So here's my last post. If I had more time I would have treated you with anecdotes how political pop music actually is, according to itself, or the Swedish fascination with Håkan Hellström and his semi-philosophical lyrics. But no time.Now, I need to bring my narrative to an end. And what I am talking about is of course that I was starting a band in high school, and then discovered that I could not really play guitar or bass guitar (at least not properly, as a musician), yet after listening to some of the aforementioned artists, I realised there was a place in this world for quirky lyrics and lofi recordings. So I set to work and crafted my very first demo. And talking about how political pop music is, this song was about being too stunned to change the world, and instead just feeding your cat to strangely compensate. I fit in a language-specific word play, building on the word feeding which in Dutch also can be associated with demonstrating (although not involving any eating, if you're wondering). Needless to say, it made the song impossible to translate. Lucky for me though, - lo and behold! -I did get to the quarter finals of the Grote Prijs van Nederland, a respected contest for emerging pop musicians. Later on, I learned it was largely because jury member Anne Soldaat - guitarist of Daryl-ann, a name in Dutch alternative guitar music - was particularly charmed by my quirky songs! Woohoo! Of course it did not help me one bit, because the actual gig, which constituted this quarter final, was a mild disappointment. It was for all acts at that night, I must add. No big embarrassment, but the whole performance did not lift. To save face, I blame the fact that no sound check was allowed. It was pretty much plug in and play. Well, anyhow. Those were my 15 minutes of fame.
I actually still pluck my guitar and sing. I plan to release my first demo in Swedish soon.Yet, to go full circle, I would like to draw you attention to an artist with more potential than me, which is Joram Tornij, who is of course no friend of mine, I deny all affiliation. With his singer/songwriter alter ego Squirrel, he did also make it to the quarter final of this very same contest, with the difference that he is in it now. So go and see him at Tolhuistuin in Amsterdam on October 9th, but if you cannot make it, be sure to listen to his songs, well crafted and with echos of Jose Gonzalez to name a soundslike.
and vote on the website of De Grote Prijs van Nederland
~ Florian van Kuijk
Thanks a zillion billions, Flo!
~ Gehoorwurm