BIOGRAPHY

I was born (1963) and grew up in Amsterdam. Music was a big part of our Scots/Dutch family life. I played piano from the age of four and switched to flute when I was 10. By the time I was 14 punk had arrived and I swapped these instruments (NOT cool!) for bass guitar. My best girl friend and I formed our first punk band The Scabs in 1978. Other groups I played in at that time were Gretchen & the Non Valeurs with Diana Ozon and The White Lines. We performed in 'alternative' Amsterdam venues, punk clubs and squats. Successes of that first year were a gig in Roothaanhuis, Paradiso, a spot on TV channel VPRO and - fame at  last! - a live radio spot on Sunday morning kids programme ‘De Hutsgeklutste’.
In 1979 I joined Dutch beat band Dorpsstraat-De Munck as bass guitarist: that was a great period when I learned hugely and met a bunch of folk who're still my friends today. After three years' performing a full schedule on the Dutch festival and club scene, the group succumbed to ‘musical differences' and broke up. But before that we brought out two singles produced by Fer Abrahams: ‘Lepeltje’ and ‘Ik Hou Van Jou’.
I spent the next two years playing bass with the Amsterdam new wave band ‘Another Face’. That's when I first met guitarist Eus van Someren, later a fellow member of  The Scene.

At the end of 1984 I moved to Scotland with no intention of ever returning to Holland. I played accordion in a Scots ceilidh band until in winter 1986 I got a call from Jan Rot inviting me to audition. My job was coming to an end anyway, another reason to get back to the Netherlands.
Jan Rot was lanky and I just about came up to his elbow so the audition was a no-go. Another foray in Scotland was not an option as soon after this Thé Lau invited me to join The Scene, the band I've been part of since 1986.

From 1986 to 1989 The Scene consisted of Thé and me plus drummer Wim Zeeman (ex-Wizz Guy). In this line-up we made the LP 'Rij Rij Rij', produced by Rick de Leeuw of the Tröckener Kecks. In February '89 the band expanded with the arrival of keyboard player Otto Cooymans (ex-Hollander, Time Bandits, Vitesse) and then on guitar in succession Rogier van der Ploeg (Blue Murder) and Rob de Weerd (Tröckener Kecks) until Eus van Someren later became our permanent lead guitarist. The definitive line-up of The Scene was completed in January 1990 when drummer Jeroen Booy (ex Roberto Jacketti & The Scooters) replaced Wim Zeeman.
 
With this line-up The Scene has so far recorded 11 albums and 31 hit singles.

Belgian Flanders was where we first galvanized the fans. With that impetus and countless gigs The Scene soared in popularity as a live act and slowly but surely won over the Dutch public.
 
Some highs and lows:

•    14 July 1989, birth of Jane.

•    With our first hit album ‘Blauw’ a huge success in Belgium we were invited to play at the international Torhout/Werchter festival.

•    On a Belgian motorway Thé and I skidded off the Geel (B) exit into a roadside trench. Hoisted out by a boozy bunch of passing motorists and it was back on the road and play!

•    In 1990, with big sales in both Belgium and Holland ‘Blauw’ won an Edison.

•    A second Edison in March 1992 for the album ‘Open’. The Scene was the showstopper at that year's Parkpop in The Hague.

•    In 1992 our truck cast off a wheel on the way to a gig in Gent and ended the journey on the pick-up trailer. Half the band and crew had to travel home on the trailer. No comfort stops, oil-smattered and stiff with cold, we were dumped on the Halfweg trading estate at 8 in the morning.

•    GOLD for ‘Blauw’ with Belgian sales topping 25,000!

•    January 1993: the Pop Prize is presented to The Scene at the Groningen Noorderslag festival.

•    August 1993: with De Dijk, another hit with split single 'De Wereld Is Van Iedereen' (The Scene) and 'Nieuwe Laarzen' (De Dijk). Proceeds went to Artsen zonder Grenzen (the Dutch Medecins sans Frontières).

•    26 August 1993, birth of Gina.

•    GOLD for ‘Blauw’ with Dutch sales of 50,000!

