Dutch duo superstars are making waves with hit after hit, after hit! Hailing from Delft, close friends and music lovers Bart Riem and Sam van Wees, I'm talking about Mr. Belt & Wezol! A cheerful DJ duo that combine the elements of house music to create energetic and groovy tracks that will keep you dancing until dawn. Though their monthly “Mr. Belt & Wezol Room” podcast is a spoof on super hip Boiler Room sessions, their music is anything but a joke. EDM Sauce had the chance to interview these two talented DJs.
Already taking the dance music scene by storm with ‘Finally’ and now their newest hit ‘Somebody To Love’ that is now #2 on Beatport! The boys had much to talk about their recent success.
Sam (Wezol): “I just really liked the original version by CeCe Peniston and the vocal remains timeless, hence the remix was born!”
Are you going to revive any other popular songs from the 80s or 90s anytime soon?
Sam (Wezol): “Yes! I have recently worked on a collaboration with Freejak; a very talented guy from the UK. We searched for the right vocal for a long time but “Somebody To Love”, from Jefferson Airplane's 1967 hit single with the same name, is out now through Spinnin' Deep!”
After getting so much recognition from Finally what was your very first reaction when you got the News on the song’s success?
Sam (Wezol): “I was really happy of course! Funny thing is that this song was one of the songs where I spent the least amount of time on. Normally I work on projects for about 50 hours on average but this one was done in less than 10 hours. As it seems; sometimes ‘less is more' really pays off.”
Before they became ‘Mr. Belt & Wezol’ the types of music influenced them to become what they are today:
Bart (Mr. Belt): “I was a really big fan of Paul Kalkbrenner. I think that was my first contact with the whole deep house/house thing.”
Sam (Wezol): “Ha, I really have done everything. Back when I was younger I used to go to a lot of hardcore festivals but I also really liked trance and progressive. I think honestly those times have influenced me in the way I produce music now; you can say what you want about hardcore but a lot of tracks always have an amazing theme to it, which I tend to implement in my tracks a lot as well.”
Sam (Wezol): “Homeless! My first track and still one of tracks which works best in our DJ sets! Again, with this track I just really liked the original but thought it could use a lot more energy. In one crazy night I made the complete track and threw it on Soundcloud the next day. Bart then sent an e-mail with the track to a lot of blogs (like literally thousands) and we got a fair share of support on it! Last year we decided to re-release it as a free download as we thought the track deserved a lot more attention.”
With the boys banging out collaborations and new music constantly they mentioned their first collab with Deep House DJ Oliver Heldens in creating Pikachu. Sam (Wezol): “It was fun! I went to his studio and showed some of my projects and in the end we decided to work on the Pikachu one; the chemistry was there and since I hadn't done any collaborations before it was really cool to see how someone else produces music.”
If you could collaborate with anyone outside the Electronic Dance Music Industry who would it be and why?
Sam (Wezol): “Hannah Reid from London Grammar; I wouldn't mind sitting in the studio with her one day..”
Bart (Mr. Belt): “I really like Paloma Faith! Her voice is amazing!”
We asked Mr. Belt and Wezol if you could MainStage at any festival in the world what festival would is be at and why? Their response was: Bart (Mr. Belt): “I think it would have to be Tomorrowland! I really like the whole creative production over there.”
What is the current top 10 you are spinning at night clubs & festivals?
Bart (Mr. Belt): “I think this is a DJ's secret, right? But we're playing a lot of our new unreleased tracks and tracks from names like ILL PHIL, S Jay & Ostertag, Dom Dolla, Ryan Blyth and Billy Kenny. And ‘Somebody To Love' of course! You'd have to come to one of our shows and listen for yourselves.” 🙂
Any new music on the horizon or new collaborations for Mr. Belt & Wezol?
Sam (Wezol): “At the moment it's all about our Jefferson Airplane rework ‘Somebody To Love'. Besides that, a remix on Joe Stone's ‘The Party' is coming up, as is another remix and a lot of new tracks (which I haven't even played out yet) which will get their destination and release date soon!”
One last thing! Fill in the blank, and be creative!!! Mr. Belt & Wezol wants….
“Some ice cream, it's fricking hot today.”
Don't worry! Mr. Belt & Wezol will soon be touring in a city near you, they are still working on their work-visas in the U.S. Bart (Mr. Belt): “Yeah! A lot of people on Twitter and Facebook are asking about us coming to the U.S. but getting our work-visas in the U.S. is a real pain in the ass. We're working on the visas for over a year now but they are almost approved! We're planning a U.S. tour after this summer and we're really excited about it!”
Watch Mr. Belt & Wezol music video to ‘Somebody To Love’ — the song has gotten huge likings too many DJs like Avicii, Oliver Heldens, and Sander van Doorn. The song has already reached the #2 spot on Beatport's main chart now!! Really big, the guys are right between misters Heldens and Garrix in the top 3! This duo is on FIRE!
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