neven

Neven is an electronic band who cannot do without accoustic instruments. Neven are a bunch of musicians who love to be confronted to electronic devices. Neven is a collective. Brussels (Capital of Belgium) is important for Neven.

Neven (by Dirk Houbrechts)

Interesting Belgian electronic/acoustic band.

Neven is Peter Clasen's project, a Belgian musical omnivore, who cites 'recycling' and 'communication' as major reasons to make music.

Recycling by using samples ("Some samples have a history of their own. It's as if they just travel from one band to another") and also by sampling their own songs.

Communication is what happens when electronics are confronted with 'real' musical instruments. As a result, Neven's music sounds like a layered collage of all kinds of musical influences, sounds and colors (jungle soundscapes, a Goats bassline, slowed-down frog-croaking).

As a reviewer of their second album "Twin cycles", in fact a remix of their 1995 debut album "Recycl-Age" said : "Some might call this triphop, but they would be wrong. There's far too much going on on this record, so much even that it's better to take a break from listening now and then in order to taste their Xprmntl-trance-dub-food (their own label!) with the attention it requires."

Neven is a group with two sides. On stage they expand the group with a number of people (such as Steven de Bruyn, of El Fish, rapper Melkizedek - the Ghana-born Belgian Thibaut N'Dong M'Boulou), in the studio the group consists of the brothers Peter & Johan Clasen, Tariq, Paulo Golmann, Toon Derison and Dominiek Vermeiren.

Johan is a classically schooled musician (although he is in fact an architect), Tariq and Paulo Golmann are real Jazzmen, Toon Derison has a strong bluesbackground and Dominiek Vermeiren is very much into African music. Peter Clasen is the one who structures the music.

In 1997 they surprised Belgium and the world with "Heads or Tails", a song that featured a sample of a Mingus-sample by dEUS, Theme from Turnpike. The year after, they completely redid (replayed) the sample and made it unrecognizable in the album version of the song.

In 1998, they released another new album "Kokkola" (the fourth in three years ) and were also sent to Kopenhagen for the Eurospotting festival by Studio Brussel (this festival is the successor to the E.B.U.-festival, - previous delegates from Belgium include The Scabs, TC Matic and Hooverphonic - and meant a foreign breakthrough for some Belgian Bands).

The collective also has a record company of its own, called Ex-It records.

Neven is also very active as a remixer of the song's of others (e.g. the new single of PPz30 "Down & Up & In & Out").

In 1999, Peter Clasen recorded an album with Frenchman Christophe Bailleau's project Glyth. Then he concentrated on Neven again, with the single "Pornostar" (built on a harp-sample of Steven de Bruyn) and the full-cd "Bruxelogic". This was released in March 2000, and was presented in Paris on a "bateau-mouche" on the river Seine, and in Brussels with a mini-festival at the Halles de Schaerbeek.

In March 2000, NeVen also did a contribution to the "Glittering 2000" project, on which belgian bands covered songs from the glamrock era, by doing a version of Elton John's "Rocket Girl".

In 2001, Neven released a cd "Stereoscope", which in itself a result of "Intérieur audible", a coöperation between Peter Clasen and german artist Annick Nölle. This was a mini-spectacle in a shopwindow in Brussels. The CD - much more ambient, groovy and "organic - handmade with the computer" than the Bruxelogic album, contained both a music part (with a new version of "Drogué" for example) and a video part called "Into Brussels". In 2002 Neven participated in the Brugge 2002 project which led to the cd 'Kant'. This was the first nevencd where the jazz feel is very much present. This led to more accoustic concerts by Neven. The latest album '...we love music..' was born during the many concerts Neven did this last 2 years. All The accoustic instruments were recorded on stage, and mixed together with the electronic sequencing and sampling at home. Soon Neven will celebrate its 10 years of exsistence.

Neven loves to play live. Neven did hundreds of concerts in all sort of places.

Miles Davis, Kraftwerk, Underworld, Residents...