bands
Maaswater Veenlijk
Biography Maaswater Veenlijk by Sanne Reiniers.
What’s in a name? In case of the Dutch band ‘Maaswater Veenlijk’, a name with a bunch of words that you will remember. Henri ‘de Penri’ Janssen (drums), Emiel Thoonen (bass), Robbie Hooker (vocals and guitar) and Pieter ‘Bakkie’ Hendriks (guitar) knew they wanted a name with a certain appeal to it. “When you are in a band that consists of an indo, a guy who is half Jewish, a redneck and a guy from Haps, you have to have a name with a certain ring to it”, Robbie states. “It just sounds catchy”, says Henri. Emiel: “Actually, the name is more than just that. My dad told me that the name did not make any sense for the Maas is a small river. It has no moor (Dutch: veen). Therefore there is no such thing as a ‘maaswater veenlijk’. It makes you think as well.” Although the name does not sound that serious, the band wants to be taken seriously. “We want our music to blow people away. We don’t want our name to do that. When people will hear our music, they immediately will know that we mean it”, states Pieter.
As it is often the case with the beginning of a certain band, Maaswater Veenlijk was born after the end of another band. Local heroes 4-Fridges decided to quit in January 2007. After they played their last show, Pieter and Robbie approached former drummer Henri of 4-Fridges. “A drunk Pieter and Robbie came to me after that show and said: we should make some metal music together. That did sound like a great idea to me”, says Henri. Pieter (former drummer of Close Second/Born From Pain/Reaching Forward and current drummer of The Orange Blossom Special) wanted to play the bass this time. But after a couple of weeks, he grabbed a guitar. Pieter: “Two guitars rock more than just one. Now there is more room for fat riffs.” Emiel Thoonen (former member of 4-Fridges as well) was asked to come and play the bass and Maaswater Veenlijk was complete.
After that Maaswater Veenlijk became the real deal. Everything accelerated. “We invented our true sound”, says Robbie. Emiel: “You could describe us as a stoner band with a seventies feel to it.” They have called that extra sense of a certain feel their ‘fuzz’. The members listen to old records that have that same sense of the seventies. Henri: “Bands such as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple inspire us. But new bands inspire us as well such as Electric Wizard (1993).” Pieter explains that the seventies are also apparent in their surroundings: “Even our rehearsal space exhales the seventies. Drugs and Rock and Roll are always present there.”
In March 2008 the first EP of Maaswater Veenlijk called ‘Monterey Purple’ will be released. The EP consists of four tracks. The seventies feel can be found in the artwork of the EP. “We did everything that involves this EP ourselves. We sprayed the EPs, we burned the CDs and we added some MSX-audio sounds”, says Emiel. Robbie: “Now it completely feels like our own product.” The EP will be released on CD on their own label called NRINE. Pressure Release Records will release the EP on tape.
Maaswater Veenlijk has great plans for the future. Henri: “We just want to plays as many shows as possible. We have enough songs now to fill a set of 45 minutes. And we are still writing new songs. We are very productive at the moment.” The band wants to conquer foreign countries as well, but the name Maaswater Veenlijk will not suffer from this. Emiel: “Let those foreigners themselves figure out what it means. The power lies within the Dutch name. If you translate it, it doesn’t make any sense. To end with words of a great man named David Hasselhoff: Don’t Hassle the Hoff. You just don’t. This is how people should appreciate the name Maaswater Veenlijk: as a notion.”
maaswaterveenlijk@gmail.com
http://www.myspace.com/maaswaterveenlijk
Releases
[ PRR07 ] Maaswater Veenlijk - Monterey Purple