Bob Rusche (1958-2026)

Bob Rusche is niet meer...

 

Voor velen sinds de jaren 90 misschien wel de bekendste medewerker van de in 2008 ter ziele gegane muziekspeciaalzaak Boudisque in Amsterdam. Vanaf 2019 werkte hij bij Platenhuis 't Oor in Hilversum, en sinds dit jaar pensionado. Daarnaast was Bob sinds 1999 radiohost van X-Rated: hét programma voor experimentele muziek, avant-garde, industrial, ambient en elektronische muziek, dat hij na het overlijden van Arjen Grolleman in 2010 alleen voortzette, en met heel veel toewijding elke zondag voorbereidde en presenteerde. Eerst op Kink FM, en sinds 2011 te beluisteren op de Concertzender.

Ergens halverwege de jaren 90 leerden wij elkaar kennen in Boudisque. Bob als werknemer aldaar, en ik als klant. Bob kwam dan altijd met de mooiste nieuwe muzikale ontdekkingen, en hij wist precies waar elke vaste klant van hield en naar op zoek was.

Bob Rusche en Arjen Grolleman.

In 2000 had Bob een groot aandeel in het succes en erkenning van mijn debuutalbum "Exhibition of Dreams", door deze "Tip van Bob" - de graadmeter voor de beste nieuwe alternatieve, niet-commerciele muziek - te maken.

De jaren erna hebben we altijd contact gehouden, en heeft hij meer dan eens mijn muziek en die van artiesten op mijn platenlabel gesteund en gedraaid tijdens zijn radioshows. Een hele eer, want als je in X-Rated gedraaid werd, zat het goed! En hij besteedde altijd aandacht aan evenementen en concerten die ik organiseerde.

Uit eten bij Kobalt, 17-3-2026.

Zeker één keer per jaar gingen we uitgebreid tafelen en praatten we het voorbijgegane jaar bij. De ene keer in Hilversum, de andere keer in IJmuiden, maar meestal 'halverwege', in Amsterdam. Maar bij voorkeur een eetgelegenheid met een kat des huizes. Zijn favoriete harige viervoeters maakten het leven altijd een stuk mooier.

De laatste keer was 17 maart. Niet de laatste keer dat we elkaar spraken, maar wel de laatste keer dat we elkaar gezien hebben.

Bob was altijd een van de eersten die nieuwe muziek kreeg te horen van mij en mijn label. Zijn mening betekende heel veel voor mij.

Tijdens onze laatste ontmoeting in juni gaf ik hem de nieuwe Deserted Island Music releases. Edith Alonso's "Momento 0.0" kwam al snel op Bob's nominatie voor zijn traditionele eindejaarslijst van dit jaar. En hij liet zelfs doorschemeren dat deze hoogstwaarschijnlijk hoger zou gaan eindigen dan de nieuwe Boards of Canada. Maar deze lijst gaat er helaas niet meer komen...

Bob ademde muziek. Zijn hele huis stond vol met vreselijk veel - zowel in en op kasten en opgestapeld, maar allemaal zorgvuldig geordende - muziek. LP's, CD's, MC's, en meer, van uiteenlopende bands en artiesten, met alle denkbare muziekgenres, alsook uiterst unieke exemplaren. En zijn muzikale kennis was enorm. Hij vertelde altijd met trots als hij weer eens een popquiz had gewonnen.

 

Bob was ook X-Rated. Zijn stem, de toewijding, de (mix van) kwaliteitsmuziek uit verleden en het heden, de hele zondag selectie en voorbereiding, toewerkend naar de uitzending van 9 tot 11 (en aansluitend nog een uur 'straling tot middernacht' met X-Ray) 's avonds met een muzikale en verhalende opbouw waar je "U" tegen zegt, en de groeiende betrokken groep volgers op de sociale media. Elke zondag weer - ongeacht weersomstandigheden, uitgevallen treinverkeer of ziekte - en altijd op locatie in de studio van de Concertzender in Utrecht.

 

Bob had altijd veel vrienden om zich heen, en hij was ongecompliceerd. Volgens zijn eigen zeggen was werken in een muziekwinkel en radio maken het enige dat hij kon. Maar dat deed hij met zo vreselijk veel toewijding!

Ceremoniemeester Bob, 27-6-2014 (foto: Phil Booth).

Concerten van Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, Radio Massacre International, Cabaret Voltaire, Orbital, en festivals als Le Guess Who?, Rewire en E-Live; Bob was er bij, en we kwamen elkaar regelmatig tegen bij memorabele concertavonden. Bob stond nooit stil, maar liep altijd rond met steevast een koud biertje (en ook wel eens twee biertjes) in zijn hand, praatjes maken met bekenden, en genietend op zijn manier.

In 2014 was Bob ceremoniemeester tijdens het door mij georganiseerde "Chill at the Castle" in de Ruïne van Brederode. Een prachtige zomeravond op een prachtige locatie.

Bob was afgelopen week op vakantie met zijn vriendin Anita, oude jeugdherinneringen ophalen in het buitenland. Iets waar hij al zo lang niet meer gedaan had, en vreselijk naar uit keek.

Op de terugweg naar huis is Bob volledig onverwacht in zijn slaap overleden. Hij werd 67 jaar.

Bob, het ga je goed! Ik ga onze etentjes en geanimeerde conversaties (eigenlijk over van alles en nog wat, maar natuurlijk vooral de muziek) echt wel missen.

 

  

Bob Rusche

24 oktober 1958 - 26 juni 2026

Yvelines

A new collaboration with Peter Dekker, and there is a lot to tell about!

Preparations
Upcoming "Yvelines" release is a project which actually started rather basic.
After the "Live at BYSS" performance (2020) and album release (2023) by Däcker (Peter Dekker) and me, we talked about our next step. In fact we immediately came up with the idea to do something with a piano - and preferrably a grand piano - instead of the usual electronics and sythesizers.

Both Peter and myself are musically schooled, so why not challenge ourselves to create something 100% played manually? Putting our emotions and state of mind directly into the music. And if we wanted to hear a sequencer, we had to play it with our hands, instead of pre-programming it. Indeed also entirely improvised, just like was the case with out debuting BYSS collaboration. But playing a piano requires a different approach, by means of sound and dynamics, as well as the touch and way of playing and creating on this classical instrument.

