I am a composer living in Amsterdam. Ever since I can remember I was fascinated with sound; music was everywhere around me. In the last ten years I've mainly focussed on making music for documentaries and short movies. I really love that magical moment when you know you married the right music to the picture. I was always moved by the idea that I could make a story stronger by adding the right music.

 

Yet, a few years ago I felt the urge to write music to my own stories. I had never felt this way before. I wanted to go back to that first spark of interest, that first mysterious interaction with music. Create something that stands on its own, its own little universe. Switching between the piano and acoustic guitar as my main instruments, I started writing.I drew inspiration from the likes of Chopin, Bill Evans, Radiohead, Ravel, Sufjan Stevens and James Blake to name a few...  

 

By the Orchard became a collection of little adventures that I was never able to translate to words other than to music. The compositions are not based on traditional song structures, instead, they transition from one scene to another. Like wandering through an unknown forest, exploring unknown territory without looking back. I wanted it to sound intimate and nostalgic. Known for his analogue, gritty sound I asked producer and engineer Simon Akkermans to help me accomplish this. We recorded the piano parts in the comfort of my own bedroom, at the very heart of Amsterdam. We took those parts to Simon's studio where we recorded acoustic guitars and a few analogue synths. We then spent nights messing around with tape machines, in order to create textures that make you feel you've been put back in time a few decades.

 

The result is a collection of classical compositions rooted in heyday pop music. 

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