Seelenruhe ( loose translation - Peace Of Mind ) : coming down from an atmosphere drenched in wind, rain and solitude.

In 1955 I was born as the youngest son of a farmer in the North of The Netherlands, Western Europe. In the year 1959 we moved to a huge farm ( at least for me as a kid it was ) about a mile from the nearest village, Wommels. For me the next 2 years to come were like heaven - they pretty much shaped my current artistry.

The 'road' ( it was more like a horse track ) to school was too dangerous for me to travel as a 4 year old kid : this meant... that I was free... as free as a bird in the sky for 2 long years... ( of course in the mind of a kid this felt like eternity... )

The thing I remember most about that time was sitting silently somewhere in this huge barn directly connected to the house we lived in. As the first year passed by so did the seasons - and the lights... they dimmed... November came... December came... And there I was : listening now in almost complete darkness to the omnipotent sound of the wind, the rain on the roof - and in the far away distance ( don't forget - I was only a kid at the time ) my mother's voice, almost certainly praising The Lord. What I remember most about her voice was when she finished a song - in one long last vibrating breath...

Today ( 50 years later - 2012 ) you will find elements as mentioned above in all my art : distant, almost alienated voices - the omnipotent sound of the softly howling wind ; waves of Nostalgia, and waves of Melancholy. Most of all you will find these elements in Seelenruhe. It feels like a homecoming, and yes... some desolation involved...

Song- and soundsources range from distorted keyboards/pianos, fieldrecordings and the wind itself to actually anything.

Influences : Thomas Köner, Mathias Grassow, Robert Henke, mnortham, Brian Eno, Harold Budd, Vidna Obmana, Francisco Lopez, Lustmord and ( as always ) a lot of totally obscure underground.