Tales from the Echobox: Rhythmic Culture Radio

Interview by Passion Dzenga

Launching in 2021, Echobox has been forging a path for community radio by showcasing the diverse characters and concepts that surround their station. In this feature, we will be looking into one of the broadcasts that you can tune into, so get locked in and don’t touch that dial.

Ten years in, Rhythmic Culture still moves like it’s in its first year - hungry, stubborn, and led by taste over hype. What started as Brendan Reterink’s personal SoundCloud for sharing mixes with friends has grown into a multi-lane platform: a mix series with international reach, a monthly Echobox radio residency that brings the community into the room, a label releasing left-field projects on its own terms, and an agency built from the same instinct that started it all, spotting talent too good to be overlooked.

In this conversation, we trace the full arc: the early DIY parties before venues would trust them with a night slot, the pandemic pivot that pushed Rhythmic Culture from link-sharing into proper world-building, and the philosophy that’s kept it consistent for a decade. Brendan speaks on rhythm as the “red thread” across genres, why community can’t be treated like a marketing line, and how real trust - in artists, in curators, and in your own instincts - is what keeps a platform alive when nobody’s making a living off it. With 50 radio episodes on the horizon and new releases in motion, Rhythmic Culture isn’t celebrating an anniversary. It’s marking momentum.

You started Rhythmic Culture as a personal platform, what was the original spark?

Basically, when I started Rhythmic Culture, I was also in my early days of getting into DJing. I wanted to create a platform for myself where I could share the stuff I was into with friends and people who were interested. That was way before my full-time time in the music scene, so my network wasn’t what it is now. I didn’t have so many like-minded people around me. It was just a place to drop what I liked. There wasn’t a bigger plan behind it back then.

At some point, I started asking people around me like, “Hey, are you interested in recording a mix for this too?” That’s how we started dropping mixes on SoundCloud every now and then, and we did that for about a year.

When did it move from “just a SoundCloud” into something more real?

The first year was mainly that. Then I started an internship at ADE and I was around a bunch of young people who were eager to do something in the music industry. I told some guys, “I have this SoundCloud thing, we’ve got a little community checking it, and I’m planning to do a little event, are you interested in helping?” They were like, “Yeah, let’s do it.”

Our first event was from 7 to 11 in the bar of Chicago Social Club because they didn’t trust us enough to give us a proper night slot. So we got a slot before they opened, but we filled the whole bar with friends. From there, we started connecting with programmers and venue people in Rotterdam, Breda, and Amsterdam, and we started asking if they were willing to let us host small parties. And we did for a year and a half.

Then COVID started. We had our agenda planned and then nothing could happen. We were sitting still and didn’t know how long it would take. After a couple months, we were like, “Why are we not going online?” We still had something to offer.

That’s when we started building a website, doing regular mixes on SoundCloud, and creating a proper online music platform. We started doing editorials too. That switch is really the base of what Rhythmic Culture is now.

So the DIY approach was always the foundation, did that DIY mindset also shape the editorial side?

Yeah, everything we did was from our own resources. We looked at what we could do within our team. It was, and still is, very personal to all of us. It’s a direct reflection of my vision of music, and I think that’s why I could do it for so long. It’s personal, and I have the freedom to show what I want. No one tells me, “I don’t like this,” or “You should do something else.”

That’s also why Rhythmic Culture differs from other projects I did with ADE or Dekmantel. Those are bigger, more professional organisations. With Rhythmic Culture, we always had freedom. We don’t care if you’re a bedroom DJ or established, if we think you’re cool, we’ll try to give you the platform.

And we’re still small in that sense. We serve a certain group of people who are searching for this kind of music curation. There’s no need for us to be the next RA, those platforms already exist and serve that community. We’re trying to bring a different curation. I still find names I’ve never heard, and that triggers me. There’s so much talent out there that doesn’t get a podium. 

Over the years, I've also learned that being independent isn't just about doing everything yourself. It's also about not relying on external validation. In the beginning you naturally hope people around you will understand or support what you're building, but I've realised that's not something you can expect. Now, whenever we start something new, the question is simply: are we genuinely excited about this ourselves? If the answer is yes, that's enough. We've learned to trust our own taste first, and I think that's what has kept Rhythmic Culture authentic after ten years.

In your press release you said: “Even after all this time, we still haven’t cracked the code.” What are you still learning?

I think what we’re still learning is that there probably isn’t really a code to crack. The musical landscape is always changing, and so are we. For us, it’s more about sticking to what you believe in, while still being open to what’s happening around you.

Being stubborn in how we look at music is a big part of that. That’s what brought us here. We believed in what we saw in the musical landscape and pushed it without making too many compromises. But at the same time, you’re constantly discovering new things and learning from the people and scenes around you.