When good friend David Smelik (we are going back for around 25 years) had connection with someone with a grand piano in his living room, we got the opportunity to record here, on this wonderful instrument, for a whole day.
At that point we were still about to 'just' record some sessions on the piano, complemented with a small amount of electronica. This time, largest part of the electronica was not to be used as direct sound generators, but rather as units for the processing and modulating of the piano, and for sound effects. Besides my Korg MS-20 (processing and FX) and Korg ER-1 (processing and rhythmic FX), we also included Peter's Sequential Prophet-5 (pads and FX). In this way we were able to create more contrast with the traditional piano output as well as a more dynamic atmosphere. Which resulted in the sound we were looking for, and which inspired our musical output.

When preparing these recordings, the initial 'simple' project became slightly more ambitious. Then we also brought some percussion tools to play the piano strings, besides playing the piano keys traditionally. During the sessions Peter also used his door keys, and David randomly got a drinking glass from the shelves, to affect the strings.

Remy, David and Peter.

Audio recording
Then, when it came to recording, David (who has quite some knowledge - and owns a lot - of recording equipment, and especially microphones) suggested to go for the best equipment we could get within our budget, so we ended up with 2x Neumann U87 (overhead recording of the piano) and two U67 (for the environment registration) microphones, as well as a Rupert Neve 5024 pre-amp. The recordings were made on two Zoom L20's, on 24 bits 96 kHz, to work with the highest quality option available for us.

That should be it.

Or not...

Video
David also owns a camera to shoot video in 4K, so as bonus he also filmed a lot of our sessions. Until then, no plans at all to do something with the footage. But after the audio selection process (we recorded around 6,5 hours of improvisation), we also noticed the video recordings added a whole dimension to a part of the selected audio.

Video editing.

So we aimed for an additional DVD. Actually immediately considering a blu-ray option, as everything was filmed in 4K. With the edit we had to crop and zoom footage, so effectively maintaining 4K would not be manageable. Therefore we chose to go for 1080P, which equals Full HD, and which is still very detailed. One of the restrictions for DVD video is 720P, which visually makes a huge difference, and in this case we should have had decreased the quality significantly. Regarding the audio, DVD can handle upto a maximum of 24 bit 48 kHz. Which in fact would have been more than sufficient compared to the 24 bit 96 kHz we recorded, mixed and mastered.

4K blu-ray would have been an option, but really specific as you also need a special player to be able to watch the disc. So then the dilemma came to choose for DVD or regular blu-ray. As stated earlier, we should have done too much consessions regarding the video resolution, when choosing for DVD. With blu-ray another issue came up, as there have to be paid rather high licensing fees for having factory pressed discs. For obvious reasons I am not fond of CD-R's, and also any other -R carrier. But as we were considering small quantities, BD-R actually seemed to be the only realistically affordable option.

The way things have been filmed are in line with how the music was established: completely improvised. So just like the music, it's not perfectly polished, but couldn't have given a better organic impression how things were at that certain moment.

And as a result of working with one camera only, we couldn't avoid having some gaps in between the various shots. And there were indeed parts that weren't useable. To fill the gaps for the main video, but even more important: to create an interesting watching experience and fit it to the conceptual story we had in mind, we decided to shoot additional video on location in a later stage. And on some places we were able to use some b-roll, from the other recorded sessions.

Actually immediately we chose for a black and white video experience, which felt the right thing to do.

The sessions
On the day before we were about to record things, David, Peter and I set up all equipment, so we could directly start the next day. August 5th, 2024, we fine-tuned our setup and started to play, while everything was being recorded.

While the first recordings were made, the microphone positionings were still about to be adjusted, as any centimeter actually made a huge difference in the sound registration.

When we found the right positioning of the microphones and fine-tuned all recording settings, things evolved during the sessions. The whole process was progressing with the minute, and when we finished the longest session (which was session 7 of the 8 we did, so in fact rather near the very end of the day), we immediately knew this would become the main track for an eventual album release.

Track selection and mixing
For the final selection, we came to a wonderful storytelling tracklist of three of the final tracks from our day sessions. As we numbered all of the sessions, we felt Session 6, followed by the almost one-hour Session 7, and concluding with Session 5 worked best. Initially considering to swap 5 en 6, or keep everything in chronologically recorded order, would have resulted into a completely different over-all experience.

Additionally, we had to decide what we wanted to do with the video footage. So we started to work towards getting all video recordings together, to see what was useful. We soon concluded that we had to focus on the long seventh session, which in fact was filmed for the largest part (only containing some interruptions to take photos with the same camera), and which actually tells a story on its own. This 58-minute track was established as one big improvisational state of mind, and in fact Peter and I already knew this track should be featured on the release, when the session was done.

In a few weeks after the recording of the sessions I made the mixes. The long track needed some more time, and in January 2025 also this final mix was ready.

Concept
The story actually starts with good friend and fellow musician Dominique Perrier. Together with Roger Rizzitelli, Dominique was initiator of the legendary French band Space Art, which started their successful career in 1977.

Peter, Remy and Dominique.

When I visited Raizeux (in the Yvelines region, just outside Paris, where Dominique lived) in November 2022, there was already been worked on the second Space Art album to be released on my label. Dominique told about some health issues which became slightly worse.
The evening of November 29th Michel Geiss came over to Dominique's place, to talk about the new album and to discuss the mastering of it, which he agreed to do.
I spoke to Michel various times before, mainly linked to the mastering of recent Space Art albums, but on this evening it was finally time to meet each other for the first time.
It was a wonderful - and without getting emotional, I really experienced a magical - evening, where Michel shared so much wonderful memories, and both Dominique and Michel seemed to be frequently touched by their shared history, for a large part connected to their precious times with Jean Michel Jarre.

In January 2023, Peter and I visited Paris with some friends, to attend a concert by Jean Michel Jarre at IRCAM. I also visited Dominique again, this time together with Peter, to introduce each other as fellow musicians from my Deserted Island Music record label.
Then, in the summer of 2023, Peter and I planned to visit Paris to visit Dominique again, as well as some other friends, including Michel.

But then, things went slightly different...

A couple of months earlier, Dominique's health issues got worse.
When Peter and I went to visit him in July, he was in the hospital which he did never leave.
Luckily we got to see Dominique there and hand him over "Personaly Duty", which was the second Space Art album about to be released on my label.

