Di-rect
Encyclopedia
Di-rect is a rock
band from The Hague
, The Netherlands, which was formed in 1999. The current line-up consists of Jamie Westland (drums), Frans "Spike" van Zoest (guitars), Bas van Wageningen (bass), Vince van Reeken (keyboards) and Marcel Veenendaal (lead vocals).
radio DJ Rob Stenders
saw them play live and was impressed by them. He played a song from their demo on national radio, and this generated considerable interest by record companies. Two months later Di-rect signed with Dino Music/EMI
.
cover), "Inside my Head" and "Free" charting in the Dutch top 40.
In February 2002 the band received a Hitkrant award for Best Dutch Rock Act and in April they were nominated for four TMF
awards. They were also invited to appear at the Pinkpop and Parkpop
festivals, where they played to audiences of 60,000 and more than 400,000 respectively.
In January 2003 their debut album Discover turned gold, and a few weeks later the band got an Edison award for best single 2002 ("Inside My Head"). In April 2003, before the release of their second album Over the Moon, Di-rect released 2 singles: "Adrenaline" and "She". "Adrenaline" became a top 10 hit in the Netherlands and "She" reached 2nd place in the charts. Just before the release of Over the moon, Di-rect received 2 TMF awards, for Best Rock Act and Best Video (for "Adrenaline"). The album went gold in the Netherlands. In the summer of 2003 the band gained an advertising deal with Pepsi
and later that year they released a single called "Name of the Game" in cooperation with Pepsi. Their photo appeared on 8,000,000 Pepsi bottles. Two further singles from their second album also reached the top 40; "Rollercoaster" and "Don't Kill me Tonight". In April 2004 they received another TMF award for best video clip for "Rollercoaster".
) reached #3 in the singles chart. Two further singles, "Cool Without You" and "Webcam Girl", also reached the top 10, and "Blind for You", featuring the classical pianist Wibi Soerjadi
made #13. "Webcam Girl" was released in 2 parts and also featured live versions of the other two singles which were performed at Pinkpop 2005. In 2006 a cover of "Cool Without You" by German singer Tobias Regner
was recorded for the soundtrack of the movie Open Season
(Jagdfieber).
Following a tour of Italy
and Indonesia
they spent 3 weeks in the United States
for the Dutch MTV
show Road Rally, a game in which they raced another band, Nailpin
, across the country from the west to the east coast without any spending money.
In February 2006, Di-rect signed a 2 record deal with EMI. In June, they performed at the Parkpop
festival at The Hague
.
On February 3, 2007, the band's lead singer at the time, Akkerman, had a daughter. On April 9, Di-rect released a new single called "A Good Thing", from the self-titled album Di-rect. The album which was released in early March and another single "I Just Can't Stand" (released May 7) both failed to chart and did not achieve any measurable success or sales.
In 2008, Di-rect was approached by Jan Rot
for doing a theatre tour performing Tommy, the rock opera by The Who
. Di-rect, being huge Who fans, were sceptical because the lyrics were translated to Dutch
. They found Jan Rot made an excellent translation and thus started the project "Di-rect doet Tommy" (Di-rect does Tommy).
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band from The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
, The Netherlands, which was formed in 1999. The current line-up consists of Jamie Westland (drums), Frans "Spike" van Zoest (guitars), Bas van Wageningen (bass), Vince van Reeken (keyboards) and Marcel Veenendaal (lead vocals).
1999-2000: Formation
Di-rect began in October 1999 when 15 year old Jamie Westland asked his father Dick to help him set up a band. Three other teenagers joined him, the oldest 19 with Tim Akkerman as a frontman. Within a few months Di-rect had completed a five track demo which included the song "Just the Way I Do". 3FM3FM
3FM is a Dutch radio station on the NPO which broadcasts popular music. It can be compared with BBC Radio 1.-History:3FM was created as Hilversum 3 by minister Maarten Vrolijk on 11 October 1965, to counterbalance the popular offshore station Radio Veronica...
radio DJ Rob Stenders
Rob Stenders
Rob Stenders is a Dutch radio DJ.Stenders had a long lasting career in radio starting with local radio stations. Stenders followed up Edwin Evers in the 3FM morning show "Stenders Vroeg" for the public radio and television company "VARA"...
saw them play live and was impressed by them. He played a song from their demo on national radio, and this generated considerable interest by record companies. Two months later Di-rect signed with Dino Music/EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
.
2001-2004: Chart success
In 2001 they released a single of "Just the Way I Do" followed by their debut album Discover. The album reached the top 100, with three further singles "My Generation" (a The WhoThe Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
cover), "Inside my Head" and "Free" charting in the Dutch top 40.
In February 2002 the band received a Hitkrant award for Best Dutch Rock Act and in April they were nominated for four TMF
TMF Nederland
TMF was a 24-hour music channel operated by Viacom International Media Networks in the Netherlands. The channel ceased operating on September 1, 2011. The channels operations were based in Amsterdam. The channel was previously known as TMF6 and TMF9 respectively.- History :TMF was launched on May...
awards. They were also invited to appear at the Pinkpop and Parkpop
Parkpop
The Parkpop festival is a free music festival held annually on the last Sunday of June in the city of The Hague, The Netherlands/Holland.It was first held in 1981 and attended by 35,000 visitors. Today up to 350,000 people visit the festival every year. They held the title for largest free pop...
festivals, where they played to audiences of 60,000 and more than 400,000 respectively.
