Vandalberg

It started with a lecture in Barcelona. Gijs van den Berg was asked to talk about creative bravery at the Art Directors Club, so he wrote, recorded, mixed and produced a 45-second punk song called Deadline to make his point. It was the first time he had taken a song the whole way by himself. He decided that wasn't enough.

The new deadline: write, record and release an album in a year. Eight songs. Four about work, four about life. The two had been getting along too well lately, and someone had to separate them.

Van den Berg is a self-learning organism. Twenty years as a Creative Director, evenings spent watching YouTube tutorials on compression and mixing busses, mornings spent forgetting what he learned the night before. Friends helped along the way with tips on drums and mixing. Damian Kucera handled mastering, which magically made everything sound a hundred times better.

White Russian Records, against all reason, offered to release it. June 5th is the date. Because he is still a designer at heart, it also comes as a limited run of coloured vinyl. Side A is Work. Side B is Life.

Vandalberg is a play on his surname. The vandal part speaks for itself.