Introduction

Me, myself and I

Well to get started, my name, if you haven't guessed it by now, is Joost. What do I do for food? I'm currently a Vice President something. Don't worry, it is just a catchy title my employer gave me to impress customers. I work in the ICT arena. It sounds boring, I know, but It really isn't. I am also the owner of a small company that specializes in media consulting. This (obviously) wasn't always the case.

The story began 'many moons ago' in a far off land known to many as the Netherlands, where I spent most of my life, unless you count my personal influence on Internet packets that have traversed the world on my behalf. I was born in Amsterdam - the city of canals and bikes (and a lot of other 'stuff') - in 1970. I'll let you do the math.

I will not bother you with details about my study and career, especially knowing that the average web-surfer's attention span is very limited.

I am infatuated with the art of 'doing'. Jack of many trades and master of some. I am the type you could see mix music in the morning, make radio for lunch, think up a weird business idea at dinner, Internet before bed then edit some pictures in photoshop and watch a movie when I should be sleeping. Those who know me best usually come to the conclusion that I have altogether too many interests and because of that can't pay sufficient attention to most of them.

The following is a brief summary of some of my interests. If you find the read too long, you can always wait until it hits a theatre near you.

Interests

DJ mixing and remixing

I was always passionated by music. Inspired by master mixer Ben Liebrand I started (harmonic) beat mixing in the eighties. It all started out really innocent with experimenting mixing records and on-the-spot editing using the legendary cassette deck pause button technique. The moment I was able to buy decent equipment (e.g. a TEAC mixer and a TEAC tape recorder) it became more serious.

Things got out of hand when a friend of my somehow managed to get my mixes played on the radio. Surprisingly, the listeners really liked the mixes and all of a sudden their was a high demand for my 'mix tapes'. Later, several of my mixes ended up as bootlegs on vinyl and CD. None of these mixes weren't released through or by me. Although you could say that these bootlegs were some kind of recognition, for me it didn't always felt right, considering that other people were making easy money out of my hard work.

Well one thing led to another and before I knew it I was invited to perform live at clubs. That got me into remixing tracks as well. I must say, nothing beats a crowd going wild on the dance floor because of your performance and/or remix! To avoid (permanent) hearing damage I stopped with live mixing in 2001.

I still (re)mix occasionally, but that is limited to (computer) mixing in my digital recording studio. For hardware, I mainly use a Mackie controller, a high performance PC with a M-Audio and a RME audio interface and Pioneer CDJ-1000 CD decks. For software, I currently use Ableton Live for (re)mixing and Audition for recording and mastering.

Radio

Ever since I was really young, I was fascinated by the magic of radio. When I was nine years old I knew I wanted to be a radio DJ/producer and I held onto that thought with such belief until it actually happened. My first appearance on the 'magic box' was at the age of 12. I really love every aspect of making radio. During my school years I spend most of my (spare) time on it. In the early nineties I, together with some friends, ran a popular regional FM radio station in my leisure time. Since 2005 I own a radio station that transmits through the Internet and plays a variety of dance music and DJ mixes.

Computers and Internet

No, It didn't start with a Commodore 64. My first computer was a Sinclair ZX80 (with a 16Kb memory expansion unit), which I got as a gift in 1980. I hadn't even turned ten at that time, but computers had gained my interest from that point on. In 1989 I realized my first MIDI setup to hook my audio equipment to my computer. In 1991 I started a Bulletin Board System called 'The MotherBoard', so I was able to keep up with the latest software. I don't know if you can call me a geek because I don't code (anymore), and except for the occasional titles, I have a general disinterest in gaming as it were. Nowadays I use my computer mainly for audio editing, digital photography and Internet.

I took my first steps on the Internet in the early nineties through an Internet gateway, which was connected to a packet radio network I was active on. I was fascinated by this phenomenon, although it was still text based. In 1993 I got my first dial-up account and discovered the beta version of the Mosaic browser, which made web browsing with a graphical user-interface possible. Since then, I'm totally 'hooked' on the Internet. In my former day time jobs I was, amongst a lot of other things, responsible for developing Internet solutions, so got my proper doses.

Photography

I got my first (6x6) camera from my parents when I was very young, but my real interest in photography grew out of travel. With my first (totally manual) Topcon reflex camera It became more serious. Over the years photo's of my got published in books, in magazines, and as postcards. Lately I only use Canon digital camera's for my creative expression, but I own analogue Canon, Leica and Olympus photo equipment as well. I also have a studio flash kit, which I use for my photo shoots. I've gotten my way around Lightroom and Photoshop, so I'm able to give my pictures that magic touch.

Videography

I'm relatively new to film making. My interest in this subject began at a student film festival I visited in the nineties. I was invited by a friend to watch his final exam assignment for the Dutch Film Academy. After viewing several student movies, I knew I wanted to make a professional film myself one day. I recently started to make a documentary, but it is far from finished. Nowadays I use a professional Sony High Definition digital video camera and use Adobe Premiere Pro for editing.

Because I'm not totally satisfied with Adobe Premiere Pro, I'm currently experimenting with other video editing software (Avid Media Composer, Edius NLE and Sony Vegas). Your tips, recommendations and personal experiences with (professional) video editing software are more than welcome!

Movies

I love movies. It's as simple as that. The simple joy of watching, became a passion. I like going to the cinema, but watching a DVD movie at home can be exciting as well. My favorite movies mostly share the same ingredients; bright script, plot twists, great cinematography, top acting, and preferably based upon a true story. But those great action movies with well-placed humor are also ranking high on my all-time favorite movie list.

Books

I read anything and everything, although for preference my choice would be true crime. This is purely driven out of curiosity and is not intended for inspiration!