About Me
THIJS is the youngest son of the late Dutch famous director, film composer and brilliant arranger ROGIER VAN OTTERLOO. After graduating Conservatory in 1998 (courses Saxophone and Composition), I worked many years very hard as an arranger (mostly for the Dutch Air Force Orchestra). The playing I did back then, didn't go much further than Party Pop and Background Jazz. All that changed in 2003. First I got married, then moved to Amersfoort, and November that year, I founded my own GROUP, with Reyer Zwart, Rowin Tettero, Simon Gitsels and Marcel Dorenbos. Several succesfull concerts took place. The idea of recording an album (of which I had so many before, since I was 12) was getting more and more serious. Nevertheless, it took until spring 2005, to get me really pick up the phone and talk to Roeland Jacobs (an old family friend of mine), who just had finished building a really nice studio (Fieldwork) in Belgium, to set the recording dates. But it wasn't going to be a purely instrumental album. For the vocal tunes I approached singer Hartog Eysman, and the very moment he sang (the Kate Bush classic) 'Feel It', he was HIRED. After that he wrote the beautiful lyrics to (the vocal piece from my own hand) 'Y.O.U.'. I also wanted to do something with all the arranging skills and experience I built up over the years, so I developed a more ORCHESTRAL sound on several pieces, with additional brass. The recordings took place in the first week of October that year (2005). I've had the luck that 'good old' Mike Butcher was available to engineer almost all recordings, and he mixed them too, in the great city of Luxembourg. His partner-in-crime Alan Ward mastered the whole thing in Brussels. Now, the record's finally out! With the band that has changed on two positions (with the wonderful Erik Rutjes on guitar and Arno van Nieuwenhuize on drums), we can work our way into the future! A bigger plan is being made right now, and I'll let you know more details pretty soon.. In the mean time, let's enjoy a few tracks of this truly outstanding album, 'Miles Away'. Take care, Thijs
