Geert Waegeman plays violin, mandolin (both electric and acoustic), synthesizers, sampler and other electronics, viola, percussion, piano, mandola, theremin, guitar, plectrum bass, jew's harp, chord harp, thin whistle, harmonica, ukulele, pianomelodica, and the stuff he find's on the road: steelpans, beercans, camembert-box ... Favourite synths: Virus, Prophet 8, Minimoog, Korg R3, Nord Lead, wasp (my first!)
Geert is musician, and composer for Cro Magnon and Braakland/ZheBilding. Producer of bands who believe first of all in music.
Member and producer of: Cro Magnon, Lupa Luna, De Legende (see myspace)
Influences
Penguin Café Orchestra, J.S. Bach, Serge Gainsbourg, Kraftwerk, Pink Floyd, Ennio Morricone, Koen De Bruyne, Maurice Ravel, Tubular Bells (Mike Oldfield), Velvet Undergound, TC Matic, Klaus Schulze, Madness, The Residents, Walter Hus and Maximalist!, Ry Cooder, Brian Eno, The Stranglers, Tony Trischka, Indonesian Gamelan
Sounds Like
Organic musical paintings with some surreal sound-actors. Kraftwerk meets Grapelli or Penguin Café Orchestra meets The Residents in Indonesia. For a holiday of course...
Geert Waegeman is composer, musician and producer and started to play music at the age of 4. In the beginning of the ninetees he became known as the creative brain behind the band Cro Magnon, an instrumental band who was far ahead of the times, and who invented their own style “Urban Chamber Music”, crossing the borders of music in a very own way.This path has later been taken by other Belgian bands as DAAU, Bal des Boiteux, Ballroom Quartet, Olla Vogala or Troissoeur. Cro Magnon released their first cd ‘Zapp’ in 1991 and it has been a source of inspiration for a whole generation of musicians who don’t just follow styles, but are after their own expression.
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In the eightees Geert was already using electronics in an acoustic context. The mix of acoustic and electronic atmospheres was always a main issue in his work, as well as making music that strongly appeals to the visual imagination of the listener. Therefore his compositions were regularly used for sonorisation in radio and tv, as well in Belgium as abroad. (eg. "Potato Eyes" with Anna Homler was used for a cooking program on Japanese tv ☺) . The use of contrasts - often at the time funny/mysterious, distant/warm, intimist /provoking- creates an adventurous feeling.
Journalists had it always difficult to classify and describe his music. Often it is called ‘eclectic’, but in the mind of the composer everything is precisely chosen, and the psychological impact of sound is very important. In his violin music (as he composed string quartets and quintets) there are flavours of barok, fillm scores and minimalism. As opposed to classical music his compositions are often very rhytmically oriented and his electronics are very much “alive” or “organic”. The music is layered and contains hidden melodies, so it allows you to discover new elements by repetitive listening.
In the international scene Waegeman became known by his collaborations with Anna Homler and Pavel Fajt, with who he made two cd’s. One cd “Corne de Vache” was a live recording of a concert in Canada and their music was pending between pop and avant-garde.
In the year 2000 he released his first solo-cd “Vegetal Digitables”, with some guest vocalist contributions (among who Iva Bittova).
In the past he was often asked in the studio as a violin player and played on over 1 million records, (some names: Gorky, Laïs, Neeka, Bart Peeters, The Radios, Rowwen Heze, Poesie Noire,…) and he got several Zamu nominations as a live-musician.
On the livestage, he was regularyly asked to collaborate in artistic projects that were crossing artistic borders.
In 2002 he was the central guest on the Vooruit Geluid festival and working with Icelanders and Inuits for the Etoiles Polaires Festival. This project, called 'Shaman', was travelling in Iceland, Greenland and Denmark.
A live film score was made for the silent movie dr. Jekyll and mr. Hyde. And performed in Belgium and abroad. (France, Mexico, Czech Republic,…)
In the past he was also working with Iva Bittova(CZ) in the studio, the piece 'absynt' was released on ' Vegetal Digitables", and on one Bittova cd, where she selected here favourite guest appearances, and made a compilation out of it.
These days, Geert plays with Cro Magnon, Lupa Luna, De Legende, Prima Donkey (every now and then) and is a member of music theater Braakland/ZheBilding based in Leuven. (Belgium) He also teams up with actrice Chris Lomme in a poetry program with live music and in music theatre with Bo Spaenc, and perfoms often with Pat Van Hemelrijck, with who he made the format-parody piece ‘Contertainment’. He also takes part in several improvised settings.
International collaborations (still happening today), are with: Pavel Fajt (CZ), Hearn Gadbois (USA), Pascal Gully (F), Yumiko Ishijima (JP), and Anna Homler (USA)
Main instruments: violin, mandolin (both acoustic and electric), synthesizers, sampler, piano and percussion. And occasional stuff: flutes, mouthharmonica, jew’s harp, and anything else which is colourful, fun to play or weirde enough... ☺
discography:
Geert Waegeman 'Vegetal Digitables' (Lowlands, low013, 2000)
De liedboeken, deel 1 Jan Frans Willems (BRT, cd 90 68 01) (‘90) -some contributions and first studio recording of Cro Magnon
De liedboeken, deel 2 Edmond de Coussemaker (Granota/BRT, cd 0210) (‘91) - some contributions
Cro Magnon Zapp! (Carbon 7 ‘91) and Bull? (Lowlands, low008, ‘97)
Cro Magnon & (Bub) ‘Brosella Suite’ (Het Verkeerde Been, 2004)
Homler, Waegeman, Fajt Macaronic Sines (Lowlands, low002,‘95) and
Corne de Vache (Victo, cd 047) (‘96)
De Legende Een oor is een oor (production) (De Schaar, ‘97) 'Bijt bijt bijt' (Donor, 2008)
BRSKTG, for theatre Luxemburg (Luxemburg) (2000)
El Fish en Geert Waegeman ‘A12’ (HKM, 2000)
Jan De Smet en Arne Van Dongen 'Steek je vinger in de lucht' (Woodie Guthrie songs for children) - production (Lannoo, 2005)
Jan De Smet 'Daar wordt aan de deur geklopt' (production)(Lannoo, 2008)
Black Velvet ‘All along the way’ 2009
Lupa Luna ‘Le ciel est au bout’ (Appel Rekords 2009)
Thanks a lot for the add. DG relies heavily on the support of people like you and I hope you check out our music and website. .. The latest release from DG is a 4-track EP entitled Motorcade, we hope you check it out and enjoy it! http://www.digitalgeist.com Thanks again!
dear geert normally i would greet you in faux flemish with something like: "icken glicken furghaelen sloth!", but i'll simply say welcome to myspace. best, hearn
Online Now!
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