Music Home-grown Utrecht music

Home-grown music

WE ALL LONG FOR LIVE GIGS IN TIVOLIVREDENBURG, EKKO, DB’S, DE NIJVERHEID - OR WHEREVER. UNTIL THAT FINALLY HAPPENS, LISTENING TO HOME-GROWN UTRECHT MUSIC ON SPOTIFY IS A GREAT ALTERNATIVE. HERE ARE A FEW TIPS!

SURFING TESSEL

It would be difficult not to feel happy listening to the indie-surf sound of TESSEL with its echoing guitars, melodious bass line and groovy drum beat. But don’t be fooled: the lyrics are much more melancholic than the sound. The good news is that TESSEL signed a record deal with PIAS earlier this year, and released a single called Family Time. They’re currently working on a debut album, so we’ll certainly be hearing more from them soon!

tesselband.nl

Music

SEVENTIES POP

ROBIN KESTER

Picture the scene: a studio in an empty building that used to be a psychiatric hospital, where

Robin Kester and her producer Marien Dorleijn (Moss) are experimenting with retro guitars, vintage synthesizers and an antique vibraphonette to create a dreamy, sultry sound, inspired by 1970s pop, and with lyrics describing the sinister, elusive side of life. Kester’s minialbum This Is Not A Democracy was released last year, and her first full album is expected in 2021.

showcase.fm/robinkester

FOLK MAGIC I AM OAK

The band that backs the Utrecht singer-songwriter Thijs Kuijken combines folk, indie and Americana with raw guitar sounds. Their calming songs are great in a concert hall, but sound just as good in a more intimate setting (i.e. at home). Their latest album was released last December: Odd Seeds features new interpretations of old numbers Kuijken recorded in spring 2020, making it a musical ode to the strange COVID-19 era.

iamoak.com

MELANCHOLIC DREAM POP AMBER ARCADES

The dreamy, melancholic indie pop produced by singersongwriter Annelotte de Graaf, a.k.a. Amber Arcades, is a no-brainer for this list. After spending some time writing and recording solo numbers, she left for New York in 2015 to work on her debut album Fading Lines with producer Ben Greenberg. This was followed by the EP Cannonball (2017) and a second album entitled European Heartbreak (2018).

showcase.fm/amberarcades

EXPERIMENTAL HIP HOP PAX THE HUMANOID

Hein Mees Bal, a.k.a. PAX, started his musical career while studying and joined The Kyteman Orchestra in 2007. His solo album PAX The Humanoid was released in 2020, for which he drew inspiration from the ups and downs of his own life. Besides making music, PAX also teaches aspiring musicians. As for his music: you could best describe it as experimental hip hop that’s definitely worth listening to.

paxthehumanoid.com

NOISE COMBO QAZAM

The four early-millennials who form the band Combo Qazam were born into an analogue world, which gradually became increasingly digital. You hear this dichotomy in their music: the harmonious melodies and contemplative, spacey vocals are combined with subtle hints of post-punk, math rock, kraut and noise. The debut album Flight Music was released in May last year. Let’s hope that we can soon hear it live!

comboqazam.com

Music

CONTEMPLATIVE, SPACEY VOCALS ARE COMBINED WITH SUBTLE HINTS OF KRAUT AND NOISE

INDIE FOLK WITH A TOUCH OF COUNTRY JUDY BLANK

Hearing the groovy Americana songs of singer-songwriter Judy Blank, it’s hard to believe that she’s from Utrecht. Much of Blank’s indie folksongs were inspired by her travels through the United States, where she performed in intimate settings at open-mic nights in the bars of Louisiana. She soon became the talk of the town. In 2018, Blank released her debut album Morning Sun, and in 2020, two more EPs: Morning After, in which Blank opts for more guitar and more country, and Morning Tapes, featuring lo-fi bedroom recordings of favourites from Morning Sun and Morning After.

LAYERED INDIE ROCK LITZBERG

Musician/songwriter Mathijs Peeters is originally from Limburg - Litzberg is a reference to the Litsberg, a place in the Leudal, an area of natural beauty close to the village where Peeters spent his formative years. He’s lived in Utrecht for some time now, and you might know his name from his guitar work he did for the roots rock bands The Gasoline Brothers and Sandusky, or as frontman for his own project Reiger. His 2019 debut album In_ My_Head features captivating, layered indie rock with a hint of blues and Americana.

Litzbergmusic.nl

SOUTHERN SOUND DEWOLFF

This psychedelic rock trio officially come from Limburg, but we’ve added them to the list because they’ve had their own studio in an Utrecht wharf cellar for years. This February saw the official release of their latest album Wolffpack. The event was livestreamed free of charge from TivoliVredenburg. DeWolff normally make regular appearances at festivals around the world, but their typical ‘Southern sound’ is perfect in your living room too.

dewolff.nu

PUMPING ENERGY TUSKY

‘‘Foo Fighters and Offspring got married, then divorced, and now their angry child Tusky is asking for attention, well actually, demanding attention!’’, is how these Utrecht-based punkers describe themselves on their site. It turns out to be a perfect description of Tusky’s sound: packed with pumping energy, and is at its absolute best when you hear them live - preferably in their ‘home base’ dB’s.