Vreny

Visit my website at www.vreny.com for more info on my music and projects.
Born in Belgium and growing up in the 1970's and 80’s, Vreny was influenced by the Beatles, The Bee Gees, soul music, disco and whatever else he heard on the radio, which was always playing in his parent’s house. When Vreny was 17, his high school classmate started playing guitar, and got Vreny interested. After lots of disappointment over their son giving up his plans to continue medical studies, Vreny got his parents to buy him his first guitar when he was 17. He soon got serious about the guitar. A couple of months before getting his guitar, Vreny discovered Jimi Hendrix, and was awestruck. Jimi’s flamboyant expressiveness on the instrument inspired Vreny to practice relentlessly. Whatever time Vreny had, was spend practicing non-stop, which led to him mastering many techniques. By the time he was 20 he was able to play the songs of his idols, such as The Beatles, Queen, Jimi, Led Zeppelin and all 60’s singer-songwriters.
After finishing High School in 1989, and a one-year stint in the military in Germany, he attended the Academy for Music and Word (SAMW) in his hometown Ypres. The school was specialized in classical music and composition. During that time he played in a couple of cover rock bands. In addition he started progressive rock band Nomen Nescio, with his friend Dieter Calliau, collaborating on writing their original compositions. This band served as a great vehicle to apply all the theory and techniques learned in music school. Nomen Nescio’s music was highly complex and technically demanding. At that time, Vreny’s musical interests grew to also include classical music, progressive rock, metal and blues. Vreny finished the 10-year intense classical guitar program in about 7 years, graduated with honors, and received the special award Jan Decadt for outstanding achievement as a classical guitarist.
In 1998 he left Belgium to go to Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, in order to refine his guitar playing and compositional skills. Under the guidance of Jon Damian, Bruce Bartlett, Jon Finn, Joe Stump, and Wayne Krantz, Vreny developed a new and more in depth approach to the guitar, opening new and unlimited possibilities. It is his experience at Berklee that opened up Vreny’s taste and vision and understanding of jazz and fusion, styles he previously did not feel an affinity for, but now hopelessly fell in love with. In addition: his audio engineering studies broadened his professional view as a musician and made him a complete musician. He received several Scholarships and Awards during his studies. In 2002, Vreny graduated Summa Cum Laude at Berklee College of Music with Bachelors Degrees in (Jazz) Performance as well as Music Production & Engineering. His aim to write complex progressive rock compositions with tons of technical improvisations was replaced with a desire to write short, catchy tunes telling a story. Vreny finds it ironic that studying at one of the best music-schools of the world (which is known for delivering top instrumentalists) changed his musical approach, taste, style and focus towards an emphasis on form, structure and musical simplicity, rather than complexity and technique.
In the summer of 2002, Vreny moved to LA: the start of his professional music career in the US. Only weeks upon his arrival he was playing in 2 bands already and performing weekly in all clubs around LA and So Cal. He spent some time working at a radio promotion company, started his guitar-teaching business, and produced demos from his home-based recording studio. He played in numerous bands as a hired gun: with the niece of Bobby Womack (Ezina Moore), and the daughter of the horn player in the Commodores (Leah King). He built a roster of famous clients hiring Vreny for his guitar coaching, including the son of Nicholas Cage. In addition: Vreny’s playing is to be heard on numerous albums that have been released since his move to LA, including famous R’nB vocalist Amel Larrieux’ latest release “Morning”. His playing was also featured on television: he played guitar for a documentary that aired on Discovery Channel and he performed live with a band on CBS television. Furthermore: his songs have received airplay on radio stations in Europe. Vreny’s music has earned outstanding reviews around the world.
Today, Vreny is busier than ever. Under the umbrella of his company ZOT Zin Music, Vreny is producing demos for various artists, as well as further providing and developing music education and training. In addition: he is developing the curriculum for a school he is starting up with a business investor. The school will be teaching Vreny’s outstanding, unique guitar approach. He is also still busy playing around town with various artists, and producing albums for a couple of artists, which are planned for release in 2008. This year Vreny will be releasing a live album with his Jimi Hendrix Tribute Band. He has a mini-tour booked in Europe in December.
Vreny’s playing has been compared to Steve Vai, Steve Morse, Steve Lukather, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix, David Gilmour, Carlos Santana, Joe Satriani, and Eric Johnson, just to name a few of the names people used to describe his playing when they talked to him after one of his shows. Vreny is happy to be in such great company.
When he is not teaching, or producing, or working on his guitar book, Vreny is to be found on a stage somewhere. Go catch him perform when you can, and be prepared to catch your breath.