At the start of what we hopefully will refer to as the long hot festivalsummer of 2024, ArtistCongratz would like to zoom in on a colourful artist named Joran Kunde.
Born and raised in Ghent, with roots in Kameroun, this rapper, producer and multi instrument player combines hip hop elements with contemporary jazz, funk and afro-beats🎶.
With a debut called “Dandelion”, we are almost immediately triggered to find out more about the story behind an extraordinary album, named after what we all tend to refer to as…weeds.
Kunde: Dandelion.🌼 The little fluffy flower you can blow the seeds from, felt like a metaphor to me. Throughout the years I thought about it visually several times.
I remember being very fond of these flowers when I was little. I loved to blow on them, to see them “float”. But I also remember a woman telling me: “Don’t blow on those, they spread weeds.” They turned out to be unwanted flowers. At least for most people. I didn’t see them that way.
“In between Belgium and Kameroun”
Kunde: Growing up in Belgium while having roots somewhere else had its challenges, like anywhere else.You have to kind of adapt to some kinds of climate to flourish.
So I began to see the dandelion as this metaphor. Feeling like a little seed, blown through the winds of time, looking for a place to sprout, grow and flourish. At the same time being labeled “an unwanted flower”.
Joran Kunde
The trigger for the album actually came from going back to Kameroun where part of my roots are. Far far away, like seeds of Dandelion, flown with the wind.
I don’t think people should be bound to geography, migration is a natural process. In my core as a human being I believe that all humans on this planet originally come from Africa somehow. Dandelion is a way to reflect all this…
Kunde about his concert in Ancienne Belgique on March 27th: Surreal and fantastic…it’s crazy to perform at such an iconic location and opening for icons like Amadou & Maryam. This was the second time we played in AB. Six months prior we did one show in AB-club. Being able to play for the first time in the main hall for more than 1500 people felt awesome.About his collaboration with singer songwriter Helena Casella:
AC witnessed her live at TAZ 2023. Kunde: I played the day before her…
AC: sorry we missed that…are you working together regularly?
Kunde: I am actually working on a second album. I’m still figuring out how the music will work but I already have one song with her. Fun fact: we recorded it the same date we recorded
“You should know” on which Helena features. After a session of three hours, we felt the inspiration and made something from scratch. We both felt that this was not a one time thing…
Never before the controverse was so omnipresent at the worlds most legendary music festival. The ESC of Malmö is one for the historybooks. How symbolical this Switzerland win. Although neutrality no longer seems of this world when innocent children are paying the price.
But it should be about the music. United by Music is not a hollow sentence. It’s a way of life. For artists and audiences worldwide 🌍From Europe to Australia 🎶🇪🇺🇦🇺
ArtistCongratz
A great song with a message should always win. 🥇 Congratz on a flawless, ground-, border-, award-🙈and code breaking performance finding a 🆕 «Nemo»🤜🏆🤛
Special Congratz to my contemporaries Malin Åkerman & Petra Mede👸🏼👸🏻🇸🇪, ultimate professionals, presenting and hosting this 68th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest in difficult circumstances 👏🎙️🎧📻🎶Dear Malin, Petra, On a slightly smaller scale;) but nonetheless extremely fun- we’re definitely colleagues;), (picture taken yesterday in the studio of our local radiostation 🎙️whilst me (also in white;)) presenting and co-hosting a Eurovision parade throughout history 🎶 Which felt amazing, so I can only imagine what it must feel like to actually host the Eurovision Song Contest 💭🥰😍Also Special Congratz to this years runner up Croatia🇭🇷and No 3 La Douce France 🇫🇷, our personal favourites« Finding Nemo next level »
Let’s shed some light on the latest project of a remarkable Swiss composer-storyteller based in Brussels. To ArtistCongratz he comes across far from scary… nevertheless the music we are talking about is called “Unheimlich” (scary in German but meaning much more) The third album written by Camille-Alban Spreng’s ODIL is the first one ft. Nina Kortekaas.
