Last 13 months of work

So much stuff has happened over the last 13 months. Here's the short version:

• Mixed an album for De Geweldigheid. Some crazy shit!! :)
• We released a second Lorrainville album. Remember that special project? We won an Edison award earlier.
• Mixed an album for Dennis Kolen. In my eyes Dennis is one of the best songwriters of The Netherlands. Check out this instant classic:

 

• Mixed an EP for Diff. Nice Americana, with a powerfull vocal.
• Recorded + mixed a special demo for Anneke van Giersbergen together with Iceland band Árstíðir. They perform a broad selection of momentous classical and modern works, re-conceived and re-imagined within the Árstíðir/Anneke sound-universe.
• Mixed and mastered an EP for Magnavox Radio. With nice indie-rock-wave tunes.
• Mixed a single for 3J's. They went to LA to shoot the video.
• Mixed the new Bökkers album. This is the 3rd album I mix for these guys. They are very productive having 4 songwriters in the band. Again some great rock tracks!
• Recorded drums for Fokko; these were the first recordings I made at the new GieSound studio.
• Mixed a double-cd / triple-vinyl live box for The Gathering. Last year they celebrated their 25th anniversary with 2 special concerts where all members (past and present) participated. We recorded these shows and mixed them at GieSound for this very special release.
• Mixed an EP for brand new band The Royal Engineers. Unique band with 4 leadsingers!
• Mixed an album for Ulysses. If you are into progressive rock with some metal influences, you should really check out their album #eMotion
• Mixed a Bökkers live TV-concert at RTV Oost. Watch the whole show here: part1 / part2
• Mixed the new Fokko EP
• Recorded, mixed and produced the brand new Nemesea album. We went for a new bandsound; less metal, more rock and more catchy songs.
• Started the album production for The Road Home. We recorded 90% of the album right now, so the album will be mixed pretty soon. Expect some great & catchy rock songs. If you like Gaslight Anthem, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and Alkaline Trio you will surely love The Road Home.
• Recorded, mixed and mastered a new demo for Paceshifters. High voltage rock & roll!!
• Started the album production for CC Grand. More news about this great americana album soon. (Calexico meets 16Horsepower meets John Mayer meets Ray LaMontagne)
• Mixed the 'theme song' for the 'Mannenharten 2' movie. It's a unique combination of 2 Dutch artists that you won't expect :)

 And besides all of that I also moved GieSound studio from Soest to Zwolle, wrote columns for Music Maker magazine (every month), gave workshops and I was an examiner at the Herman Brood Academie for the sound guys over there.

Edison!

Wowiezowie... it has been way 2long since my last news update on this site. And so much has happened!!

Maybe I should start of with the Award we won with Lorrainville: an Edison (which is like the Dutch equivalent of a Grammy). Man that came as a big surprise! We received the "Special Jury Award", probably because we did not fit into the normal categories. And all the cliches are true; it IS a TRU HONOR to receive such a prestigious award.
If you have never heard of the Lorrainville project, please visit THIS website :) And check out all releases on Spotify

What else happened?

• album with Colossa! (recording/production/mixing)
• ep with Landmark 105 (recording/production/mixing)
• ep with Stirwater (recording/mixing)
• album with Bökkers (mixing)
• album with Bertolf & Kasper van Kooten (mixing)
• ep with TwoWay Society (recording/production/mixing)
• ep Cider (mixing)
• album The Monolith Deathcult (recording/production/mixing)
• single Chielio Reedijk (mix)
• single Burçak Sikar (mix)
• ep The Doots (recording/production/mixing)
• single Lukka (mix)
• HardtMetDt (recording / mixing)
• album Nice Neighbours (mixing)
• 2 singles Martin van der Starre (mixing)
• album Lukas Batteau (mixing)
• single De Euros (mixing)
• dvd Bertolf & Kasper van Kooten (recording)
• few albumtracks Tim van Doorn (mixing)
• and some live radio & TV sessions with several bands
  

If you want to have a listen to some of these productions/mixes you can use this Spotify playlist and take it from there.


