Jap Jap was a finalist in the category dance/producers in the most important Dutch competition for undiscovered national artists: the Dutch Big Prize (Grote Prijs van Nederland)!

The performance was a thrill! Unfortunately, I didn’t win the competition. One of the judges approached me after the gig. She told me that the commercial dance-acts that can be programmed “safely”, made the most chance of winning. She wanted to give me a figurative pat on the back and let me know I put on a great show with lots of musicality. She also told me that they discussed my act for a long time before rendering their final decision. The fact that I’m producing a lot of different styles is my strength, but it makes the road to recognition harder. Well… I gained a great experience! It was alot of fun to perform some of my more uptempo work with my good friend and guitarist Fender. We collaborate under the name Jump Rope Party. Check out most of the live show in this video!

The road to the finals

Music entrepreneur Daan Spoek, DJ Joost van Bellen and Extrema’s head of program Bas Baetsen made a selection for the semi finals. Then, after 30 minutes of airtime on national radiostation 3FM, exclusively with own productions, in the program BPM: LOS! presented by Lucien Foort the jury selected Jap Jap to perform during the finals in Amsterdams popular venue the Melkweg. Listen to the set that got me into the finals and download it for free to enjoy it later!

The introduction on the show

Jap Jap is the alias of Jasper Boer. With over 14000 listeners on last.fm and a small international fanbase Jap Jap self-released 3 chillout album productions. He combines his ambient sounds and layered vocals with playful melodies and uplifting rhythms. Jasper remixed for bands like Coparck & Foals and recently released his remix for electronica adept Ulrich Schnauss. His excursions along dreampop, rock, jazz and funk led to this dynamic mix that showcase Jap Jap’s versatile talent…