During these days we also appointed with Michel Geiss at the wonderful location of Pavillon Henry IV at Chateau de Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Which became the location to shoot additional video footage, when Peter and I returned here on March 1st and 2nd, 2025.

These encounters became an important part of our "Yvelines" project, being referred to in the main suite of the album.
"Rendez-Vous" as representation of the valuable meetings we had these days.
Besides the directly connected "Saint-Germain-en-Laye", "Chateau de Saint-Germain-en-Laye" and "Pavillon Henry IV", "l'Observateur" and "Anecdotes d'Une Belle Histoire" are linked to Michel and his wonderful stories of the past. While "Réalité en Temps Réel" as well as the opener "La Vie à Raizeux" en final track "Un Dernier Adieu à Rambouillet" are direct references to Dominique.

Dominique passed away on October 4th, 2023.
Peter and I went back to Rambouillet to attend the farewell ceremony on October 12th.
And this also is the part where our "Yvelines" project ends.

"Yvelines" is dedicated to Dominique Perrier.

Mastering
With the concept we had in mind, we asked Michel Geiss to master our project. Which he was willing to do! As we definitely wanted to maintain all dynamics, Michel took note of our instructions, and managed to improve the mixes I made. I really love his master, which is still very close to my final mix.

5.1 Session at Audiochef.

5.1 Surround
When getting involved into the blu-ray process, and having the opportunity to do something with the sound experience, we got in touch with Misja van Waterschoot. Misja and I know each other for quite some years, although we never had intensive contact. Besides his musical activities as Meesha, he is part of the Audiochef team, has his own studio in Hilversum, and has sound engineering experience for over 30 years.

The idea was to create a 5.1 surround mix as option for the blu-ray video. Which had to be done from Michel's 2.0 master, expanding it with the seperate environment recordings, and creating a spatial environment with the electronica multitracks. Simply because we didn't record the audio as 5.1, as this was not our initial intention. In the end, it was our artistic choice to do it this way, which worked out very well in my opinion.

So standard you will be listening to the 2.0 master when watching the blu-ray video (and indeed the CD), having a menu option to listen on 5.1 equipment.

Behind the Scenes
As mentioned before, there has been recorded a lot of audio and video footage. To give insight in the recording process, and to get a taste of the atmosphere, for both the sessions as on location, we also felt the need to compile some of this footage as blu-ray bonus. Consisting of raw unmastered audio, and in colors instead of black of white of the main video, complemented with a valuable selection of photos.

For the largest part there are featured outtakes from other sessions which didn't appear on the final album selection.

Try-out at the Pletterij
Peter and I had our first try-out for the concept of "Yvelines" live on stage during "De Keuken" mini-festival at the Pletterij in Haarlem, September 15th, 2025. It was just a short performance (30 minutes) and although we used the concept and some elements from the album, it became a standalone performance with a rather different content and feel.

Watch the video here:
https://www.youtube.com/live/jIDinKASfSY?si=bLg_DL-p0YYLuI0M
Our part starts around the 19 minutes mark.

Album release
"Yvelines" will be available on CD and as digital download. And be sure to grab the limited edition CD with Blu-ray if you want the complete experience.

Album info and pre-ordering:
https://www.desertedislandmusic.nl/product/remy-dacker-yvelines/

Promo video:
https://youtu.be/ezvJU2rA4dI

Album presentation concert
In first instance we scheduled an album presentation concert at De Vioolkist in Hilversum, on April 10th, 2026.

Very unfortunate this event had to be cancelled due to poor ticket sales.

We had a nice amount of people who bought a ticket to join Peter Dekker and me this Friday, but unfortunately it's not enough to cover the costs of the venue. Funding the financial gap ourselves would have been too costly.

Everyone who bought a ticket, should get refund from the venue shortly. Sorry for the inconvenience, but thanks so much for your valuable support!

The good news is that we have been working hard to get fixed an alternative to properly promote our upcoming "Yvelines" project. Accessible for everyone, starting on the same (20:00 CET) time as originally scheduled event.
So in fact the album presentation will take place, but is going to be converted to a virtual event!

Check the Facebook event for the stream and any updates: https://www.facebook.com/events/1261087879286631/

Update 11-5-2026
Our Facebook performance from April 10th could be viewed until one month after the stream took place. But we have edited the video and archived it on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/vSuyKPnywFM?si=bV8jm-NIMZi78-PS

Some final words...
In the end "Yvelines" should definitely been seen as over-all experience and something that was established during a state-of-mind improvisation. And it could easily be that the things you hear on this album have to grow on you. Which I definitely like myself, as you have to dig into the music and absorb it, rather than consuming it fast and superficial.

And although you should be able to freely interpret the music of "Yvelines", I think it's a valuable addition to watch the video of Peter and me creating the things to be heard, supplemented with conceptual video to get involved into our story.

Press information
For completion, here is the story to be found in the booklet and official press information:

The story behind this project is linked to some special meetings in the Yvelines region, just outside Paris, in the summer of 2023.

Two years after we started our electronica collaboration in 2020, which led to the “Live at BYSS” performance and its release, we played with the idea of recording a piano album. Things started to take shape when we got the opportunity to record a beautiful Steinberg (not to be confused with Steinway) grand piano from the early 20th century. The fact that the piano had not been tuned recently gave it even more character and charm.

We decided to also involve some synthesizers to partially process and modulate the live piano parts and to add extra contrast and atmosphere. Additionally, we used a violin bow and some percussion tools. In the end it became a balanced whole so that you are not just listening to a piano.

What you hear on this registration is completely based on improvisation and our state of mind during the sessions we recorded on August 5, 2024. For this reason we decided to have only the one-day recording sessions, as additional days would have resulted in completely different output.

For this album release, parts were selected and edited from the more than six hours of music we recorded. We aimed for an honest and organic impression of how things were performed, maintaining dynamics and keeping mistakes, mis-hits and even ambient sounds, resulting in this listening experience that we would like to share with you!

Remy Stroomer and Peter Dekker


Three parts from the extensive recorded material were selected, and Remy mixed these recordings. The legendary Michel Geiss took care of the audio mastering of the project. Parts of the recording sessions were filmed by David Smelik, who also participated on one part of the “Rendez-Vous” piece. Early March, 2025, Peter and Remy travelled to the Yvelines region again to shoot additional video recordings on location. The video edit combining both the session and environmental recordings has been edited by both David and Remy. Additionally, Audiochef’s Misja van Waterschoot made a 5.1 audio mix for the blu-ray video.

