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the birdie blog

Here is where you'll find content containing all the juicy details about our DJs and crew members!  Discover who is a part of our family, how they started their journey and what keeps them going. ​

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Spotlight: Pucklectic

"Being able to share my music on quite large stages and at public venues is something I am very grateful and appreciative of as I realize that not everyone gets that opportunity."

For many of us who grew up in the days before getting spoilt by online streaming and curated playlists, the radio was a great source of music and inspiration. Alright, fine and sometimes questionable ads and jingles too.  This was no different for Puck’s musically-inclined childhood in which the radio was a constant, specifically the Radio 2 station with music mainly from the 70s and 80s. “My parents also played a lot of CDs, especially from the 80s with Supertramp and the David Brubeck Quartet for example. I also remember my dad showing the Jazzmatazz CDs to me” Puck recalls. 


From all this exposure to varying genres and musical styles, her interest gradually shifted into selecting and sharing tunes with different types of crowds. A lot of Puck’s teenage years were spent listening to EDM and (liquid) drum and bass. As she hit her twenties, this transitioned into more house, techno and deep house – and the latter is what she started off playing when she started playing music as a DJ too. “Deep house is great for learning how to DJ, obviously. But I quickly shifted my focus to more warm and soulful music because that made me the happiest!” Names like Dam Swindle and Kerri Chandler come to her mind as influences and inspiration. 


Puck had always loved sharing music with friends and was doing so for the longest time but it wasn’t until her friends encouraged her to take it more seriously did she face her fears by taking the first steps. On her 22nd birthday in July 2019, this urge to take the next step was fueled further when she received a DJ controller for her birthday. “I played around a bit with it, and then in 2020 when Covid hit, I started spending more time learning how to DJ, listening to music and spinning music. And in October 2020, I already had my first gig at Werkwarenhuis in Den Bosch, where I lived back then.”


First gig for Pucklectic at Werkwarenhuis, Den Bosch.

During Puck’s early DJ’ing days, she went by the alias DJ Deugniet (which means “rascal” in Dutch). “I noticed that this of course does not work internationally. I also found out that people approached me less seriously, therefore in April 2024, I decided to rebrand myself to Pucklectic because my real name is Puck. And my goal is to play eclectic sets, containing the best selections of various soulful and warm genres.”


She discovered her fondness for sharing the music she loves and seeing other people dance to it – but along with it, Puck found out the realities of just how hard it is to make a living out of it. 


“My goal for this year is to balance it more with other stuff going on in my life, as well as getting fair payment for the services I provide. Unfortunately, this is still very hard in the music business. Budgets are tight and even at large festivals where large amounts of money are made, beginning DJs are not paid fairly or even not at all. 


For a couple of years, I was offered the chance to play at a very large festival in the south of the Netherlands, but it was unpaid. So I declined that "offer". Luckily, in the beginning of my career I also got support from a large organization that organizes multiple festivals throughout the middle of the Netherlands (mainly). They gave me the trust and the chance to gain experience playing various of their festivals during the first years, while also paying me fairly. Being able to share my music on quite large stages and at public venues is something I am very grateful and appreciative of as I realize that not everyone gets that opportunity.


When I started, I never expected that would happen. I think I got lucky that the Twitch stream I did during Covid got noticed and picked up by a festival booker.”

It is the connection Puck feels with others, seeing them enjoy the music she does that is a huge drive that motivates her to keep doing what she does. One of her favorite memories was her first festival performance at Geheime Liefde in 2022 – a Dutch festival that has the tendency to sell out every time without any line-up announcement (hence the name, which translates to Secret Love). 


First festival performance for Pucklectic at Geheime Liefde 2022.

“It was such a special moment. I was the second DJ of the day on that stage. It was in May, the weather was sunny and warm. It was at a beautiful location at Fort Vechten at Bunnik, in the Netherlands. The stage I played at was at the most beautiful location, on top of the fort. During my set more and more people gathered, and a lot of my friends witnessed my festival debut. It was a day I will never forget!”


When she first played at Birdcage Radio in December 2023, she saw that as another great opportunity for connecting with an audience. “I really enjoyed it, playing there, the atmosphere in the studio and the interaction with viewers via the Twitch chat. So a couple of months later I gathered all my courage and e-mailed Nicolas with the question if I could play a regular radio show. The rest is history” she shares. These days, Puck helps out with the archiving of Birdcage Radio shows and also has her own radio show called Soulful Sunday where she continues to share her vibrant musical vision with an eclectic blend of soulful music and influences from house, disco, funk, afrobeat, Latin and jazz with an ever-growing audience.


“Getting to know new people through events and Birdcage Radio, showing each other music, digging for great new records together… I love that. In this challenging world with heavy political stuff going on, I often do not feel connected to a lot of people with the news I read. Music has the ability to remove all status from people and to connect them on a very basic level, through dance moves or observing that you're enjoying the same thing at the same moment” Puck fondly tells us. 


On the topic of her goals and dreams when it comes to music, she says “I hope that I can share the music I love with various crowds for many years yet to come. In the end it would be nice if the time and energy I put into it eventually yield more than the energy I get from it too.” 


Want to stay updated with all things Pucklectic-related? You can follow her on: 



 
 
 

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