•    Winter 1994: Car journey in heavy rain ends on a crash barrier on the Antwerp ring motorway. Ambulances ferry us all to different A&E units. Damage: bruised ribs, cuts, shock and six feet off the length of the limo. After casting about to find each other, home by taxi.

•    Summer 1995: The Scene performs successful gigs at the Torhout and Werchter camping festivals.

•    February 1997: The Scene is awarded the Conamus foundation's Golden Harp in recognition of our whole oeuvre.

•    Early 1997 saw the issue of a '2 Metre Session' album, with material from The Scene's 2 Metre Sessions in 1990, 1993 and 1996.

•    June 1997: we play a string of gigs sponsored by Marlboro, performing 17 hits of the year 1978 from The Buzzcocks to David Bowie.

•    In 1998 The Scene brought out an album in German. Despite an enthusiastic reception from German fans it proved extremely difficult to make our mark on the German market.

•    Fewer hazards with band limos. But in Louvain tour manager Martin Lursen suddenly finds a gearstick waggling loose in his hand.

•    In 1999 Eus was off sick for months. Guitarist Alan McLachlan, at that time my husband, filled in for him and since then has been a fixture on The Scene.

•    In 2000 a scoop: we bring out a new recording of 'Sabine's Gezicht' as digital download.

•    GOLD for ‘Open’ with Dutch sales topping 50,000!

•    July 2000: the single 'Helden' ['Heroes'] appears, made for public interest SIRE TV spot 'De maatschappij, dat ben jij' ('Society, that's you'). It was accompanied by a video clip for clip channels TMF and The Box. The single was in the Top 100 two months running.

•    August 2000: we play for the sixth time to 12,000 fans at the Marktrock festival in Louvain, Belgium.

•    Autumn 2000: PLATINA at last for ‘Blauw’ as sales top 100,000!

In summer 2001 we again performed at Dutch and Belgian festivals. Thé had written songs for his solo album, 'De God Van Nederland'. Alongside theatre tours he performed this new material with a new band at club and festival venues, with some of The Scene's hit numbers also on the programme. In the media Thé regularly repeated that his solo career didn't herald the end of the band: "The Scene will never break up!". Until in an interview with daily De Telegraaf on 16 November 2002 he admitted that chapter had now well and truly ended … …

Jeroen, Otto, Alan and I were asked to join Manuela Kemp's band on tour to promote her CD issued that same year. That blossomed into firm friendship and as the years have passed we've played with Manuela's own band as well as doing gigs in different line-ups at festivals including the Oerol on Terschelling, the TV series Vrienden van Amstel, the National Song festival (2004), some highly unusual weddings, in villages and at campsites in France and on the Dutch West Indies islands of Curaçao and Bonaire.  
I've filled in a couple of times with Girls Wanna Have Fun, still play in The Greatest Tits and in bands formed spontaneously for different projects with musicians like Alan McLachlan, Manuela Kemp, Karin Stam, Jeroen Booij, Frederique Spigt, P.P. Everts, Christan Muiser, Bartel Bartels, Lies Schilp, Inge Bonthond,  Mieke Stemerdink, Pierre van Duijl, Ross Curry,  Sin Banovic and many others.

In the summer of 2006 Jeroen, Otto and I all played individually alongside Thé, albeit at different festivals. Jeroen and I quizzed him about considering one more tour with The Scene. We found there was no lack of enthusiasm, not just from the other band members but also among friends we told about our plan.
 
A new CD with the title '2007' came out on 21 May 2007, with guest musicians on three of the tracks: Sarah Bettens (K’s Choice), brilliant in 'Blauw'; Paskal Jakobsen (BLØF) backing the singalong hit 'Iedereen Is Van De Wereld'; and Tom Barman (dEUS) guesting in 'Rigoureus'.
Now two years' of performances at Belgian and Dutch venues further, with Leendert Haaksma joining us on guitar, we started in February 2009 writing and recording new numbers for a CD due out in November.
From January to the end of May 2010 we're playing theatres in Holland and Belgium and in the summer of 2010 we'll be back on stage at Dutch and Belgian festivals.

Translation: Angela Hood.