Milk Inc. is a
dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...
group that formed in the commercial dance scene in Belgium in 1995. The discography of the group includes a total of seven studio albums and 41 singles.
History
Milk Inc. released their first hit single "La Vache" in April 1997. Milk Inc. have had several tours throughout Europe. Their music is characterized by a specific emotional mood, which is created through the use of appropriate synthesizers. In its early days as Milk Inc., the band had also had a
guitarist
A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...
and harpist, John Miles Jr., which is an unusual instrument to be used in
dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...
.
The band has had many line-up changes throughout its history. The band has found much success in Europe, with many of their singles charting in countries such as the Netherlands, United Kingdom, France and Spain. They are most successful in their native country Belgium, where they have 27 hit singles which have been in the
Ultratop
Ultratop is an organization which generates and publishes the official record charts in Belgium. Ultratop is a non-profit organization, created on the initiative of the Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA), the Belgian member organization ...
Chart, 22 of them being in the top ten and four of them being number ones.
Furthermore, all of their seven albums have charted there, with two of them reaching number one.
The band are the current record holders for the number of TMF Awards in Belgium and the Netherlands, with a total of 17 awards received.
In 2006, to celebrate their 10th anniversary, Milk Inc. decided to surprise fans with a two-hour live concert at the
Sportpaleis
The Antwerps Sportpaleis ( eng, Antwerp's Sport Palace), also called Sportpaleis Antwerpen, Sportpaleis Merksem or simply the Sportpaleis, is an arena in Antwerp, Belgium. It is a multipurpose hall where concerts, sporting events, festivals and f ...
Arena in Belgium. They performed many of their well-known hit songs as well as songs from the album Supersized.
Members
Current
Regi Penxten
Regi was born on 4 March 1976 at
Hasselt
Hasselt (, , ; la, Hasseletum, Hasselatum) is a Belgian city and municipality, and capital and largest city of the province of Limburg in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is known for its former branding as "the city of taste", as well as its ...
in Belgium. At the age of 12, he got his first computer connected to a synthesizer. This marks the beginning of his passion for music. He studied at the music academy to learn to read music and he also played the guitar from an early age.
Regi Penxten decided to make music his career after, at the age of 18, he released some Underground and Trance EP on the Dance Opera and Illusion Label. Despite this, his parents wanted him to have a good education, thus he studied Telecommunication Electronics in Belgium. His success in the music industry started with "La Vache" in 1996, which was a big hit in France.
The Milk Inc. project was not enough for him, so he has more music projects ongoing with several singers and other producers. Regi's first solo album ''Registrated'' went gold before its release date. It is a compilation of various Belgian artists.
Filip Vandueren
Filip Vandueren co-produces Milk Inc. Along with Regi Penxten and plays keyboards in the band's full live shows and concerts.
Vandueren works as a producer under several aliases, including Philip Banks and Jedidiah Albertson. He started as a
hard trance
Hard trance is a subgenre of trance music which originated in Western Europe (Belgium, Germany and The Netherlands) in the early 1990s as the Breakbeat hardcore production community began to diversify into new and different styles of electronic m ...
and
underground
Underground most commonly refers to:
* Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth
Underground may also refer to:
Places
* The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston
* The Underground (S ...
producer on the DanceOpera Label. He has different projects to his name, such as K-Lab (known for ''Reunion'' — old school trance with a happy late-nineties feeling), The Klan, Karnak-X (''Sky-Trance''), Vidts and Vandueren with quality
trance
Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...
at the Oceanic Records label, and DJ Jan vs Vandueren with progressive and hard trance with remixes for DJ Tiësto and DJ Esteem.
Former members
Linda Mertens
Linda
Linda may refer to:
As a name
* Linda (given name), a female given name (including a list of people and fictional characters so named)
* Linda (singer) (born 1977), stage name of Svetlana Geiman, a Russian singer
* Anita Linda (born Alice Lake i ...
was born on 20 July 1978 in
Wilrijk
Wilrijk (; former, original spelling: ''Wilrijck'') is a district of the municipality and city of Antwerp in the Belgian province of Antwerp. Wilrijk had been a separate municipality before January 1, 1983; the enlarged municipality of Antwerp was ...
, Belgium. From her early years Linda dreamt of becoming a performing artist. She studied art and after high school spent two years studying hairdressing. In 2000 Linda went to a club with some friends where Regi was deejaying, whilst there she asked him if he needed a singer for any of his projects and was asked to audition. At the time she did not know that Regi was looking for a new singer for Milk Inc.; she has been the lead singer for Milk Inc. ever since. In 2017, her 2-year-old daughter Lio died due to cancer. Linda got shaken by this, will not sing until she feels like it and has no plans for it.
