Sander Hoek

1974Sander was born on September 28 in Hilversum, The Netherlands.1985The first time Sander got in touch with the guitar was trough his cousin. He started on an acoustic guitar, and so did Sander. His first teacher goes by the name of Annalou Mantz. She was a classical teacher and Sander studied classical music with her for four years.1989Following this period, he bought his first electric guitar. That was a Fenix, by Young Chain (Fender like model). He was 15 years old at that time and since he got his electric guitar it was time to start a band! He transferred to another teacher, Dick van Loenen, at which point he started to learn other music such as blues and jazz. And with his teacher’s help he got in contact with other musicians, with whom he started their first band.1993This was the year he signed up with a casting-agency called “Hebbes” (dutch word for “Gotcha”). He came into another world of music and suddenly he was to be seen on national TV performing with world famous artists on the biggest stages of Holland. Artists he performed with include names like Enrique Iglesias, Boyzone, Laura Pausini, Sarah Conner, Ten Sharp, Il Divo and many more.He also had a new guitar teacher, Frank Tijdink, from whom he further enriched his knowledge. Frank got Sander into rock and heavy-metal and showed him what awesome things you can do with a guitar! This was also the year he bought his first Ibanez, RG-550, which he still uses today!1996After his first band and some guitar appearances in other bands, he was asked to play in the band “Main”, in Amsterdam. This was a band who had the potential to make it in the world of famous bands, so it didn’t take Sander long before deciding to play with them. They hit the Belgian charts with the song “baby, baby” and played in the “Melkweg” in Amsterdam, but unfortunately the band split up after 3 years.1998-1999After “Main” Sander got in contact with a female singer from Hilversum who had a band called “Angel” and she had just released the single “Love’s What I Am”. They played on several festivals with a mix of covers and own songs. Sadly this band also split up due to the other guitar and bass players.But that didn’t put Sander down for he bought a 7-string guitar (universe 777 by Steve Vai) and he started writing his own music. He got influenced by bands such as Metallica, Dream Theather, Yngwie Malmsteen and Steve Vai.A lot of the music he wrote during this period is included in the guitar book “Soleren? Zó Leren!”, which he wrote and released in 2007.2002After playing in several bands and performing with well known artists, he wanted to start a band of his own. In the years of playing with other musicians he met many people so it wasn’t difficult to put up a new band. He got in contact with a male singer, Derk de Kloet, who was more of a country singer, but who also liked rock. So Sander called a drummer and a bass player he knew and soon they started the band “You’re Invited”.They played at festivals, bars and at several parties. Mostly they played covers which they liked themselves and occasionally they played some of their own songs. The singer was a real entertainer, so every gig was a great laugh and they had so much fun playing! And that is what music is all about, having fun!2003- 2005Unfortunately the singer was too busy with his other job, so he was unable to stay with the band. The bassplayer at that time asked the drummer and Sander to join his band: Hurricane Joy. That was a very good decision at that time, a great singer with a wonderful voice, nice people and with many contacts in the music world in Holland.So they played month after month in Amsterdam, in Bourbon Street, and of course in other bars, at festivals and a benefit for the Red Cross.But it seems that, despite trying hard, this would also not work out for Sander.2005 – 2006By the end of 2005 Sander received an email from a stranger asking him if he was interested in an audition for a band to support the female singer Desiree Coumans, from Gouda. He visited her site and was very impressed with her work.This was the first time he had a strong positive feeling about a band. When they had their first presentation on the July 1 2006, many people went to see them. It was a very successful performance and things looked very promising. Many who had seen Sander perform before said that they had never seen him play the way he did with this band.Sander was finally feeling that he was at the right place, in the right band!2007After many efforts his work was finally rewarded this year!In the past years he wrote mainly instrumental demos with a few exceptions with lyrics, but now with Desiree he started to write music he had no idea he was capable of writing.The most amusing thing is that the most ideas for new songs for the band are ideas he originally intended to use as instrumental songs, but they turned out to perfectly complement Desiree’s lyrics.It was this year that he got in contact with Ibanez and to make a long story short he signed a contract to be an official artist for Ibanez! He got an endorsement for an electric (RGT220 Prestige) and an acoustic guitar (AW85 ECE)And on top of that he wrote his first guitar lesson book, “Soleren? Zó Leren!” A few of his students asked him whether he could combine the things he taught in a sort of “hand-out” for them. But Sander wanted to do more so he just started to write, creating new songs, using old ones and he figured out a way to teach new guitar players how to play a solo. And the result was a 73 page book, including a CD and DVD! He had so much fun making it that he felt it was a pity it was complete so it is possible that he will release another one next year.On the December 9 2007 he had a release party for his book in his home town, Almere. The first copy was handed out by his guitar teacher Frank Tijdink. Sander gave a guitar clinic to show and tell people how much fun it is to play the guitar, and also how easy it is to sometimes play a melody over a chord structure. After the clinic he gave a performance with Desiree Coumans and band. A movie of the realease party can be viewed on this site. This was a really wonderful ending of 2007 for Sander!2008This year we have a lot of gigs coming for us (www.desireecoumans.nl) in March in will get an interview in the magazine "Gitarist" (dutch magazine) For More information please visit www.sanderhoek.comKeep On Rocking! SandeR