5bridgeS sets up a musical party together with the audience
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Bio by Bas Luijten -
Dutch rock band 5bridgeS have been working together with their current line-up for about three years by now. Going by a band name which refers to the extensive catalogue of one Mr. Keith Emerson, these five guys actually manage to cross a bridge by (at least) five bars, reaching out for the sounds of the seventies, the decennium wherein truly crafty musicians were still allowed to sound genuinely, passionately warm and a mite rough on the edges. 5bridgeS manage to bring forth exactly that beloved seventies sound – including MiniMoog, Hammond organ, Taurus pedals, a pounding rhythm section, a guitarist who actually understands when and where 'less is more', and a singer/multi-instrumentalist who manages to deliver both a feeling of melancholy in his voice, as well as a belcanto style of singing.
Piet Roelofsen
| Enzo Gallo | Luke d'Araceno | VACANCY|
Rob van der Linden (links to Dutch pages)
'Most important of all is the joy of playing together', comments singer Piet Roelofsen. 'It is indeed a pleasure to arrange the music together with all of us. But it is even more delightful to perform the eventual results live on stage in a truly joyful manner. You can't really expect the audience to enjoy themselves, if you don't manage to convey that happy emotion by yourselves, can you?'
Just like guitarist Enzo Gallo's and keyboardist Luke d'Araceno's, Piet's musical roots lie firmly in classical music. The band's rhythm section, consisting of bassist Martin Thoolen (who addresses to himself as 'a true symphomaniac' in heart and soul) and the heavy grooving-inclined coppersmith Rob van der Linden, lay down a solid base which fully enables the band's soloists to freely explore their all of their possibilities. 'Multi-layered music with a slight rough edge, that's what it's all about for me,' comments Enzo. 'If anyone feels like dancing, go ahead and have fun – but whoever just wants to listen along to the music in more depth will also find plenty of stuff to enjoy', Luke elucidates.
Musical 'Palette'
5bridgeS have recently released their debut concept album The Thomas Tracks. Its lyrics, or 'libretto' as the band addresses to them themselves on their site, are based on Rob's forthcoming Novel, De handelingen van Thomas , – which will soon be released by the Dutch Querido publishing house. 'The entire story in fact made that we didn't hit the studio with some bunch of loose, disconnected songs,' explains the story-writing drummer. 'It indeed became a palette to work from further on.'
When listening to the album, you will feel inclined to agree with that statement. You'll find yourself listening to exotic, oriental sounds as much as to very western, straight-forward beats, retro-rusty rock, as well as dense dynamics, as all of those influences indeed bring colour to 5bridgeS' particularly extensive palette of sounds.
If anything appears very clearly, it's that all of the band's members have been allowed to attribute their own free, authentic contributions. Passion and animation (let alone the LOVE of pure music) shine through – through all of the music's little jigsaw pieces that make up for the whole complete deal of it – whether it happens when just listening to their CD, or – even more - listening to the band when they perform live at festivals or at their own headlining concerts.These gentlemen are more-than-ready for Going For the One , whatever, wherever that may mean.
Reviews of the band's debut CD The Thomas Tracks are nothing less than jubilant, and rightly so.
The album has drawn attention from every ocean's coast so far, including Japan and Australia. It's a true pleasure to hear the enthusiastic reactions from listeners even from Indonesia's Jakarta and Brazil's Buenos Aires. And whenever 5bridgeS performs live, the enthusiasm happens to be contagious
Contact
Bookings: Enzo Gallo (+31 (0)23 542 6983) or info@5bridges.nl.
Don't miss out updates, pictures, videos and soundbites on the bands' official website: www.5bridges.nl