Because the album’s longest improvisation, “Rendez-Vous,” tells a story in itself, it was selected for a Blu-ray release. Supplemented with outtakes from other recorded segments, this resulted in a “Behind the Scenes” clip as bonus material on the Blu-ray.

“Yvelines” is available on CD and as digital download, containing a three pieces selection. As well as limited edition set with this CD and the Blu-ray, containing “Rendez-Vous” and “Behind the Scenes”.

REMY
Remy Stroomer (1979) produces his electronic music since 1999. So far, he released 13 studio albums, did various concerts in the Netherlands, Germany and the U.K., and collaborated with a large number of artists from the electronic music scene, including Space Art, Ron Boots, Wolfram Spyra, Gert Emmens, Francis Rimbert, Synth.nl, Moonbooter, Bas Broekhuis and My Breath My Music.
Remy is also involved in the improvisational act Mäläskä.
With his Deserted Island Music record label he releases his own music, as well as music from Mäläska, Däcker, Space Art, Feralia Planitia, Basic Principles, Martijn Comes and Edith Alonso.

DÄCKER
Peter Dekker (1973) owns more than 70 electronic music instruments, with which he composed and recorded an uncountable amount of music. It takes until 2020 before he releases “Pareidolia”. With this debut album, Peter wins the first prize in the category ‘Discovery of 2020’ at the German Schallwelle Awards, gains recognition for his music, receives worldwide airplay and reviews, and performs solo as well as with others (including Skoulaman, Mäläskä and Steve Baltes) in the Netherlands, Germany and the U.K.

Deserted Island Music label night

Yesterday it was time for the first Deserted Island Music label night.
The label I am running since 2011, and which has been expanded with various electronic music artists in recent years. So a good reason to present some of these artists live for an audience.

When I got the opportunity and confirmation to organize this evening at the pop-up location of the basement of the former V&D warehouse building in the center of Haarlem, I accepted this immediately. And then I had to set this all up in just one month. Besides all time and energy I put in promoting the event via social media, my label's newsletter, distributing flyers, and various other ways, I had the privilege to also get backing from connections related to local radio and newspaper on this short term.

This location has always been a nostalgic place for me, as I used to explore, listen and buy a lot of music and equipment, in the 90s and early 00s.
After January 2026 the location is most likely to be transformed into a permanent bicycle shed. In the meanwhile De Kelder ('The Basement', logical wise connected to the temporary venue) was set up to become an underground club for only three months.

Yesterday, November 13th, the moment was there!
Live on stage were Martijn Comes, Däcker & Skoulaman, Mäläskä and Feralia Planitia, taking off on 21:00, and ending at exactly 1:00.
Four live acts with totally different musical output, resulted into a nice variety of electronic music.
In between the concerts Basic Principles (who could not be here due to holidays) was featured on the video screen, performing brand new music as well as parts from his "Colours" album, exclusively recorded for this occasion.

Martijn Comes kicked off, but not before all visitors sang for his birthday. Then 40 minutes of dark ambient and deep drones passed in review. Partially outtakes from his sci-fi multimedia project "Frixtis", partially new music. Heavy and dark, but lovely stuff!

Followed by part 1 of three 10-15 minutes outtakes from Basic Principles' video concert. Recorded in his home studio, making use of synthesizers, a modular system, and various effects. Decorated with trippy visuals and lights.

Soundcheck.

Then, Däcker & Skoulaman improvised around their recent "Saudade" collaboration. A real treat for everyone who loves classic electronic music in the vein of Vangelis and Klaus Schulze. Yet recognisable, but sounding fresh. Always a pleasure to hear their musical output.

After Basic Principles part 2, I performed myself as part of the third act of the evening: Mäläskä. It was really exciting to make music again with this formation after quite a while, and even more because of a different line-up. Alongside Petter (guitar and looper), myself (synths) and usual suspect Tristan 'Lama Waaien' (bass guitar), we also invited Wouter Schaatsbergen on violin, with whom we have never played or rehearsed before. Got really inspired by this combination, which was built up slowly. And then, initially in the audience, it was spontaneously communicated during the - again fully improvised - gig that Joost Verhagen jumped in with his vocals, during the more energetic second part of the show.

After part 3 of the Basic Principles concert, it was already time for the final act of the evening: Feralia Planitia. As always, she delivered an energetic electro-set, which even got the remaining visitors dancing on the beats. 

Because the policy of De Kelder, it was not allowed to make photos and videos, so all attendees got a sticker on the camera of their mobile phones. I sneaked some, but please don't tell anybody! Luckily a photographer and camera man were present to capture the evening. Looking forward a lot to see and hear the results.

Despite the in first instance not-so-ideal time to organize this event (Thursday evening from 21:00 until 1:00), around 80 people found their way to the basement. In the end it all fitted, and worked out better than hoped for.

Although organizing an event is always time consuming, I felt rather relaxed on both the preparatory month, as on the day and evening itself. So I fully enjoyed every second of it! Also thanks to the De Kelder crew, as well as everyone else involved did their task brilliantly. So no issues, outside some random freezing of the video projector, while the laptop was still running. But hey, an event without technical problems is not an event!

So thanks a lot to everyone at De Kelder for their help and hospitality, the musicians who all managed to put on a great show, Micha (sound), Nausikaä de Blaauw (photography), David Smelik (video) and Paulien Bouw (merch sales and support), and last but not least everyone who visited the Deserted Island Music label night. Without any of you this evening could not have been successful.

Next stop: De Keuken at the Pletterij on Monday November 17th, where I will also have a stage appearance together with Däcker. We are going to give a preview of our upcoming collaborational project, due for April 2026.
Visit https://pletterij.nl/events/de-keuken-diy-broedplaats-4/ for details and tickets.

Awakenings #98 (All-Dayer)

A couple of months ago Peter Dekker (Däcker) and Hans van Kroonenburg (Skoulaman) were confirmed as part of the line-up of the 98th edition of the Awakenings electronic music concert series.
Not to be confused with the Dutch dance festival with the same name, but the English - quite underground - traditional electronic music event, to be held several times a year since 2004, at the current location of Lea Hall Social Club in Rugeley.