And I think curation is probably more important now than ever. We have access to so much music now, pretty much everything is out there if you know where to look. But there’s also so much that it can be hard to find something new or different. That’s where I think curation becomes important—someone showing you something you might not have found yourself.

That’s also why things like our guest curation series are important to us. We ask artists we admire to pick two lesser-known artists from their city, scene or country to record mixes for the channel. Everyone I asked said yes, and through that we’ve had the opportunity to work with artists like Simo Cell, Mia Koden and ZULI. Recently we did one with Lil Mofo, and there’s a very cool one coming up with Gavsborg. For me, that’s also what community is about. It’s not something you can just use as marketing. It comes from people actually wanting to be part of what you’re doing and contributing to it in their own way.

There’s a desire to show what’s around, because established artists already have platforms. But there are so many talented people who don’t. I think that’s something we’re still learning as well: to keep looking beyond what we already know and not think that we’ve figured it all out. The drive stays the same—do what you believe in and don’t just go for what’s successful.

You’re celebrating 10 years,  why “Rhythmic Culture”? What does rhythm mean to the platform?

When I started, I was thinking: what word captures what I believe in? I’m not someone who’s only into one type of music, but the red thread in everything I’m into is rhythm. And if you look at what we represent, everything is based around different sorts of rhythms.

We don’t really care if you’re a techno guy or into dancehall. For me, it’s more about that common thread between all these different types of music. And we’re still expanding and evolving as well. I’m exploring a lot of Hip Hop beat making now, and those elements are slowly finding their way back into the platform too.

Has anything “left field” surprised you through running the platform, something that changed the way you think about curation?

Curating a lot and running the mix series has definitely encouraged me to keep looking at what’s out there. There’s a lot of digging involved—going through SoundCloud, diving into artists and listening to sets. I listen to a lot of mixes throughout the week. Not everything you come across is something you like, but that’s also part of digging.

I think the biggest thing is that it keeps you curious. There’s often an element of surprise, even when you think you know what to expect from an artist or a scene. You can come across something completely different from what you had in mind, and suddenly you’re down another rabbit hole.

Even for me as a curator, I still get surprised by the things I’m curating. I think that’s probably what changed the way I look at it. You can have your own taste and ideas about music, but you have to stay open and keep looking. That’s also why I still enjoy doing it so much after all these years.

You’ve also introduced guest curators. What’s your thought process there?

We showcased a lot of artists already, but there’s so much going on that’s not on my radar. And because I’m doing many things in the music environment, I got in touch with a lot of artists and people, and I got to know them on a personal level too.

At some point I thought: why should I put focus on the Lisbon scene myself if I’m not even from there? Why not ask someone local who’s in the middle of it, let them pick two artists. It adds an extra level of discovery, because my knowledge stops somewhere.

It keeps it interesting for me too. Sometimes when I see what people are coming back with, it’s often names I haven’t heard about. I think it’s a great opportunity to put lesser known artists in the spotlight and the curators often have very personal stories that come with it. Simo Cell for example picked his university professor, who turned out to be a sick DJ.

You’ve been running Rhythmic Culture Radio on Echobox for years now. What does the radio format give you that the mix series doesn’t?

Before Echobox we did radio shows at places like Operator or Kiosk, but they were one-offs. When we found out Echobox was starting, it was like: we can apply and build something recurring, a monthly thing.

When Echobox gave us the monthly residency, they wanted us to host and talk on the mic – which I didn’t really like in the beginning haha. But it added a whole different layer to the show because we could actually talk about music. Now it’s almost second nature.

The mix series became something with a very international focus and it’s something that solely lives online. The Echobox show lets us focus more on what’s local, and talk, and the format is different. It’s a chance to highlight new music I get sent through promos or friends. When we get a guest, we do interviews.

And there’s a physical element to it, because we actually go to a radio studio and meet with people. A lot of what we do is digital, but with the radio we can really connect in person with artists and the music community.

You also started a label. How did the label releases come together, and what’s next?

The label was always something I wanted to do, but I never really had the time to put a lot of effort into it. The way we approach it now is quite simple: we get demos from friends or people who know and like what we do, and see if we can make something work.

We had a release with Keita Sano from Japan. I got something like 20 demos from him and honestly, everything was sick, but we narrowed it down to five. That release was super cool–it’s not necessarily a super polished EP and that also made it very interesting for me to put out.

We also did one with Benedikt Frey, which went more into a breaky jungle/drum & bass direction—quite different from his other projects. And we did a mix cassette with Zohar and Mika Oki.

At the moment, we’re working on some future plans again, so hopefully we’ll have some new stuff coming out towards the end of the year.

50 episodes of Rhythmic Culture Radio is just passed, how did you mark the moment and did you celebrating it properly?

