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                                                                                              Just say NO

I want my Spotify!

Hello there, just a little update for those who can't get enough news. Too much information gets in the way in the end, but hey, don't shoot the messenger!

In between that process of getting my new music together (yes it's getting there, just some finetuning to do and I'll send them babies away), I'm always roaming around the web for new possibilities, curious as a cat as I am. Some of you spotify listeners will surely have noticed a few added changes when one looks for an artist/ band, genre, mood or playlist. Like pictures, a bio and concert information. For the musician there are more tools available to promote yourself. It's all just for fun you know. One in particular is the Spotify Line-In where you can add some functional and personal info to the artist, album or song. More information leads to a better search result in the end. So why don't you try it out? Pick your favourite artist/ band/ musician (me of course), add all the tags that fit, so when we search for a certain mood, style, we always pick the best. Get comfortable.

Searching on Spotify

What's wrong with this bomb?

Well, let me tell ya. I'm against violence. Especially against animals. But human bombs are walking around everywhere, waiting for their moment. But a humoristic song about a bomb or a terrorist? Tricky. Once (in 2009 when I was tricky) I took a bomb. It became a narrated song where we can take a peek through the terrorist's eyes, whose sinister and desperate voice leads us to the unavoidable climax. Not glorifying anything, but it became a bomb for me. The song has been picked up by Tom robinson and various other enthousiastics (radioplays) in 2012 and since then it has served me well during the following years of promoting my music. It's my introduction I guess.
Yesterday I took the opportunity to submit it once again for a so called "secret" theme episode (example B-Side Guys) posting on Reddit. I think the song has a secretive message, so why not submit it again?

Listen to his story:


Today I received a small bomb back (a private message, respecting his/her privacy):

"How beautifully bizarre. Thanks for the submission!"
"Dude, I don't even know what to say about this one. This is so bizarre and so strangely good at the same time. The instrumentation and your vocal pacing is very "Flight of the Conchords," but the songs are more serious. I've listened to/reviewed/critiqued a ton of music, and I've never heard anything quite like this. The problem is that I don't really know what to do with it. I don't think that it makes the final cut into the Secrets episode because of the sheer amount of submissions we had. I want to help promote this, though. I want to use it on our website as an upcoming Track of the Day, share it on our Facebook, something like that. Let me know what you think about this plan. Thanks for the submission. It's truly something unique in the weirdest and best way possible."

Ok, (s)he doesn't know what to do with it....Well (s)he knows, (s)he'll promote it anyway. What the heck. I have to thank him/her for complimenting the song!

Another day in the never ending unpossible way of reaching your holy grail. Say ni!

Q & A 2018

Hello ladies and germs, I've got to get organised now. I'm still working my sorry ass off on those tunes, but hey....they sure give some grooves back to me! So many things to do, but I'm positive. As there's progress, here's what you can expect in the next few days, weeks, months (...?)

Before: Lazy Dutchman

Here's a little Q & A for ya: 

Q: Are you "The Vanished Dutchman"?
A: I'm here, ain't I? I'm more human now. The Vanished Human. Rather that than a chauvinistic nationalist.

Q: Do you like music?
A: No


Q: What are you doing then? 
A: Playing fiddle with a hammer

Q: What's on your mind these days?
A: Trying to be serious

Q: A new album, can we expect something different from the previous albums?
A: I dunno. I guess they all call it music.


Q: Well, what about a promo video?
A: Hey, I'm working on it! It's funky! But first I've got to finish the master of the chosen song, ok?

Q: Will it be you on the frontcover?
A: Well, it's a lucky shot that I've used. Yes, there's me and I've finished the covers already. But I've got to be really sure about the length and the sequence of the songs.

Q: What about a title?
A: Yes, I've got that figured out too. Won't tell you though. It's too shocking...I'll tell you all about it in the near future. It's a very simple one.

Q: Release date? Spring again?
A: Heeey, that's classified information! Gimme a break! Ok, well maybe...May 2018? If everything will go as planned, it will be around april that I'll sent it to AMAdea for distribution worldwide and that usually takes 3 to 4 weeks, so...

Q: The story about the songs?
A: Maaaan, I've got to work on those too! After the release I'll tell all my secrets. The whole world has got to listen first of course. Can you arrange that?

Yes it will happen folks. 

After: Lazy Dutchman

Focused monk

Hai there folks!
Today, as usual, I'm gonna work on my latest stuff again. Listening attentively like a lonely, but dedicated and focused monk minus the bald crown of course. Keep it cool, will ya?
I'd like to share some of that stuff which has helped me through years of struggling in my homestudio. For those who are looking desperately for those educational video's about mixing and mastering and of course there's absolutely much more. Give me those links and I'll add them.
Mostly presented by the professional audio nut and mostly done in Pro Tools with the basic stock plugins to enhance your audio a "little" to make it more "audible".

Vanished Monk

Pro Tools mixing/ mastering video playlist

Mastering it yourself

Mixed Up

So...I'm in the middle of these final mixes. Thoughts are racing all the time: "don't mess with a good thing!" The choices I've made are more or less definite. I mean, the intensity and the emotions (FEEL) of the "first take" makes it mostly the best one to go for. Both the organic energy and the freshness of a new song motivates that. Sure there are the unavoidable overdubs and edits to be done later (only in case if there are disruptive mistakes, all in the name of smoothing it all out).
I've got a lot of ideas while arranging and recording a song. Those filling intervals, melodies come from the piano mostly. Some even counterpoint perfectly with eachother. And sometimes you have to choose, wipe away what's getting in the way.
Every song has got its own personal handling of course. After a few weeks of self-imposed distance I've listened again with "new" ears. Aha. Yes, that distance helps to be more objective about the sound, especially if you work alone (!). Watched a few youtube tutorials of generous sound engineers again to learn more about their professional mixing methods. Let's get it on.

My method? The "meth" method.

 Ok, I need some more distance perhaps haha....CU!

Ok, I did it again!

Once in a while I add one of my songs to a playlist on Spotify and sometimes someone opens his ears for it. This time it was a playlist from Kahsay, a swedish musician, who wrote a few nice words for this song from my 2015 album "Lightning Dutchman". Thank U Kahsay from a fellow musician.

Have a nice weekend every1. Stay humble.....

"I have an collaborative playlist and been promoting that on different occasions and when I scrolled that playlist a song popped out and hit my ears. It' s a dutch songwriter that creates fantastic soundscapes in the area of funk, jazz and soul. I was blown away by the fantastic groove in the song "Don't Do It Again". Give him a listen. He's about to release an album in 2018. I'm looking forward to hear that album."

3-BulletFriday (Don't Do It Again)