Triggered to know the story behind it, we had an inspiring chat with Camille 🎙️
Camille Alban Spreng: Unheimlich is a funny word actually. It doesn’t have any real translation, in English nor French. The basic idea of the album is trying to translate this word into music. It describes a feeling you might know and yet sometimes you might not be able to grasp it. Very strange.
AC: Something mysterious, unexplainable?
Camille: You could say that yes. Actually the term was invented by Sigmund Freud to describe the feeling when something comes from your subconsciousness. The right to your subconsciousness is triggered by something you see or hear. You know what is happening but at the same time it feels very strange…a little bit like a déjà vu or even a premonition.
AC: How do you start to translate something like this into music?
Camille: Fascinated by the work of the great American poet Allen Ginsberg from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, I wanted to bring a kind of hommage to his writing.✍️ His work also has this kind of strangeness, weirdness to it. And at the same time it’s deeply rooted into our daily life.
As I was writing 🎼, thesetwo ideas were living at the same time. There are actually a lot of links between the poetry of Ginsberg and this captivating word I wanted to translate into music. Our mission with Nina is to make all this more accessible through the songs.🎵
ArtistCongratz 🔝 selection surely includes “Daily Wonder”
Camille: That’s a funny one. It’s a ballad and a long mellow song. The only one on the album. The first idea of this song was to adapt a Ginsberg-poem but in the end I chose another direction and wrote the lyrics myself. The idea behind the song ? What if we could see everything in the world and witness the daily life of whom ever…or looking at the daily life of an animal or a plant for instance.🌱
AC: A mysterious animal actually features on the cover of your album…
Camille: That’s exactly what I wanted… somewhat unheimlich…🐾 …just so you know, it’s actually a dalmation;)
Want to witness some «🎶Unheimlich🎵» manoeuvres first hand? ODIL is playing live this Friday February 23 @Rataplan – Borgerhout/Antwerp https://www.rataplanvzw.be/e/odil
Halfway through Belgian music week ArtistCongratz would like to shed some more spotlight 🔛our national music scene. Once more lots of international potential is detected🎶🙌
After ESNS, the annual awardceremony in the Dutchspeaking part of Belgium is on our schedule. They are called The MIA’s, short for Music Industry Awards. This year they were held in Antwerp. Organized by vi.be (supporting our Belgian music scene💪🎼) and national channel VRT.
Join us for some captivating images of absolute highlights⤵️ during the show:
After last years “natural high” on top of the Atomium in Brussels by Oscar & The Wolf, meet this year’s showstarter: Gustaph, border breaking performer/creator in 2023. “Because of you” keeps inspiring audiences and artists, The song turns out as one of the most successful Belgian entries of the Eurovision Song Contest. (Picture by Jokko/VRT)Meet multi-talent Pommelien Thys, hot in Flanders because of her own unique artistic approach. Besides acting in different series, writing her own songs and performing them with panache, she also designs her own ecofriendly, conscious 🌱fashion 🔛 stage. She wins no less than five Music Industry Awards. CONGRATZ indeed Pommelien! 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 (pic by Jokko/VRT)Pommelien in concert 🎵 💃🩰The MIA “Breakthrough of 2023” goes to thankful “nominee-along-such-talented-fellow-artists” Aron Blommaert. Nicely presented by Miss Loena Hendrickx, European Champion, our national pride in Figureskating 🥇⛸️ (pic by Jokko/VRT)And this long braided multi-awarded beauty waltzes through lalaland and “Different Waters📀” by the name of Coely, our international hip hop pride. She was handed her prize by a famous Belgian goofy influencer called Average Rob⤵️🦸🏻(pic by Jokko/VRT)
Average Rob; not quite that average where Marvel’s characters are concerned
