Sioen

Last updated

Sioen
Frederik Sioen.jpg
Sioen during a performance in 2007
Background information
Birth nameFrederik Sioen
Born (1979-07-14) 14 July 1979 (age 42)
Ghent, Belgium
Genrespop
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter
InstrumentsFlute, guitar, piano
Years active2000–present
Labels Universal Records, WEA
Website http://www.sioen.net/

Frederik Sioen (born 14 July 1979), known mononymously as Sioen, is a Belgian singer and songwriter.

Early life

As a child, Sioen studied classical music and flute at Ghent Academy. Whilst there, he also learnt African percussion with Chris Joris and later flamenco percussion (Cajon). In the early 1990s he went to the Don Boscocollege in Zwijnaarde.

At age sixteen, he auditioned to a Ghent rock group "Medium". Soon he started writing his own songs, first on guitar, but later on piano. The instrument gave him more opportunities to develop his own style, "percussion with nuts", as he called it. Under the recommendation of good friend and, later manager, Tom De Clercq, he took his first solo demo "S" in September 2000.

Career

Debut

Together with Tom De Clercq, Sioen founded vzw Keremos, a Vzw (or association without lucrative purpose) which still supports young talent (with groups like Absynthe Minded, Jerboa, Trixie Whitley, Roadburg, Steak Number Eight). Through the band Ghalia Benali & Timnaa, who were under the Keremos association, Sioen contacted violinist Renaud Ghilbert. After a session backstage in Hamburg, they decided to work on a project together. After many experiments with an additional guitarist, with extra strings, with backing vocalists, a fixed band was formed with Jacob Nachtergaele on drums and Jesse Vrielinck. Pieter-Jan De Smet (PJDS) produced their debut album 'See You Naked' which was released in March 2003. "Cruisin", the first single from the album, immediately topped the charts in Belgium. After more and more performances at larger festivals in 2003, Sioen received an offer to write the soundtrack for the film Team Spirit II. The accompanying second single "Another Ballad" was equally successful.

Breakthrough

At the start of 2004, in support of the 3rd single "Boom!", Sioen invited some special guests to the Ancienne Belgique for "Sioen says Boom!": Marie Daulne (Zap Mama), Gabriel Rios and Flip Kowlier, extra strings, an additional keyboardist Peter Lesage and 3 backing vocalists (the sisters Gysels, now also Arsenal and Zita Swoon). Sioen went on to play at Rock Werchter, Francofolies, Ghent Festivals, Dour Festival, Lokerse Feesten, Martkrock Leuven and Dranouter Festival. It became the biggest live breakthrough for Sioen, and he was praised for his strong live reputation. The newspaper De Morgen placed Sioen at the top 10 performances of Rock Werchter that year and "Sioen says Boom!" was repeated for 20,000 people in Dranouter's big tent with Toots Thielemans as a special act. In 2004, Sioen played 130 performances at festivals and theaters, and the year was also the year of international trips. The album "See You Naked" was released in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Jawel, South Korea, where Cruisin became a top 10 hit and Sioen became Breaking New Artist.

Continued success

In addition to a nomination for Best Song for "Cruisin", Sioen won Best Newcomer at ZAMU 2003, and was nominated as Best Composer for his Team Track II soundtrack at the Joseph Plateau Awards. In addition, he received a gold record for the first time, for the more than 25,000 sold copies of "See You Naked". The pressure to live up to this success was very present at the recording of "Ease Your Mind", Sioen's second full album, which was recorded with his backing band; Jeroen Baert on violin, Laurens Smagghe on drums, David Bratzlavsky on guitar and Matthias Debusschere on bass. Behind the buttons of the Caribbean Studio (Brussels) was producer Denis Moulin, son of Marc Moulin, and for the mix Eric Sarafin flew from the United States, who was also involved with Ben Harper's records. On the last track of the Sleeping Beat album, Thielemans once again surprised with his participation. The appearance of 'Ease Your Mind' on 4 April 2005, translated into "Ceci N'est Pas Un Film". From theKopergietery, a small theater in Ghent, was broadcast to various cinemas at home and abroad. Eventually more than 5,000 people would have seen the live concert. Later that year there was also a DVD of the concert and an additional documentary that was premiered at the renowned Gent Film Festival. The big festivals followed, a second time Rock Werchter and the Lokerse Festivals as a premiere of Patti Smith. Sioen also played more and more abroad and a release in Germany was awarded a sold-out room in Berlin. The album would also be released in the Netherlands, Switzerland and Austria. At A Glance, the second single of the record, was accompanied by an animation clip that was included in the selection worldwide at international animation festivals.