In January 2003 their debut album Discover turned gold, and a few weeks later the band got an Edison award for best single 2002 ("Inside My Head"). In April 2003, before the release of their second album Over the Moon, Di-rect released 2 singles: "Adrenaline" and "She". "Adrenaline" became a top 10 hit in the Netherlands and "She" reached 2nd place in the charts. Just before the release of Over the moon, Di-rect received 2 TMF awards, for Best Rock Act and Best Video (for "Adrenaline"). The album went gold in the Netherlands. In the summer of 2003 the band gained an advertising deal with Pepsi
Pepsi
Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink that is produced and manufactured by PepsiCo...
and later that year they released a single called "Name of the Game" in cooperation with Pepsi. Their photo appeared on 8,000,000 Pepsi bottles. Two further singles from their second album also reached the top 40; "Rollercoaster" and "Don't Kill me Tonight". In April 2004 they received another TMF award for best video clip for "Rollercoaster".
2005-2008: All Systems Go! & Di-rect
In January 2005 they released a third album, All Systems Go!, which entered the Dutch album chart at #1. The first single from the album "Hungry for Love" (a cover of the song by Alistair GriffinAlistair Griffin
Alistair Richard Griffin is an English singer/songwriter and musician. Already an established songwriter, he first became famous as a solo artist through his appearances on the BBC television show Fame Academy 2 in 2003, where he was "spotted" and championed by Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees...
) reached #3 in the singles chart. Two further singles, "Cool Without You" and "Webcam Girl", also reached the top 10, and "Blind for You", featuring the classical pianist Wibi Soerjadi
Wibi Soerjadi
Wibi Soerjadi is an internationally-recognized concert pianist who has performed with several veteran conductors, including Evgeny Svetlanov, Vassili Sinaisky and Sergiu Comissiona.-Collaborations:...
made #13. "Webcam Girl" was released in 2 parts and also featured live versions of the other two singles which were performed at Pinkpop 2005. In 2006 a cover of "Cool Without You" by German singer Tobias Regner
Tobias Regner
Tobias Regner is a German singer, songwriter and musician who has enjoyed success in the rock music genre...
was recorded for the soundtrack of the movie Open Season
Open Season (film)
Open Season is a 2006 computer-animated comedy film, written by Steve Bencich and Ron J. Friedman and directed by Jill Culton, Roger Allers, and Anthony Stacchi, and production designed by Michael Humphries...
(Jagdfieber).
Following a tour of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
they spent 3 weeks in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
for the Dutch MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
show Road Rally, a game in which they raced another band, Nailpin
Nailpin
Nailpin is a Belgian band.After Belgian singles "Endless Conversations", "Movin' On" and "Together", from their debut album '12 TO GO', Nailpin made their international debut....
, across the country from the west to the east coast without any spending money.
In February 2006, Di-rect signed a 2 record deal with EMI. In June, they performed at the Parkpop
Parkpop
The Parkpop festival is a free music festival held annually on the last Sunday of June in the city of The Hague, The Netherlands/Holland.It was first held in 1981 and attended by 35,000 visitors. Today up to 350,000 people visit the festival every year. They held the title for largest free pop...
festival at The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
.
On February 3, 2007, the band's lead singer at the time, Akkerman, had a daughter. On April 9, Di-rect released a new single called "A Good Thing", from the self-titled album Di-rect. The album which was released in early March and another single "I Just Can't Stand" (released May 7) both failed to chart and did not achieve any measurable success or sales.
In 2008, Di-rect was approached by Jan Rot
Jan Rot
Jan Rot is a Dutch singer-songwriter who is famous in the Netherlands for his many translations of songs, pop as well as classic. His Dutch translation of Bach's St.Matthews Passion peaked Easter 2006 on the Dutch popalbum charts.-External links:*...
for doing a theatre tour performing Tommy, the rock opera by The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
. Di-rect, being huge Who fans, were sceptical because the lyrics were translated to Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
. They found Jan Rot made an excellent translation and thus started the project "Di-rect doet Tommy" (Di-rect does Tommy).
2009-: Change of frontman
In March 2009, Tim Akkerman announced that he would leave Di-rect. On November 8, in the live finale of the nationally televised BNN program Wie is Direct? (English: Who is Di-rect?), the band made a unanimous decision to bring on Marcel Veenendaal from Arnhem as their new lead vocalist and frontman. The band's new single "Times are Changing" was also debuted with Marcel fronting the band for the first time in his official role as the new lead singer for Di-rect. The band also revealed via their website, that Vince van Reeken would also be joining the band in a permanent capacity on the keyboards.1999-2009
- Discover (2001)
- Over the Moon (2003)
- All Systems Go! (2005)
- Di-rect (2007)