And this is Portlands Jenthe Pironet (best alternative 🎸) on the left, alongside Metejoor, also nominated in different categories🙌🎵🎶Jenthe also wins the award for the most heartwarming speech, dedicating his prize to medical science and care ❤️🩹 (pic by Jokko/VRT)Rapper winner Brihang definitely has a heart for all things going wrong in the world 🌎 ⬇️ “make music not war & cease all fires.” Hear his Peace pleas(e)🎶 ✌️(pic by Jokko/VRT)Another moving moment highlighting the ceremony. All time Flemish audience favourite Hugo Sigal dedicates his award for best (Flemish) popular to his late partner on and off stage Nicole, who sadly passed away too soon. (pic by Jokko/VRT)A lifetime of folky music is crowned🤴🏻🎶. With lyrics involving all our daily concerns like bread 🥖, spoons 🥄 and… WiFi of course. Bart Peeters gets his special award by another national icon Raymond van het Groenewoud. (pic by Jokko/VRT)CONGRATZ to all winners and nominees 🙌, check all of them 🔛 https://mias.vrt.be (pic by Jokko/VRT)
Kate Ryan, iconic artist who also defended our colours at Eurovision back in 2006 🇧🇪 remember her famous knee move while bringing her now-evergreen “Je t’adore”🎵♥️ https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3JHnre0q3ow
And this far-from-freaky-fellow I interviewed more than a decade ago with his band Freaky Age. Cheers to Lenny Crabbé👋🥂, son of Luc Crabbé (Telstar/Betty Goes Green)
Meet Lenny number two :), also a very gifted musician
And this must be the most famous soundman🎤in Flanders. In the picture a lot but always his likable self. Whom everybody knows simply by his first name: Pascal.
And last but not least a selfie 🤳 with these multitalented ladies, pianist/designer Tylaine (in the middle) and singer Zohra🎶🎤How about a red wall instead of the regular carpet… Don’t you just love this quote from «The Voice»? An absolute work of art adorning this wall of the locker room @ music lab Trix Antwerp Thank you VRT, TRIX, Sportpalace & VI.Be for including ArtistCongratz 🎶
3’Ain! عينWhere west joins east in sea(s) of stories. Narrated by a jazztrio on point.
(Re)discover our interviewee Piet Maris (accordion), founder of Jaune Toujours and 3’Ain, surrounded by his fellow-bandmembers Otto Kint (double bass) and Yamen Martini (trumpet) -picture by Diana Takcsova-
“Reversed three”
AC: Very important first question! Inspired by the eighteenth letter of the arabic alphabet, how do you pronounce the name of your newest band ? عين Because reportedly for western people it seems almost impossible to pronounce…
Piet: (laughs) Actually that’s what Wikipedia says, it’s more of a story than a reality. I played in a trio before with a Syrian cello player. Really eager to do something similar, I wanted to continue in a trio formula.Searching for a name, I really wanted it to refer to us as a trio and to our cultural bagage. Including our middle eastern influences through Yamen.
So I came up with this character as a reversed three, which is actually some sort of sign: عين
In Arabic chat and sms conversation , the AIN is often represented by a 3, sometimes explicitly mentioned as 3ain. So here comes in this 3 AIN.
Piet Maris
That was a good starting point for me. You should pronounce it a bit in the back of the throat.Ch ain, Three like in English, ein like in German if you want…:)
AC: Makes you wonder how does that go when announced on stage?
Piet: They always ask the question, how do we pronounce it? Actually it’s not so hard but it creates a story indeed. Although I wasn’t aware of that in the very beginning.
“Instant click”
AC: You met Yamen while making music for a play?
Piet: We actually met amidst the asylum crisis of 2016. Yamen had arrived in Belgium earlier but at some sort of manifestation, making a solidarity demo for refugees, we were kind of put together as musicians. “You will blend well” they said. Luckily we actually did;).
We instantly clicked. From that moment on, I started to involve him in my on going projects. Like this very special one in Mortsel. Initiated by Caroline Rottier. She’s a theatre maker, known for her inclusive work. In which she also involves people with disabilities. She asked me to do the music for this piece called “Move”. About people on the move. A very nice play and open project, offering a lot of artistic freedom.