If you want to follow everything I do closer, I suggest you add me on Facebook since I post there more regular than on this site.



Some video's:

and a happy new year :)

What have I been doing lately?

I finished the Firetrip album. We did the last recordings and after that I mixed the album and now it's ready to be mastered. The band is looking into options for the release, and they should be able to find a nice label because this is a great album: britpop meets americana with a touch of the 70ties :) If you like Wilco, Nada Surf, Johan and Paul Weller than you will surely like Firetrip.

Mixed a energetic EP for a new band called The Red 17 and when the sent it to radio3fm the were bombarded "Serious Talent" instantly. If I have to label their music I would say american college pop/rock. These guys knows how to make a catchy track with lot's of energy.
Please check out:

The Lorrainville album has finally been released (last week of November 2011).
And we were invited to play live at the most populair TV show in The Netherlands: DWDD. And also by the most popular radio dj (Giel) to play a couple of songs in his morning show on 3fm.
You can find video's of these RTV promo's here
The album managed to reach the #1 spot on the iTunes charts! And the first single is getting a lot of airplay, especially on Radio2 (where it has been on the playlist for weeks now).
Here's a video for the first single "Lost":

And there will be more nice Lorrainville news in the future :)

I mixed a special "new years track" by Fay Lovsky and Ocobar. The tracks was also used at new years morning by dutch television for their "wishes".

I've also been mixing the brand new Swelter album. It's very different from their debut: the new album is going to be very dense and more layered.

Lorrainville story

People keep asking me about the Lorrainville story (english version). So here it is:

Early this year, Facebook was flooded with people who played the online-game ‘Make your own album cover’ - also known as: ‘Wikipedia names your band’, where people clicked on a random quote, photo, and Wikipedia page - to create their own album cover, and posted them on their wall.  And my cover for a non-existent band and the non-existent album ‘You May Never Know What Happiness Is’, got a lot of reactions.
In a couple of hours dozens of befriended musicians and other creative minds signed up to actually make the album a reality. After reaction number fifty, I decided to take the plunge, and ‘Lorrainville’ was born.



On 2 October 2011 the song “A Heart That Is Lost Can Not Mend” was recorded live in the studio, and within 24 hours the song was released on YouTube with a wonderful video.
The album has not become a compilation album. The cover is the source of inspiration. ‘You May Never Know What Happiness Is’ is a melancholy singer/songwriter album. Americana with, as references, the quieter work of Ryan Adams, Elliott Smith and maybe even Ray LaMontagne. The project has always been open for ideas and suggestions.  Everyone could send in songs and nearly 90 songs were submitted.We wanted to use the creativity of everyone who signed up. Lorrainville belongs to everyone who cooperates, but I guard the unity, the vision and make the decisions.
Oh, and just so we’re clear; it’s not a commercial project, there’s no budget. Everyone who participates does so for the love of music.
The album will be released on the 28th of november on [pias], and we already received lot's of media invitations for that week. 

Album will be available in most Dutch record stores, & digital on iTunes & Spotify. International fans who prefer a real CD over a digital download can order a copy of the album at VelvetMusic or PlatoMania
 

[Click here to view a KRO TV item on how Lorrainville came about]

Lot's of news:

I feel ashamed since it took me so long to update this news-section. Here's what I have been busy with for the last months:

Bløf

I mixed special live tracks for the band Bløf! 6 tracks were released as an exclusive iTunes EP and the 7th track will be released soon ;)

The Gathering

Mixed a brand new & stunning track! "Heroes for Ghosts" lasts almost 11 minutes, and is a slight preview to their upcomming album. You can download the track for FREE here.

