New Album (English version)

When I was 18-years-old I recorded my first album with the band ROOS. The recordings were made in the analogue studio/living room of a friend in Nieuwe Pekela in Holland. Our complete repertoire covered nine songs, just enough for an album we figured. The guitarist and I wrote a tenth song during the recording session, so we decided we might as well put it on the album. When you listen to the CD you hear a truck driving by, a door creaking and just before the recording date I got a hell of a cold, at least you don’t hear me blowing my nose…

When we recorded our second album, one-and-a-half-years later, we prepared better. The songs were arranged for horns and we rehearsed. Still I made up the background vocals on the spot and we wrote melody lines for strings the day before they were scheduled to be recorded. This time we did a ten-day recording session in the digital studio of the Prince Claus Conservatory, where we were studying at the time. Again the stress was breaking me up and I caught a fierce cold that, of course, was audible.

Now I’m on the Artist Visa, I can stay in New York for the next three years. Finally I can start planning ahead and my first goal is to record a CD. An album that is produced, written, arranged, sung and financed by me… And this time it should be perfect. I won’t have ten full days to record, the studio only will cost me $1500,- a day. This means I need to be prepared. No more last minute songwriting, the arrangements should be written in advance, each song needs to be recorded in three takes and, most importantly, I can’t get sick again!

But who in the world would still record a CD these days? It costs money and I just need to Google the word ‘CD’ to discover that they’re not selling anymore. Interestingly enough, the Jazz Flits is still full of album reviews, clearly CD’s still being made…

For musicians, who never chose the path of making money anyway, selling CD’s is just a sideshow. It’s about recording the songs, make something tangible and it’s about promoting your music. All established musicians have their own CD right?

Over the years I wrote many songs. Out of that pile of tunes I will choose the treasures that will be recorded. Right now the songs are played on stage but the next day they’re back in a drawer fading away… When I record them they will be finished and brought to life. The CD will be recorded in New York so when I return to Holland I’ll have evidence that I actually lived here, and when I am eighty-years-old I can still convince myself that I’ve been a vocalist. So, an album to proof myself that I’m not dreaming…

In the meantime I’m experimenting with green tea smoothies, chia seeds and seaweed baths, there’s no way I’ll get sick in March 2015.