We rehearsed with the actors. At first just me as a musician, to get the inspiration. At a certain point I pulled in Yamen, and the other cello-player to collaborate. This was our first creation together.
“Scrambled Ensor”
AC: Sounds really cool indeed. But so does your working space where 3’Ain gets inspired by all kinds of boats passing by… 🛥🚢⛴🛳
Piet: We have this huge privilege to be able to rehearse in the port of Ostend, in the quarters of a social artistic work place called O666, at the site of Fort Napoleon. (Picture by Diana Takacsova)
Being one of the very few places over there with a very ancient character to it, quite the contrast with all those posh new built projects in the neighbourhood.
It has a recording studio, which we use as a rehearsing room. It happens to have a big window with a magnificent view to the boats passing by.
Like the BZ189🎶🛥, spotted while looking outside pretty randomly: which-boat-is-here? Songs, titles and tracks are born here. This is where our first EP was made. Clearly 🙂
Piet: Sea of Stories, our recent album, still contains references to the sea but less literally. For instance, there is a song called: Scrambled Ensor.
AC: Great title.
Piet: Actually we didn’t invent it ourselves. During a livestream in confinement, playing some sort of première of the song, we asked our virtual audience to come up with a title.
Everyone had a strong souvenir of the period you weren’t allowed to go the seaside etc. Possibly they were inspired by former works of us. Explaining why the Ostend-reference is still there.
Piet Maris
“Exchange between cultures”
AC: 3’Ain tends to reach a large audience ?
Piet: I also find it very charming to see a punkrock band in concert. They tend to reach a more specific audience. But a lot of music is broading up these days. I like to keep the music accessible in all my projects. Always seeking common ground. For 3‘Ain, in different fields of western music, going in dialogue with middle eastern traditions.
Nor me, nor the bass player Otto, are very familiar with all those traditions. In that way Yamen is facilitating our exchange between cultures.
Our song “Meeting Issues” represents his feeling of being “wired”, how hard it is missing his family all over the world…
ArtistCongratz’ cue to make y’all experience this narrative sound of 3’Ain in even more intriguing titles like Tango Soleil du Nord🎶 Listen below 🤳👇
Want to experience Sea of Stories by 3’Ain live? Go see this trio in concert coming 🔜 all over Belgium⬇️
September 9th: Sjruur, Maaseik
October 24th: Entr (De Centrale), Gent
January 14th: Jazzy Sunday (Leietheater), Deinze
January 19th: Cinéma Le Parc (Les Grignoux), Luik (Liège)
Belgium’s lucky number 7’s now have three countries to pick from for their next vacation(s). Or go conquer stages of the nations who granted us 12 points.
Doing a marvellous job on the iconic one in Liverpool. Sacred ground for ever found. Congratz Gustaph & Cie, you did great! The song Because of You will go full circle.
Seems we are headed to even holier Eurovision ground next year.
Thanks to Loreen and her lyrical Tattoo 🎵. Leaving Finland runner up. Cha cha cha cha cha cha…🎵catchy though Käärija!🇫🇮
The lady with the toughest nails and shortest aria’s manages to break through ceilings allright. The “staged” and a glass one, being the first woman to win the Eurovision Song Contest twice. In 2012, she felt « Euphoria » for the first time in Baku, Azerbedjan.
ₜₐₜₜₒₒ ₜᵣᵢᵤₘₚₕ, ᵥᵢₙₜₐgₑ ₘₑₑₜₛ fᵤₜᵤᵣₑ
2024 celebrates the 50th anniversary of ABBA’s winning “Waterloo”, which is in…Belgium 🇧🇪
Let’s try again and go full circle. Maybe with “a mighty masked singer”👸🏼who won ESC for us 37 years ago. Since her 1986-triumph, an adorable teenager with a pink bow and a life-loving Eurosong has transformed into a « Queen »
How about it Sandra, dear? Loreen, Johnny and…you ?🎀
ArtistCongratZ
Throwback to 1986🎤Sandra Kim in the Norwegian Town of Bergen.