0110 Concerts

After a sold-out acoustic theater tour "In No One's Interest" (March 2006) with Jeroen Baert (violin) and Laurens Smagghe (drums), the adventure continued to Beijing, China, where Sioen was invited to the city festival. With Baert and Smagghe, and now Fritz Sundermann on guitar and Sjang Coenen on bass, Sioen eventually appeared to have found his permanent formation. 2006 became the year of '0110: Concerts for tolerance against racism' and together with Tom Barman (dEUS) and Arno as pacemakers and a team of hundreds of volunteers, concerts were held on 1 October in Brussels, Antwerp, Charleroi and Ghent (where Sioen hosted) by many different artists: Clouseau, Helmut Lotti, Will Tura, DEUS , Gorki, Arno, Flip Kowlier, Gabriel Rios. The performances took over 55,000 people and despite the bad weather, the day was in unseen solidarity. In 2006, Sioen also received a golden record for "Ease Your Mind".

Sioen and Sowetto

In November 2007, Sioen drew up an invitation to Oxfam's "One Day For Another World" action to the Soweto township in South Africa to collaborate with local musicians. He met live legend Pops Mohamed (cora, kalimbe, bira) and Khaya Mahlangu (saxophonist for, among others, Hugh Masekela) and together with Stella Khumalo (backing vocalist for, among others, Miriam Makeba) he organized an audition in the heart of Soweto, from which 4 gorgeous backing vocalists were selected.

During the Ghent Festivals 2008, he brought the musicians to Belgium and the performance that broke out of melody and energy became a spontaneous success and the talk of the town. De Standaard wrote: "We always have sympathy for someone who gives a new repertoire a fire baptism to the public. Sioen also managed to shine! We saw him after one number of wide smiling backrests, relieved that something had fallen in the fold." Calling Up Soweto "might be a CD and tour after the festivities. That would be nice: we do not get three concerted songs and another half a dozen with potential."

And so it happened. Supported by the enthusiasm of the audience, Sioen co-founded with Gentenaars Laurens Smagghe (Sioen's solid drummer), Mirko Banovic (bass at Arno and Arsenal) and Frederik Segers (guitarist members of Marvelas) to Johannesburg to join the South- African musicians to record the "Calling Up Soweto" record. And this in the legendary studios where Paul Simon's record "Graceland" was recorded.

Sioen and Binti

Sioen is regularly accompanied by Binti, six singing sisters from Ghent, since early 2012.

They performed a live performance of "Blackout" at Studio Brussels [1] and on 23 March 2012, Binti played in the premiere at the CD performance of the album "Sioen" in the Ghent forwards. They also provided the backing vocals during the main program of the evening. Het Nieuwsblad wrote: "That Sioen has many faces came true again in a series of songs that the six sisters of Binti could bring along. The jacket went out, but the message on his T-shirt 'Heal the world "Everything was quietly prepared. The microstatic could have experienced it more than once."

Discography

Albums
Singles
DVD

Related Research Articles

The Australian Pink Floyd Show

The Australian Pink Floyd Show, more frequently referred to as the Australian Pink Floyd, is a Pink Floyd tribute band formed in 1988 in Adelaide, South Australia. Their live shows attempt to recreate the look, feel, and sound of Pink Floyd's later world tours, employing visual aids such as lasers, inflatables and a large display panel similar to Mr Screen. The Australian Pink Floyd Show plays venues worldwide.

Kix (band) American glam metal band

Kix is an American glam metal and hard rock band that achieved popularity during the 1980s. Led by frontman Steve Whiteman and bassist Donnie Purnell, the band's classic line-up was rounded out by drummer Jimmy "Chocolate" Chalfant and guitarists Ronnie "10/10" Younkins and Brian "Damage" Forsythe. Kix covered AC/DC, Aerosmith, April Wine, Led Zeppelin, and others before signing with Atlantic Records in 1981. Since peaking in the late-1980s, band members have continued to intermittently record and tour, including the Rocklahoma festival in 2008 in Oklahoma. In addition, they are a consistent presence at the annual M3 Rock Festival in the band's home state of Maryland.

