Pogo (musician)

Last updated

Pogo
Birth nameChristopher Nicholas Bertke
Also known asPogo, [1] Fagottron [2]
Born (1988-07-26) 26 July 1988 (age 35) [3]
Cape Town, Cape Province, South Africa [4]
Origin Perth, Cape Town, Cape Town
Genres
Occupation(s)Musician
Years active2005–present
Website pogomix.net

Christopher Nicholas "Nick" Bertke (born 26 July 1988), better known by his stage name Pogo, which is symbolized by an icon of a rabbit, is a South African-born [4] Australian electronic musician. Much of his work consists of recording small sounds, quotes, and melodies from films, TV programmes or other sources, and sequencing the sounds together to form a new piece of music (a genre also known as plunderphonics). A number of Pogo's works consist almost entirely of the sounds he samples, with few or no additional music or sound samples. [5]

Contents

Music

Pogo has produced tracks using samples from films and TV shows such as Pulp Fiction . [1] He has also sampled from other sources, such as field recordings for his project Remix the World. Remix the World was an ambitious project, consisting of all original content. Bertke shot real-world footage and then used those sounds and images to capture the essence of the places he visited. The Real World Remix was shot in Kenya, South Africa, Bhutan, and Perth (AU). [6]

Bertke is best known for his use of video sampling to produce music videos, which he uploads on the video-sharing website YouTube. [7] As of October 2017, his most popular YouTube video is Alice, made of samples of Disney's animated film Alice in Wonderland , with more than 30 million views. [7] In 2010, his music video Gardyn, created from footage of his mother working in her garden, was juried along with 24 other YouTube videos for an exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. [8] On 29 September 2016, Pogo released a song called "Trumpular" on SoundCloud which consisted of quotes from Republican nominee, and later President, Donald Trump. [9] Later, in 2019, he made a music video called "Homarge", based on The Simpsons (mostly from the episode "Simpson and Delilah"), which gained over a million views. On August 27, 2021, Pogo released a remix called "Strangerous", taking voices and sounds from Stranger Things , which has become Pogo's second most viewed on SoundCloud, and on November 5, 2021, he released "Cabin Fever", which samples Muppet Treasure Island .

Pogo's music is used on the conservative YouTube talk show Louder with Crowder, hosted by Steven Crowder, and is used as bumper music to transition in and out of commercial breaks. [10]

Personal life

On his September 2011 US tour, Bertke was arrested and taken into custody for three weeks due to the lack of a proper work visa, and was prohibited from re-entering the United States until 2021. [11] [12]

In January 2020, Pogo's YouTube channel was hacked and hijacked by an unknown user, who renamed the channel "Ethereum 2.0 Foundation" and privated all the videos on the channel. The hacker then started a scam livestream promoting Ethereum cryptocurrency, and claiming that any amount of crypto sent to them during the stream would be multiplied and sent back. Pogo took to Twitter to let fans know that he was aware of the hack and has contacted YouTube for help. [13] The hacked channel was terminated by YouTube on January 17, [14] and Pogo remained without a channel for four days while fans created accounts hosting temporary re-uploads of his videos and music. On January 22, YouTube restored the account, including his view counts, subscribers, and comments sections. [15]

Controversies

Bertke was criticized for a 2015 video that derided feminists as gold diggers and "making misogynist arguments against women's rights". [16] He later claimed that it was made "to impersonate the radical right". [17]

In a YouTube livestream that was uploaded in 2016, Bertke stated that he has a "fairly robust resentment of the gay community". [18] In the same video and on the topic of the Orlando nightclub shooting, a terrorist attack at a gay bar in Florida in 2016, he said, "It amazes me to see the West welcoming a culture through the floodgates that wants gays dead. I think that's fantastic". [19] [20] Bertke later claimed to not have any hate for the gay community and also claimed Asperger syndrome and bipolar disorder as contributing factors. [21] He stated that the video was made in bad taste and that he never intended for it to go public, [21] although he also stated that he was trying to "impersonate the far-right and create hysteria", noting that the video was made around the time of the 2016 American election. [22] YourEDM compared his "homophobic rhetoric" to the 2015 video, which he similarly tried to explain as a social experiment. [17] Writing for The Verge , Megan Farokhmanesh saw this explanation as a transparent attempt at plausible deniability. [16]

Discography

Albums

EPs

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kygo</span> Norwegian DJ and record producer (born 1991)

Kyrre Gørvell-Dahll, known professionally as Kygo, is a Norwegian DJ and record producer. He garnered international attention with his December 2013 remix of the track "I See Fire" by Ed Sheeran and his December 2014 single "Firestone". In late 2015, he reached 1 billion streams on Spotify faster than any other artist, and by June 2016, he had reached 2 billion streams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Porter Robinson</span> American electronic musician

Porter Weston Robinson is an American DJ, record producer, musician, and singer from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Robinson began producing music in his childhood. He signed to Skrillex's record label OWSLA at the age of 18, and released the extended play Spitfire in 2011. He appeared on Billboard's 21 Under 21 list in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Krewella</span> American electronic dance music band

Krewella is an American electro dance musical duo from Northbrook . The group, formed in 2007, was initially a trio, composed of Jahan Yousaf and Yasmine Yousaf and the producer Kris Trindl, but since September 20 2014 the latter left the group. Their musical style has been mainly described as EDM, dance-rock, and dance-pop. However, Krewella's style has been influenced by a number of electronic sub genres, including progressive house, electro, dubstep, drum and bass, trap music and future bass.

