According to my mother, I was not a calm baby. I heard that a lot as a toddler, a pre-schooler, and a teenager. There must have been some truth in that. I was tough on those around me. I also struggled with myself at times. Attending school was not a success (understatement). I left the Netherlands having no credentials. But that was back in 2012.
Not all was doom and gloom before I moved to England. After seeing Paul McCartney giving a wonderful concert in Antwerp, I knew as a 10-year-old what I wanted. I craved to play guitar, sing and perform in front of a passionate audience.
I taught myself to play the guitar and to sing. I also attended a music school. I absolutely loved those visits to our local music school. Thank you Muziekschool De Drieklank!
For the first time, I found practicing not a punishment but even fun. I could also enjoy the talks with other music lovers.
As a teenager, I formed the band Ampiphy with some peers. With Ampiphy, we performed in bars, schools, and music temples such as de Bosuil in Weert and de Effenaar in Eindhoven.
With Ampiphy we also recorded a decent amount of music. I was pretty impressed. Now in retrospect, I think we should have done a better job on most songs.
Here is an example of my prior work with Ampiphy.
But keep in mind, this was long ago and far away!😌
Ampiphy was a Dutch “guitar rock” band whose live setlist was a mixture of their own original material and covers of classic songs by such artists as Neil Young, Bob Dylan, and Irish guitar legend, Rory Gallagher. You can listen to their cover of Rory’s Bad Penny.
Yet, I look back on it as a learning experience. Our band (me, Ruben Heijnsbroek on bass and Martijn Oosterhuis on drums) played quite tight together and as a result, we were asked to act as "study material" for sound technicians in training at the Studio Moskou recording studio in Utrecht. However, Ampiphy was not long-lived.
Without a degree in my pocket, I found it hard to find a stable job. To be sincere, at that moment I wasn’t happy with my life or my surroundings either. I felt stuck and going nowhere.
I moved to Manchester to get out of the rut I found myself in. But before that happened, I recorded two songs at Studio LC in Maastricht.
At the time I was thrilled with the result. Though I was initially very happy with how the songs turned out (especially music-wise), over time I grew to dislike the way my vocals sounded on the tracks.
Why Manchester, you may be wondering.
Well. Manchester is the birthplace of many high-profile English bands. It is one of the most important soccer cities in England. That seemed like an environment where I would want to work and live. The first couple of years that I lived in Manchester were not always easy [understatement😚]. After all, I didn’t know anyone over there and still had to find my niche.
Eventually, I finished high school in Manchester (hey, mom and dad, you didn’t expect that, didn't you 🙃 ), and now I work for one of the country's main sporting institutions. You can also sometimes find me working as a part-time bartender in one of the local pubs. But the key thing is that I’m ready to get back into the swing of things musically.
My big wish is to form a band with like-minded musicians to perform live again. So if that appeals to you. Please contact me.