IJSKONIJN

With Tududuh (solo) on the 26th and 27th. More info here.

VIDEOREPORT LAST WEEKEND

17-10: Grasnapolsky

Ohrwurm

I was listening to the song Rosie from Das Pop's first album this morning and had to think of Roesy. Last week I played a solo show, in Zwolle, with Amsterdam based Irish singer-songwriter Roesy. Great voice, lovely lyrics. Impressive. I had this song in my head for a few days. Ohrwurm!

Tududuh in Carré

Vandaag hebben bassist Michiel en ik in Koninklijk Theater Carré opgetreden in het programma Opium, op Radio 1. Het was voor mij, en voor Tududuh, de eerste keer dat we live op nationale radio mochten spelen. Spannend!! Maar leuk! Ook om van te voren even door het gebouw te dwalen. Wat een zaal is dat!! Ik was er nog nooit geweest en was behoorlijk onder de indruk van het formaat en de ornamenten. Michiel en ik dachten: nu we er toch zijn, laten we even een liedje spelen. Emma, van Opium Radio, heeft er een filmpje van gemaakt. Waarvoor eeuwige dank. De 80 seconden live op de radio gingen fantastisch. Wat wil je, met zulke geniale muzikanten als wijzelf. Tja.. Wende Snijders was er ook. Ze zei over ons iets als: "Lekker agressief! Je moet eigenlijk zien hoe ze erbij kijken." Jan Rot vond het leuk dat er met dezelfde drie akkoorden nog steeds nieuwe liedjes werden gemaakt. Weet hij veel dat de rest van de tracks allemaal bestaan uit hexatonische verminderde mineur zeven mol tien akkoordenschema's met willekeurig wisselende maatsoorten... Hieronder een paar plaatjes en een filmpje van een zatermiddag als alle andere.

NEW! NEW! NEW! VIDEO! VIDEO! VIDEO!

For your entertainment only.

Gigs coming up

25-10 Café de Stad Utrecht (acoustic)
28-10 Club 3voor12/utrecht dB's Utrecht (full band show)
30-10 Radio 1 Opium (TBC)
01-11 RPL FM Woerden
12-11 Qbus Leiden (full band show)
24-11 Het Vliegende Paard Zwolle (acoustic)

Yeah!

Zaterdag was een groot feest. De nieuwe EP is vanaf nu rechtstreeks van de band te koop door een mailtje te sturen naar tududuh@gmail.com. Betaal wat je wilt!

RELEASEPARTY TUDUDUH=SOLD OUT!

Hek open: 20:00
Aanvang: 20:30

RESERVEREN VIA TUDUDUH@GMAIL.COM

Kijk op de site van ROOD|NOOT voor de route

UPDATE 30-09:
Reserveren niet meer mogelijk. Aanmelden voor de wachtlijst kan nog wel. Via bovenstaand emailadres.

Artwork

Vandaag heb ik samen met grafisch ontwerper Jasper Jongeling het artwork voor het hoesje van de nieuwe EP afgemaakt. Het is een arbeidsintensief stukje Dymo-gekte geworden dat de nadruk legt op de pretentieloosheid van Tududuh. Hier een paar plaatjes van het proces. Jasper heeft ook de serie Tududuh 01 t/m 03 ontworpen. Op 2 oktober kan je het schijfje in het echt zien. Reserveren voor de EP-presentatie kan via tududuh [at] gmail [dot] com.

2 OKTOBER: TUDUDUH - YEAH YEAH YEAH

Op zaterdag 2 oktober presenteren we de 3-track ep YEAH YEAH YEAH in Utrecht. Dit doen we op een hele bijzondere plek aan de rand van stad, in de stallen van de monumentale herenboerderij RoodNoot. Schrijf het alvast in je agenda! Meer nieuws over speciale gasten en andere optredens komt snel.