Shortly after the confirmation of Däcker and Skoulaman's appearance, the idea rose that I could also be part of the line-up. Which came together nicely, as their first collaboration was going to be released on my Deserted Island Music label, as well as I was already working on some new solo material.
Then, it had already been a while since I performed there. The first time in 2012, with a REMY solo performance, followed by appearances in 2014 (with Free Arts Lab) and 2017 (with Mäläskä).
The first of these were at the Paget High School in Burton-on-Trent, and the 2017 and current editions took place at Lea Hall Social Club in Rugeley.

So I was added to the list of performers, as part of the Awakenings All-Dayer.
The All-Dayer takes place once a year, and features five live acts during the day and evening, instead of the 'regular' two or three artist editions.

As the festival took place on Saturday, November 25th, Peter, Hans, my wife Paulien and I travelled to the U.K. by ferry one day earlier.
Peter and Hans stayed the night at Steve Whitlan's (fellow musician, and also involved into the Awakenings concerts) place. Paulien went to visit some friends, where we were invited to stay.

The next day was concert day. Because we all had to travel another 3,5 to 4 hours to the venue, we should have left far too early in the morning to be in time at the build-up time of 10:00. Instead, we arrived slightly past 13:00, when the opener of the Awakenings All-Dayer, Ashok Prema, just started his performance. Ashok and I had been on the same stage before, also during Awakenings, back in 2014, so it was a pleasure to meet again after his performance.
As the 'stage' was already full of equipment for the three acts playing the afternoon (Bouvetoya and Monkey Trial followed), we got the opportunity to set up our gear in the large break, between 17:00 and 19:00. So more than enough time to get everything working.

Photo by Phil Booth.

The evening program / my concert took off at 19:00, and improvised about one hour around new music, potentially for my next solo album, due for 2026.
After a short break Däcker and Skoulaman entered the stage and did their improvisation, including some themes and sequences from their just released "Saudade" collaboration album.
I slightly got lost in time, but I thought their part of the evening lasted for 70 minutes.
For an encore, I joined my two friends, and we improvised for another 15-20 minutes. I think it worked very well, keeping in mind we had never performed together before in this setting. And then an end came to the Awakenings All-Dayer 2025.

Encore. Photo by Genghis Postlethwaite.

In between the concerts I spoke to quite some people. It was a pleasure to meet a lot of you (again).
Thanks to everyone being present at this edition of Awakenings, and supported the artists and organizers by purchasing a Virtual Ticket and merchandising. Without you these kind of wonderful initiatives definitely have no right to exist.

When the hall was emptied from all equipment and cables, and our cars were packed, we parked our vehicles at our appartment, just around the corner of the venue.
Time for a drink or two and aftertalks, and finally back to our appartment when we were kicked out of the bar due to closing time.

'Afterparty' selfie with Hans, Peter, Phil, Mike and myself.

Sunday, after one hour extra sleep, because of winter time, Peter and Hans returned to Steve's home, and Paulien and I had some sightseeing in the wonderful Cambridge. Where we had plenty of time, as we only had to be at the ferry for our trip back around 21:00. After the sleep-over on the ferry, we came back home rather early the next day.

Thanks a lot to Phil Booth, Jez Creek and Dave Buxton for the organisation, and welcoming us again at their Awakenings event. It's always a pleasure to perform here.
Thanks to Peter Dekker and Hans van Kroonenburg for their good company and making music together.
And thanks to my beloved Paulien, and Hazel and her friend Phil for their hospitality. Really cool you were also there during my performance.

Remains the good luck for the 99th, and upcoming editions, and indeed the many Awakenings concert series to come! Looking forward to come back again soon!

Coming weeks there is no time to relax, as there still has to be done a lot of work for upcoming Deserted Island Music label night at the basement of the former V&D building in the center of Haarlem, on November 13th. There also has to be rehearsed for my participation together with Däcker at De Keuken at Pletterij in Haarlem, November 17th.

Visit to Brussels and Paris

Last weekend I went to Paris, together with Peter Dekker, for some business purposes.

Peter, myself and Mark at the Brussels Planetarium.

Friday, February 28th, our first stop was the Brussels Planetarium. The location where Peter Dekker, Mark de Wit and myself join forces for an evening of electronic music on June 21st. Three new albums will be presented and performed live by Peter Dekker (Synquentium - "Immersion in Total Emptiness"), Mark de Wit (Rhea - "Soon") and myself (Planet of the Arps - "Planet of the Arps 2"). Ticket sales start within coming days.

Hereafter we travelled to our hotel in Poissy, west of Paris. We were about to stay here, in the provence of Yvelines, until Monday.

A couple of months ago, Peter and I did a recording session for our next collaboration, which had also been filmed partially. To complement these recordings, and to visualize the concept connected with the music, we wanted to make film recordings on the location of Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, to integrate into the video.
I will tell more about the story behind this later.
Saturday morning and early afternoon, and Sunday morning, we focussed on filming around this 12th century castle and its surroundings, 20 kilometers west from Paris, including a wonderful view of La Défense, on the other side of the forest in between.

Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

Then, on this same location, we had two meetings, both related to this project, as well as Space Art.

In the evening we had an appointment with Dominique Perrier's son, Jimmy. We spoke about his father, Space Art and exchanged ideas about the future (or at least about keeping alive the legendary's band's legacy). It still is too early to say something about this, but coming weeks or even months we will sorting out and digitalize various material.

Sunday afternoon we had another appointment, again with Jimmy, and Marine, on the east part of Paris. Marine also had been connected with Dominique for quite a while.

Monday after breakfast, we drove back home, and had another stop near Brussels to meet another friend.

Back home again, I have to prepare the last bits for my upcoming "Exhibition of Dreams 25th Anniversary" and Martijn Comes' "Frixtis" releases, which see the light on March 7th.

Frankfurt (Oder) and Berlin

Back from a couple of days Berlin!

Thursday, November 21st, I travelled together with Peter Dekker to Germany to perform at the "Flux & Pulse 3" mini-festival. The first night we stayed in Gosen-Neu Zittau. The next morning we drove to the Magistrale Kunsthalle in Frankfurt (Oder) - one hour driving to the east, and just a couple of hundred meters from the Polish border - for this wonderful event, initiated and hosted by Wolfram Spyra and Roksana Vikaluk (who also gave acte de présence on stage). Thanks so much for these wonderful human beings for the organization, their hospitality, and the wonderful and precious time spent together!