Yep, it’s that time of the year again. Love it or leave it but by all means live it if you like !
Europe, Australia, even parts of Asia and the Middle East manage to unite in music every year around mid May. 2023 has all eyes and ears 🔛Liverpool ▶️🎵
So go for it contestants 🎵
BUT… ArtistCongratz has one special request⤵️
EUROPE, do save tonight’s votes for a very special candidate 🇧🇪.
Here are 7 undeniable reasons why you should vote Belgium into the finals TONIGHT⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️
1. BECAUSE OF the irresistible, inspirational, beyond professional ARTIST Gustaph aka Stef Caers, who worked his way from back to front slowly but surely, so well deserved 🎤🎼💪✍️
2. BECAUSE OF Gustaphs undeniable taste in fashion🕺💃. #waltervanbeirendonck
3. BECAUSE OF the spot-on-lyrics of the sing-a-long to become evergreen, written by Gustaph himself and multi-talented artist Jaouad Alloul
4. BECAUSE OF the undeniable starquality of ECS’s most quirky “back-to-front-vocals” Monique Harcum, Chantal Kashala, Sandrine Van Handenhoven and Gustaph of course
5. BECAUSE Belgium deserves MORE Eurosong kings and queens along Sandra Kim, who won 37(!) years ago
6. BECAUSE of the great story behind the scenes, telling all of us that it’s never too late for break through!
7. BECAUSE OF (all of) YOU!!!
From ArtistCongratz to Gustaph & his entire dreamteam: go go go and get qualified for this Saturday’s finals ! Your blog host, Gustaph style xxx
In January, Congratz were in order for a female winner of a prestigious Belgian Award for best musician.
Attend a Brutus-concert and you’ll instantly experience why this honour fell to their drummer and vocalist Stefanie Mannaerts. Equally well deserved by Peter Mulders and Stijn Van Hoegaerden, who’s roaring bass & guitars complete the magical Brutus-sound. Post hardcore at its finest.
ArtistCongratz had a chat with all three band-members. Just returned from France, they landed back home on March 25th, in the colourful town of Bruges. Where Cactus Club would become another highlight of their latest tour through Europe.
Enjoy a close up of a close band and their new album, called “Unison Life”, which was presented in Ancienne Belgique late last year.
Brutus, Picture by Eva Vlonk
AC: I interviewed you guys once before, the early Brutus-years, way back in 2014. Would or could you have imagined then that Brutus would be playing sold out concerts worldwide?
Stefanie: You dream about it when you’re sixteen. And you hope that’s what you’re going to do. But you never think it will actually happen.
AC: Did you notice some kind of turning point along the way?
Stefanie: I realized something when we did a European tour when the venues went from twentyfive people to sometimes seven-hundred. But we didn’t wake up one day, feeling bigger than yesterday.
Tourmanagement takes you to all the right spots…
Stefanie: The booker we work with, has been around since 2016. We really work well together. I think he understands who we are and we understand his vision.
Left to right: Stijn, Stefanie & Peter, pic by Eva Vlonk
AC: Do you feel you have been able to maintain enough artistic freedom?
Stefanie: With everyone we work, to be honest. I think if somebody would come and say, “you can never do this again”, we would reply: “OK, but you won’t ever do THIS again.” (laughs)
It’s ok, I get that sometimes it’s about strategy, but WE are all about the music. If someone would try to talk us into another course we would have question marks.
AC: Tell us about Unison Life, how it came to life, creating in confinement.
Peter: The previous album (Burst– 2018) was written during touring. But due to Covid, we had much more time for this one. We had no idea when the album would come out or when we would be touring again…
Stijn: That definitely had an impact on how the songs were written. We had the time, so we also took it as an opportunity to go more in depth, from song to song. If we finished a track, we came to a certain point where we asked ourselves: “Is there anything else we can do ? Can we try different stuff? So we took it a lot further and went deeper for each and every song.
