Biography

No exciting story hides behind the choice of the band name Absent Minded: A dictionary was openened, and in the first few pages the band found what they were looking for. Absent Minded: it just sounded great.

Allot more can be told about "The Color Between Black and White", the young Dutch band's debut album. In the first place, the title expresses the variety in mood and feel that the songs on the album contain: melodious moments are alternated by smashing rocksongs, with Absent Minded keeping the groove and blazing on in pure New Metal tradition. "Both loud and soft muziek can be beautiful", says guitarist Matthijs van Vliet. "We want to prove that with this album. We're asking people to embrace the diversity, because you don't always have to follow just one musical path. We're inviting the listener to walk ALL the paths with us. The title can also be seen as a call for nuance, not only within the music. Things are seldom just black or white."

The album, produced by Gordon Groothedde (who also, among others, produced Spitball, Vengeance, Intwine, Jovink en de Voederbietels, F33l3r, and Lemoncrush), has a long history, but it is not a very long time compared to the history of the band itself: It all started when brothers Coen and Matthijs van Vliet attended the music school in Leiderdorp. The first feeble steps onto the path of music were manifested in a coverband, that played mostly hits. Though when Jeroen van Woezik joined, everything changed. This singer, guitarist and songwriter introduced his young colleagues to the likes of Korn, Metallica, and Silverchair. "Everything we had played up until then suddenly sounded so proper and low key,' remembers the band. "The rougher stuff really had an energy that grabbed us by the balls, and we also really liked the live performances of those bands. We wanted this too!"

So, in 1998, Absent Minded was born. Their first gig was at the Stedelijk Gymnasium in Leiden, where the quartet won "The Battle of the Bands" which resulted in ten free recording hours in the Art of Sound studio in Leiden. The demo that was recorded there got the band more gigs, including shows with Di- rect, And American rockbands Our Lady Peace and Lit. Also this seemed to result in a record deal with Van Records in 2001, but the negotiations never yielded any results. "The spark just wasn't there".

Instead of continuing with the record deal, Absent Minded put even more energy in their live performance and the writing of songs. One of these songs, "Without You" , resulted in the shooting of a music video by students of the Film Academy in Amsterdam. In April 2005 it can be regularly viewed on Holland's biggest music video channels. For weeks it was even the most requested video in the program On The Roxx, on The Box. "that was really amazing: suddenly we noticed at concerts that people where singing along", says the band.

In mid- 2005 drummer Aldo chose to study at the Royal Aviation Academy instead of continuing with the band. His replacement became Michel Tol. In 2005 and 2006 Absent Minded toured extensively through Holland with the band Intwine, as their support act. The bands enjoyed each other, which resulted in Intwine- vocalist Roger Peterson's guest appearance on The Color Between Black and White, in the song Can't You See. The question whether the band is ambitious or not, is answered with resounding confidence. "We really are perfectionists. We practice in weekends and usually an additional 2 days a week, and we of course have to play shows too; practicing alot is the only way to get better. And the band's final goal? becoming a success in The Netherlands, and then in other countries: we want nothing more than to test our luck in Belgium and Germany, and to be able to make music our profession."

As you can see from the way they handled the negotiations with Van Records, and the long and harrowing preparation of their debut album, Absent Minded is certainly not willing to sacrifice everything. The band therefore also tries to keep as much in their own hands as possible: "we design and maintain our own website, and designed the covers and booklets for our singles and our albums. The ideas for these items birth inside the band, and we elaborate them ourselves. We find it very important that our 'signature' is visible in the artwork etc."

2006 seems to have become THE year for Absent Minded. Of course mainly because of the release of their debut album, through record label V2. "This record is very important for us", explains the band. "There are eleven tracks on this album, and it took us eight years of our lives to get to this point: our hour of truth has arrived." The band also gets support from the music video channel TMF. Absent Minded enters the program "De Kweekvijver": the band got to record an all expenses music video for the song Start Over, which was put into high rotation for five weeks from april 2006 on. TMF also aired the "making of" the video.

Busy times, but the band doesn't let it get to them. "We want to make this band into something big, and we want to be successful outside The Netherlands, but every show we have we are reminded of the real reason we play: the interaction with the fans. We always go out to talk to them immediately after our gigs: only then can you truly experience what the music does to them. That gives you a fabulous feeling that can't be compared to anything else."

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