Vincent van Warmerdam releases his solo debut There is Time
Vincent van Warmerdam grew up in a theatre annex cinema in IJmuiden where he was exposed to an abundance of film, theatre and music, from Tyrolean soft porn to Shakespeare, from operetta to Dutch pop. Although he actually wanted to become a cyclist, it was not surprising that he ended up on stage and at a young age he had success at home and abroad as a guitarist in the legendary Hauser Orkater with his brothers Alex and Marc, Eddie B. Wahr and Jim van der Woude. One of his first songs was The Beatles in Oud-IJmuiden from the iconic album Zie de Mannen Vallen.
He got into film music via the theatre and his score for Abel, his brother Alex's feature film debut, was awarded the Silver Music Stand. He was named European Film Composer of the Year for Noorderlingen and received a Golden Calf for Kicks (Albert ter Heerdt). He won a Buma Award for the Argentine film noir Rojo and the EYE Best Music Award (USA) for the Oscar-nominated Chilean documentary The Mole Agent.
He played in obscure bands like Electric Pleunis, Hit the Pearl, Just like Eddie and the Seven Slowhands. His most ambitious band The Moondogs with singer Kees Prins received an Edison nomination for their debut album. For Jiskefet he wrote the music for the Ajax football song Mijn Club , the no. 2 hit Hé Lullo, heb je nog neuken? and the Dutch pop song Suzy for the fictional IJmuiden beat band The Cards.
For Orkater he provided the idea and music for a series of musical performances, including the Formidable Yankee, Blackface and the nineteenth-century thriller Who Killed Mary Rogers? (Proscenium Prize). He also made performances about music or musicians: Help! (the early years of the Beatles), Judee Sill (a Californian dreamer), The Prefab Four (The Monkees) and Richard III (with music by Tom Waits).
As a guitarist he was influenced by the Beatles, Peter Green, John Lee Hooker, Jim Messina and Richard Thompson. His all-time guitar hero is Ry Cooder and guitar mentor Frank Sutherland preceded him in the domain of open tunings and fingerpicking. During the pandemic he released a guitar album: Twango & more cinematic guitar instrumentals. He wrote the novels 'de Plectrumfabriek' and 'Boxgeur' (De Geus), the titles and content of which refer to the existence of a musician.
There is time is his debut album as a singer. Vincent says the following about this album:
"There is Time is a collection of songs that betray my love for folk and blues influenced pop music, indebted to old and 'new' heroes like Brian Wilson, Randy Newman, Gillian Welch and Blake Mills. Some I wrote for a show or film, others 'just for the sake of it'. The collection grew over time. Time not only turned out to be a recurring theme in the lyrics, it also became my compulsion to finish the album: it was now or never. Playing the guitar is my foundation and it was obvious that I would restore the short guitar solo to its former glory, but singing most of the songs myself was a risky choice; yet there was no other option. I called in the friendly help of Cato van Dijck (My Baby) and Djurre de Haan (AWKWARD i). The formidable Theo Sieben appeared in several guises: as guitarist, mandolinist, pedal steel guitarist and singer. The fact that the others sometimes take over the lead reinforces the idea that there is a story going on with different characters. The plot is a mystery, but there are enough clues to make your own story. The texts evoke images rather than anecdotes, several by poet Maria Barnas, some by myself and with contributions by Djurre de Haan and Servaes Nelissen. I borrowed existing texts from Allen Ginsberg 'the beat poet', and Dorothy Parker 'the wry and witty ambassador of loneliness'.
Without the tireless Danny Gras the production and engineering of this album would have been impossible and the picturesque rehearsal space of De Kift was the setting for the recordings. Marcel Albers and Rose Spearman of MARS Worldwide invested not only in resources, but also in trust. Musician friends came along, often one by one, sometimes in complete line-ups. I thank them all: Dichi Wit (vocals), Gerard Atema (piano), Mischa Porte (drums), Hein Offermans (bass), Christan Muiser (drums), Patrick Votrian (tuba), Rens van der Zalm (violin), Arjen de Graaf (viola), Joost Buis (lapsteel), Daniël 'Dafreez' Johnson (guitar), Kees van der Vooren (vocals) & Peter van Straten (bass). "
An absolute must-listen for roots and Americana lovers!
