MIND THE WHO?!
WILD IDEAS & FICKLE FIRES
What started out as a writing session ending in sharing whiskey now has grown to what we dare to call a Different Kind Of Music Label.
All ideals are born from the urge to make a difference. We, Mind:The:Gap initiators, found each other in our belief that Things Take Time. We don’t want to preach, seem bitter or pretend to know it all. We can not deny, though, that looking around us many seem to Live Fast, Die Young.
We want to live slow and die old. That’s why we fight for a constructive, long term relationship with the love of our lives: music. Don’t get us wrong: we absolutely love the crazy amount of talented artists and the many ways music can reach an audience these days. What we don't care for so much: the anonymity, the numbers game, the algorithms that drown out great artists and bands and the shooting stars that disappear again in a heartbeat.
(The Daily Indie wrote a column on this subject, roughly translated titled ‘..and then I’m like, “Something doesn’t totally work out here.” (https://www.thedailyindie.nl/column-dan-denk-ik-er-gaat-iets-niet-helemaal-goed/) and we think it’s dead-on. Unfortunately you have to either speak Dutch or trust a translating app to understand it.)
That’s where some Wild Ideas were born. A traveling festival for those just outside the Big Spotlight. A collective for like-minded artists to share knowledge and ideas, and support and help each other grow. An international community. Setting up Mind:The:Gap tours for our connected bands and artists.
And the best part is, we are not scared of by those Wild Ideas. Because we believe Things Take Time and we have that time. We are not pressured by hip & happening, by trends and fickle fires. We are slowly building and the first step is throwing Mind:The:Gap into the big wide world and before we know it, some of those wild ideas might have become achievements.
Merit Visser
Merit Visser is a songwriter, singer, pianist and producer. She graduated the Rockacademie with Songwriting as a major in 2012 and she recently received a Master's degree in Music Technology at the Utrecht University of the Arts.
She is the lead singer, songwriter and pianist of Ilen Mer, a cinematic pop act from Tilburg, and with her solo act LIJO (electronic pop) she's currently expanding her boundaries by touring through the UK and Germany.
Desirée Coumans
Desirée Coumans is a singer, songwriter and bass player who graduated from the Utrecht Conservatory as a singer in 2011. In 2018 she graduated as a Master of Music Technology at the Utrecht University of the Arts.
After releasing several albums with different bands she found her place in Pocket Knife Army (experimental electro-rock), together with Erwin Tuijl.
Erwin Tuijl
Erwin Tuijl is a pianist/synth-player, producer and composer. In 2006 he started at the Conservatory of Utrecht with jazz piano as his main subject and in 2013 he received a Bachelor's degree in Music and Technology with as major production & composition.
His main project is Pocket Knife Army (experimental electro-rock) and he recorded serval albums with other artists in his own studio.