Rutger Zuydervelt was born on 28 July 1978 in Apeldoorn, The Netherlands, but now resides in Rotterdam. He started working as Machinefabriek in 2004. The name, meaning ‘machine factory’, was on the façade of a building Rutger passed every time he went shopping for groceries. Except for a few piano and guitar lessons when he was young, Rutger didn’t study music. Instead, he graduated as a graphic designer. The sleeves of his releases are practically always designed by Rutger himself, being a crucial part of the music.

Machinefabriek’s music combines elements of ambient, modern classical, minimalism, drone and field recordings. His pieces unfold as ‘films without image’, with a sharp ear for detail. After releasing a series of self released CD-Rs, the official debut, ‘Marijn’, was issued by Lampse in 2006. Since then a solid stream of singles and albums have been released on labels like Champion Version, Type, 12k, Spekk, Dekorder, Digitalis, Experimedia and Staalplaat.

Performing live has been an important expression for Machinefabriek. He has performed in Russia, Israel, Japan, Canada, Switzerland, Spain, Czech Republic, Germany, Turkey and England.

Rutger has collaborated on record and/or live with numerous artists including Ralph Steinbrüchel, Aaron Martin, Peter Broderick, Frans de Waard, Wouter van Veldhoven, Simon Nabatov, Xela, Simon Scott, Steve Roden, Gareth Davis, Tim Caitlin and others.

Rutger also works with various visual artists. He has scored music for dance pieces, films, video installations and sculptures. These cross-disciplinary collaborations are something Machinefabriek will focus on more and more.

Website: www.machinefabriek.nu