Bart Constant

That was quite the name Rutger Hoedemaekers decided to let go. He was well known in the underground around the world as About since his album Bongo, released on Jason Forrest’s Cock Rock Disco in 2006. On the album you could hear a thoughtful mix of dance, pop and nervous electronics. The sequel never came.

In the years after Bongo Hoedemaekers spent his time producing and playing live with indie band Voicst. His self-criticism is renowned, so it came as no surprise that it took some time before he was happy with the sound we now can hear on the new album made under the moniker of Bart Constant.

Hoedemaekers worked with Dustin O’Halloran, Colin Benders (Kyteman), Steve Slingeneyer (Soulwax), Volker Zander (Calexico) and Tjeerd Bomhof (Voicst) to create “Tell Yourself Whatever You Have To”, a balanced and well thought-out pop record filled with striking compositions and themes.

Since then, Hoedemaekers has started working as a composer for film and TV. In 2015, he was asked by Jóhann Jóhannsson to co-compose the score for acclaimed Icelandic crime series Trapped (BBC4, France 2, ZDF) with him and Hildur Gudnadottir. Hoedemaekers went on to work with Jóhannsson on Darren Aronofsky’s mother! and composed additional music for James Marsh’s The Mercy (2018).

In 2018, Rutger scored his first feature as a solo composer, for German production The Last Berliner, which won Best Feature at the Manchester Film Festival.