We were lucky to catch up with Bastiaan De Nooijer recently and have shared our conversation below.
Bastiaan , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
I am born in Spain, and raised in Africa until I was 18 years old. My whole life I have attended an American International School, and have experienced many creative processes throughout my life. When I graduated High School, I moved to Netherlands to study at university.
At the age of 16, I started producing my own music, inspired by the likes of Avicci & Martin Garrix. At this point in time, i was focused on sharing my music with the world on Soundcloud. Shortly after, my artist project started growing, and I started signing label deals, and moving my catalogue to major streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer etc.
I have spent 11 years as an artist in the music industry. At some point throughout my label deals, I felt like I had lost my musical creativity, and had low levels of motivation to pursue an artistic career, due to lack of income, not being able to work on my own sound, and more factors.
At this point, I was due to graduate from university in the Netherlands, Breda, International Media & Entertainment Management. Eventually, I took three gap years to focus on branding myself as an artist, Piece Wise, and also learning the ins & outs of the music industry from an artist perspective, but also record label perspective.
In June, 2022, I launched my own record label Setting Sail Records. A place I call home for other upcoming artists like myself, where every artist gets the same shot & effort at breaking through. I basically wanted to help other artists with the marketing I had been doing for myself, and since launch, the label has sky-rocketed. I am only now starting my graduation phase, and am successfully running a full-time artist & record label career.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I am a full-time artist, known as Piece Wise. The music I produce is mostly focussed on Chill / Lounge vibes. Next to my own artist project, I have successfully launched my own record label Setting Sail Records in June 2022. The label has signed over 50+ artists so far, and is growing really fast.
Setting Sail Records is all about giving upcoming artists like myself a home, where everyone gets treated equally & has the same chances of breaking through. The record label is focussed on Quality over Quantity, and the way our release schedule is setup is keeping the amount of releases at a minimum, giving the artists more marketing attention, with an exclusive feel to it.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
As I have experienced the lack of freedom, communication and artist involvement with record labels when I was signed to them, I wanted to switch up the game, and be able to release my own music & provide marketing for my catalogue. I wanted to be able to produce what worked with my artist project, what I like working on, and expressing my emotions within what I create. I wanted to get a sense of freedom, being in full control of my own artist career.
This has inspired me to help other artists grow with Setting Sail Records. As a label, I want to give artists the most professional & easiest workflow experience, where the artist does not have to worry about anything label/marketing wise, with the ability to be able to focus full-time on music production, and maintain the motivation to keep making music & being bale to do music full-time, a safe haven.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is being able to share my emotions, passion & music with an international fanbase. Receiving messages that I have helped people throughout their lives with my music is a blessing.
Another super important rewarding aspect is being able to help other artists grow with Setting Sail Records, and provide them with the same artist treatment I provide myself with.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.settingsailrecords.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/setting_sail_records/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SettingSailRecords
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/setting-sail-records
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/SettingSailRec
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-FHtlDAHxF9upvcl9JC-vg