It also was a pleasure to meet with Bernhard Wöstheinrich (we spoke to each other quite some times, but never met in person - although we must have seen each other at the Ricochet Gathering in Berlin, back in 2010), Leander Reininghaus and Andreas von Garnier, and seeing and hearing them performing as TaboTago.

During the day we had all the time to set up our equipment and fine-tune everything.

Soundcheck.

The audience got in from around 20:00. Spyra and Vikaluk's short but heavenly 20 minutes performance started slightly past 20:30, directly followed by 35 minutes subtile improvised ambient Berlin-school by TaboTago. Then a short break followed after Peter and I set off our unprepared / improvised REMY & Däcker performance, which was finished before we realized, just within the hour. It was a real blast!

DJ's Additude and Supervisor continued the evening, transforming the venue in a kind of night club. Where the audience were bravely sitting to enjoy the three electronic music performances, the remaining people now entered the center of the room to move on the rhythm of the beats.

Somewhere 2:30 a.m., at the point there was already involved some alcohol, Wolfram, Peter and I once again took place behind the keys, and we started to noodle around, in the end getting together into a mesmerizing 15-minute oriental ambient piece. The DJ's continued, and it must have been around 6 a.m. before the last visitors left the building. Time to sleep and get a couple of hours rest before heading to Berlin the next morning.

With Peter at the Brandenburger Tor.

Saturday we went to our hotel in the center of Berlin, where we refreshed and had a short nap first. Hereafter we met with Bernhard and Leander again in the afternoon to have dinner and some good conversations together. Followed by a guided tour by Bernhard through the part of Berlin where he lives, including a wonderful rooftop-view over the city.

It was already Sunday that we got the opportunity for some sight-seeing ourselves. First, we visited the building where the Zodiak Free Arts Lab was once situated. Actually nothing to see nowadays, but nevertheless an historic place regarding the origins of the Kraut Rock movement and Berlin School music.

Hereafter we wandered along the Brandenburger Tor, the Holocaust monument, Potzdamer Platz (including the Sony Center), Gedächtniskirche, Unter der Linden, the Reichstag, and saw Checkpoint Charlie, the Fernsehturm and Siegessäule from a distance.

Hans-Joachim Roedelius at Colosseum Berlin.

The late afternoon we met good friend Niek, and went to the Colosseum to see Hans-Joachim Roedelius live on stage. This actually was the main reason we travelled to Berlin. Fully enjoyed the intimate (piano with some subtle backround electronics) performance from a legend (and co-founder of the previously mentioned Zodiak Free Arts Lab) who still is in great condition at the respectable age of 90. An honour to get to speak to "Achim" and shake hands after his concert.

After a short afterparty at a pub nearby, an end came to our short trip, and - this time Peter, Niek and myself - travelled back home to the Netherlands the next day.

It was good to be back in Berlin after 14 years, accompanied with wonderful people, and leaving us with wonderful memories!
Hopefully "Flux & Pulse 3" set a trend for the continuation of this initiative in near future.

Here is an excerpt (reel by Victoria Papizh) from the intro of the concert Peter and I did on last Friday:
https://www.facebook.com/reel/3446759042287761

Session with Däcker

One week ago I recorded an exciting new project with Peter Dekker (aka Däcker).

After I produced Däcker's debut album "Pareidolia" back in 2020, we were on stage together for the first time later that year, at BYSS (of which the registration was released earlier this year). Hereafter Peter was involved into a couple of concerts with Mäläskä in 2022, and I again did some production for his second solo record "Anthropomorphic Personifcation", which was released last year.

However, this new project had been in my mind for quite a while, which got shape when discussing this with Peter last couple of months, and which finally came to life last Monday, thanks to good friend David Smelik.

David and I go years back, where we made music together in several settings. However, this was the first serious project we did together.

Peter and I had a clear vision of what this project should more or less sound like. Recently, we rehearsed a couple of times and tried out several settings. Only thing was that we had to do play the main instrument with a synthesizer, instead of a real one, but that already worked out very well.

The core of this project had to be a grand piano. And David was able to arrange one.
Despite some minor cosmetic trifles, a wonderful and very characteristic 19th century Steinberg (not to confuse with Steinway) grand piano, at a acquantaince's living room, which we were permitted to play and record for a whole day.
With David's ideas regarding the recording and registration of the piano and environment, we decided to invest into renting some of the best possible recording equipment. Better not having regrets afterwards.

The evening in advance, David, Peter and I moved the grand piano in place, installed all equipment, and set up the microphones and audio and video recording equipment, so we didn't have to lose much time on technical stuff on the recording day.

Initially we were aiming for a piano-based project (which might eventually lead to an album release), 
which should be entirely improvised (just like "Live at BYSS").
But an album full with only piano pieces wasn't the way we wanted it. We also didn't want to have a common electronic approach we are used to, by means of using synthesizers with sequencers or whatsoever.
Where you can cover up any irregularities or mistakes with electronic sounds and effects, playing the piano requires some kind of play-technical skills. Indeed things don't have to be super tight, but any miss-hit will be noticed. Things also have to be built up different instead of 'securely' starting for example a sequencer or pad chords. In the end Peter and I see ourselves skilled enough to establish this.

However, for the variation and dynamics, we did involve some synthesizers and electronica.

We made use of my Korg MS20 and Korg ER1. Both instruments have audio inputs, which we used to process sounds (in this case, the piano parts) in real-time. Then, the  MS20 was also used for effects, while the ER1 also produced some rhythmic elements.
Additionally, Peter's Sequential Prophet 5 was added, to have some analog sounds contrasting the clean piano sounds.

And last but not least, we also experimented with prepared piano, making use of a bow, percussion sticks and brushes, keys and a drinking glass.

Currently I am mixing a selection of the audio recordings.
As it's now, we have selected 1,5 of around 6,5 recorded hours, which might be useable for an album release.
David sorts out the many hours of video recordings and photos. I have only seen some short excerpts so far, which looked awesome! I assume there will definitely be something to share with you on short term, so stay tuned!

Session with Synth.nl

Last weekend I visited Michel van Osenbruggen (aka Synth.nl) to record new music for the first time since our 2013 "PrimiTiveS" collaboration.
Although we have always been in touch, we both simply didn't have the opportunity to be in the studio together much earlier.

In the meanwhile Michel got a new place and new (temporarily) studio, and it was a pleasure and inspiring to have a good time and create new music together again.
We spent largest part of Sunday and Monday to record the structures of at least eight pieces.

