SPARKLANDS is a journey back to a first love –
AOR.
Music was everything for Thomas Riekerk and his brother Robert Riekerk when they grew up in the
Netherlands and AOR was Thomas’ first love. Band posters of Bad English, Giant,
Toto and Foreigner were all over the walls of their rooms and in every corner
there were guitars and amps. Back then music was not available digitally so the
record store became their second home, when they were in search of that one
album that was only available through import.
AOR was the music the parents of the
Riekerk brothers played at home. Not a day went by without banging drums or
screaming guitar solos, Thomas remembers there was always a Giant or Toto track
coming from his parents’ stereo. These are the memories that both brothers
cherish a lot after their father passed away a few years ago. Times were tough
for the Riekerks and the sadness they all experienced could not have been
channelled better than through a song.
In remembrance of their father, Thomas
and Robert wrote the song “Tomocyclus” together, named after
the boat of their late father. This song could be described as the beginning
of SPARKLANDS and it also became the
album title.
Despite all the different musical
directions they had both travelled since the AOR filled days of their youth,
suddenly there was the urge to make a record together that could have been
played on their dad’s stereo. Their first love AOR, the remembrance of father
Riekerk: it all comes together in SPARKLANDS.
The first noteable appearance of the
Riekerk brothers in the music business dates back to the early 90s, when they
started to work with the Dutch AOR artist Ralph Van Manen. Ralph’s “Face The
Feeling” record from 1992 is one of the best AOR records to come from the
Netherlands, on this masterpiece Robert co-wrote several tracks and played
guitar and Thomas sang backing vocals.
The Riekerk’s continued to work with
Ralph Van Manen on his next albums and Robert had the pleasure of co-writing
“Testify To Love” with Ralph, Henk Pool and Paul Field. The song earned them
several awards and it became a huge hit for the American band Avalon. Also
Wynonna Judd’s version was a big success, later the song was recorded by
numerous other artists as well.
Over the years Thomas was part of
many different Pop and Rock bands. One of them was the Dutch band Beam. Beam got
signed by a major label and recorded an album at the Wisseloord Studios (famous
for sessions of Def Leppard, Magnum, Scorpions, Sting). Soon Beam got nationwide
attention on the radio and TV (Top Of The Pops / MTV) and they also toured in
the Netherlands and various other countries. Thomas also did a lot of backing
vocal sessions for different (international) artists.
Many years and projects later the
time had come for Thomas to become the front man of his own band and to start
telling his own story. Together with his brother Robert he gathered some
befriended producers and musicians, like Simon Gitsels (Van Velzen), Minco Eggersman and Martijn Groeneveld (producer of
Blaudzun) and they started the writing and recording sessions for SPARKLANDS.
The guys worked hard on getting that
famous retro sound, by using a lot of vintage gear they layed down the ultimate
AOR sound for their debut record “Tomocyclus”. Songs filled with big
guitar solos, huge drums, powerful
catchy hooklines and melodies and multi layered backing vocals delivering a
tasteful collection of songs bringing back the days of bands like Boulevard,
Saga, Mr. Mister, Bad English and Giant.
The band has signed a deal with a
renowned booking agency and together with the befriended session musicians, Rolf
Perdok (guitars), Rob Vermeulen (bass) and Colin Lee Vermeulen (drums) Thomas
and Robert will start touring with SPARKLANDS in the fall of
2013.
Let the Sparks fly!
SPARKLANDS in the studio are
:
Thomas Riekerk: Lead and backing
vocals
Robert 'Ty' Riekerk: Acoustic, electric
guitars and keyboards
Simon Gitsels: Synthesizers and
keyboards
Minco Eggersman: Drums, percussion,
synthesizers and keyboards
Martijn Groeneveld: Synthesizers and
keyboards
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