BARTH. The Search for Inspiration
“Inspiration is everywhere, as long as you’re open to it.”
TivoliVredenburg was still reverberating with the sounds of his latest album, Who I Am, but today, we meet BARTH – composer, pianist, and lover of peace and nature – amid the chaos of renovations in his new home. For the series The Search for Inspiration, we sit down with him again for a conversation about wonder, loneliness, birdsong, and the elusive nature of inspiration.
“Let me throw you in the deep end straight away: what inspires you in daily life?”
Bart laughs. “I’ve thought about this for quite a while, and it’s hard to give a definitive answer. I don’t really have a top three. For me, inspiration simply comes from life. Everything I experience, whether positive or negative, has the potential to feed my creativity. There are recurring themes, though: nature, human connection, moments of reflection. But it’s not like I have a fixed recipe of ‘do this, and you’ll get a song.’”
“Creativity doesn’t flow when I’m too busy or on autopilot; I have to consciously make space for it.”
“Can you give us some examples of these sources of inspiration?”
“Nature is a big one for me,” he says enthusiastically. “For instance, I love going to the forest around dusk. If you’re lucky, you might spot some wild animals. It gives me a sense of connection to something greater. That feeling of wonder often finds its way into my music. But it could also be something completely different, like a line from a movie that moves me. Inspiration is everywhere, as long as you’re open to it.”
“And how does that work for you, the process from inspiration to creation?”
Bart leans back and takes a moment to think. “It’s hard to describe because inspiration often feels indirect. It’s not like I see something beautiful and a melody immediately pops into my head. What I’ve noticed is that my creativity really flows when I’m fully present in the moment. That doesn’t happen when I’m too busy or running on autopilot. Sometimes I need to consciously make time to reconnect with myself: taking a walk, watching movies, spending time with family, or reflecting on life. Those are often the moments when an idea suddenly comes to me.”
“So your life experiences are essentially the essence of this story. Are there any patterns or themes you always come back to?”
“So your life experiences are essentially the essence of this story. Are there any patterns or themes you always come back to?”
“It always has to do with what I call ‘being human,’” says Bart with a smile. “There has to be something that moves me, something relatable. I see friends getting super excited about technological developments, like AI or apps, but that doesn’t do anything for me,” he laughs. “What moves me is the connection with myself and the world around me. The beauty of a rainy day, for example, or the purity of birdsong on a drizzly afternoon. Those are the things I can work with.”
“What touches me the most is anything that speaks to the essence of being human.”
“Can you give us a specific example of a moment that inspired your music?”
“For the song a glimpse of beauty I had such a moment. I was on a writing retreat with a friend, a week where we had to create something every day, good or bad. It was a drizzly day, the sliding door was open, and suddenly I heard birds singing. That pure sound moved me, especially in contrast to the gray rain. That idea – that there’s always something beautiful to be found, even in dark times – became the heart of that song. If you listen closely, you can actually hear those same birds in the recording.”
“There’s always beauty to be found, even on a rainy day or in the darkest times.”
“And your new album, what can you tell us about that?”
The album Who I Am is, as Bart explained earlier, about a search for himself: who he was as a child, who he is now, and how he relates to the world. “One of the songs, For the Lonely, came from feelings of loneliness, something I’ve felt but that many others have experienced too. Instead of pushing those emotions away, I wanted to turn them into something tangible, something beautiful. Another example is Little Dreamer. That song was inspired by my childhood. As a kid, I used to read UNICEF magazines and dreamed of becoming world president to end poverty. I tried to capture those childlike ideals in music.”
“So you often draw inspiration from your past?”
“Yes, and what’s beautiful is that you sometimes rediscover things about yourself. While writing Little Dreamer, I read old school reports. One of them said that during gym class, I always passed the ball to kids who didn’t get it often. That’s when I realized: that urge to do something good was always there. It’s funny how such memories can suddenly take on new meaning.”
