lot and other moments when it's a complete explosion of joy. It's really varied. I think looking back, I can be really proud of that little girl who's grown to be me now." And what's next for Rochelle? She says she'd love to continue growing and eventually being able to make a stable living entirely off this type of work with music full-time.
She attributes her biggest motivation to the fact that how this has grown and expanded to what it is now. "Of course, there were times we'd look at each other and wonder if we could or should keep going with this. Do we actually wanna keep this up? Where are we even headed? But then, you think about all the smiles, all the appreciation and gratitude expressed wonderfully through notes and messages, and you're like... I can't possibly give this up! There's no way I can envision myself not doing this at this point anymore. It's very important for me to be able to live for a purpose that I'm also completely behind.”
Wanna find out what’s been going on in the musical world of Rochelle Dietz? You can follow her on these platforms:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rochdietz
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/rochelle-dietz
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