Sand In My Shoes

I'm back, coming up from the deep with Sand In My Shoes, the title of my new album, will arrive 16th july 2022. My 18th digitally released by AMAdea music. 

I'm, of course, very happy with it. 12 melodic and funky songs in various styles, moods and rhythms, it will be introduced by a promo video that will show you exactly what I've just said.... patience!

Next. Next. Next!

Frontcover

                                                                         Backcover

                                                                            Innersleeve

Suit Yourself: The Covers

 

Final Result Front & Backcover
 

New Album release: 30 july 2021

 

Suit Yourself

  

Innersleeve

 

 

Original pose, comfortable sweater 

 

                                                                                         Alternative Idea 2 Frontcover, colours

   

                                                                                              Alternative Idea 2 Backcover, colours

 

 

 

                                                                   



 

Show Us The New Stuff!

Ok I've done the songs and new music need new covers. And a title. What did I come up with?

Inspiration

At first I had this trendy phrase: "Over My Dead Like", which I often say these days among friends and family ("Like" as in facebook likes of course), if they go too far. A picture from a holiday in Sicily, Italy fitted right in, with a rebel guy (like me) throwing stones into the sea:

Throwing stones, dare me!

Just to keep an open mind, I tried a different approach. I took some items outside in my backgarden
floorboard, like a mirror, a classical Perez guitar (my latest), and a vinyl album with a picture of
...me.                

I photographed away. All very brownish, autumn, rootsy, so I took that further, when I put a few of   these into some online photo editors and let my creativity have its way:                                              
                                                                                                                                                                       

Mirror effect 2 

Mirror effect 1

Mirror effect 3

Floorboard backgarden

Frontcover: the first brownish ones

Front and back cover examples

 About the title:

                            "Doesn't Ring A Bell"

There's a lot I want to be, but not "famous" in the "media personality" way. A status. 
I'm a musician, not an artist, I always say. 
So JoosTVD doesn't ring a bell and if he does, you won't hear it.....coming!

Design with effect

Best effect in my opinion.

Just happened to hit upon the title while writing a lyric. Maybe I read it somewhere or heard someone's remarks. I always love the double sided meaning of these sentences, in this case "JoosTVD doesn't ring a bell" .....really? Sometimes I knock. Who is this guy? Is he someone famous?    

The end results:
                                  

Front cover with nickname

Front cover for online distribution

Back cover

Inside cover

Next: let me hear a new song, wait... you say you've got a video?

The Way Things Are

No, this not the new album cover! Just a quote I use very much these days... (update : almost finished with mixing, I really can't wait to let you in on a listening sesion, but I have to, over my dead like, ha ha!

Me Against....

Show Us The New Stuff!

Allright then. Some artwork had to be done. Did it. You must have seen a few snippets already. If you put these pieces together, there it is.

Maybe it's not modern to say in these streaming spotify playlists times, where your songs are mostly shuffle played, I still love the "album" concept though. A year's work and it's more than the music. The package. A promo. To show it. To give it a name.

First: how did I come up with this title?

                                                              "Just Say KNOW"

Such things you don't come up with instantly, but as I read a lot of fine written biographies and watch the eye catching docs, movies and tv-series, a simple sentence or quote always seems to be laying there for grabs.
I already had this song (the first promo) "Not Now". Well, just dare to say NO for once. I guess my father taught me long ago to say that. Then I saw this documentary- Dying To Know- about Timothy Leary, 60s LSD guru/icon (“turn on, tune in, drop out”), read more about him and one quote grabbed me: "Just Say Know" (read more HERE) as a reaction to Nancy Reagan's war on drugs in the 80's/90's: Say NO to drugs. Leary used it in a smart way: just say kNOw. It has more merit: knowledge is power. To say NO to any authority or anything that wants to overrule you is more legit then. It's still the sign of the times. I'm not trying to preach or getting nostalgic, I'm just a musician, trying to be creative. I say YES to that.

So here are the frontcovers and backcover and I liked two of them. There's a release with- for example on Bandcamp- and one- on Spotify and the like- without alias, which is required by AMAdea. I've used (as usual) the latest holiday pictures, this time from sunny Sicily, Italy.

 Walking in Palermo, Sicily. Frontcover- distribution AMAdea without alias

On the one without the alias "The Vanished Dutchman" you can see me walking into the darkness (?) of original mob city Palermo, Sicily. It also became part of the backcover as you can see.

Backcover: songlist, credits, notice that mirror word "WONK"

Frontcover with alias (The Vanished Dutchman)

I liked our sleezy appartment/ hotelroom so much that a picture had to be taken. So that became the official frontcover. In reality It's not all that glamourous though, but just enough to give the stereotyped fame and starstrucked artist some due.

Back and Frontcover

Next: Let us hear a new tune!

Show us your new work!

