Koen Victor Lieckens

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I must have been about 4 years old when my parents bought me a toy drum. Despite my enthusiasm for the instrument, it was immediately taken away from me because of the many decibels I seemed to produce. Later on, when I was 8, I went to the local music school because I listened to The Beatles a lot, and I wanted to learn how to play the piano. After a year of tough music theory, I was finally allowed to choose an instrument. Unfortunately, the piano class was full and the only instrument with a teacher still available was the recorder. Pretty soon I was using the recorder as a drumstick. Finally, I ran away from the music school.When I was 12 I got a real snare drum from my dad. Just as important as the snare was the radio I got from my mother, because the first time I turned it on (Saturday morning belgian radio top 30) I heard “Walking On The Moon”. That was a reason for me to play the drums and I immediately became serious about it.At the age of 18 I played in several bands and I wanted to become a professional drummer. After finishing my communication science studies in Antwerp, I went to the conservatory in Rotterdam. There I practiced harder than ever, and since I was so focused on my instrument it was natural that I played a lot of instrumental jazz music. During my studies I got a chance to play gigs with Joe Pass, Bob Brookmeyer, Bobby Shew, and many others.During an exchange program with the Berklee school of music in Boston I got the chance to study with Joe Hunt, Billy Hart and Allan Dawson. It was there that my focus on the instrument moved me to concentrate on music, and I became more and more interested in the human voice as the most organic instrument. When I came back to Holland, I started playing more with vocalists, and since vocals in jazz music were only performed correctly by the greatest, like Louis Armstrong or Ella Fitzgerald, I played with rock and roll singers. It was a surprising experience to find out that it’s really a kick to give a singer (who’s singing a song with lyrics and a melody etc…) that beat.I was lucky enough to play with talented artists. The most well- known I’ve worked with, of course, is Sarah Bettens. When I rejoined K’s Choice in 1998 I was the happiest person on the planet to do endless tours and many concerts.Later on, I was the happiest person on the planet because the endless tours finally stopped and I got the chance to start working as a teacher at the Rock Academy in Tilburg and the High School for Fine Arts in Antwerp. This gave my wife and me the opportunity to more or less settle down and start a family. I’m still doing tours, although they’re just not endless anymore. That’s the everlasting paradox of a musician. When you’re home, you want to go out and play. When you’re on the road, you miss home. Recently I do a lot of local projects. Among them are “Venus In Flames”, the band Woodface (Gert Bettens), Dearhunter (who's album I produced) and Lalalover.I'm endorsed by: Pearl Drums Zildjian Evans