Di-rect is a
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band from
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...
, the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, which was formed in 1999. The current line-up consists of Jamie Westland (drums), Frans "Spike" van Zoest (guitar), Bas van Wageningen (bass), Paul Jan Bakker (guitar) and Marcel Veenendaal (lead vocals).
History
1999–2000: Formation
Di-rect began in October 1999 when 15-year-old Jamie Westland asked his father Dick to help him set up a band. Three other teenagers joined him, the oldest 19 with
Tim Akkerman as a frontman. Within a few months Di-rect had completed a five track demo which included the song "Just the Way I Do".
3FM
NPO 3FM is a Dutch rhythmic CHR radio station controlled by public broadcaster NPO. The vast majority of the songs played on-air are rock, alternative, indie and pop, though dance and Mega Top 30 tracks may also air at times.
History
As Ra ...
radio
DJ Rob Stenders
Rob Stenders (born 18 April 1965) is a Dutch radio DJ.
Stenders had a long-lasting career in radio starting with local radio stations. Stenders followed up Edwin Evers with the 3FM morning show "Stenders Vroeg" for the public radio and televis ...
saw them play live and was impressed by them. He played a song from their demo on national radio, and this generated considerable interest by record companies. Two months later Di-rect signed with Dino Music/
EMI
EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...
.
2001–2004: Chart success
In 2001 they released a single of "Just the Way I Do" followed by their debut album ''Discover''. The album reached the top 100, with three further singles "
My Generation
"My Generation" is a song by the English rock band the Who, which became a hit and one of their most recognizable songs. The song was named the 11th greatest song by ''Rolling Stone'' on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It becam ...
" (a
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
cover), "Inside my Head" and "Free" charting in the Dutch top 40.
In February 2002 the band received a Hitkrant award for Best Dutch Rock Act and in April they were nominated for four
TMF awards. They were also invited to appear at the
Pinkpop
The Pinkpop Festival is an annual music festival held at Landgraaf, Netherlands. It is usually held on the Pentecost weekend (''Pinksteren'' in Dutch, hence the name). If Pentecost falls on an early date in May, the festival is held later in June. ...
and
Parkpop
The Parkpop festival is a free music festival held annually on the last Sunday of June in the city of The Hague, Netherlands.
It was first held in 1981 and was attended by 35,000 visitors. Today up to 350,000 people visit the festival every yea ...
festivals.
In January 2003 their debut album ''Discover'' turned gold, and a few weeks later the band got an Edison award for best single 2002 ("Inside My Head"). In April 2003, before the release of their second album ''Over the Moon'', Di-rect released 2 singles: "Adrenaline" and "She". "Adrenaline" became a top 10 hit in the Netherlands and "She" reached 2nd place in the charts. Just before the release of ''Over the moon'', Di-rect received 2 TMF awards, for Best Rock Act and Best Video (for "Adrenaline"). The album went gold in the Netherlands.
NVPI ''Over the Moon'' gold certification
/ref> In the summer of 2003 the band gained an advertising deal with Pepsi
Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961.
History
Pepsi was ...
and later that year they released a single called "Name of the Game" in cooperation with Pepsi. Two further singles from their second album also reached the top 40; "Rollercoaster" and "Don't Kill me Tonight". In April 2004 they received another TMF award for best video clip for "Rollercoaster".
2005–2008: ''All Systems Go!'' and ''Di-rect''
In January 2005 they released a third album, ''All Systems Go!'', which entered the Dutch album chart at #1. The first single from the album "Hungry for Love" (a cover of the song by Alistair Griffin
Alistair Richard Griffin (born 1 November 1977) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Already an established songwriter, he first became famous as a solo artist through his appearances on the BBC television show ''Fame Academy 2'' in 2 ...
) reached #3 in the singles chart. Two further singles, "Cool Without You" and "Webcam Girl", also reached the top 10, and "Blind for You", featuring the classical pianist Wibi Soerjadi
Wibi Soerjadi (born March 2, 1970) is an Indonesian-Dutch concert pianist and composer.
Biography
Wibi Soerjadi was born March 2, 1970, in Leiden, Netherlands. He began studying piano at age eleven with Bob Brouwer and later at the Sweelinck Co ...
made #13. "Webcam Girl" was released in 2 parts and also featured live versions of the other two singles which were performed at Pinkpop 2005. In 2006 a cover of "Cool Without You" by German singer Tobias Regner
Tobias Regner (born 5 August 1982) is a German singer and guitarist who has enjoyed success in the rock music genre. He made his debut under major label Sony BMG Domestic after he won the highly publicized third season of the television series ...
was recorded for the soundtrack of the movie '' Open Season'' (Jagdfieber).
Following a tour of Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
and Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
they spent 3 weeks in the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
for the Dutch MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
show ''Road Rally'', a game in which they raced another band, Nailpin
Nailpin is a Belgium, Belgian band (music), band.
History
After Belgian singles "Endless Conversations", "Movin' On" and "Together", from their debut album '12 TO GO' which was released in May 2004, Nailpin made their international debut.
Their ...
, across the country from the west to the east coast without any spending money.
In February 2006, Di-rect signed a 2 record deal with EMI. In June, they performed at the Parkpop
The Parkpop festival is a free music festival held annually on the last Sunday of June in the city of The Hague, Netherlands.
It was first held in 1981 and was attended by 35,000 visitors. Today up to 350,000 people visit the festival every yea ...
festival at The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...
.
On February 3, 2007, the band's lead singer at the time, Akkerman, had a daughter. On April 9, Di-rect released a new single called "A Good Thing", from the self-titled album ''Di-rect''. The album which was released in early March and another single "I Just Can't Stand" (released May 7) both failed to chart and did not achieve any measurable success or sales.
In 2008, Di-rect was approached by Jan Rot
Jan Rot (25 December 1957 – 22 April 2022) was a Dutch singer-songwriter born in Makassar, who was famous in the Netherlands for his many translations of songs, pop as well as classical ones. His Dutch translation of Bach's ''St Matthew Pass ...
for doing a theatre tour performing ''Tommy
Tommy may refer to:
People
* Tommy (given name)
* Tommy Atkins, or just Tommy, a slang term for a common soldier in the British Army
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''Tommy'' (1931 film), a Soviet drama film
* ''Tommy'' (1975 fil ...
'', the rock opera by The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
. Di-rect, being huge Who fans, were sceptical because the lyrics were translated to Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
. They found Jan Rot made an excellent translation and thus started the project "Di-rect doet Tommy" (Di-rect does Tommy).
2009: Change of frontman
In March 2009, Tim Akkerman announced that he would leave Di-rect. On November 8, in the live finale of the nationally televised BNN program ''Wie is Direct?'' (English: ''Who is Di-rect?''), the band made a unanimous decision to bring on Marcel Veenendaal from Arnhem as their new lead vocalist and frontman. The band's single "Times Are Changing" was also debuted with Marcel fronting the band for the first time in his official role as the new lead singer for Di-rect. The band also revealed via their website, that Vince van Reeken would also be joining the band in a permanent capacity on the keyboards.
Discography
Albums
Studio albums
Live albums
Joint albums
Singles
Others
*2005: "Als je iets kan doen" (in formation Artiesten voor Azië) (NED: #1)
Notes
References
External links
Di-rect official website
Di-rect doet Tommy official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Di-Rect
Dutch rock music groups