Gothic Theatre
Racoon
Power pop quartet Racoon scored one of the biggest hits in Dutch chart history with their 2005 ballad “Love You More” and are now well on their way to conquer the USA as well.
Formed in Zeeland, Holland, in 1997, Racoon began as the duo of singer Bart van der Weide and guitarist Dennis Huige, making their recorded debut via three songs contributed to the Dutch Rock & Pop Institute compilation Characters. With a 1998 relocation to Utrecht, bassist Stefan de Kroon and drummer Paul Bukkens joined the lineup, and the group played the Heineken X-pl’oor Festival prior to self-releasing a demo titled It’s an Ice Cream Day. The disc piqued the interest of a number of Dutch labels, and after an appearance at the 1999 Noorderslag Weekend, Racoon signed with Sony’s S.M.A.R.T. imprint, issuing their debut album, Till Monkeys Fly, the following year. The single “Feel Like Flying” proved a radio favorite, building anticipation for the band’s follow-up, Here We Go, Stereo, issued in late 2001 and buoyed by the hit “Eric’s Bar.” Racoon then hit the European tour circuit for more than a year, culminating in 2003’s all-star Europe Day Festival in Kiev.
Their third album, Another Day, finally hit retail in 2005 and launched the band to superstardom, generating a string of hits including the breakthrough smash “Love You More”, “Laugh About It”, and “Brother”. With over 140.000 records sold to date, the band cannot only call themselves the proud owners of a platinum record but are now also ready to take their first steps on this side of the Big Pond.
“It’s really strange”, says van der Weide of the group’s belated breakthrough. “I can’t put my finger on it. We figured nobody was pushing us anymore, so we’d do our own thing and work at our own speed. And it just started flowing. It worked like a charm. It meant a lot to us, because we could give up our day jobs and start working full-time as musicians.”
“Love You More” came about when Bart and guitarist Dennis Huige were sitting on a couch at an old military canteen, making a bit of music, drinking a little beer and recording everything on an old cassette deck.
“It came out of the blue in about a minute and a half… And we realized we might just have a beautiful song on our hands. The lyrics were written for my wife and came straight from the heart. And it still does. Whenever I sing it, I think of her and my three-year-old son. The song even impresses me.”
“We’ll do anything in our power to reach our goals,” says van der Weide. “And America, of course, is one of our goals. I don’t want to put too much hope into it, though, because we’re not quite there yet. We’ll just do our best and see what happens. And if it does, great. But if it doesn’t, it’s still great. We completely adore our Dutch audience too.”
“We make our money making music, which is a little boy’s dream, and we’re still living that dream. If the opportunity for success in America arises, we’ll do our best to make it possible. All I know is we’ll have a great time trying to make it happen.”
The group’s first US single “Close Your Eyes” will be promoted at Triple A radio, its acoustic pop-rock melodies echoing some of the band’s stateside influences, from Randy Newman, Simon & Garfunkel and Chris de Burgh to Sly & the Family Stone and Fiona Apple.
“We listen to that stuff all the time”, says van der Weide. “But I like to refer to Racoon as a band with its own sound. The best thing I can read is a review where another group is described as Racoon-ish. It means we have developed our own thing.”
As for the band’s name, Bart claims it came from their drummer, Paul Bukkens, who was watching a National Geographic documentary, heard them mention Racoon and thought it would make the perfect moniker for the group.
“It was between that and Mohair Sam, which our bassist came up with, but nobody in Holland understood what it meant”, laughs Bart, “although that’s what we thought… we could still change it to that I guess if you’d prefer”.
At the moment, Racoon can start packing for their first full-scale American tour with The Lemonheads and are looking forward to it.
Power pop quartet Racoon scored one of the biggest hits in Dutch chart history with their 2005 ballad “Love You More” and are now well on their way to conquer the USA as well.
Formed in Zeeland, Holland, in 1997, Racoon began as the duo of singer Bart van der Weide and guitarist Dennis Huige, making their recorded debut via three songs contributed to the Dutch Rock & Pop Institute compilation Characters. With a 1998 relocation to Utrecht, bassist Stefan de Kroon and drummer Paul Bukkens joined the lineup, and the group played the Heineken X-pl’oor Festival prior to self-releasing a demo titled It’s an Ice Cream Day. The disc piqued the interest of a number of Dutch labels, and after an appearance at the 1999 Noorderslag Weekend, Racoon signed with Sony’s S.M.A.R.T. imprint, issuing their debut album, Till Monkeys Fly, the following year. The single “Feel Like Flying” proved a radio favorite, building anticipation for the band’s follow-up, Here We Go, Stereo, issued in late 2001 and buoyed by the hit “Eric’s Bar.” Racoon then hit the European tour circuit for more than a year, culminating in 2003’s all-star Europe Day Festival in Kiev.
Their third album, Another Day, finally hit retail in 2005 and launched the band to superstardom, generating a string of hits including the breakthrough smash “Love You More”, “Laugh About It”, and “Brother”. With over 140.000 records sold to date, the band cannot only call themselves the proud owners of a platinum record but are now also ready to take their first steps on this side of the Big Pond.
“It’s really strange”, says van der Weide of the group’s belated breakthrough. “I can’t put my finger on it. We figured nobody was pushing us anymore, so we’d do our own thing and work at our own speed. And it just started flowing. It worked like a charm. It meant a lot to us, because we could give up our day jobs and start working full-time as musicians.”
“Love You More” came about when Bart and guitarist Dennis Huige were sitting on a couch at an old military canteen, making a bit of music, drinking a little beer and recording everything on an old cassette deck.
“It came out of the blue in about a minute and a half… And we realized we might just have a beautiful song on our hands. The lyrics were written for my wife and came straight from the heart. And it still does. Whenever I sing it, I think of her and my three-year-old son. The song even impresses me.”
“We’ll do anything in our power to reach our goals,” says van der Weide. “And America, of course, is one of our goals. I don’t want to put too much hope into it, though, because we’re not quite there yet. We’ll just do our best and see what happens. And if it does, great. But if it doesn’t, it’s still great. We completely adore our Dutch audience too.”
“We make our money making music, which is a little boy’s dream, and we’re still living that dream. If the opportunity for success in America arises, we’ll do our best to make it possible. All I know is we’ll have a great time trying to make it happen.”
The group’s first US single “Close Your Eyes” will be promoted at Triple A radio, its acoustic pop-rock melodies echoing some of the band’s stateside influences, from Randy Newman, Simon & Garfunkel and Chris de Burgh to Sly & the Family Stone and Fiona Apple.
“We listen to that stuff all the time”, says van der Weide. “But I like to refer to Racoon as a band with its own sound. The best thing I can read is a review where another group is described as Racoon-ish. It means we have developed our own thing.”
As for the band’s name, Bart claims it came from their drummer, Paul Bukkens, who was watching a National Geographic documentary, heard them mention Racoon and thought it would make the perfect moniker for the group.
“It was between that and Mohair Sam, which our bassist came up with, but nobody in Holland understood what it meant”, laughs Bart, “although that’s what we thought… we could still change it to that I guess if you’d prefer”.
At the moment, Racoon can start packing for their first full-scale American tour with The Lemonheads and are looking forward to it.
Meanwhile however the band is also preparing for their follow-up album in the Benelux, which should see the light of day in the spring of 2008 and will be accompanied by extensive touring throughout the whole year. “We haven’t played that much in 2007”, Dennis states, “so we’re really itching to hit the stage again”.