AC: Playing such a new song for the first time, must feel amazing…
Stijn: When a song comes to life, that’s one of the most beautiful things in the world indeed. Especially if you can do this with two people that you love and trust, and like to play music with. For me that’s like… every time we write songs. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t but when it works it feels amazing.
AC: Do you have some kind of indicator which songs will be spot on?
Stijn: Maybe not to the outside world, but for us yes. There have been a couple of songs, written in the past, where we instantly felt the right kind of energy in the room.
AC: ArtistCongratz has a soft spot for Sugar Dragon.
Stefanie: Sugar Dragon came to life when we were on tour a lot. I had some troubles with my boyfriend but he was not the problem. So it’s a bit of a tribute to him. But Peter and Stijn could also relate to the song. Because we all went through the same thing. They didn’t have troubles with their girlfriends but the missing part, being away and longing for somebody makes it a direct ode to a loved one. So that’s what Sugar Dragon is all about. Plus it’s literally the translation of a nickname that my boyfriend has in Dutch. (ed. note Stephanies boyfriend is Stake-drummer Joris Casier, his band will be playing live in Cactus Bruges on April 15th)
(Suikerdraak? 😉Sugardragon comes from your previous album but we also want to know what triggered the new one.
Stefanie: Referring to your previous question, how to feel you wrote something special. We felt it with “What have we done?” It’s not that it’s better than other songs. It’s just all about the right time, the right notes, the right words. It came to life unforced. It’s the same as why some days are more special than others in life. You don’t know, maybe it’s because you met somebody or the sun was shining…It came from some genuine place…How it’s like to be in a band.
“War”, another Brutus-Song was used in Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege video game:
Peter: The producer of the game happened to be a fan. So we made it happen.
AC: Last Summer Brutus was invited as support act for none other than…the Foo Fighters, but unfortunately their drummer Taylor Hawkins passed away, so it was cancelled. But it probably won’t be long before you will get another invitation of that kind?
Stefanie: We will be waiting by the phone (laughs)
On top of Brutus’ wishlist:
“Definitely make some more records as a band”
“To do a tour with a cool band or a recording session or an EP with someone completely different”
“Other stuff would be nice but we will always prioritise records”
“Making more songs, better songs, songs that touch people, songs that people can relate to”
“Write music, play a lot, as much as possible”
AC: There aren’t many female singing drummers. The only ones we could come up with were Karen Carpenter and Sheila E.
Stephanie: There are The Corrs as well, but you will find a lot of drumming backing vocals.
The only reason I’m singing now is because Stijn bought me a microphone. (laughs)
AC: If you hadn’t done that, we would have missed this magical Brutus-combination.
Stijn: I would have found another way to make Stefanie sing…Somebody asked me lately after the show: Why didn’t YOU start singing? Then we would not be having this conversation. (laughs)
Every song we make, always involves the three of us.
Stefanie Mannaerts
It always contains something of each and everyone of us. Those different kinds of influences make it fun. We try to put a lot of things into one song.
Want to catch Brutus live? In May they will also be touring in the U.S.
Picture Eva Vlonk
Closer to home, they can also be found in the line ups of legendary festivals as Pinkpop in The Netherlands. This Sunday they will be playing at Paaspop at Schijndel, also in The Netherlands.
Want to catch them in their homecountry Belgium, before they are headed to the US? They play at Durbuy Rock Festival on May the 13th.
AC: We came across another friendly band in the past, Slow Crush is also very successfulinternationally…
Stijn: Oh yes we know them very well actually… we follow each other.
AC: They are also famous for inventing their very own unique fuzz-pedal called Glow-Fuzz.
Peter: Yes indeed, it’s very cool. We want to do that too 🎵
Stijn: Actually I expect Jelle (Slow Crush guitar player) to send us one… (laughs)
Ed. Note: Fuzz pedals are a popular type of guitar effects pedal that use transistor technology to produce a distorted, fuzzy sound.) Read more about it in our previous blogpost ⤵️,
Slow Crush will also be playing in Bruges Cactus club on July 7th.