Day five

That's it. We're done. Mission accomplished. Thanks a lot to directors Ramses and Daniëlle. Apart from being late after getting stuck in traffic and a few interuptions coming from an agressive drunk and some workers, the videoshoot couldn't go any better. I'm really excited. You'll have to be patient though. It'll take a while before it'll be on youtube. Thanks to Eileen, Ronan, Joris and Nina as well for getting up early and helping out. At night we did a little set at another bar in Neukölln. It was packed. Today we're gonna enjoy Berlin. We have to leave again tomorrow. I'd love to hang around some more. There's not much wrong with the place.

Day four

YeahYeahYeah! A lot has happened again. We haven't been relaxing at all in this boring little town. We've only been driving from the one side to the other and back again. Moving equipment, setting up, play and pack up to play somewhere else. It almost feels like work! But so rewarding, especially when you listen to the reactions of the audiences (interesting quote: "the best thing I've heard since The Libertines"). What have we been up to? Well, we had some great plans for doing an electric guerilla gig at Mauerpark. Due to the weather being so unpredictable and another band stealing our spot, the plans didn't work out. We did an acoustic set instead. At night we did the electric set for the first time, at a bar near Rosenthaler Platz. I enjoyed having a good bit of overdrive on my guitar and having the energy of a full band blasting beside me. I guess we're ready for the stages. We've been asked to play in Paris sometime soon. We just might.

Day three

Saturday was a busy day. Running from one side of the city to the other. First up was a meeting with Ramses, the director of the video, to go through the details again. Shooting on Monday. Then the neverending Tududuh-performance began. We started busking at the Beerfestival at Karl Marx-Allee. It is a bit sad to watch thousands of people drinking beer in the rain. We had some strong competition from this one-man metal band. Check the video below. Impressive! After that we had the biggest pizza in the world and went to our real gig. At a bar called Frühperle. It's a wonderful place. When we finished our show, around 01:00, we went on to the Friedrichshain district to do some busking again. Spectacular! The area houses the biggest concentration of drunk people I've seen in a long time. Around four we ended the night by playing in front of a pizza place. The owner has asked us to play there for some cash and food. Alright, why not. Altogether we played our set over ten times, made some new fans and, our main goal, we're getting better as a band. Fast.

Day two

Alright! Day two. Friday. What happened? We all took a shower. That might not sound very interesting, but in this case it was. Our shower looks like a UFO. It's the most inventive construction I've ever seen in a bathroom. Besides this adventurous start of the day we played our electric set a few times. Since we've been rehearsing our acoustic set for our gig in Paradiso last week, we haven't played electric for a while. We made a few pictures of the site of the rehearsal studio. It's a deserted post office, pretty cool place! At night on our way to a party we walked into a bar, Frühperle, and arranged a gig there tonight. So Saturday 22:30, Tududuh live in Frühperle, Boddinstrasse 57a, Neukölln Berlin.

Day one

Recording video and doing a gig in Berlin this week. On day one we drove to Berlin with all our stuff. Since we haven't released our future number one hitsingle yet, we're on a tight budget. That means, no fancy hotel but a room somewhere in a dodgy part of town. Fifth floor, no elevator, no comfort and no toilet or cold water (just hot!) for the first day. Luckily our hostess found the key to the shower and bathroom this morning. Anyway, we're off to a rehearsal space now to perfect our electric set. Here's a pic of some Tududuhs waiting for their kebabs early this morning. They were good I must say. More quality prose like this tomorrow.

Yeah!

The bandgig on Thursday was like super awesome, man, you know. We'll put up some pictures and a short story soon. Check back here in a few days.

Update! No story. I'll get to stories when we're in Berlin this weekend. Just a picture.
Keep checking this site this week! And if you happen to be in Berlin on Sunday afternoon, we're playing at Mauerpark! With my good friends GetUpGetDown.

DONDERDAG PARADISO

29-07, aanvang 20:00, entree gratis, Tududuh start rond 21:30

The Housemartins

Bij Roodnoot moesten ze aan dit liedje denken toen ik de nieuwe opnames liet horen. Gaaf!

