What could be better than making music? My biggest passions are singing and playing the guitar. I think I have been singing for as long as I can speak. My mom and dad also sang a lot when I was growing up, and have continued to do so throughout their lives. When I was at home I could usually hear my mother. Playing the guitar started when I was asked to be a singer in a band at the age of 17 by a slightly older classmate, Edwin van de Broek. He was the guitarist, but I didn’t want to be left empty-handed, so I bought a guitar too. I still remember the trip to Den Bosch under his guidance. A few years ago I gave the guitar that I bought to my daughter who plays it with great pleasure. Just last month I helped her move to a room and of course the guitar had to be brought along and hung up first. It made me warm.
From the moment I could play three or four chords, I immediately started writing songs. I was already doing poetry at that time, so lyrics came quite easily. The first was ‘Tante Henk’, too obscene to ever play seriously, but good for a campfire. From that time on I wrote songs. Sometimes independently, but more often together with others, for example with Agali Mert (eg ‘There’s a moth on the TV’) and in Delft with good musicians such as Hans Abbink (eg ‘Badwater’), Eric Meerburg and Martin Krijgsman where I played in bands. Simpel Zat and Krolsch were the band names.