Witte Beer is an electro-pop alias recorded by Jeremy van Leeuwen from Toronto. The production pulls from the soaring polyphonic melodies of indie-dance and italo, to the saturated tones of electro. Sharp sounds of the future twist around warm vintage tones and look simultaneously forwards and backwards at the trajectory of synth pop. Bright bubblegum vocals deliver earworms that float crisply on top of the punchy framework. The hard hitting sound of Witte Beer evokes likeness to artists like Kim Petras, SOPHIE, and Grimes.
Growing up in Winnipeg, Jeremy’s ears tuned into electronic music in his early teens. After a summer picking vegetables at a market garden Jeremy purchased his first synthesizer at age 15. At 18 he barraged club promoters and with time he gained modest popularity as a DJ playing clubs and afterhours. A few years later, Jeremy packed all his synthesizers into the back of a hatchback and left home to study at the Ontario Institute of Audio Recording Technology before settling in Toronto.
In February of 2022 Witte Beer put out his first single “Cut You Loose,” a heavily crushed song that set the tone for the project. Shortly after his cover of “Just a Snail” was featured on “Here You Go, You Do It: A Crywank Covers Compilation.” This lo-fi electro rendition of the folk-punk original is a heightened example of the sense of play that is integral to Witte Beer’s sound. On August 24, 2022 Witte Beer is set to release his first EP “Fairlight” and looks forward to more releases later in 2022.
