Always causing greatness

Where do you come from?

Jungle and drum & bass for me is a better love story than Twilight. I remember the first time I heard a drum & bass tune — my ADHD latched on immediately. Super Sharp Shooter (DJ Zinc), Bad Ass (Mickey Finn) and Warhead (DJ Krust) are three tunes I can trace right back to those days. On repeat, all day. I was a total ‘einzel-ganger’ in this music. Ever since, it has been the beat to my life and pretty much everything I do — work, commute, chill… The moment I get passed the aux, you can be sure there’ll be amens and breaks. Next to listening to drum & bass, I have always been a passionate creative with a hacker mindset and the drive of an engineer who loves to build and tinker with soft- and hardware systems. Better said: I live to make something out of nothing.

I'm 'raised' in the Amsterdam tech startup circle, where I discovered early that with two hands, 10 fingers and a big gray mass in my skull, I could shape the world around me if I wanted it badly enough. I started as a graphic designer, grew into web design, and escalated into a full-stack agnostic independent hardcore programmer in both open- and closed-source scenes. Fast forward a bunch of years, and now I’m an enthusiastic all-round digital maker with a wide-ranging skillset across design, programming, the internet, algorithms and social media — still fueled by passion. When you make your hobby your work, you never have to work. I can tell you by experience that this is very true. And you are right to conclude I’m hella fucking proud of what I do.

What does any of that have to do with Jungle Kitten?

That energy did not just stay in the professional world. I was privileged to learn young that you should follow your nose and get involved with the stuff you love — those are the things that give you life energy. Offer 'them' a firm handshake and a friendly smile and you’re already 80% through. That mindset led me straight to the people running what was then still a somewhat small scene.

Operating from the Amersfoort region, I once finally took the balls and emailed the former Subtopia crew. That little bit of bravery got me my first spot on a stage in the dnb world. Default as an act was born. I was 17 at the time, and writing this at 34, I can proudly say Default is still on fire. Cool programming job, fulfilling hobby as a DJ. Naturally, the combination of those two pushed me into stage 2 of that hobby: organising events myself.

You still haven’t told about Jungle Kitten?

Around 2014, after Subtopia did their exit party, I met Rick. He wanted to launch a new drum & bass movement in Amersfoort and needed someone for promotion, artwork and internet experience. Match made in heaven. After a few editions in cosy small bars, we got picked up by the bigger Amersfoort — and even international — scene. We reached bigger stages and over the next 10 years made INTENSE a real success.

With the artists we managed to book time after time, I’d say we did a pretty great job for two guys with an escalated side hobby. INTENSE grew into a proven community of DJs, friends, skilled people and fans of the music. It showed exactly what can happen when you put enthusiasm in the right spot.

After INTENSE fell silent, activity in the scene fell a bit off for me. I had my daughter, and I’ve been busy ever since raising a little girl into an independent fine lady. Life happened. DJ’ing and organising simply were not the priority for a while.

Are we there yet?

And then something happened. I reconnected with a woman I had briefly dated in high school. As I remember it, I think I accidentally got her to fall in love with drum & bass back then. I’d play little sets in my room to impress her. Fun times. It did not work out at the time and our paths diverged for many years, but the music always remained central to that chapter. I was 17, she was 14.

So, what?

Right when I felt I wanted to step back into the DJ scene a bit more, she enthusiastically told me she wanted to throw a party for her 29th birthday: book a venue, get DJs, sell tickets, and deliver a birthday no one would forget. It would be called Unicorn of the Jungle, and she needed someone fluent in events, art and promo. So obviously, I said yes.

We set ourselves up as a team… and lovers. Not only did we reconnect, we also realised this might be the perfect time to continue where we once left off. That is when talks about Jungle Kitten became serious. It gave me a huge canvas to pour my vision into: a website, an elaborate communication strategy and brand guide, serious company back-office infrastructure, the whole lot. She took care of the administrative, accounting and financial side. Jungle Kitten was born — and yes, it sure as hell was conceived with a lot of love and passion ;).

Mate...

So yes, obviously I’m talking about Caylie here. She tells her story here. Not only did we get back together after all that time, we’re now also running our own initiative. Within the span of a year, we proved to each other that we are fully capable of driving people, generating enthusiasm and bringing energy to the scene — fueled by ourselves and everything that was taught to us over the years.

Jungle Kitten is now not only registered as a company, but also run like one — and we know that sets us apart from a lot of event organisations. We ride the algorithms, monitor aggressively, note the trends and innovate. Jungle Kitten has become a rad kitchen-table startup story, now proudly working with a talented intern (Eugenie) too. It has become the canvas for bold ideas and brave adventures. And we keep pushing. We will never call this an ‘escalated hobby’. We are serious about what we want.