What does Tibet sound like?
That’s the question driving Nick Bertke, a 20-something sound remixer from Perth, Australia. Better known as Pogo on the internet, Bertke earned acclaim (and contracts with corporations like Pixar) after his work remixing animated films garnered tens of millions of views on YouTube. Now, he wants to remix the real world.
In remixing mostly animated children’s movies, Bertke takes bits of sound effects and dialogue and manages to create an entirely new electronic song that captures the message of the film. Recently he created “Gardyn,” his take on his mother’s gardening hobby.
“To be honest with you I was actually quite hesitant in uploading ‘Gardyn’ to my YouTube channel,” he says. “I suspected most people would find it intimidating that I’m moving so far away from my usual form. But, to my pleasant surprise, the reaction has been the exact opposite.”
Then came the next logical question: “What’s stopping me from doing that around the world?” So far, Bertke has financed his own trips to New York and South Africa to capture the audible and visual charms of those cities in short videos.
He just received funding through Kickstarter for his next project, which a fan vote decided would take place in Tibet. Eventually, he plans to remix every corner of the earth as part of his larger WorldRemix effort. Below, hear him describe his goals, then watch and listen to South Africa, distilled.
Screengrab via YouTube.