Spring has arrived ! ArtistCongratz’ cue to treat you to some early summer vibes with a Latin-Belgian twist 🇪🇸🇧🇪
This band juggles its way to the hearts of people AND their dancing shoes. 🕺
To captivate a crowd is right up the alley of five stagelovers, who call themselves “Rumbaristas”. Their brandnew album, just a few weeks old, is called “Malabares”, which is Spanish for jugglers.
ArtistCongratz had an inspiring chat with bandmembers Willy Fuego and Roel Poriau at AB-club, right after Rumbaristas swept the audience of their feet in a swirling showcase 🎶🎺🥁🎤
AC: Congratz on the new album! How does it feel to finally share your songs with the world?
Roel: It feels great. The last three years, we put a lot of work and effort in it. During the Covid era, we have been working a long time on all the new songs.
AC: Was it like a benefit of confinement, having more freedom and time to write?
Roel: In a way yes but because we really are a live band, we also missed playing in front of a live audience. Being able to do that now, along with all the good vibes and people dancing to the songs is really a nice reward for all the work on Malabares.
Back then, we had some 20 to 30 tracks ready to record but when we sat together with our producer, some of the tracks turned out to be too dark. Covered in Covid darkness, let’s say.We really want to keep a balance between happy and slightly darker songs. Tonight was all about party though. People dancing on our music is the greatest reward.
RUMBARISTAS 🎶🎼
AC: Playing the songs for the very first time, must be special indeed
Roel: There were a few concerts before this one. Two weeks ago we played in Granada and soon we will also be playing again in Belgium, Serbia and Bulgaria. Probably Holland too…
AC: Maybe some colourful festivals as well, like TAZ or Dranouter…
Roel: By all means, we have a few big ones on our wishlist.Couleur Café and Sfinx are some of the best world music festivals.Hungary’s sziget fesztivál is also very nice.Dranouter, we played before, but we would like to return. Theater Aan Zee? Good idea, this could also be a match with Rumbaristas.
AC: Back to Malabares, which means juggling…With words? Music, genres, each other? (Laughs) Where did the idea come from?
Willy: In Spain the people use the word juggle when they struggle to keep on going. When they cope, the people do “malabares”.
Roel: We also shot an extraordinary video, made by Willy and Joan Garriga. Made in Barcelona, it’s about a mother who also has to juggle to make ends meet. She’s struggling to make a living, for her son too.
AC: Any favouritetracks on the album? Or does that feel like choosing between your babies?
Willy: All the songs capture one particular moment of feelings. Happiness, nostalgia…
“But we do have a special bond with one song in particular, actually. It’s called “La Vida es Bella”In a way, this song has it all.
Willy Fuego
Roel: This was a collaboration with Amparo Sánchez also known as Amparanoia.(ed.note: Amparanoia is the stage name of Spanish singer/guitarist Amparo Sánchez who combines her first name with the word ‘paranoia’. Willy also played in her band for a long time.
A lot of different things come together in that record. It’s danceable, it has a latin vibe, nice rhythm, trumpets…And it contains the melancholy that Willy often has in his songs.
AC: How did you all meet?
Roel: I met Thomas, the trumpet-player, first. I was working with him, for “l’orchestre International du Vetex”Willy was playing with Amparo Sanchez while in Belgium. We did a kind of jam together in Tournai, where her manager lives. The three of us started to play. Which felt really great. Of course we needed a bass player. I invited Thomas, with whom I played in Think Of One before.
About Rumabaristas creative process:
Roel: For this album, we really worked more collectively, but most of the time, Willy will start a song. Sometimes with a rhythm track I already created. Or on his own. Then we start working with that. Looking for the right groove, Tomasino will write the melodies while we come up with lyrics in different languages. Willy has also found a way to leave a lot of things open, so we can fill it in.
