instruments:
six years of Soprano and Alto Flute
2 years Acoustic Guitar
1 year or Elictric Guitar
dance:
3 years Electric Boogie and Breakdancing in the streets
bands:
rapband: DSP, uninvited guest performance with the Shakatak backing band during their European tour, funk/rock band: Hamlett, singersongwriting duo: Van Hard Plastic
The first two years of my musical education I was banging on them coco nuts like crazy!
It was my dream to learn how to play the guitar. But that did not happen straight away though.
Because my fingers were too small, they advised me to learn how to play flute firstly, until my fingers were long enough. So I played for four years the Soprano, followed by two years of Alto flute. Soooo not cool!!! lol
Finally my lessons in acoustic guitar began, but they were dominated by my lack of interest in the songs I was required to study and was much occupied with anything other than following these boring classes.
To stimulate my interest, the teacher thought perhaps I could learn to play the bass, using my Acoustic Guitar. After a full year and not being present for most part of it, I threw in the towel and decided to stop taking guitar/bass lessons.
The chord schemes I had to learn from the very beginning of my guitar classes, I never understood them untill one day I saw the light! The schedule turned out to be not so difficult after all lol
A week later I bought myself a second hand Electric Guitar and began practising all the chords, along with straight soloing along with my fafourite bands at the time.
Immediately I decided to take electric guitar lessons with my Gibson Les Paul 'Marauder
As a child I listened a lot to a radio programm called; the Soul Show, and made innumerable tapes with my fafourite soul music. Michael Jackson was one of my big idols, and I had a Motown greatests casette, which I played over and over again.
Around the age of eleven, the Breakdance scene started to attract my a lot. I can still remeber the first time I saw a couple of guys in the town center, moving like robots on a small piece of cartboard. I was completely sold! Not much later I joined the group.
During my dancing years, earning money with breakdancing and electric boogie on the streets with my mates from the neighborhood, I was influenced by several artists. There was this album called; Beat Scratch and Boogie with songs like:
Planet Rock - Afrika Bambaataa Soul Sonic Force
the feel of this music which still gets me going nowadays, sound a bit like this:
The Beastie Boys vs Herbie Hancock - Intergalactic Rockit
James Brown vs Led Zeppelin - Whole Lotta Sex Machine
Although my bones will crack in a thousand peices if I would jump on the floor and did a back or head spin, I still dance in my head, electric
boogie wise. In that comes out on these rare moments when I am at a dancefloor. All of a sudden i slip into this flow and i am back in my teens,
steeling the show at every party!
Ingwie Malmsteen, Ted Nugent, Great White Buffalo, Joey Satriani, Flying In A Blue Dream, Iron Maiden, Aces High, Metallica, Master Of Puppets, Judas Priest, Thin Lizzy, Led Zeppelin, Frank Zappa
At home there was an album of Stan Gets, where I relax on meesoleerde; Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto (1963) It seems to be the ought one out, but the freedom Jazz has got in his music liberates my play as well.
some other inspirational bands:
Pink Floyd Another Brick In The Wall, Part Two
Bad Boy Boogie (Apollo Theatre, Glasgow, April 1978)
Voodoo Child (slight return) - the Jimi Hendrix Experience
Lemmy feat. Slash & Dave Grohl - Ace of Spades
The electric guitar lessons were largely unsuccessful because I prefer more my own interpretation of the songs that I had to play, instead of following it note by note. Nevertheless I was the only one in my class of three students who was given the opportunity giving away a solo when a fellow music teacher from the States came to attend our music lessons.
Now it was time for some real Rock n Roll in my life! I revelated the sixties with bands like the Doors, The Rolling Stones, Jimmy Hendrix, Bob Marley, David Bowie, Bob Dylon, Pink Floyd (tried 'Umma Gumma' with LSD lol)
I exchanged the easy living for the hard labour environment of the Art School in The Hague. Tried to combine it with Music School for two years where I studied theatre. In the end I got kicked out of both studies and ended up, empty handed in Amsterdam.
In this 'in between' period I felt the urge to jump on jamsession stages, during live performances wherever there was a mic standing free I got on stage. There was one time, I ended up at a beach festival called BeachBoB where people like Markus Miller came along, playing along just for the fun of it.
I become the hardcore visitor of this festival and one evening I took my changes for the mic, while a band was playing where really noone was insprired by. So...I thought, Fuck it, Let's party!! And jumped on stages and the whole crowd suddenly starts to dance and everything became ecstatic!!!
After the show the leadsinger came up to me and complimented me on my voice. I thanked him, but turned around rather quick because I just wanted to dance on into the night.
When I got home, I found out by the announcement of this festival that I had jumped on stage with the Shakatak backing band, during their European tour, back at the time.
So that inspired my to go through some adds for bands looking for members. I got invited for an audition for a funk rock band called; Hamlett.
When the tape was rolling during my audition, the leadsinger stopped the music and lifted his eyebrows somewhat...
"You got to sing this as if your were at a gig performing live" he said. So I did. Then later on there was a combination of a smile and eyebrow lifting. Since it was basically all rap what I had to sing, I decided to give it my intepretating by rapping in half a tone lower, along with the lead. I think that was my ticket in. I felt so priviledged to play and perform with them for a whole year. FUNKY SHIT!!!!! OMG! They were so funky, I wish I could dance to it all the time instead of singing along with them, hahaha!!!
My life took a drastic turn and I swapped the capital for the countryside and finally got stuck on the island of Texel, where I started an accoustic band with singersong writer, Adam Rickets. We performed at events and festivals and made two CDs.
Van Hard Plastic Live in Klif 12 Twee Werelden
Van Hard Plastic Live in Klif 12 Een Liedje