Laïs (band) Laïs, Flemish singing trio

Laïs is a Flemish group that creates folk, and world music consisting of polyphonic close harmony songs, occasionally a cappella, based on self-composed melodies with lyrics dating back to the Middle Ages. "Laïs" is a Celtic word, meaning "voice".

Zita Swoon Musical artist

Zita Swoon is a Belgian indie rock group. They entered the music scene of Antwerp in 1993, still under the name A Beatband with the EP Jintro Travels The Word In A Skirt. The group is typical of the music scene in Antwerp, with members playing in numerous other groups. The best known member is singer, musician and composer Stef Kamil Carlens, who founded the group together with Aarich Jespers and also played in dEUS.

Soweto Kinch British jazz alto saxophonist and rapper (born 1978)

Soweto Kinch is a British jazz alto saxophonist and rapper.

Zornik is a Belgian rock band. It was formed in 1999 by singer and guitarist Koen Buyse, drummer Marijn Horemans and bass guitarist Kristof Vanduren.

Durga McBroom American singer, songwriter and actress (born 1962)

Durga McBroom is an American singer, songwriter and actress who has performed backing vocals for Pink Floyd and is a member of the house music band Blue Pearl, best known for their hit single "Naked in the Rain".

Geike Arnaert Belgian singer

Geike Arnaert is a Belgian singer, best known for being the lead vocalist of the band Hooverphonic from 1997 until 2008 and again since 2020. Geike was born in Poperinge and grew up in Westouter, a town that is close to the French border. From a young age she was captivated by music and therefore she decided to audition for the Belgian band Hooverphonic, the group of guitarist Raymond Geerts and Alex Callier.

The Horrors English rock band

The Horrors are an English rock band formed in Southend-on-Sea in 2005, consisting of lead vocalist Faris Badwan, guitarist Joshua Hayward, keyboardist and synthesizer player Tom Furse, bassist Rhys Webb, and drummer and percussionist Joe Spurgeon. Their music has been classified as garage rock, garage punk, gothic rock, shoegazing and post-punk revival.

The Zamu Music Awards was an annual awards show in Flanders (Belgium), where the most outstanding Flemish and international musicians of the past year were honored.

0110 2006 concerts in four Belgian cities on 1 October

The 0110 concerts, held on October 1, 2006 in Antwerp, Brussels, Charleroi and Ghent, were organised by dEUS frontman Tom Barman, Arno Hintjens and Frederik Sioen to promote tolerance in Belgian society, and "against Vlaams Belang, extremism and gratuitous violence".

Asad Qizilbash Pakistani sarod player (born 1963)

Asad Qizilbash is a Pakistani sarod player.

"Legend of a Mind" is a song by the British progressive rock band the Moody Blues, and was written by the band's flautist Ray Thomas, who provides the lead vocals. "Legend of a Mind" was recorded in January 1968 and was first released on the Moody Blues' album In Search of the Lost Chord. It was the first song recorded for the album.

Channel Zero (band) Belgian heavy metal band

Channel Zero is a Belgian heavy metal band formed in Brussels in 1990. They are one of the best known heavy metal bands from Belgium. They disbanded at the height of their career in 1997, however in 2009, the band announced a series of reunion gigs starting in January 2010.

21st Century Breakdown World Tour

21st Century Breakdown World Tour was a headlining concert tour by American punk band Green Day in support of the group's eighth studio album, 21st Century Breakdown, which was released in May 2009.

The Subs

The Subs is a Belgian electro band founded by Jeroen ‘Papillon’ De Pessemier and Wiebe ‘Tonic’ Loccufier. Originally from Ghent.

99 Revolutions Tour

99 Revolutions Tour was a concert tour by American punk rock band Green Day in support of the band's trilogy, ¡Uno!, ¡Dos! and ¡Tré!, that took place in 2013. The tour was named after the song "99 Revolutions" from ¡Tré!.

DAAN

Daan is a Belgian band. It is a solo project from the singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Daniël "Daan" Stuyven. When the band acts live, it is composed of:

We Cant Dance Tour

Following the release of We Can't Dance, Genesis spent 13 weeks performing 55 concerts between May and July 1992, with a 16-date UK tour in October/November.

References

  1. "Studio Brussels: Sioen and Binti – Blackout (Live)" via YouTube.