Biography

The group started in 1995 when Caroline Hoffman (born 1975) and sisters Niña (born 1985) and Djem van Dijk (1987) met during a party, where Caroline was performing with a friend. The parents of the van Dijk sisters asked Caroline to become the music teacher of the two girls. A close-knit group was born, starting with street concerts where they accompanied themselves with acoustic guitar

Acoustic guitar

An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...

 and djembe

Djembe

A djembe also known as jembe, jenbe, djbobimbe, jymbe, yembe, or jimbay, or sanbanyi in Susu; is a skin-covered drum meant played with bare hands....

. Their harmonised and contagious African rhythm soon attracted a lot of attention. Treble is unique for its use of a fictitious language, called "Treble. As they put it, "In order to be able to get emotions across, music does not always require understandable language." The van Dijk sisters were in their early teens when the collaboration with Caroline started, and were therefore better able to pick up foreign languages. Although the girls have been singing in English and occasionally in French, the Treble language still is an integral and important part of their songwriting and performances.

After performing in the Netherlands and traveling abroad, the girls recorded their debut single "Ramaganana" at the end of 2003, which turned out to be the major breakthrough for the trio, reaching the number one slot on the Dutch singles Hit List

Hit List

YTV's Hit List was a music video television program that aired on YTV, a Canadian specialty television network aimed at children. The series first started in 1991, hosted by Tarzan Dan and had 14 seasons in all. The first 6 seasons of Hit List were hosted by Tarzan Dan, there were numerous hosts to...

. To promote the single, Treble hit the streets again. Performing with a placard requesting the listeners purchase their single and bring it to first place, they succeeded. In June 2004, their first album ,No Trouble, made its debut. The girls, by then, had a record deal with CNR Music. Backed up by a group of session musicians they show the many different styles Treble has mastered, ranging from ballads to uptempo rock songs. The album is supported by a full theatre tour and several festival appearances. On stage the three girls are accompanied by a three man live band: Olaf Fase (drums), Emanuel Platino (bass) and Willem Philips (guitar).

Their second album Free came out in April 2006. By then, the group has teamed up with World Sound Management from the USA. The American management firm became interested in Treble when the group performed in France during Midem. In true Treble style, the girls weren't invited. They went to France and just hit the streets of Cannes without any planned gigs. The album is recorded in Hawaii and Los Angeles, under the guidance of Keith Olsen

Keith Olsen

Keith Olsen is one of the most prolific and successful music producers in the industry.-Career:With over 120 albums produced netting a 1 in 4 Gold or better ratio, of which more than 24 are Platinum or better, and more than 14 are multi-Platinum, sales from Keith Olsen’s work exceeds 110 million...

. His involvement lead to a much more coherent sound and the inclusion of the Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac are a British–American rock band formed in 1967 in London.The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood...

 song Crystal, which also was produced by Keith Olson in its original form. The band returns to familiar water when they went on a theatre tour (Omne trivium perfectum) and a full festival agenda. Treble will compete in the National Song Festival, which is the national final for the Eurovision Song Contest.

On 12 March 2006, an overwhelming victory at the National Song Festival in Amsterdam made Treble the Dutch representatives in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006

Eurovision Song Contest 2006

The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was the 51st Eurovision Song Contest, held at the Olympic Indoor Hall in Athens, Greece on 18 May and 20 May 2006 . The hosting national broadcaster of the contest was Ellinikí Radiofonía Tileórasi . The Finnish band Lordi won the contest with the song "Hard Rock...

 in Athens

Athens

Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

. During a live television

Live television

Live television refers to a television production broadcast in real-time, as events happen, in the present. From the early days of television until about 1958, live television was used heavily, except for filmed shows such as I Love Lucy and Gunsmoke. Video tape did not exist until 1957...

 show on the Dutch channel NOS

Nederlandse Omroep Stichting

The Nederlandse Omroep Stichting , English: Netherlands Broadcasting Foundation, is one of the broadcasters in the Netherlands Public Broadcasting system...

, their song "Amambanda" was chosen as the best by 72% of the viewers. After this, Treble went on tour, planning to visit every country that was to send a contestant to Athens. They succeeded in doing so, but did not qualify for the Semi-Final. Lordi

Lordi

Lordi is a Finnish hard rock/heavy metal band, formed in 1996 by the band's lead singer, songwriter and costume-designer, Mr. Lordi. The band is known for wearing monster masks and using pyrotechnics during concerts...

, the Finnish heavy metal band

Heavy metal music

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

, won the semis and the final. (During their European tour, Treble met Lordi and they became good friends.)

The schedule for Treble after the ESC remains empty. A single (Fly) off the Free album was scheduled as a CD-single

CD single

A CD single is a music single in the form of a standard size Compact Disc, not to be confused with the 3-inch CD single, which uses a smaller form factor. The format was introduced in the mid-1980s, but did not gain its place in the market until the early 1990s...

 but was later rescheduled to appear only as a download. Another single (Leave me alone) was scheduled for 2006 but later postponed to early 2007. Djem and Niña van Dijk have both enrolled in the Amsterdam Conservatorium to sharpen their musical skills.

Treble split up in March 2010. Each of the girls will make their own career in music.

External links

Treble website

• Treble website
• National Songfestival 2006 Treble page on NOS