Bingo Players' Maarten Breaks His Silence

The death of Bingo Players' Paul Bäumer was one of the sadder stories in dance music in 2013. It halted the Dutch duo's meteoric rise and threw the existence of the project into jeopardy. Remaining member Maarten Hoogstraten was left with difficult choices and questions, the answers to which were kept private until an interview with THUMP's Editor-in-Chief Zel McCarthy for Billboard this past week before his triumphant performance at Tomorrowland

"It's still hard for me to think about it and talk about it," Hoogstraten told Billboard. "But it's good to be back on the road. It's good to finally start making music again and playing shows, even though it's now by myself."

With his partner's blessing, Hoogstraten got back on the road, but it took time to adjust. "The first few shows I did alone were really weird," Hoogstraten continues. "I always thought he was next to me and he wasn't. He was always the more outgoing guy, entertaining the crowd and I was more the shy one."

It was the support of fans that kept his head up during those difficult moments. "I was afraid," says Hoogstraten, "especially when I said I was going to continue Bingo Players by myself, people would say, 'yeah, but it's never the same without Paul,' but nobody said that. For me, that was one of the most beautiful things, to see so much love from the fans, from the community and everybody."

"Sometimes it still feels like he's there," Hoogstraten tells Billboard. "When I'm playing, he's standing next to me and saying 'ok, let's go, we're going to rock this crowd.' Even if we weren't playing for a big crowd he would always say 'we're going to do this, the crowd's going to love it.' I still hear his voice sometimes in my head saying 'you can do it.' The same goes for in the studio when I'm making music. I was so used to having somebody else's feedback. Now when I'm alone in the studio I can hear what would Paul do. It's nice."

Bingo Players new single, "Knock You Out" reflects some of the struggle the past year has wrought on the project. "It's all about overcoming struggles and emotional challenges, it really reflects [where I am] right now," says Hoogstraten. "When I play it, it's spot on. I could write those lyrics myself."

Check out the video for "Knock You Out" below:

Hoogstraten at #Smirnoffhouse at Tomorrowland:

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