About Me
Sjang Coenen (1963): musician (studio and live), bassist (electric and double bass). He played in a variety of bands (bars, clubs and parties) in his hometown Maastricht until he joined The Liberators, a blues/rock/rockabilly band. Music became serious business. They toured in the Netherlands as well as abroad (e.g. Germany, Scandinavia, Canary Islands) and recorded the album 'Madagascar' in 1991. After a few good years, the band split up for each member to go his own creative way.
Khao . Three British musicians: Jon Caffery (Joy Division, Toten Hosen, PIL-Johnny Rotten, Kraftwerk, Einstürzende Neubauten), Mark Rutherford and James Whelan. Sjang recorded 'Crazy Diseased And Barmy' (1996) with them and shared a stage just once. (Rennes, France).
Itchi Bitchi (1996) was the result of two former bands, Hot Kuts on the Beach (founded in 1990) and Godspeed and Jetlag. With Hot Kuts they made it to the semi-finals of a national music contest, De Grote Prijs van Nederland. They also toured in the Netherlands and Germany and appeared on national television.
After something completely different with Godspeed and Jetlag, Huub Gulikers (drums), Elwin de Vries (guitar, vocals) and Sjang Coenen (bass) transformed into Itchi Bitchi . The three musicians were also known for their obscure and acoustic coverband The Bold & the Beautiful, working the bars, clubs & streets around town and abroad.
(Huub and Elwin are now in a band named VanVreeze )
Itchi Bitchi was hot. The music was described as heavy spacerock with dub influences. They won the regional popprize Nu of Nooit which included the finals of the national De Grote Prijs van Nederland, as well as the opportunity to perform as the opening act at the internationally acclaimed Dutch festival Pinkpop. They won De Grote Prijs van Nederland (1998) but had to share with a band in Amsterdam. Itchi Bitchi continued to perform in clubs and the major festival circuit, but after eight years of playing together, they called it quits. Sjang by then, had moved to Belgium and was also getting familiar with the Belgian/Flemish music scene.
Sjang and Elwin have both recorded and toured with GRY, a band built around Gry Bagøien, a vocalist from Denmark (her work is compared to Bjork and Portishead). Their debut album, 'Touch of E!' (1998) also features FM Einheit, former long-time member of the successful German experimental music band from West-Berlin, Einstürzende Neubauten(1980).
Sjang recorded and/or played live with Admiral Freebee, Novastar, Tom Helsen, Lalalover, Jeff Bodart and the Flemish legend in entertainment, Bobbejaan Schoepen (1925). It was a complete new experience to participate in the Leonard Cohen project from the Belgian singer-songwriter Yasmine , with whom he toured in the Flemish theaters. In 2006, her album 'Licht Ontvlambaar' was released. If you want to hear Sjang's work with Yasmine, click her name for her myspace site! One of Sjang's favorite studio projects in 2006 was recording the new release of Jeff Bodart , "a chanteur belge francophone".
Currently Sjang is the bassist for Sioen .
Sjang with Lalalover: Revelation
Sjang with Admiral Freebee live: Einstein Brain
Besides supporting Flemish bands, acts and artists, he continues to perform with his musical friends and colleagues in the Netherlands. They play jazz, blues, funk, lounge, rock, americana, folk, experimental etc. One of his favorites at the moment is 44RAVE, a familiar name in the blues/rock scene. The new line-up includes another former Admiral Freebee member. "We're still looking for a sound, but it's got to be energetic, raw and straight up", says Sjang.
(This page is created by Gina/Mizar5 and Sjang Coenen)
