By Laura van der Laan
It is Friday evening. Walking down the Lange Geere towards Market Square, you realize that it is not such a typical quiet Middelburg night. In fact, there is a sudden emergence of crowds of people, sitting in the terraces, drinking beers outside Sev, and walking the streets.
Last Friday night was a bit more special, as the Red Cross Student Desk Zeeland organized a party with a series of engaging acts, particularly the band Steady New Sounds. Tabula Rasa was able to ask the band a few questions regarding their career and their future and was amazed by their sense of passion and fun loving attitude. It was evident how much the band members loved their music, as well as their group.
Loek van der Linde (Bass and backing vocals) believes that this love for music emerged very early on in each of their childhoods. He stated, “I like to think we all loved music the moment we came into this world…. There are old VHS recordings of me head banging to the Rolling Stones while I was four.” While some started engaging in music earlier than the others, each member felt like they could not live without the concept of music.
The concept of the band grew slowly, as each band member began to find their place in the music world. Members Marc and Ziggy had known each other for a long time. As each begun to explore music, with Marc on drums, and Ziggy on guitar, they began combining their talents and setting up “jamming” sessions. Before long, Jasper, a classmate of theirs, started to delve into the world of song-writing. With some simple songs in mind, Jasper began to contribute to the band. Finally six months later, Loek van der Linde found his place in the band as a bass player. He remarked, “You could say we pretty much stumbled upon each other and suddenly we were a band.”
The band very quickly began experiencing immense success, and the four friends were ecstatic. Loek van der Linde noted, “which dudes get to play in De Melkweg, Paradiso, and Concert at the Sea before they even turned 20?” Steady New Sounds came into contact with very important people in the music business, two of which include Di-Rect’s Spike and Coldplay. In fact, Coldplay included Steady New Sounds in their Hypnofeed Portal, a page where up-and-coming talented bands receive “airplay” for a few days. It was clear that the band was very loved, as well as their music. Van der Linde characterizes their music style as simple but catchy. However, these simple songs do not suggest the mere use of the “four chord song” but the band members engage in a special process, known as “killing your darlings” in order to ensure that anything that does not infuse the song with excitement is stripped away. Van der Linde stated, “To us, a good song has an unforgettable intro and a tight structure. There is a reason The Beatles and every pop/rock band after utilize the same strong structure in 95% of their songs.” However, he also mentions that there is always room for experimentation in their sound and music style, and they always strive to “deviate a bit from what we normally do.”
Despite their great success in the year 2013, Steady New Sounds also received some large setbacks. According to Loek, the band members had lost their way: “We didn’t work hard enough anymore and we started seeing the band as some sort of work instead of the best hobby in the world.” This took a toll on both their creativity, music, and their band relationships. In essence, the band members had grown out of the young band Steady New Sounds and developed new musical preferences and opinions. The band needed to change, and to adapt. Therefore, Steady New Sounds decided that they would have a complete band makeover.
The makeover is currently underway, and audiences can expect changes in their clothing style, attitudes, and music; there will be “new branding, new concepts, and a better, tighter band of friends.” In addition, Tabula Rasa is one of the first to know that their name will, in fact, also be changing!
The whole experience so far, including the successes and the challenges, has inspired the band deeply. They go by two important life lessons: 1. “If you work hard enough, you can achieve way more than you think” and 2. “You need to work incredibly hard if you really want to get somewhere.” But, Loek van der Linde stresses that hard work is nothing without the passion that is meant to accompany it. He states, “The feeling I get when the four of us play as if we all think and do the same is unrivaled” and it is this passion that drives them to continue playing and setting high goals for themselves. It is a feeling like none other, and for Loek, it is “like I’m on top of the world.”
Laura van der Laan, Class of 2016, is a Law major from Orinda, California