Just heard from the disribution company AMAdea that the album is approved: ready to take off. Expect to hear it around 4 april 2016 on almost any online service (see picture for proof)! Spotify, Deezer, iTunes, Amazon, Google music, to name a few.
Fingers crossed, legs necked.

Lot of services!

The artwork.
 
So sure, I'll show you my new work! Here are the Covers, title & the songlist for the new 2016 album. Which pictures did I choose?
The following steps will make it clear:

1.The original which I boosted a bit in colour?

2.The sober variation?

Yeah, that's me "full" in the face. The narcistic pose. Growing grey, but not bald yet, haha. At first not really in the mood for a selfie from the wife sitting next to me, after an endless bicycle tour. But what the heck, we were on holidays and I was looking for a bit of deserved peace and happiness..... 

3.Mr. sepia with brown coloured accents?

The original picture was in colour I kinda liked, though I wanted to put my own stamp on it. I tried B&W first, which I also liked, but eventually I chose the old fashionated sepia, which I really liked! Colour? A little accent in the lettertype.

Who cares about a title?
                                                                                                                  

Me of course. Identity! As for the title, the word "parachute"- also featured in two songs- gave me positive vibes. I never ever did jump literally, but I often opened up to a few things, both positive and negative. Dare.
So with this album, I just seem to say: "let's jump, hear/ see what happens..."
Don't pull my hair please...

                                                                                                                                                                                               
                             Open Up My Parachute

The original frontcover

Unfortunately, as I uploaded the picture to the distribution department, I had to remove the familiar "The Vanished Dutchman" name as most online stores only allow the artistname. Yeah, vanished!

Frontcover without "The Vanished Dutchman" name

Remember?

For the backcover I chose another picture- made by the wife during our holidays- that I liked. It contrasts with the cover of my previous album, where I ascend the stairs. This time I descend the stairs, walking into the unknown.Well, sort of.

                                                                

1.The original boosted colour

                                                                       

2.B&W: more mystery

                           

3.Sepia coloured with black framework

                                              
 

Back Cover (notice "The Vanished Dutchman" name present)

 (Next: promo video)




                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Title & Covers for the new 2015 album

Beware, especially the impatient listeners, it's a longplayer (like a double album on vinyl), but relax... it consist mostly of short songs. 18 of them.  I could even choose from about thirty/forty songs. Lucky son of a ...Yes, it's been a very productive ride in my homestudio. But I'm aware...quantity is not quality.
Excited? Me?

I've been in a very electric- no, not in the heavy guitar metal way-state of mind the last year. All that bursts of inspiration, energy coming out, so I came up with this flashy title:

                                                Lightning Dutchman

sure, there are always references......a bluesname like Lighnin' Hopkins? Well, although I'm not a bluesman, I have a few blues chops in my throat, so indirectly it is) To me it sounds cool and nifty.

                                                                            

Frontcover

                                                                                                         The concept: 
Pictures have been taken by my camera-spying spouse Yola on a weekend trip, while climbing an endless dutch tower. I've dealt with the design (the black & white, lightning electricity effect) and what I especially liked about it, was the delusive perspective (upside down) of the staircase. It reminded me of the work of dutch artist Escher. The mystery of that Vanished Dutchguy. Fascinated by gravity and relativity? Take a walk into the illusion of the Penrose stairs
Now look at the covers (two frontcovers!) and tell me where the stairs are:
 

alt.Frontcover 2/innersleeve & Backcover & songlist

Excited! Me? 

Next: live session, New song, video promo "Lightning Dutchman"

New album 2014: I Mimic Me

Update! 
What time is it? Yes exactly time for a brand new TVD album!
Routenote has approved the album so distribution is on its way. 
I'm so excited about the songs!

Now keep your/my fingers crossed..... Still 4 to 6 weeks to go though, but iTunes & Spotify are fast, so check them and tell me!

In the meantime, here are the covers:

                                                                       

Front

                                                                
                                              
                                       
                                             
                                        About the Title I Mimic Me

Narcistic as hell that title. It sounds fun to me. "I do Lou Reed better than anyone" Lou Reed confessed to a crowd once. Well in my case, when you reach a sudden age (?), you've come full circle. You learn to accept what you've become (pros & negs) on your own level.

So on the frontcover there's a little me, about 10 years old, in a rare state of relaxing, grinning shyly and there's the grown-up old farty me, trying more or less, but fail to mimic the younger me. Mmmm...

Back

As you can see, 13 songs (+ song 14 is the instrumental promo version of song 1) again, just like last time. Yes, I've got lots of more songs in the bag, but these are chosen as the best buy.

Btw, I also got a few funny vids in the making for ya, so...

.... next time:  Teaser "I Mimic Me" 2014

Covers and Songlist Of The Ballooning Brouhaha (ha-haaaa!)

Front

Back

Yes, it's almost all white (it's the peace album I guess), even my hair has caught the snowflake glow......

Next:  The Ballooning Brouhaha The Songuide