Rutger Hoedemaekers is a Berlin-based composer and producer.
Career
Early life and career
Hoedemaekers' interest in music was first sparked when he started making electronic compositions on a Commodore Amiga 500 as a pre-teen. A few years later, he worked as an ambient and techno producer within the emerging Dutchelectronic music scene. He enrolled in the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, but left after one year and instead started working with rock bands, gaining experience in writing and producing.
Hoedemaekers' first solo project came in the form of About, an indie electro-pop act. About's debut album, "Bongo" was released on Jason Forrest's Cock Rock Disco label in 2006. For live shows, Hoedemaekers was joined on stage by Marg van Eenbergen. In 2007, Hoedemaekers co-produced an album for a indie rock band Voicst alongside Peter Katis and joined the band as a keyboard player. In the same year, Rutger moved to Berlin to start a modular studio in Kreuzberg together with two friends. This studio became a creative hub for composers like Jóhann Jóhannsson, Dustin O’Halloran and Hildur Gudnadottir. He collaborated with a number of artists, including the New York-based Ethel for Festival Mundial.
2011–2015: Bart Constant
In Berlin, Rutger started his second solo project under the name Bart Constant. His debut "Tell Yourself Whatever You Have To" was released on PIAS Recordings in 2011 to critical acclaim. His video for the single "Do Better", featuring Dustin O'Halloran, won the Best Music Video award at the Netherlands Film Festival that same year.
2015–present: Film and TV score work
While still working as Bart Constant, Hoedemaekers also started working as a composer under his own name for film and TV. In 2015, Jóhann Jóhannsson asked him to co-compose the score for Icelandic crime series Trapped, together with Hildur Gudnadottir. Their original score for the series was awarded with an Edda Award for Best Music in 2016. Hoedemaekers also worked with Jóhannsson on Darren Aronofsky's mother! and James Marsh's The Mercy, for which he composed additional music. In 2018, Hoedemaekers scored his first feature as a solo composer for German production The Last Berliner, which won Best Feature at the Manchester Film Festival. He subsequently created the original score for Hulu and ARTE production No Man's Land, which will be out in 2020.