Collin McLoughlin is an American record producer, songwriter, and singer from Bedford, New York, United States. As of February 2019, he had achieved over 18 million views on his YouTube channel, has been featured on tracks with Dash Berlin Laidback Luke, and Hardwell and was a member of Teams Adam and Blake on Season 3 of The Voice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baauer</span> American record producer

Harry Bauer Rodrigues, known professionally as Baauer, is an American record producer and DJ, best known for his double platinum song "Harlem Shake".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Be Together (Major Lazer song)</span> 2015 promotional single by Major Lazer featuring Wild Belle

"Be Together" is a song recorded by American music group Major Lazer featuring fellow American music group Wild Belle, as the opening track of the former's third studio album, Peace Is the Mission (2015). It is also Major Lazer's fourth promotional single. The song may have risen to prominence when trap artist Vanic released a remix of a song to his SoundCloud account, and has since been featured on numerous EDM records and channels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Walker</span> Norwegian music producer and DJ (born 1997)

Alan Olav Walker is a Norwegian DJ and music producer, primarily known for his single "Faded" (2015), which was certified platinum in 14 countries. He has also released several known songs including "Force" (2015), "Sing Me to Sleep" (2016), "All Falls Down" featuring Noah Cyrus and Digital Farm Animals (2017), "Darkside" (2018), "Diamond Heart" (2018), "On My Way" featuring Sabrina Carpenter and Farruko (2019), and "Alone, Pt. II" featuring Ava Max (2019), all of which attracted hundreds of millions of views on YouTube. Three of his songs—"Faded", "Alone" (2016) and "The Spectre" (2017)—have garnered over a billion views on YouTube.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Said the Sky</span> American DJ and music producer

Trevor Christensen, known professionally as Said the Sky, is an American electronic dance music producer, DJ and musician.

The discography of American electronic music producer and DJ Illenium consists of five studio albums, four remix albums, four extended plays, thirty-six singles and eight music videos.

Tanner Petulla, known professionally as Getter, is an American DJ, producer, rapper and actor from San Jose, California.

Lost Kings are an American DJ duo consisting of Robert Abisi and Nick Shanholtz, based in Los Angeles. The duo gained popularity beginning in 2014 through their official remixes for artists such as Imagine Dragons, Krewella, Halsey, Vance Joy, Echosmith, Rihanna, and Tori Kelly, and through their original progressive house music. Managed by Disruptor Management, a joint venture at Sony Music Entertainment, they signed to Disruptor Records/RCA Records in October 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ephixa</span> Musical artist

James Leusink, better known by his alias Ephixa, is a Canadian electronic music producer who lives in Ontario, Canada. He is best known for his viral "Charlie Sheen Bi-Winning" dubstep remix, remixes of music from the Legend of Zelda franchise as well as various other remixes and original electronic music. Leusink peaked at #11 on Billboard's Next Big Sound chart in November 2011. Ephixa is also known for the first ever single released by Canadian record label Monstercat, "Dubstep Killed Rock 'n' Roll".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saving Light</span> 2017 single by Gareth Emery and Standerwick

"Saving Light" is a song by English trance producers Gareth Emery and Standerwick, featuring vocals from Haliene. Roxanne Emery, Haliene, Matthew Steeper, and Karra wrote the song. It premiered in June 2016, during the Electric Daisy Carnival music festival and was digitally released on 30 January 2017. "Saving Light" is an uplifting trance song with lyrics about standing up to bullying and supporting victims by being their "saving light". Monstercat released the song as part of an initiative called "Make Trance No. 1 Again". Their goal was to encourage fans to purchase "Saving Light" on Beatport to support Ditch the Label and get the song to the top of the Beatport charts; this was achieved on 16 February 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loote</span> American pop duo

Loote is an American pop duo based in New York City consisting of Jackson Foote and Emma Lov Block. They released their debut single, "High Without Your Love", in May 2017 through Island Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NoCopyrightSounds</span> British record label

NCS (formerly NoCopyrightSounds) is a British record label that releases royalty-free electronic dance music. Originally starting as a music promotion YouTube channel, it reached 1 million paid downloads in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bom Diggy</span> 2017 single by Zack Knight and Jasmin Walia

"Bom Diggy" is a song by British singers Zack Knight and Jasmin Walia. It was released on 24 August 2017 through the Artist Originals subsidiary of Saavn Music and YouTube. The main verses are sung in Punjabi and English, while the sampled chorus is in Bengali. The single was serviced to iTunes, Spotify and SoundCloud at the same day. A remix version by Dillon Francis was released on 31 January 2018.

