Page 7 - ROCKNATION ISSUE 26

ROCKNATION ISSUE 26 PAGE 7

According to Adrian, the last job he had and made money from, aside from his painting (we’ll get to that in a moment) and guitar playing
was making “graphic designs for advertising agencies”. This was just before the time when Adrian started to make a living from his
passion for......art and guitar.

“I must say that ever since I was seventeen, I played in professional bands with guys that were a lot older than me, but I actually
started making some money while being a student by playing in these bands. I was lucky because I could afford a car and.......
better guitars and stuff.”

Although this writer cannot draw a straight line with a ruler, I can say that over the years, I do appreciate art....in particular cubism
Piccaso., although, music is like art and you really can’t define it. You be the judge. To me, it’s like abstract style art. I remember many
years ago while surfing the net, I came across some of Adrian’s paintings. At that time his guitar playing had already influenced me, but
thanks to the net, I found another side of the humble Dutchman. Without delving too much into the topic of painting, I do feel it is
necessary to inform those that are not aware, of the unique dualistic talent he possesses.

“...I was an artist BEFORE I ever had the privilege of making a living from playing the guitar. Like I said before, I made money
(early on) from graphic design, drawing prints etc for publishing companies and advertising agencies, and over the years, I have
had many exhibitions of my artwork in Belgium, Germany, Holland, and France. I feel very privileged that over the years, people
have enjoyed and bought my paintings, and the two go hand in hand,....my music and my art.”

What else is Adje doing these days? Well The Moonkings have just released Rugged & Unplugged which is obviously an acoustic style
album, that includes originals, but also includes a Vandenberg classic Burning Love, and Sailing Ships which is also a classic if you are/
were a fan of the Dutchman when he recorded this tune with David and Whitesnake....a few MOON’s ago.

The reason for going unplugged according to Adrian was “I always find it a challenge to see if a song still stands up when you
completely undress it.”

The obvious artistic connection between art and music can be seen in the album cover of the said album (and other Vandeberg album
covers as well). I asked Adrian if he was also responsible for the cover and he laughed. “Yes, I must confess though that the crop
circles, I had to photoshop it as they are not real, and it turned out exactly as I had imagined it (laughter).”

When you check out the music and the album cover, it is interesting to note that the photo was in the field of Moonkings singer Jan
Hovings’ large farm in Holland where the album was recorded, as well as the wheat, had just been harvested, according to Adje.

The lineup of the band has come full crop circle in a few ways; outside of recruiting Jan to sing, drummer Mart Nijen-Es, and bass player
Sem Christoffel had both run in the same circles as Adje, back in the day.

“My bass player and drummer, I had run into them when they were about 13 years old when I was in the jury of a local talent
show contest, and already at that age, they were already amazing so when I ran into them later on.....five years ago when I was
forming Moonkings, well, ......we’ve been together ever since...and Jan the singer, I found him originally when I was asked to
write a song (A Number One) for our local soccer team F.C Twente....I was just amazed by his talent and it all came together
naturally, and I never had to do any auditions or anything and it felt good, and it feels good on stage.”

The song A Number One that Adrian wrote is a home run and in the same ballpark as We Are the Champions....if not on a bigger field
(in my opinion)...check this out. FC Twente - A Number One - Adje Vandenberg

In respect to what Adrian listens to these days and the rock industry in general, he said this;

“I really like a lot of stuff by bands like the Foo Fighters, Kings of Leon, .......I’ve heard a lot of songs from Rival Sons that I really
like......it seems to me that there is a little bit of a resurgence from guitar-based rock bands that have come up in the last couple
of years......so yeah, there is hope for that kind of music......and I’m not sure about some comments by some people over the
years that it’s dying................It’s not !. I mean the crowd has always been there, it’s just that it is getting less attention on radio
stations and stuff (but it is there and never went anywhere).”

If you haven’t seen Adrian perform and have been kicking yourself for missing the chance back in the day, there is hope.

During my chat with Adrian, we stumbled on the topic of touring and North America, and he expressed his fondness for Canada and the
United States and the hopes he has of one day (hopefully soon) to tour again over here.

“I am very happy to tell you that we just got signed to a top agency in the
UK who .......is very interested in our band (MoonKings) and energetic
and motivated to send us all around the world and I hope that we can do
that as soon as possible and come to North America....I would love to..
..as I know the crowds over there....and the bars....and the exotic ones
(laughter), and yeah, I hope we can do that soon, anyway take care and
I hope to see you soon”

I tried to pin down his PR girl, post-interview in regards to announcing a North
American tour in this piece and well...“NOPE, we don’t have solid plans yet”
she quite candidly said lol.

Lisa told me and I am telling you, keep checking the Moonkings website for
your music, news, Vandenberg fix, and yes...touring info (fingers crossed)!
Thanks for reading and keep rocking!!

Photo credit - Lenn Photography