MainStreet was a Dutch boy band. The group consisted of Nils Käller, Daan Zwierink, Owen Playfair and Rein van Duivenboden. The group gained fame by participating in the Junior Songfestival 2012 and quickly became popular in the Netherlands. Their fans are called Mainiacs.

History

2011–2013: Forming the band and Junior songfestival

Main Street was created in 2011 after Käller, Zwierink, Playfair and van Duivenboden individually auditioned for the first season of The Voice Kids. Because the four boys are from across the Netherlands, it was initially difficult to work together, as they had, in addition to their music, school and other activities that they are doing. The four boys finally managed to get actively engaged with each other, and wrote the song "Stop the time". With this song, they entered the Junior Songfestival 2012, the Dutch national selection for the

Junior Eurovision Song Contest The Junior Eurovision Song Contest (often shortened to JESC, Junior Eurovision or Junior EuroSong) is an international song competition which has been organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) annually since 2003. It is held in a diff ...

. With 32 points in the semi-final they came first, ahead of the other 3 contestants. Ultimately MainStreet came third in the final. It received the fewest points from the children's juries, but the most points from televoting. MainStreet is the first act in ten years of the Junior Eurovision, whose single was already in the Top 100 Charts without a winner yet designated. To date, only the singles of the winners after the final made it to the Single Top 100. The video for Stop the time is the most viewed video in Junior Song Festival history with almost 5 million views to date.

2013-2014: Recorddeal and debut album

On 30 January, the boys signed a record deal with New Skool Records, a new label formed by Future presidents in collaboration with

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. The second single ''Mind is blown'' was released on 15 February and the debut album followed on 29 March. ''Mind is blown'' enters the single charts at number 8 and it is the definitive breakthrough for the boys in The Netherlands. The musicvideo reaches over 4,5 million views on YouTube and there is hysteria everywhere the boys go. The album ''Breaking The Rules'' enters at number one in the album charts and becomes one of the most successful albums of the year. Two concerts went on sale on 2 February and sold out in the recordtime of 11 minutes. Shortly after they announced a tour titled ''The MainTour'' which also sold out rapidly. On 13 April they opened for

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...

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at the Gelredome for over 30.000 people. The single ''Despicable Me'', written by

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was released as the official titlesong for the movie

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became the most popular movie of the year and the single entered the singles charts at number 15. YouTube views of the musicvideo exceed 1,2 million views. On 20 September they release another titlesong, this time for the new hit Disney Series Violetta. The musicvideo for ''The World is Mine'' premiered on the Disney Channel and scored the highest ratings to date. The fifth single from the successful album ''Breaking the Rules'' was released on 8 November. The song ''Hell's a lot like Love'' was co-written by

Jorgen Elofsson Jorgen may refer to: * Jørgen, a Scandinavian masculine given name * Jörgen, an Austrian village * Jörgen (name), a Scandinavian masculine given name {{disambig ...

, known for writing hits for

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and many others. This new version of the song is featured on the deluxe edition of the album including a DVD. The special edition entered at number 8 on the albumcharts. On 19 December the album track ''My Main Girl'' was added as a DLC to the popular videogame

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. MainStreet is the first Dutch act to have their song added to a Just Dance game. The boys end the year with the biggest concert ever given by a Dutch boyband. 6000 fans came to see the boys in the Americahal in Apeldoorn on 22 December.

2014-2016: Living Our Dream and Runaway

On 18 January, MainStreet performs at the critically acclaimed

Eurosonic Festival Eurosonic Noorderslag is an annual four-day music showcase festival and conference held in January in Groningen, Netherlands. The first three days of the festival (Eurosonic) feature artists from all over Europe, the last day of the festival (No ...

. The performance even makes the 8 o clock news that night. The new single ''Dreamers'' is the first of four singles to be released in four months time. The song talks about bullying and the boys become ambassadeurs of anti bullying. They also launch the first national online forum where kids can, anonymously, talk about problems at home or at school. The song premiered on national radio station 3FM and they perform it for the first time on national TV during the BNN show Stop Pesten (Stop Bullying) on the national day against bullying. The lyrics are inspired by actual stories read in fanmail letters to the boys. The 2000 tickets for their show on 27 April in Vredenburg Leidsche Rijn in Utrecht is sold out within two weeks. They announced the 2014 MainTour straight after. The documentary movie ''Living Our Dream'' was released in cinemas on 31 May. All tickets sold out and the DVD release entered at number one on the DVD charts shortly after. The boys release three other singles; ''Miss Wonderful'', ''All We Wanna Do'' and ''The Missing Piece''. And on 10 October they release their first English single ''Runaway''. It shoots into the top 3 on

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straight away. The second album, also titled ''Runaway'', was released a week later and entered the album charts at number 3. On 16 November MainStreet became the first band in history to release a fanfiction book through publisher Kluitman. The story ''MainStreet - Een onverwacht spannende vakantie'' was originally written by one of their fans and re-written by the author Victioria Farkas. Hundreds of fanfiction stories were sent in by fans. On 27 November the boys announced a new concert at TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht on 5 April 2015. The 2000 tickets were also sold out quickly.

2015-2016: Ambassadeurs of Freedom and Break-up

On 17 January 3FM DJ

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announced the ambassadeurs of freedom for 2015 at Eurosonic. Each year a few of the most successful artists or bands in The Netherlands are chosen for the honor to perform at several liberation festivals on 5 May. They are flown by military helicopters from one venue to the next. MainStreet shares the honor with

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, Dotan and

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. On 15 April (Nils' Birthday) the new single 'Ticket to the Moon' premiered at one of the most popular radio shows in the country,

Giel Beelen Michiel Antonius Adrianus Beelen (born 25 May 1977 in Haarlem), better known as Giel Beelen, is a Dutch radio DJ and presenter, working primarily for public broadcaster VARA. Since 2004 Beelen hosted his own breakfast show ''GIEL!'' on national r ...

radio 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 R ...

. The single is released on 24 April and within hours it reached top 10 on iTunes. The single is the titlesong for the upcoming Dutch movie

SpangaS ''SpangaS'' (also known as ''SpangaS: De Campus'') was a Dutch youth series, created by the NCRV and the makers of ZOOP. The television series revolved around the lives of a group of students at Spangalis College. Episodes revolved around a wide ...

in Actie'. On 1 May the boys are in charge of newspaper

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On the same day the new EP #PLAY is released and tops the iTunes charts. The musicvideo for 'Dear Kitty (Song for Anne)' premieres at the

news website. The lyrics talk about Kitty,

Anne Frank Annelies Marie "Anne" Frank (, ; 12 June 1929 – )Research by The Anne Frank House in 2015 revealed that Frank may have died in February 1945 rather than in March, as Dutch authorities had long assumed"New research sheds new light on Anne Fra ...

's diary and has been written especially for theater piece ANNE. The boys will also play the song at the liberation Festivals on 5 May. In April 2016 the band announced they were breaking up.

Members

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

References

External links

*
Junior Songfestival page

Official Facebook page
{{Authority control Dutch boy bands Musical groups established in 2012 2012 establishments in the Netherlands