<i>Nova</i> (RL Grime album) 2018 studio album by RL Grime

Nova is the second studio album by American trap music producer RL Grime, who is also known as Henry Steinway. It was released by American record label WeDidIt on July 27, 2018. The album consists of 15 songs, which include collaborations with Miguel, Julia Michaels, Chief Keef, Ty Dolla Sign, 24HRS and Joji.

Matthew Austin Lucas, better known by his alias Peekaboo, is an American dubstep producer. Although he began as a multi-genre electronic music artist, he is mostly now known for his particular style of dubstep, also known as freeform bass and space bass. His sixth extended play Wrecking Ball debuted at #10 on Billboard's Dance/Electronic Album Sales chart in early 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Subtronics</span> Musical artist

Jesse Kardon, better known by his alias Subtronics, is an American dubstep DJ and producer from Philadelphia, United States. He is best known for his song "Griztronics", a collaboration with Michigan-based electronic music artist GRiZ that peaked on Billboard's Hot Dance/Electronic Songs at the No. 9 position in late 2019. Kardon peaked at No. 10 on Billboard's Next Big Sound chart in September 2019. Kardon is married to fellow producer and Dubstep DJ, Sonya Broner, also known by her alias Level Up.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Au5</span> American electronic musician (born 1992)

Austin Collins, better known as Au5, is an American electronic musician from New Jersey. Au5's music encompasses a range of electronic genres such as dubstep, house, trance, drum and bass, drumstep and ambient, and he is known for fusing the characteristics of trance and dubstep in his music. Au5 is best known for his releases on Canadian label Monstercat, some of which have received millions of views on YouTube.

References

  1. 1 2 "Pogo's 'Pulp Fiction' Remix". Huffingtonpost.com. 21 June 2012. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  2. ↑ "Disney musician Pogo celebrated Pulse massacre because he 'hates faggots'". Pinknews.com. 1 June 2018. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  3. ↑ Pogo interview on ComfortComes.com, archived from the original on 3 March 2016, retrieved 11 May 2010
  4. 1 2 Pogo Interview on BrainsQuestionmark.com, archived from the original on 26 February 2012, retrieved 11 May 2010
  5. 1 2 "Nick Bertke : The Story of Pogo and His Ideas of Music". SVANAPAPER. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  6. ↑ Emami, Gazelle (6 December 2011). "'Kadinchey': Pogo's Latest Remix Mashes Up Bhutan (VIDEO)". HuffPost . Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  7. 1 2 Adams, Erik (1 May 2013). "Pogo's "Alice" is the Internet's nostalgia fixation at its most enchanting". The A.V. Club . Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  8. ↑ Smith, Roberta (21 October 2010). "The Home Video Rises to Museum Grade". The New York Times . Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  9. ↑ Wilson, Zanda (29 September 2016). "Aussie Producer Pogo Drops A+ Banger Made Entirely Of Donald Trump Quotes - Music Feeds". Musicfeeds.com.au. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  10. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/stevencrowderofficial/posts/im-constantly-asked-who-does-the-music-for-some-of-our-bumps-its-pogo-a-musical-/10154476782121163/
  11. ↑ "Australian Producer Pogo Arrested". Archived from the original on 30 November 2011.
  12. ↑ "Aussie music producer jailed, banned from US". NewsComAu. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  13. ↑ Hill, Elliot (15 January 2020). "YouTube channel Pogo hijacked to promote crypto scam". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  14. ↑ "Channel gone now!". Reddit.com. 16 January 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  15. ↑ @officialpogo (22 January 2020). "Register" (Tweet). Retrieved 18 August 2022– via Twitter.
  16. 1 2 Farokhmanesh, Megan (1 June 2018). "Disney remixer Pogo can't walk back his homophobic comments on YouTube". Theverge.com. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  17. 1 2 Meadow, Matthew (31 May 2018). "Electronic Producer Under Fire For Disgusting Homophobic Comments [WATCH]". Youredm.com. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
  18. ↑ "Why I called my channel Fagottron". 2 May 2018. Archived from the original on 19 July 2018. Retrieved 31 May 2018– via YouTube.
  19. ↑ Farrell, Paul (31 May 2018). "Pogo aka Nick Bertke: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". Heavy.com. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  20. ↑ Riley, John (31 May 2018). "Video emerges of Australian EDM musician Pogo explaining how he hates gays". Metroweekly.com. Metro Weekly . Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  21. 1 2 "Nick Bertke apologises for offensive video and shares he is bi-curious | OUTInPerth – LGBTIQ News and Culture". Outinperth.com. June 2018. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  22. ↑ "Nick Bertke: Twitter Reacts As EDM Star 'Pogo' Fist-Pumps Over Pulse Massacre, Calls Gay People 'Disgusting'". Inquisitr.com. 31 May 2018. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.