3FM Award for Jeremy's, I Kissed Charles, Van Katoen, Wilsum, Pioneers of Love, Tarball, Want Want

Wow, I was very busy for the last couple of weeks, so I won't write about everything.

First of all, the biggest news: Jeremy's (aka THE Jeremy's) just won a 3FM AWARD!!!!
But that's not all; there's more Jeremy's news. They were asked to write the theme-song for a movie called "Hoe overleef ik mezelf". So we went into the studio to record & mix this brand new song called "Take you all the Way". We made two versions: a single version, and a slightly longer (with one extra verse!) version wich is featured at the end of the movie.
The movie is not released yet, but the single was picked up really quick. Really really really quick; it was mastered on a thursday morning, and in the evening it was played by DJ Michiel Veenstra on 3FM!!
The day after they played the single live in Giel's radioshow, and the day after that they won the 3FM Award. That's what I call; "let the good days roll"
BTW: the album sells really well, and will be re-released with an extra bonustrack. (the new single)

More award-winning news: Wilsum's hard-rocking seventies rock ‘n roll is reaching out to you the next couple of months. In LiveXS magazine they won the "Local Hero of 2008" award, wich means that they go an an intensive tour.
An expert jury picked Wilsum, so I guess the Wilsum-crew was giving away lot's of booze that night ;-)
It's good to know that bands without big record deals can win awards like these, wich helps them tour all over the country, and will bring extra attention to the ass-kicking album we made.

Just finished mixing the brand new Van Katoen single. It's a very special song, but I am not allowed to tell you more about it... So it's gonna be a suprise!
Jeps is the new bandmember, and he brings a lot of new sonic-soundscapes to their sound. You will hear what I mean, once the single is released.
VanKatoen= Alternative, loud rock with dutch lyrics! The music of VanKatoen is best decribed as a mixture between punk, rock and metal. They sing/scream in Dutch, not only because Bazz, the singer, isn’t particulary vluently in English, but also because VanKatoen believe that’s the only way they can bring across their socially involved lyrics.

Quick Pioneers of Love update: a couple of record-companies showed interest after they heard the demo tracks I did with these guys. So at the next couple of live shows these hotshots are going to check this young band, and hopefully it will get them a record deal.
Tip: see them live at Melkweg Amsterdam may 9th supporting Chikinki.

WantWant is (also) still talking with labels who want to sign the band. Fokko is not in a rush to sign because the record-deal should not interfere with his other band: Jeremy's

Shooting stars Dolorous Daze signed a record deal with APM. And the first single of the album we did should be released very soon. (I think everything is done except for the artwork)
The band produces nicely arranged, meloncollic pop/rock. Their music is enriched with additional vocals, strings, hammond, rhodes, piano and mellotron. They will use everything that helps to make their songs more colourful.
I will keep you posted on the release date of the first single and the album.

Got to work at the London Calling festival again. For VPRO 3voor12 we recorded 24 bands in two days!!! As you might know, LC is a festival where new talanted UK bands can show why they are going to be the next big thing. Every edition features bands that we will never hear of again, but every edition also has some acts that will grow huge within the next few months. (examples from the past: Blur / Kaiser Chiefs / Franz Ferdinand / The Kooks / Editors).
My personal highlights of these edition were: Blood Red Shoes / Broken Records / The Rascals / Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly / The Metros / Exile Parade

Worked on a 3-track demo with emo-metal-grunge-rock band Tarball.

Changing rhythms and the use of unexpected breaks and sound effects are characteristic to the band's music.

Went to the EP-presentation of a very young and talented band called I Kissed Charles. I mixed their EP full of catchy tunes for Goomah Music. Their performance was very energetic and suited the songs perfectly.
Several DJ's (including Rob Stenders) already played songs of the EP on the radio. And they were also support act for The Long Blondes.
After a recent show Anton Corbijn came to compliment the band on their performance!!! Is that nice or what?
On their MySpace-page you can check out 3 songs of their 5-track EP.

That's all 4 now...
I'll keep you posted!
Gie

Loads of news!!

yeah, yeah, I know... it has been a long time ;-)
Finally a news update, and I don't know where to begin since I worked on so many projects. So I won't mention everything.

First of all: Jeremy's (aka THE Jeremy's). After scoring a hit with 'Saturday' and being nominated for a TMF Award the band had been talking to different record company's. Finally they teamed up with PIAS for the album release. It's out now, and called 'O Yeah Aha Oh' featuring 16 high energy punkpop songs that kick your butt.
They also just finished shooting a video for the second single 'I want a Girl' wich will be released soon.
The first album reviews are all great (even in OOR magazine!).
It seems that a lot of people catch the adrenaline vibe.
(in case you did not know ;-) I mixed & mastered the album, and I also co-produced it and recorded a lot).

