Miss Montreal, Bertolf, Duroc

Very short news-flash;
"Just a Flirt" was 3FM Megahit last week, and all big radio stations are playing it a lot. Sanne aka Miss Montreal is also interviewed on a lot of TV and radioshows and is labelled the next big thing. Remember I told you this was gonne be a hit ;-)


I am almost done mixing the Bertolf album. Just two more songs, plus a bonus-track. Also we have to record and mix a b-side for the first single. On thursday morning B will debut on Giel Beelen's morning show with a live performance of the song (with his band).

In between all of this, I also managed to work on a demo-cd with a band called Duroc. Two songs of wich, can be found on their MySpace.

More on all of this later....

Sanne Hans aka Miss Montreal

Short update; mixed a single for Sanne this week. Although I am still spending all my time on Bertolf's album, we managed to slip one day of mixing for Sanne into the schedule

For those idiots who have missed it:
Sanne aka Miss Montreal aka Sanne Gans aka the girl from the Slankie commercial. (almost) Every record company is offering her a contract at the moment. Nice how these things work; she was singing her a$$ off in Ysis for years (and not a lot of labels showed interest), but ever since the commercial (and her stuning performance on TV for "De Wereld Draait Door") she is hot.
On monday she recorded her single (called "Just a Flirt"), and on wednesday she came to the studio for the mixing. We re-recorded her lead vocal because I thought it could/should be better. She is a great singer, so that went very fast. Then I kicked her out of the studio and started mixing ;-)
Went out to have dinner, finished mixing, and kaboem here we have a hitsingle!
I know it's dangerous to say this in advance, but I really think this is going to be a big hit.
I'll keep you posted...

Bertolf, Dolorous Daze, Jeremy's,

Yeah I know... It's been a long long time since my last news update. I am sorry, but I was just f@#king busy.
And since I am still very busy, I won't tell you about the construction work on my home (I was actually mixing concreet instead of songs!), and some other projects I did before the summer hollidays (sorry to all that feel ignored now ;-))

What I do have to tell you about is this big project I am working on right now. Do you remember Bertolf? He used to be the singer of a band called The Junes, and after that he played guitars in Ilse de Lange her band. Well, I am recording and (co-)producing his debut album at the moment.

We started out recording drums at Studio Lobbes, then moved to ICP for 7 long studio days. After that we did some vocal recordings in Zwolle. This weekend we returned from Brussels after recording yet another 7 days at the famous ICP studio's.
On the last day at ICP the guys from the record company came by and we played them all the recordings we have made. (Although some are still missing leadvocals and other additional stuff). We actually recorded more songs than there needed to be on the album, so we got together and decided wich songs are going to make it on this cd.
All the backingtracks are done now. Some more leadvocals, backingvocals, strings and percussion need to be recorded in the next 2 weeks. I can't wait to start mixing, cause man this is gonne be a great album! There are gonne be a lot of amazing songs on this album. Ranging from intimate acoustic to dynamic songs with lot's of layers. Melancholic being the keyword to sum it all up.
Bertolf made a couple of small video impressions [watch em all]:

I also posted some new pics in the photo-section of my MySpace
At ICP they have a huge collection of guitars, basses, amplifiers, keys, drums, FX-pedals. So we were able to create and capture every sound we wanted and we used a lot of vintage stuff for it. The amazing part is that (besides drums) Bertolf plays every instrument himself. Lapsteel, wurlitzer, hammond, guitar, rhodes, bass, moog, banjo, mandoline etc. etc.
As soon as I have any news on when the first single and the album will be released I will let you know.


Short other news:-Jeremy's (aka THE Jeremy's) new single (I want a Girl) will be out soon. They played almost everywhere for the last couple of months, including Lowlands and Goffertpark.
-Dolorous Daze debut album is scheduled to be released pretty soon now. Their new single will be Shine, wich I think is a real good radio song.

That's all 4 now...
There is much more nice stuff comming up on my schedule.
I'll try to keep you posted
Gie

Some nice reviews!!

Here's the Jeremy's track I recorded/mixed/produced recently for a movie score;



Great reviews are comming in all the time, but I want to share the nice words these reviewer wrote: FileUnder Review (Dutch only!)

Here's a translation:
"It strikes me that the name of mixer / masterer Guido Aalbers can be found a lot lately. I understand that talented, but also experienced, bands ask him to mix their CD, because he always deliveres a rocksolid sound. Recently we found two cd's in the mail on wich Aalbers put the icing on the cake. And both are blowing me away."

Also check out this Monolith Deathcult review
quote: "all this has made an impressive presence in the Wagnerian death metal with Slayeresque guitar terror of TMDC. Not in the last place by the devastating sharp and clear mix of one Guido Aalbers (a big name in pop/rock music, a complete nobody in the metal scene). "
hehe. That just puts a smile on my face :-)


BTW: I just finished mixing an album for a band called Pimpersticker. It's waiting for mastering now. More on that album later...

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