This story is in two parts; the first is about Field Notes. Let’s start there. Field Notes is a project started by my dear friend Sam that I quickly latched onto. It’s a left-field music event series. We focus on intimate, community-driven parties that are stripped back and fully tuned in to the sound.
We wanted to be involved in the music scene in Amsterdam, but didn’t really resonate with anything. Both of us being expats, we decided to create something ourselves, no matter how small. Nearly three years later, we’ve hosted over 20 parties, with some of my personal favourites being Charlie Bones and Sound Metaphors.
To go a little deeper into my own experience with music, I haven’t often put my thoughts on DJing into words. Most of the time, when I’m mixing at home, I’m simply trying to make sense of my ever-growing library (and my shrinking hard drive). The result is usually a mixed bag that reflects whatever mood I’m in. But lately I’ve been thinking more about what informs my taste, and why I feel drawn to cataloguing music, putting together mixes, and DJing at all.
My earliest memory of how music could capture a mood was watching skateboarding videos as a kid. Each skater would choose a track that represented them, their style, and their personality. Over time, as you kept watching their parts, you could see them evolve. Their music taste might shift wildly, and their style would change along with it.
I think I’m still doing the same thing. Every mix I make is an attempt to capture who I am in that moment, what I’m into, and how I’m feeling that week. Partly, it’s for others to get a sense of me. But it’s also for myself, so I can look back and see who I was at a certain time. I love that you can get to know someone through their mixes, just like you can understand a skater better by watching all their video parts.
*Recorded live at Nick’s home in De Baarsjes, Amsterdam (2025).
