Emmy winner Sacha Hoedemaker’s odd career from neo-classical, improv, to Frenchcore

 

After 14 years, over 3,000 shows, and an Emmy win, Dutch musician Sacha Hoedemaker is making a dramatic exit from the improv comedy stage at Amsterdam's Boom Chicago. Hoedemaker joins host Zack Newmark to detail the biggest leap of faith in his career, leaving stability to focus on his deeply meditative neoclassical solo work, and his creative detour into its complete sonic opposite, the ultra-fast, ultra-hard dance genre known as Frenchcore.

Hoedemaker’s departure from Boom Chicago, where he served as Musical Director, is the central theme of his upcoming album, Drift Season. He compares the career change to a necessary purge, telling Zack Newmark: “It feels like letting go and getting this fresh wind and clearing that which is no longer necessary for us or no longer serving us.” This drive for change also manifests in his music, where he has embraced the ultra-fast Frenchcore genre. He explains the surprising beauty of the contrast: "The classic neoclassical music that I play is very slow, but if you put a very fast beat around it on top of it, it becomes this beautiful, meditative piece.”

This willingness to follow opportunity led to his current success, culminating in an Emmy for "excellent innovation" for a neoclassical piece written during the COVID-19 lockdown. His career is full of unexpected turns, starting with a shift from studying biomedical science to pursuing music. This blend of fast and slow music was highlighted at Defqon.1 Nederland last summer, where he performed his composition, Illusion of Time, in front of 65,000 people. He shares the thrill of writing music that became a festival theme, saying, “I cannot believe I wrote it, because I like it so much.”

After performing over 3,000 shows, Hoedemaker admits that his “performer muscle” is sore and needs rest. While he confessed that he has "lost a little bit of that" desire to perform live 10 times a week, he remains open to the future. He is thrilled for this new independent chapter and plans to continue both his classical composition and his work in Frenchcore, embracing the “shifting currents” of his life.

Sacha’s music is available under his name on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. He is also active on Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter). Listeners can hear the full Dam Yankee episode on all major podcast platforms or watch the video on YouTube, where Sacha also discusses writing an Emmy-winning piece during the COVID-19 lockdown, managing career transitions, and the impact of trauma on life.