Go Back to the Zoo, also known as GBTTZ was a Dutch

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

band, formed in

Nijmegen Nijmegen (;; Spanish and it, Nimega. Nijmeegs: ''Nimwèège'' ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole, located on the Waal river close to the German border. It is about 6 ...

by brothers Cas (

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

) and Teun Hieltjes (

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

), and Bram Kniest (

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

Biography

After the Hieltjes brothers moved to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, they met Lars Kroon (

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

) waiting in a queue for a concert by

The Strokes The Strokes are an American rock band from New York City. Formed in 1998, the band is composed of lead singer and songwriter Julian Casablancas, guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr., bassist Nikolai Fraiture, and drummer Fabrizio More ...

.Ruys, Anneke (8 February 2010)
Interview met Go Back To The Zoo
''Muziek.nl''. June 7, 2010. In 2008, the group self-released their eponymous debut EP. This record was produced by Torre Florim, lead singer of another Dutch rock band,

De Staat De Staat is a Dutch alternative rock band, formed in Nijmegen in 2006. Their name translates to "The State". In May 2016, the band supported Muse in their Drones World Tour in Portugal, Germany, Belgium, Italy and Spain. Biography De Staat was ...

. Their single ‘Beam Me Up’ was used by

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...

for a worldwide campaign and after that, Go Back to the Zoo got signed to

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, Dutch law. UMG's cor ...

and in May 2009 ‘Beam Me Up’ was released as their first official single. In December 2009 they released their second single ‘

Electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

’ with a video which features the bandmembers as musical transformers. On Friday 13 August 2010 Go Back To The Zoo released their debut album called '' Benny Blisto''. 'Beam Me Up' was re-released in 2011, after it was used in the promotion video a new season of the TV series

Californication Californication may refer to: *Californication (word) ''Californication'' is a portmanteau of California and fornication, appearing in ''Time'' on May 6, 1966 and written about on August 21, 1972, additionally seen on bumper stickers in the U.S. ...

On 6 April 2012 Go Back to the Zoo released their second album, Shake A Wave. The album was produced by

JB Meijers Jan-Bart "JB" Meijers (born June 10, 1972) is a Dutch multi-instrumentalist, producer, composer, singer and studio engineer. He is currently a member of the Dutch-American band The Common Linnets. Early life Meijers was born in Delft, Netherla ...

and Dennis van Leeuwen. The release of the album was accompanied by a club tour through the Netherlands. On Valentine's Day 2014 Go Back to the Zoo released their third album, ZOO. With charting at number 2 it was their highest charted record.

St. Tropez

On 4 January 2016 Go Back To The Zoo announced to stop after eight years. The band continued as St. Tropez and released their nameless debut album as this band in 2016. In St. Tropez bassplayer Kroon became the singer besides Hieltjes and the music of the band took a more radical approach in the direction of

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

. In 2017 they released the four song EP ‘Debate’. In March 2018 the band released the single ‘Down’, followed by their second album in May along with a second single ‘I Got the Job’. This album continued stylistically the sound of the first album, though with a somewhat broader spectrum of sounds from soft sounding songs to more radical noisy compositions like the second single. As part of the promotion of this release the band has a one-month pop up live venue in the Amstel Passage inside

Amsterdam Central Station Amsterdam Centraal Station ( nl, italic=no, Station Amsterdam Centraal ; abbreviation: Asd) is the largest railway station in Amsterdam, North Holland, the Netherlands. A major international railway hub, it is used by 192,000 passengers a day, ...

where they had their album release gig on the first day and the following days organise gigs and collaborative recording sessions with befriended acts such as

Yuri Landman Yuri Landman (born 1 February 1973) is a Dutch inventor of musical instruments and musician who has made several experimental electric string instruments for a number of artists including Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth, Liars, Jad Fair of Half Japan ...

, Janne Schra, The Vagary, Jungle by Night,

Lucky Fonz III Lucky Fonz III (born in 1981 as Otto Wichers) is a Dutch singer-songwriter from Nijmegen, Netherlands. History Wichers studied at the University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterda ...

, Blue Crime, Those Foreign Kids, Iguana Death Cult,

Mozes and the Firstborn Burger Records was an American independent record label and record store in Fullerton, California, United States. The label was founded in 2007 by Sean Bohrman and Lee Rickard, members of the power pop band Thee Makeout Party. The record/video ...

, Jo Goes Hunting and others for the rest of the month. A Dutch tour is planned in the summer of 2018.

Discography

, - , align="left", '' Benny Blisto'', , 13-08-2010, , 21-08-2010, , 3, , 55, , Gold , - , align="left", ''Shake a Wave'', , 06-04-2012, , 14-04-2012, , 4, , 13, , - , - , align="left", ''ZOO'', , 14-02-2014, , 22-02-2014, , 2, , 4, , -

Singles

References

---- {{Authority control Dutch rock music groups