Want to catch this band live?
In May Rumbaristas starts touring again.
Rumbaristas, not your typical Belgian band, besides welcomed on stages abroad, they are also breaking through our national language borders. They can be found both on stages in the northern as well as the southern part of Belgium. Gigs in Tournai, Namur (in a monastery) are coming up.
The band succeeds to mesmerize young to older audiences, in different places. Including the iconic AB-club, one of the best venues for sound.
The band also presented their first album here.
Roel: It’s very difficult to find a venue that has all the qualities of AB. Every musician and/or band knows this, good technicians, great acoustics.
Other music temples On Rumbaristas’ wishlist are: Paradiso and Apolo club Barcelona. Spread the word ! And the music of course.
Pictures by Anthony Henry
Backstage at 🆎 Ancienne Belgique, with bandmembers Roel, Willy and their producer (picture by Griet De Blende)
What better way to launch our Belgian music week than with a sparkling shower of awards. Including dazzling music performances, « Made in Belgium »
You know what they say, tiny country, huge…talent 😉
Mia’s, short for Music Industry Awards, are our very own Belgian Grammy’s 💿, set up by our national tv-channel VRT and vi.be, Flanders guiding professional platform promoting rising artists. Place to be: Palace 12, just around the corner of our national pride The Atomium.
Artist Max Colombie aka Oscar and the Wolf gave a stunning performance on “🔝 of our national pride”’to kick off the Awardsceremony
On 🔝Oscar and the Wolf
Let’s have a closer look at those winners present, on the rise and confirming internationally. Kicking off by a rising star worldwide. On our watch as well as none other then Dave Grohls. Meet Stefanie Mannaerts ⬇️🥁
Stefanie just won her first MIA (musician) yesterday. Next Friday her band Brutus will play in a sold out legendary Brussels music temple Ancienne Belgique. Paris, Pink Pop, Pukkelpop and Daytona festival are just a few other roaring venues welcoming Stefanie and her band Brutus next. With drums and vocals sounding like a match made in shoegaze-heaven, ArtistCongratz can’t wait to discover “The Brutus Live Experience.” Nice to know: music runs in Stefanies family, her father Walter being a well known composer and her grandfather Leo is the writer of an anthem called…E Viva España.
Fancy blue suit by the way Stefanie, by all means reveal us your stylist;)
But we saw more than one vision in blue this year. Dressed like an Indigo queen, Charlotte Adigéry set fire to her mic and the stage alongside her partner-in-rhyme, Boris Pupul.
Charlotte full force 🎤🦋Haha 🙃 Strike a pose with a vibelike most groovy duo: Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul. Meeting each other back in 2016 through their work 🎵 for a cultfilm named Belgica, this Ghent based formation manages to transform pure irony into music. As well as many other feelings we all can relate to. Their list of quirky tracks is getting longer and longer. “Thank you, nonono thank youou ;-)” Ceci n’ést pas un cliché indeed 🎵 More high lights coming up after this years Mia’s for best art work (Topical Dancer) and producer (along David and Stephen Dewaele) Selfie by Pauline Slangen 🤳😊
Meet the one and only Real Regi, who wins the Mia for “best Dance”, the muse, on the left;) is vocalist Pauline Slangen, discovered in Regi’s own talent hunt “Regi Academy »
Regi’s music touch has been around for decades now and still continues to influence generations 🎵Now this is an icon you all must know. Leading Lady of Vaya Con Dios, recall Just a Friend of Mine, Heading For a Fall, Puerto Rico, and so many more hits worldwide. Dani Klein was handed a well deserved Lifetime Achievement Award. In her Thank you speech she did not forget her two legendary founding co members Dirk Schoufs and Willy Willy🎸And then there’s this adorable border breaking artist of course. All maestro’s, please make way for Stromae! He now holds the record with 20(!) Mia’s Twenty Mia’s and counting…“ArtistCongratz to all winners, nominees and performers 👏” pics Een, by Jokko
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