As we both have some other projects running too, it will be earliest 2025 that any results should be ready for a possible album release. Indeed I will keep you informed!

Thanks to Michel and Sonja for their hospitality.

Jean Michel Jarre - "Bridge to the Future"

Exactly one week ago I witnessed a concert spectacle which could easily be the very last one of its kind. Frenchman and living legend Jean Michel Jarre was asked to perform the opening concert for the seventh edition of the Starmus Earth Festival (being held from May 12-17th). The announcement only was a little more than one month in advance.

Extremely excited for the first big outdoor concert by the maestro since his large gig in the harbour of Monaco, as part of 2011's wedding of Albert II of Monaco and Charlete Wittstock, and considering Jarre's age (75, so how long will he continue doing these kind of events?), I didn't have to think long about getting my plane tickets and make an appartment reservation.

The concert took place on Sunday, May 12th, so I decided (also due to the restricted amount of flight options) to travel to Bratislava, capital of Slovakia, on May 8th, and head back to the Netherlands on May 13th, the day after the concert. Then, Bratislava is a wonderful town which I hadn't visitied before.

Most SNP UFO bridge.

Starting to follow Jean Michel Jarre's career since 1990 (knew his music already before), being present at his Paris La Défense concert (traumatic experience afterwards, as I was on the Eiffel Tower during the concert, assuming people were watching the sunset. Which was not the case at all. Two weeks later a nephew let me hear "Revolutions" and the then newly released "Waiting for Cousteau", followed by the information that the La Défense concert took place while I was literally there), and went to see him play live (consciously) for the first time during the Europe In Concert tour in Brussels, August 24th, 1993.
In the years that followed I went to many of his concerts in Europe. From the big scaled Concert Pour La Tolerance (Paris, 1995), Aero (Aalborg, 2002), Gdansk (2005) and Monaco (2011) to the indoor concerts of the Oxygene 7-13 Tour (Rotterdam and Lille, 1997), Oxygene (Paris, 2007 and Amsterdam, 2008), Indoors Tour (Amsterdam, 2009 and Rotterdam, 2010), and even intimate gigs like Bourges (2002), Teo & Tea showcase (Lint, 2007) and IRCAM (Paris, 2023). Also got the opportunity to interview Jean Michel Jarre back in 2010 and 2011, and organised a meet-and-greet after the 2009 concert in Amsterdam.

Bratislava Castle.

Being in Bratislava for the first time, I spent my first days there to discover the old centre. Traveling together with good friend and fellow Jarre-fan Marco Blom, we did some sight-seeing there and visited the Bratislava castle, looking out over the river Donau and the city.
We also visited some music stores, went to even more terraces and restaurants, and tried out some of the many ice cream shops.
On Thursday I also had time to watch the second semi-finals of the Eurovision Song Contest (the evening there was no controversy yet).
When we arrived in Bratislava, building of the stage had already begun, so we already went to the concert site in between our tourist activities.

We arrived on Wednesday, and nearing the weekend we met more fans and people who came here to attend the concert. Another fan, Milan Csáplar, who also lives in Bratislava, organized a fan-meeting (before the final rehearsal on Saturday and after the concert on Sunday) at the Riva Bar - a boat on the Donau, near the iconic Most SNP UFO bridge, which also was part of the decor of Jarre's concert. The bar was reserved for fans who litterally travelled all over the world to witness this unique event. It was a real pleasure to meet so many people, who have been connected for so many years, and who actually only use to meet during these kind of concerts. Although I met a handful of them at last year's concert at IRCAM in Paris, previous much bigger meeting had already been a while ago, during the Monaco concert, back in 2011; 13 years back in time to be precisely.

Fanmeeting at the Riva Bar, May 11th. Photo by Hogne Bø Pettersen.

Good to see a lot of my friends again, who seem not to have aged with the exception of some grey hairs, and which felt like we saw eachother yesterday, strangely enough. I also got to meet new fans, as well as people who I am connected with on social media, but had never met before in real life. And then thoughts were also with friends who also have been part of the 'clan' for so many years, who couldn't be here because they couldn't arrange their trip because of the short-term announcement, and not in the last place those who left us too early: Gertjan Ronner, Marco Kerkdijk and Karel Krijger.

In the previous days we had the opportunity to visit and explore the concert site (which was situated around a fenced parking place with the stage, and nearby highway), and witness rehearsals and various soundchecks. The final rehearsal was on the Saturday, and free to attend. Although a large part of the roads to the concert site were closed, which was said this was due to the drones. In fact I think they would control the amount of people while the neighboring highway was only partially closed, so a sort of risk.

Jean Michel Jarre and his musicians Claude Samard Polikar and newbie Adiescar Chase were supported by Queen's guitarist Brian May. Brian's appearance as special guest was already announced at the presentation of the concert. The collaboration didn't come out of nowhere, as Brian is initiator of the Starmus Earth Festival (of which the first edition took place in 2011), and in 2016 there was already talked about having a collaboration between the two. Which didn't go on then.

ESET building.

During the final rehearsal, all concert tracks were played, sometimes with interruptions in between. We found a nice spot on the outside of the fence, somewhere around 150 meters from the stage, as being in the front part, and inside the concert site was prohibited. All in all a perfect to experience the rehearsals. People attending the rehearsals got a bonus, as "Oxygene 8" was played, but very unfortunate skipped during the concert on Sunday. Reason unknown. The rehearsal started at 9 PM. Slightly past 10 PM the sound volume was put down, due to permissions. And 11 PM they finished the last song, after which everyone smoothly left the concert site.

During the last days, step by step, things to happen during the concert became clear more and more, and increased the excitement. Firstly the track "Second Rendez-Vous" was also being played by a brass section and choir. So powerful. Goosebumps.
Then - something that could also have been derived from the AI visualizations when the concert was announced - there were drones, decorating the sky above the stage. On the day of the concert, it was confirmed that fireworks were also present. So before the concert it was certain that actually nothing was lacking for a classic Jean Michel Jarre extravaganza.
Another advantage was that the weather connditions were perfect all these days. Average of 25 degrees during the day, cooling down to something like 15 in the evening.