PARADISO 29-07

Tududuh will play their first gig as a band on the 29th of July. It'll be an acoustic show in the main hall of the Amsterdam Paradiso. Not a bad place to start I believe. Last week we've been rehearsing the set in the park for the first time. Most likely sound and vision will be better than this crappy digital camera clip we made.

Review

Here's a review of the show Jelte and me did in Utrecht last Sunday. It's in Dutch: "Ronald Straetemans van Tududuh krijgt in het rokershok hulp van een gitarist. Die hulp pakt erg goed uit, vooral ook dankzij de bijzonder geslaagde tweede stem van de gitarist. De poppy liedjes over vertrekken uit de stad en, als we het goed begrijpen de liefde, kunnen het prima gebruiken. Zelfs de eenzame blower vooraan zal dat beamen. Mooi. Veelbelovend ook."
I've translated the review into English, for those of you who can't speak nor read our beautiful language. This is what it says, word for word: "Tududuh is good. Very good. Probably even the best band in the world. Probably. Yes."

More snapshots!

Day two was a blast! Guitars, synths, percussion and a whole lot of handclaps... We're all very very excited about where it's going, but we're not finished yet. We still have to record lead and backing vocals. Man!! It's been good. Working with mr. producer Erik Spanjers is a lot of fun. All those weird vintage mics he's got hidden in his cupboards... Later this month we're going back to the studio to get the last things on tape. More stuff to look forward to! And while we're at it: this Sunday afternoon Jelte and me play at dB's! Be there...

Snapshots!

We've been recording some funky tunes today. Bass and drums are more or less done. Going pretty well! Tomorrow vocals, guitars, synths, handclaps and everything else we come up with.. Fun things.. Now supertired and hyperactive at the same time.. See you tomorrow!

Studio. Soon.

So, here we go. Another update! Yes! Indeed. What about? Well, about the music. Because I'm excited about the music. About three songs in particular. Three songs that we're gonna record next week with producer Erik Spanjers. I'm really looking forward to going into the studio. Talking about this might make you curious. I'm gonna have to disappoint you though, it's gonna take a while before the tracks will be out there. But if you don't like cycling, you're welcome to come see two of the Tududuhs play at a nice indie-festival on the ninth of May in dB's Utrecht. We might play a few new tracks! The songs we're gonna record will be a bit louder and faster than you're used to. With some edgy guitar and synth parts.. That's all I can say about it now. I don't really know why I'm writing this in English again by the way.. maybe because I'm working on lyrics for a new song and thinking in English at the moment. I'm at my parents house in Wassenaar with a few friends, writing and relaxing a bit. I have to be in good shape for the recordings next week! Weehoo! Ow, yeah, before I forget... Those lads pictured above are NOT male fashion models. They are Tududuh, the band. Thanks a lot to my flatmate Marieke Houwers for taking a few pictures.

Supergrass uit elkaar

Jammer! Dit nummer heb ik zo vaak op mijn walkman geluisterd dat het bandje slijtplekken vertoont. Daarom hieronder nog één keer. Met Tududuh gaat het overigens prima. De eerste repetities gaan lekker. Het is erg leuk om met die jongens de liedjes aan te kleden. Op 3 en 4 mei gaan we al de studio in. Hierover later meer. Morgenavond speel ik, nog zonder band, in Miles in Amersfoort. Wees welkom!

Look at us! We formed a band!

After many rehearsals with different musicians, Tududuh is a band now. Yes. Tududuh is a band. Last Thursday I played my first gig with one of the new bandmembers, Jelte Timmer, in Luxor Live. He played guitar, some synths and did backing vocals. Friday we had the first rehearsal with the whole band. The other members are drummer Otto de Jong (Swelter, Mary had a Little Band) and bassplayer Michiel Bel (aka Pry from Pax and Pry, and former guitarist of the late Illicit). I'm really happy to have these guys in the band. Next months we'll be rehearsing and writing. And then it's time for world domination. Naturally. This whole band thing doesn't mean that I won't be playing acoustic sets anymore. For instance, on the 2nd of April I'll be supporting Marinus de Goederen in an Amsterdam livingroom. Only a few tickets left here! Update: Amsterdam gig is sold out.

