In the latest episode of PLAFONDDIENST – The Hardstyle Podcast, three of the five Jossen from Gezellige Uptempo join for their very first long interview using their own voices. The studio is filled with pink cakes and toilet paper as they talk about how their act began, their special collaboration with REBiRTH for Gezellige Clubtempo XXL, and their brand-new live show SH!T HAPPENS. What started as a joke with a shared playlist and a couple of poop masks has grown into one of the most recognizable (and most gezellig) acts in the uptempo scene.

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The story of Gezellige Uptempo starts – how could it be otherwise – with a group of friends having fun with music and memes. “We already kind of knew each other through the music,” says Jos 1. “We all loved uptempo, but a few years ago we realized more and more tracks were coming out that just felt… gezellig. The kind of music that puts a smile on your face.”

That shared love for ‘gezellige uptempo’ led to a Spotify playlist, and later to an Instagram page full of goofy humor and memes. “We basically posted all the crap jokes there,” laughs Jos 1. “That was kind of the birth of the crazy side of Gezellige Uptempo.”

The REBiRTH breakthrough

The next step came when one of the Jossen spontaneously suggested entering the REBiRTH DJ Contest. “We were already sharing uptempo with people, so why not do it on stage?” says Jos 2. “We had no idea if anyone had ever heard of us, but we thought, if a hundred people show up, it’ll already be a success.” Those hundred turned out to be quite a few more: “Half an hour before our set, the organization came to us in a panic,” Jos 2 recalls. “The area was so full that security had to stop people at the door. We were like, what’s happening here?”

The birth of the mask

The now-iconic poop mask came about almost by accident. “Someone had the brilliant idea to use a funny little poop character as the avatar for the playlist. And it turned out that it was literally a mask,” says Jos 1. “There were only about seven of them left worldwide, so we managed to buy them all. A few days before REBiRTH they arrived, we put on the suits, and just went for it.”

Although Gezellige Uptempo is now an unmissable name in the scene, this is their first real in-depth interview. “We’ve done a few short ones here and there,” says Jos 1, “but this is really the first time we’ve had a full conversation with our own voices.”

Gezellige Uptempo in the new episode of PLAFONDDIENST – The Hardstyle Podcast

In episode 32 of PLAFONDDIENST – The Hardstyle Podcast, Jos 1, Jos 2, and Jos 3 share everything about their unique brand of “gezelligheid”: from the story behind the pink cakes and their crazy giveaways to their hostings at various festivals – including how Flemming and Dirk van Duijvenbode unexpectedly ended up on their stage during their WiSH hosting. They also look ahead to their collaboration with REBiRTH and the premiere of their new live act SH!T HAPPENS during their own Gezellige Clubtempo XXL event.  Listen to the full episode now on YouTube or on your favorite podcast platform.