Spinvis

Spinvis
Spinvis at a performance in Groningen in 2013
Background information
Origin	Netherlands
Genres	Experimental pop, Neo-Psychedelia
Years active	2001- present
Labels	Excelsior Recordings
Website	Official website

Spinvis is a Dutch one-man project centred on Erik de Jong (born 2 February 1961, Spijkenisse). Using experimental, lo-fi music, Spinvis became an instant success in his home country, earning two gold records in the process and performing sold-out tours in both the Netherlands and Belgium.

In 2001, Erik de Jong, or Spinvis, at the age of 40, sent a three song demo to the Dutch indie label, Excelsior Recordings. Within two weeks, a record deal was signed.

The label decided to keep the songs that had been recorded by Spinvis on his home computer. With some minor mixing touch-ups these songs comprised Spinvis' first album, released in the Netherlands on 1 April 2002. The music press responded with very positive reviews and the album reached the number one position in Oor magazine’s Moordlijst, an important alternative chart in the Netherlands.

Even though Spinvis is a one-man project, De Jong decided to take his music on the road. Together with renowned musicians, including Toots Thielemans, he played at the Crossing Border Festival in Amsterdam. At the end of 2002, Spinvis’ song "Smalfilm" was second in the VPRO’s Song of the Year 2002 contest. In addition to this De Jong received an Essent Award, a prize for breakthrough artists.

Spinvis and his ensemble completed a brief tour in early 2003. With labelmates Bauer, De Jong created a track for a 3voor12 (a Dutch music webzine) compilation. In August, Spinvis performed in Germany (Haldern Open Air) and Belgium (Pukkelpop). On 1 December, "Nieuwegein aan Zee" was released, containing a live registration and a number of unreleased tracks. On 17 December, Spinvis performed with an orchestra in Vredenburg, Utrecht.

In early 2004, Spinvis won two Dutch awards, the Silver Harp and the Annie M.G. Schmidt prize. In honour of the fourth edition of the Cross-Linx festival De Jong composed a musical piece that consists of three rhythmical monologues. Actress Roos Ouwehand, opera singer Lucia Meeuwsen and actor Hans Dagelet performed the pieces together with Spinvis. For filmmaker Theo van Gogh, Spinvis wrote the title song for the television series Medea. This six-part series on Dutch politics was shown in the winter of 2004. In this busy year Spinvis also contributed to Claudia de Breij’s song "Nieuwbouwwijk".