News? Euhh.. Not really.

"They" say it's good to post new stuff on your weblog frequently. To keep you coming back. Well here you go. Have I got something in particular to tell you? Nope. Not really. I'm still in the process of forming a band. Things are looking good, but no bandpictures are made yet, if you know what I mean. Besides the band-forming, I'm writing quite a lot. Productivity is low, but I'm working on the songs in my head constantly. Even when I'm at work songs are floating through my mind. I've been writing with Michiel and will be writing with Marinus in the near future as well. On Thursday I'm off to the coast to write at a friends house for a day. I like the vibe that I'm in. Get stuff done! Can't wait for the band to be complete and get into the studio again. Patience.. patience.. Pff.. I don't have patience.. arghh.. Talk to you soon! Hopefully with a nice picture of a few handsome boys...

How They Dance

I'm thrilled about the new single of my good friends Most Unpleasant Men. You should check it out!

Back from break

Yessss! I'm back in Utrecht again. Feels like I've been away for months. Now it's back to work again. Still searching for bandmembers. Feel free to contact me on tududuh [at] gmail [dot] com if you play any instrument and want to be in the band. If you want to hear me talk (in het Nederlands) about the German tour you can listen to Utracks tonight or listen to Nederklinkers on Monday. Last week I was in Switzerland for some serious skiing with a group of friends from all over Europe. Good score, two out of fifteen ended up in hospital, never seen such severe injuries in my life! I'm okay though.. Ow, got asked today to support Symon in Luxor Live on March 18th. That's grand.

Sechs: Final Day

Pfoe!! So many things happened in these six days... Amazing! Having loads of fun with Solo, playing great shows, meeting really cool new people, staying up way too late... I don't even know where to start... It's so strange being back in Berlin. The city looks completely different when it's this cold. When I left Berlin in August it was thirty degrees, fourty degrees warmer than it is now. I walked through the street I lived in. Ice and snow everywhere... A lot of memories came to me, I had really happy times and really sad times in the four months I've lived here last summer. I did some writing in a bar in the afternoon. Enough to write about.. After having a good dinner we drove from Neukölln to Intersoup in Prenzlauer Berg. At the nice and cosy Intersoup we set up our stuff. It was really great to see some familiar faces from Holland at the show. Solo and I are both really sad it's already over. Hopefully we'll get the chance to do this again soon! Tonight I'm off for some serious skiing. Ten days of Switzerland. Together with my friend Nick we'll drive from Berlin to Adelboden at twelve. I'm looking forward to driving his Audi over the snowy Autobahn at night. On the road again! Talk to you soon, thanks for reading this stuff! Michiel says bye as well.

Hamburg-Berlin

Yesterday we drove from Hamburg to Berlin. Went quick. Snow everywhere, looks pretty. We're staying at Get Up Get Down's place in Neukölln in Berlin. Here I recorded Tududuh 03 as well. Last night we had dinner at Andy's place and later on we had beers with About, Thomas Azier and soundengineer Allert Aalders. Allert just came back from a gig with T. Raumschmiere in India. Funny thing, at Andy's place was a huge painting of Johan Derksen, editor of Hollands biggest football magazine VI. Some Irish guy painted it from a picture, without knowing who Johan Derksen was. Strange... Today I'll be doing some writing, I'll go back up to Prenzlauer Berg where I lived in the summer and then get ready for the show tonight. The last one already...