Ivo Donckers
Co-founder and member from the start of the project Milk Inc. until 2000. He was the most important member, and producer of this project. Studio technician at Antler Subway (EMI), he was responsible for many projects and remixes for 2Unlimited, Ace of Base, 2 Fabiola, etc. The gimmick in La Vache was a piece of vocal from a previous recording from Ivo Donckers & Sven Maes, pitched up.
Nikkie Van Lierop
Born 7 March 1963 in
Simmern
Simmern (; officially Simmern/Hunsrück) is a town of roughly 7,600 inhabitants (2013) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, the district seat of the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis, and the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Simmern-Rheinböllen. In the Rhinelan ...
, Germany, Anita Dominika Cornelia van Lierop, better known as Nikkie Van Lierop, and by her artist name "Jade 4U" and as a co-founder of
Lords of Acid
Lords of Acid is a Belgian/American electronic dance music (EDM) group led by musician Praga Khan. They are best known for making songs with sexual lyrics and sexually explicit tracks, such as their hit " Pussy".
History
Lords of Acid debu ...
. In 1992, she had a UK Top 20 hit as the featured vocalist on
Praga Khan
Maurice Joseph François Engelen (born 7 January 1959), known by his stage name Praga Khan, is a Belgian electronic musician. Khan is considered one of the leading pioneers of the new beat/acid house/techno electronic dance music scene that origi ...
's "Injected With A Poison" single (a double-A side with "Free Your Body"). Five years later, in the spring of 1997
Praga Khan
Maurice Joseph François Engelen (born 7 January 1959), known by his stage name Praga Khan, is a Belgian electronic musician. Khan is considered one of the leading pioneers of the new beat/acid house/techno electronic dance music scene that origi ...
produced a remix of the song "La Vache" for the band (then known as Milk Incorporated), with the song going on to become a Top 40 hit in the UK under the name of "Good Enough (La Vache)". In the music video "La Vache" that was filmed in England, Jade 4U can be seen. Since then the singer Nikkie along with
Praga Khan
Maurice Joseph François Engelen (born 7 January 1959), known by his stage name Praga Khan, is a Belgian electronic musician. Khan is considered one of the leading pioneers of the new beat/acid house/techno electronic dance music scene that origi ...
contributed parts in lyrics and melody. After the resounding success of the songs she sang in the performances during the first tour of Milk Inc. in France, she left the band in order to concentrate on Praga Khan and Lords of Acid, which had gained a cult following in the United States.
Sofie Winters
Sofie Winters was born 22 May 1976 in
Leuven
Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic ...
, Belgium. She replaced Van Lierop for a few months. During her time at Milk Inc., Winters was a singer in the song "Free Your Mind". Winters was then, and still is today, a model and actress.
Ann Vervoort
Graphic designer
A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, ...
Ann Vervoort (10 March 1977 – 22 April 2010) was a dancer for Pat Krimson before she joined Milk Inc. She was brought in by
Regi Penxten
Regi Penxten (born Reginald Paul Stefan Penxten on 4 March 1976) is a Belgian DJ and record producer, of many eurodance and trance projects in Belgium, including Milk Inc. and Sylver.
Better known by his mononym Regi, he has released three sol ...
in 1997 as a replacement for Sofie Winters as a singer for appearances. Karine Boelaerts, a Belgian studio singer, who was already working for other projects such as
2 Fabiola was hired to record all the songs.
In the middle of September 2000, Vervoort left Milk Inc. and moved to
Ibiza
Ibiza (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its l ...
with her boyfriend Patrick Claesen (alias Pat Krimson) producer of 2Fabiola, Nunca and Leopold 3, where they founded the record label Beni Musa Records. Vervoort was replaced by
Linda Mertens
Linda Mertens (born 20 July 1978) is a Belgian singer. She was the female singer for the group Milk Inc.
Mertens was born in Wilrijk in Antwerp. She studied Art and after high school, she went to hairdresser school for two years. Her father i ...
. On 22 April 2010, Vervoort was found dead at her house in
Houthalen-Helchteren
Houthalen-Helchteren (; li, Hôtele-Helichtre) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg. Houthalen-Helchteren consists of Houthalen-centrum, Houthalen-Oost, Helchteren, Sonnis, Laak, Meulenberg and Lillo. On 1 January 2020 Hout ...