The day of the concert, we (Marco, Niek (who arrived on Friday) and I) went to the concert site around 2 PM. Not knowing what to expect yet, by means of people already gathered there. When we arrived, there were already sitting people on the slopes below the highway, offering perfect view on the stage. But it was definitely not that crowded yet.
In the afternoon there was an important ice hockey match between Slovakia and Kazakhstan (for those interested: Slovakia won with 6-2). No idea if this was a reason, but only 1,5 hours before the start of the concert, it became really crowded.

Thanks to Jarre's managament - who spread the word to various fans including Claus, Milan and Signe, a selected group of fans (100-150) - including Marco, Niek and me - were allowed to get into the concert area at 5 PM. An hour before the actual entry. As the entire parking lot was still empty, we got the opportunity to find the best spot to experience the concert. In first instance standing right in front of the stage, but already had in mind to get some more to the back. Together with Marco, Niek, Coen, we found our place right behind the fence of the 'golden zone', which was reserved for festival ticket holders (and this space luckily wasn't packed with people). The perfect spot if you ask me, as we were situated in the center of the stage, at something like 100 meters distance from the stage, overlooking the entire scenery, including the castle and the UFO bridge in the background, the stage itself, the lights and fireworks, and the projections on the ESET building on the right side. ESET was was one of the main sponsors of the event.

Despite the fact that it didn't make the wait less enjoyable, there was no "Waiting For Cousteau" to be heard. The 46:53 minutes piece of music, which always marked the waiting for a Jean Michel Jarre concert for the last three-and-a-half decades. Instead there was repeated a rework / variation of the classic 1990 track. After the wait, the countdown started and we lifted off at 9 PM precisely. The concert was also to be enjoyed worldwide via live stream, so everything had to be strictly according to schedule.

The first half of the show was performed by only Jean Michel Jarre and his band.
An atmospheric opening, after which the energy built up very fast. Reworked classics from "Oxygene 4", "Oxygene 2", "Equinoxe 4", "Equinoxe 7" and "Industrial Revolution part 2" were in fact all classic Jarre songs (except for two songs from the 1986 album "Rendez-Vous", which followed later) during this evening, alternated with some newer tracks like "Web Spinner", "Falling Down", "The Architect" and "Zero Gravity".
During the opening track ("Coachella Opening"), firework were introduced cautiously. A wonderful and promising way to start the concert, and to get involved into the magical world of Jean Michel Jarre.

Slightly before halfway of the evening things got more intense with the introduction of the band members, as well as the trombone section of the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra and members of the Slovak Philharmonic Choir. Time for "Second Rendez-Vous". This was such a blast, especially with the input of the latter two. Halfway the track, which was renamed to "Rendez-Vous Bratislava" for tonight, the iconic laser harp part (which was saved for the finale of the evening) was left from the track. This was the point Brian May came in. Bombastic, powerful, and the realisation this is one of the things I have always loved the music from Jean Michel Jarre for. Concluded with lots of fireworks.

Followed by a welcome slightly calm (at least the start of it) intermezzo performed by Brian May, based on an excerpt of 'The New World", one of my all-time favourite classical music pieces, by Czech composer Antonín Dvořák.

Then it was time for a lot of newer "Electronica" era pieces. "Exit", "Azimuth", "Herbalizer", "Oxygene 19" and "Glory". Followed by the infamous "Fourth Rendez-Vous" (but in my opionion it's a great song, which always works live, but Jarre hasn't include it into his shows for quite a while), building up to the grand finale with "Stardust", going all the way with a more than impressive amount of fireworks. Goosebumps and emotions all over the way. I can die happily!
But not before the encore with Jarre using the laser harp the only time this evening, playing "The Time Machine" (renamed to "Bratislava Time" for this ocassion), joined by heavy rock guitar by Brian May.
What a final, what an evening, what a show!

Only remained the big 'thank you' to all people and organizations involved into this huge project.
And an epic slip of the tongue by Brian May proclaiming Jean Michel as Jean Paul. While the concert video has been edited while we speak, this meme will live forever amongst the established Jarre fan. So keep in mind if anyone is starting a conversation about Jean Paul Jarre, you don't need to correct. Before leaving the stage, Jean Michel Jarre took the opportunity to take a selfie with all audience.

The evening's overall musical vibe was rather uptempo and energetic. I think this was a significant different with Jarre's old shows. But this musical direction he chose to go into might appeal a younger audience, and I can completely live with that!

Visuals made specific for this ocassion were simply stunning, and from time to time the intensity of the lasers created the suggestion that the large environment suddenly became a lot more compact and intimate. Overwhelmed by the fireworks. Everyone was litterally part of it all.

11 PM everything was finished, and once again we headed to the Riva Bar for yet another meeting and after-talk at the Riva Bar.

The day after, I had all the time for some breakfast and buy some souvenirs. During the afternoon I headed back to the airport together with Zita. One of the fans I met at the Riva Bar, and by chance had exactly the same flight back to the Netherlands.

The last couple of days have been very energetic, exciting and overwhelming, and I really felt being 20 or 30 years back in time again.
Jean Michel Jarre once again proved he still can do the things he has been good at for 45 years. Although he seemed little tired at the end of his show (which is not that strange), it's unbelieveable he still has so much energy at at his respectable age of 75. But the question is: will Jean Michel Jarre 'just' continue the smaller scaled concerts in which he has been involved since the pandemic, will we get another opportunity again to see anything on this scale, or did somewhere in between 30.000 and 100.000 people (official sources say 100.000, but it's hard to confirm) really witness his last huge outdoor concert ever? However, it was a privilege and blast to be part of this "Bridge to the Future" project. Another experience to never forget, leaving wonderful memories for the rest of my life.

For the completists, here is the setlist:

Opening (Coachella Opening)
Epica Oxygene (Oxygene 4 / Epica)
Oxygene 2
Web Spinner
Equinoxe 4
Equinoxe 7
Falling Down
Industrial Revolution part 2
The Architect
Oxygene 8 (was only played during the rehearsals)
Zero Gravity
Rendez-Vous Bratislava (Second Rendez-Vous)
New World Symphony Bratislava 2024 (classical piece by Antonín Dvořák)
Azimuth
Exit
Herbalizer
Oxygene 19
Glory
Fourth Rendez-Vous
Stardust
Bratislava Time (The Time Machine)

And if you want to see what this fuzz was all about, or just relive this excellent concert, you can still entirely watch the wonderful registration on YouTube. Please note that it was announced that the concert might be taken offline within a couple of days or maybe weeks, so don't wait too long.