Vier: Ian and I

On day four, Sunday, we stayed in Hamburg for another day. Just to walk around and get an impression of the city. I saw a bit. It's a rough city, especially with the cold and so. I saw a pile of blankets lying on the pavement, it took me a short while to realise that there were about five people sleeping there. Minus ten it was.. In the afternoon we had beers with Paco, the guy who was living in the appartment we stayed in. After that we went out for some food. On our way back we passed a venue, Knust, with a big tourbus outside. The backstage door was open so we walked in to see who was playing. The concert had already finished, so we walked out again. Outside we saw that Ian Brown played there. Ian Brown! From the Stone Roses! I felt so bad we missed it.. We went back in to see if he was still there. Knocked on the tourbus, no answer. We walked back inside to find out he was still in the backstage room. We tried to bribe Ian Browns roadies to get inside. Didn't work. Finally he came out and we told him that we came all the way from Holland to see his show... He looked flattered... Little did he know ofcourse...

Drei: found it!

Remember I was talking about rock 'n roll yesterday? Found it in Hamburg! Very little sleep here. Show was great. The Hasenschaukel is a beautiful venue. If you're ever in Hamburg, forget the Reeperbahn and go to this place. The Reeperbahn is just like the Amsterdamse Wallen but not as nice. Okay, The Beatles played there, but that's a long loooong time ago. We're staying another night in Hamburg before going to Berlin for our last show. Nobody told me it would be this cold though. I heard it was minus twenty in Berlin this morning. Even colder than minus five around here.. Brrrr... Now we're off to see something of this town before it gets dark again! St. Pauli here we come!

Zwei: is this rock 'n roll?!

On day two we looked at the deer next to our hotel and visited Claus' studio. What a great recording space, and just beside the Haldern Pop festival site! We couldn't resist and climbed over the fences to walk around the fields where we've seen so many great bands play. To name a few: Fleet Foxes, Loney Dear, Editors, Kate Nash... I actually got my guitar out and played a song at the exact location of the Haldern Pop Main Stage. Just a few month early... You can watch it below. In the evening we played at the Blooming Bar in Göttingen. A nice and cosy place with the best owner ever. We had dinner in her husbands Greek restaurant and spent the night at her villa on the countryside. Take a look at some pictures from Haldern and last nights gig below, good huh? I'm enjoying this a lot, but I can't stop asking myself: is this rock 'n roll? Not quite, I guess. Or maybe just: not yet... Tonight: Hamburg!! Just off the Reeperbahn...

Tag Eins

Day one of the tour was great! We played at the Haldern Pop Bar, run by the people from the Haldern Pop Festival and the Haldern Pop Record label. The bar was full, people were completely silent. Perfect. They booked us in a hotel nearby. The owners of the hotel were on a holiday and we were the only guests staying. After some beers at the bar we played chess at the hotel. Today we're visiting a studio in Haldern from Claus, the man with whom Michiel is talking on the picture below. Acts like Patrick Watson and Das Pop recorded there. Nice fact, one of my favourite albums, The Human Thing by Das Pop, was released in Germany on Haldern Pop Records.

Deutschland

We arrived at our first stop: Haldern. Great start so far, we've got a complete hotel to ourselves(!), soundcheck went well, food was good.. More soon!

New Year New Stuff

I'll write in English since Tududuh is going international this month. Next time it might be in Dutch again, we'll see. Anyhow, new stuff is going down! First rehearsals with a band. It looks promising, I hope to have a band in a month or two. I'll keep you on the hight as they say in proper English.

The German tour together with my good friend Solo is coming close. Next Thursday we'll be on our way. It's something I've been looking forward to for quite some time now. Can't wait to pack my guitar in the back of the car, close the door and drive out of the Amsterdamsestraatweg, where I live, to the German border. I'll be updating this blog as often as I can next week with pictures and pieces of pure poetry.. or just nonsense for that matter.. just keep coming back and see for yourself.

Here's the schedule:
21-01 Haldern Pop Bar, Haldern
22-01 Blooming Bar, Göttingen
23-01 Hasenschaukel, Hamburg
26-01 Intersoup, Berlin

And as some of you might know.. Haldern is just over the Dutch border.. hint hint..