. According to the newspaper ''Het Laatste Nieuws'', an amount of alcohol and drugs were involved.
John Miles Jr.
John Miles Jr. is the son of the renowned musician
John Miles. Miles studied
pop music
Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...
at
Newcastle College
Newcastle College is a large further education and higher education college in Newcastle upon Tyne, with more than 16,000 students enrolled each year on a variety of full time, part time, and distance learning. It is the largest further education ...
and worked as a guitarist already known as "Popmusikern", with artists including
Debbie Harry
Deborah Ann Harry (born Angela Trimble; July 1, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Blondie. Four of her songs with the band reached on the US charts between 1979 and 1981.
Born in ...
,
Bryan Ferry
Bryan Ferry Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 26 September 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. His voice has been described as an "elegant, seductive croon". He also established a distinctive image and sartorial style: according to ' ...
,
Joe Cocker
John Robert "Joe" Cocker (20 May 1944 – 22 December 2014) was an English singer known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances that featured expressive body movements. Most of his best known singles were recordings of son ...
and
Andrea Bocelli
Andrea Bocelli (; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor and multi-instrumentalist. He was born visually impaired, with congenital glaucoma, and at the age of 12, Bocelli became completely blind, following a brain hemorrhage resulting fro ...
. Miles co-wrote songs with
Regi Penxten
Regi Penxten (born Reginald Paul Stefan Penxten on 4 March 1976) is a Belgian DJ and record producer, of many eurodance and trance projects in Belgium, including Milk Inc. and Sylver.
Better known by his mononym Regi, he has released three sol ...
and
Filip Vandueren when he became a group member in 1997 and performed as their guitarist on stage. The first single he was involved in making, "In My Eyes", was a commercial success. That was partly Miles' merit, his influence as a songwriter and the new style of the music effect he brought to the group. This in combination with the voice of Karine Boelaerts brought the music to a new level. All the songs he co-wrote were published during his time at Milk Inc. At the same time Vervoort stopped as playback, Miles wanted to leave Milk Inc. as well. He accompanied the group until the beginning of 2001. In 2002, the group had two top ten hits in the UK with "In My Eyes" (UK #9) and "Walk on Water" (UK #10). In the years 2006–2008, he rejoined Milk Inc. as a guitarist on their Supersized and Forever shows at the Antwerp Sportpaleis. Miles has since gone on to join another Belgian dance act,
Sylver
The Sylver (SYstème de Lancement VERtical) is a vertical launching system (VLS) designed by DCNS and introduced in 2001.
Specifications
The basic unit of Sylver VLS is an eight-cell module fitted with two rows of 56 cm. missile cells surroundi ...
.
Timeline
ImageSize = width:1000 height:300
PlotArea = width:600 height:250 left:75 bottom:20
Alignbars = justify
DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy
Period = from:01/01/1996 till:2017
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy
Colors =
id:a value:rgb(1,0,0) legend:FirstGeneration
id:b value:rgb(1,0.5,0) legend:SecondGeneration
id:c value:rgb(1,1,0) legend:ThirdGeneration
id:d value:rgb(0,1,0) legend:FourthGeneration
id:e value:rgb(0,0,1) legend:FifthGeneration
id:f value:rgb(1,0,1) legend:SixthGeneration
Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1 start:1997 gridcolor:black
PlotData =
color:blue width:7 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from
bar:Nikkie from:start till:12/31/1996 Color:a
bar:Ivo from:start till:01/01/2000 Color:a
bar:Filip from:start till:end Color:a
bar:Regi from:start till:end Color:a
bar:Sofie from:01/01/1997 till:03/01/1997 Color:b
bar:Ann from:03/01/1997 till:09/15/2000 Color:c
bar:John from:05/01/1997 till:01/01/2001 Color:d
bar:John from:01/01/2006 till:01/01/2008 Color:d
bar:Linda from:09/15/2000 till:11/15/2014 Color:e
bar:Linda from:01/01/2016 till:04/10/2017 Color:e
Discography
Albums
Singles
Filmography
Music videos
DVDs
Awards
References
External links
Official site*
Official forumLinda Mertens official siteRegi Penxten official siteMilk Inc. at discogs.com
{{Authority control
Musical groups established in 1996
Belgian trance music groups
Belgian Eurodance groups
Belgian techno music groups
Belgian house music groups
Dance Nations artists