Daniël Versteegh
For this talented singer/songwriter I mixed an EP called "Two wrongs don't make a Right". Daniël writes beautifull songs, so this is just the beginning. Check out his EP on Bandcamp. Specially (my favorite song:) "Waiting"

The Medics

After the succesfull first single "City", I also mixed the 2nd energetic Medics single called "Explode". It will blast on your radio's real soon! (I will also be mixing their debut album)

Rupert Blackman

This singer/songwriter was born & raised in the UK, but lives in The Nethelands at the moment. I recorded, mixed & produced 3 great songs for Rupert & his band. With these of preview-tracks we hope to score him a record deal so we can make an album. These new tracks can not be found online yet, but I will keep you posted :)

3J's
Just like the dutch version, the english version ("Never Alone") also went to #1 in the charts. So they scored two #1 hits with the same song!! (recorded, mixed & produced by yours truly).

Lorrainville
Well there's so much that can be said about this project :) It costs all my free time, but I don't mind since it's going to be great. Please check the Lorrainville website for all info (sorry, Dutch only.) or check the YouTube channel.
Click here for a cool video of guitarist Angelo de Rijke improvising.

Laura Estévez
I have been working on a kickin' single with Laura & her band but we had stop because Laura's voice needed some surgery. So we put things on hold for now, but as soon as Laura is capable of singing again, we will finish this fine track.
btw: Laura is supported by an 'allstar' band:
bass: Diets Dijkstra, guitars: Dave Rensmaag,  keys: Patrick van Herrikhuyzen, drums: Dave Menkehorst & guitars: Angelo de Rijke.

Talking about Allstars
This band was doing only covers until recently; but now they won a song-contest by radiostation 538. So we went into the studio to work on a poppie debut single. "Lost without you Love" will be released soon.

winning?

quick update: 


The Lorrainville project is starting to get really really nice! Please follow it on the Lorrainville site (I'm sorry there's no English version yet).
I'm almost done selecting the songs; I will pick 14 (out of the 81 entries) for the recording sessions.
Anneke van Giersbergen will be one of the featured singers for the album, and she will probably be accompanied by 2 male singers.

A song that I recorded, produced and mixed for famous dutch band 3J's ("Je vecht nooit alleen") won the national songfestival!

This means that they will go to the European songfestival with this song. 

Mission completed! (well, it would be nice to get a good result in Europe, but that seems to be a lottery...)

I mixed a great single for new born stars The Medics. The song is called "City". Radiostation 3FM declared the band "Serious Talent".

Another Serious Talent band is Colossa. You might remember that I recorded, mixed and produced their debut album "Born to make a Sound". This smashing rock record is very well received by the press, and the single "Darling (I want you)" is getting a lot of airplay by rock-dj Eric Corton. (And populair dj Giel Beelen also played Colossa tracks at his night show)
Last weekend the band did 3 cd-presentation shows across the country. Please check out their ass-kickin' album (on Spotify) is you are into bands like Triggerfinger, Dead Weather, Soundgarden, Foo Fighters, QOTSA, Raconteurs, Brant Bjork and the Bros, etc etc 


The album "Spreadin Around" that I made with The Veldman Brothers is highly acclaimed by the blues press. So I think we did a nice job in the studio :)

Lorrainville

Sometimes you start something, and it explodes in your face.
That's what happened to me (in a good way) with the Lorrainville project.

How an innocent Facebook game brings out a social media-music band and a real album.

On the 4th of January I had a few minutes to spare during my work, and, like many others, I played the game: "Make your own album cover" on FaceBook.
The result: Lorrainville – ‘You may never know what happiness is’. A spontaneous discussion developed on my FB account and in my mailbox. At reaction number 40 I knew I was going to make the
album.


I already received 67 songs and a lot more commitments. Furthermore there already is a website and an editorial staff is standing by to keep the website up-to-date on a daily basis. The number of musicians outnumbers the normal number of members of a normal band. It is going to a hell of job making sure everything goes as planned, to select songs and bandmembers. But everyone who wants to be a part can subcribe on the website www.lorrainville.nl up to the 21st of January. There is a very positive vibe around this project which is a very good feeling. From everywhere musicians, songwriters and other creative persons are offering their songs, instruments and other qualities.

It is all going so fast and spontaneously!