Shooting stars Dolorous Daze are signing a record deal with APR/CNR any minute now. A year ago I mixed a lot of songs they had been recording at home. Last month we went into the studio to record an additional 4 songs. All super catchy!
The band produces richly arranged, meloncollic pop/rock. Their music is enriched with additional vocals, strings, hammond, rhodes, piano and mellotron. They will use everything that helps to make their songs more colourful.
Bas (vocals/guitar) has a very unique voice and he is very good in controlling it. He's an amazing singer and reached all those high notes without autotune or everything. The three other members (Dani and the bros. Thierry & Caesar) are also very talented and multi-instrumentalists.
I completed mixing the new songs so we are all set for mastering the album this weekend at Wisseloord.
I will keep you posted on the release date of the first single and the album.

Talking about young talented bands with catchy tunes: For Goomah Music I mixed a 5-track EP of I Kissed Charles. (not released yet)


Charlotte, the singer is only 16! This young band sounds like the are from the UK, and that's meant as a compliment.
On their MySpace-page you can check out 2 songs.
And remember where you first heard of this band!
;-)


The Veldman Brothers scored 3 (!) number one positions in 3 different "Blues Album of the Year "-charts!!

You might remember that I was going to mix a metal record? Well... I did! The band is called The Monolith Deatcult and they used to make speedy and brutal death metal, but for their 3rd album they choose a different approach. I would say: 'bombastic Death Metal with a lot of orchestral and industrial elements as well as fast sections making it a genuinely colossal album'. The mixes were very complex since some songs contained around 100 tracks!
The album is comming out worldwide(!) real soon, but a lot of reviews are already in. All outstanding so far; I mean 6 out of 6 stars and 95 out of 100 points. Stuff like that. I think the worst review gave them 8 out of 10 ;-) All reviews are praising their new epic sound.
These guys don't mind a little self glorification BTW, so be aware when you visit their site ;-)


Talking about great reviews: the debut cd on Goomah Music from Cool Genius (wich I mixed, and did some recordings on) is also getting good reviews. And again; also from OOR.

More news from our 'young-talents-department' ;-) Pioneers of Love had to play at the prestigious Eurosonic festival and wanted to have a new demo to present to all the bizz-people out there. So we hit the studio (guerilla-style) to quickly record & mix a couple of songs. All of wich can be heard on their MySpace-page of course.
They received a lot of good reactions on the demo, and it got them more gigs. This four-piece band puts a distinctive dancable and pumping synthesizer-sound at the centre, suffused with melancholical guitar-riffs the band creates a surprisingly typical atmosphere. Its own musical identity gets strengthened by the intense hitsensitive songs.


I told you earlier about an album I made with Jeremy's guitarist Fokko. It is a side-project with Dutch songs. (Well... he sings in Dutch... allright).
The band is called WantWant and there is a lot of interest from different labels and record-company's to sign this band. Fokko teamed up with publisher Wim Kwakman (PFH) to talk to all the enthousiastic hotshots.
WantWant also has a MySpace page wich features some of the songs we did.


That's all 4 now. As always; I'll keep you posted!

Lot's of projects

I told you earlier about an album I made with Jeremy's guitarist Fokko. It is a side-project with Dutch songs. (Well... I mean that he sings in Dutch... allright).

Untill recently the band was simply called Fokko, but they changed their name to WantWant.

WantWant also has a brand new MySpace page wich features some of the songs we did.

My personal favorite is a song called "Heleen" wich has a great guitar-solo-melody. This song is also on their MySpace page, so you can check it out.

I also promised to put some of my Thailand pics online. Well... I did ;-)
Click here to see a slideshow with some of my pics.

The first Cool Genius single is probably gonne be "My Friend". Check this song (and others) on their MySpace page.

The new Nou En single called "Roos" is ready (after recording & mixing, I still had to do the mastering) I told you about this song in my last news-update. It's a great-super-catchy-slick-rockin'-tune that won't let go.
You can listen to it on their MySpace.

They also shot a video for the single wich will be uploaded somewhere soon; I will keep you posted.

As you might know (or not); I also do my share of budget-mastering. Normally I don't mention any of that in this news-section, but I want to make an exception this time.
There are 2 mastering jobs I have to tell you about.

First; Next Waste Dimension. Blending heavy guitars with modern dance. Only few bands dare to do it, even fewer are able to make it work. With REWIRE REALITY Next Waste Dimension (NWD) prove they can pull it off. And how! On this debut NWD shows how to perfectly blend metal, dance and industrial in a way it sounds both natural and refreshing. They got some great reviews, so check out their site.

Second; Parkside. Dutch music magazine OOR wrote about them: "Parkside evokes exiting atmospheres through delightful sounds that are prominently placed without disturbing the songs. Extremely well-done! Think of Radioheads Kid a, but with a little more song to hold on to."

They've recorded and mixed alle those atmospheric songs themselves. You can check out songs on their MySpace!