We’ve treated our 50th show pretty much like all the others—just bringing good tunes. I also think it’s quite hard to suddenly do something that feels unique or fresh, especially considering we’ve gone all over the place with the show over the past 50 episodes and counting.

Echobox moved to a new studio. What changed for you, and what does the new space unlock?

When Echobox started, the studio was literally two minutes from my home. I’d get a call five minutes before the show, like, “You coming?” and I’d leave and be there. Now I have to bike to Noord, so I have to plan.

But I really like the new studio. It fits the vision better because Echobox wanted to become a community space. Now people can actually go and visit, that accessibility was missing. The old studio was nice but hidden. If you weren’t an insider, it was impossible to go there.

Now it can become more like Kiosk or The Lot Radio: a space where you can just go hang, meet like-minded people. I want Echobox to become that, if you’re visiting Amsterdam or it’s a sunny Sunday and you don’t know what to do, you go there, drink a beer, talk about music.

Amsterdam has a lot of islands, techno people there, jazz and house there, hip-hop there. With Kiosk it doesn’t matter, you sit at the same table. I hope Echobox becomes a space like that: you’re into music, you go, connect, put ego aside, and share discovery.

If you go back to 2016. Did you ever expect you’d still be doing this 10 years later?

No, not at all. I never started with a vision of becoming a platform. I still ask myself sometimes where we want to go. We always kept going with what felt good, followed the flow, and we’re happy with the direction.

We’re still super small. Sometimes it’s frustrating, you put effort in and don’t always get feedback back. But the important thing is we stayed real to ourselves. We never made choices we weren’t happy about. And we’re not financially dependent on it, everything goes back into the platform, everyone has a job on the side, that’s the strength of the DIY mentality.

What excites you most right now, what feels “next” for Rhythmic Culture?

After 10 years I reflect more on what we do and our position, what we bring. I’m thinking a lot about reinventing in a way that still fits us. Things are working, but I still feel there’s potential.  More to get out of it, more to win for the platform and the people we work with.

That’s why it sometimes feels like we’re just starting. Which is weird, because it’s been 10 years, but it feels like there’s still more to figure out.

Is that same “natural progression” why you expanded into an agency?

Yeah. With most projects we start, there’s never a big intention; it comes from flow or frustration.

I was like: we talk with so many people in the industry, why don’t we just try to get them some air time? So we started. I had no experience in running a booking agency, neither did Tim, we just went for it and learned along the way. That’s still how we approach it.

I think we’re not the typical booking agency. We’re not there to get the most and biggest shows for the highest fees and that’s something we always make clear from the beginning. I want the roster to offer something fresh and exciting into the scene. All the artists we work with, we strongly believe in and we’re eager to find out what we can do and put our platform behind our artists.

Who’s on the roster right now?

Our roster consists of quite some names that I’m happy to work with, and first and foremost am a big fan of myself. For some international artists we function as a sub-agent for just The Netherlands. We’ve got AliA and Ava Eva, both crazy good Belgian DJs. Then we’ve got Photonz, a Lisbon dance music legend and King Kami – a killer DJ from Brazil and also based in Lisbon. Low End Activist, NPLGNN and ojoo all are real champions in soundsystem culture and their (live)sets are out of this world. And of course we have incredible local artists on the roster that I’m very excited to work with; askmelater, Lieke TR, Lolo Batten, Max Abysmal, Misa, Nathan Kofi and Teqmun. I can really recommend checking them all out.

With that in mind, what do you want to build into the agency next?

Tim and I talked about building a talent development program into the agency. Like: bringing in someone young from Amsterdam, putting them alongside other artists on the roster, and giving leverage through our platform. Using the platform for new talent is something we shouldn’t underestimate.

Last one: you run a platform that also gives curators space. How do you approach trust in curation?

When I ask someone to curate for us, I give them full trust. I would never tell someone that I disagree with what they’re doing. If I choose to put the curation out of my own hands, I want that person to have complete freedom and my full trust.

That’s also how I’ve approached Rhythmic Culture from the start. If I wanted to do something, I did it. I didn’t really care whether it was “cool” or not. I just put it out and made sure it got the exposure it deserved.

I think that’s also how I look at the people we work with. Everyone has their own perspective and way of looking at things, and that’s exactly why you ask them to curate in the first place. So for me, Rhythmic Culture is a platform not only for makers, but for curators too.

And you’re really saying you’ve got another 10 years in you?

10 years is quite a long time and 2016 really feels so long ago, but I have the feeling we have so much more to offer and discover. If we can keep going at the same pace as the past 10 years, I’m pretty sure we’ll manage another 10.

Tune in to Echobox. Broadcasting from below sea level every week, from Wednesday until Saturday.