Rotterdam has long been home to one of the world’s most vibrant and unique underground electronic music scenes. It’s here, amongst clubs, bars and record shops–that have nurtured the talents of a wide range of lauded DJs, producers and record labels–that Nous’klaer Audio founder Sjoerd Oberman cut his teeth.

Now dividing his time between DJ gigs and a selection of music related projects, Oberman’s rise has been shaped by a desire to foster the same feelings in others that he felt when raving with friends at teenage house parties, impromptu adolescent beach bashes in the sun-rich Zeeland province, and as a dedicated dancer in Rotterdam’s clubs.

Given this passion for sharing music for others and creating life-long dancefloor memories, it was perhaps inevitable that he would devote his life to underground electronic music. Oberman’s musical passions have widened considerably since he fell in love with hardcore punk and abstract electronica as a teenager–years spent dancing the night away have forged a deep-rooted love of melody and groove–but his core inspiration remains the same.

He began buying records at the age of 20, learning to mix on a pair of turntables gifted by his older brother. Sets at house parties, illicit raves and a variety of underground clubs followed, before he bagged at job at one of Rotterdam’sleading electronic institutions, Clone. He left Clone in 2022 to focus on his own label Nous’klaer Audio.

Oberman has a strong desire to release music that may otherwise have fallen through the cracks. In 2013 he launched Nous’klaer Audio in order to nurture, develop and showcase the talent of friends and contemporaries from the Netherlands’ vibrant West Coast scene.

But Oberman’s career as a DJ has not only been built on an all-encompassing passion for underground electronic music. He developed a trademark mixing style that puts mood and flow front and centre. Listen to one of his club sets or radio shows and you’ll hear a DJ who is constantly searching for perfection through mixing unreleased tracks and forgotten gems.