We at Bunch of Bastards (BoB) think to drink from the same source of inspiration as our heroes The Pogues, Flogging Molly and Dropkick Murphys. BoB pay respect to them by playing some songs from these bands. BoB also pick the odd Irish trad song, not without spicing things up a bit though. And we take pride in adding our self-penned songs.
We cannot decide if our music is best described as energetic melody or as melodic energy. It’s your call! We describe our sound as ‘Full Force Folk’: a half-Irish singer, banjo, mandoline, accordion and tin whistle, sometimes acoustic, more often on a solid folkpunk basis, with everything in between. At times sad, but mostly festive, as captured in the punchline of one of our newer songs: “Drink, Holler and Dance!”.
The line-up is:
Jasper is an enthousiastic and passionate singer with a great voice, adding his thoroughly Irish maternal roots to our otherwise Dutch born bunch. He throws himself into each song with all he has to offer, attacking the lyrics, the mike and the stage floor with a ferocious eagerness which reveals the bastard deep down in him. On top of that, he is a fine songsmith too.
Andries only picked up pumping the accordion in his mid-forties, after a severe illness made him rethink the priorities in life. Soon he found himself touring, sitting in, songwriting and recording with the likes of MrIB, Mahones, Circle J, Sir Reg, Bastards on Parade, Greenland Whalefishers, Firkin and Ceili Family. In Bunch of Bastards, he is living the dream once again!
Gosse is not only the youngest bastard in our bunch, but also the most all-round musical bastard. In Bunch of Bastards, he restrict himself to ‘merely’ playing electric guitar, mandoline, banjo and tin whistle, in real life he plays bass, drums and accordion as well. He is an old soul with youthful energy, contributing also to our attempts at songwriting.
Sebastiaan is the latest addition to the Bunch of Bastards line-up. When we were on the lookout for someone to fulfill guitar duties, his auditioning was so good that the main question was if we were good enough for him. Luckily we passed the test and he now is a proud bastard, doing his wonders on both acoustic and electric guitar with us.
Dex is without doubt the most greedy bastard in our bunch. He tries to get the most out of playing with Bunch of Bastards, his unrelenting enthusiasm inspiring both the other band members and the audiences. Just in case you always wanted to know, Dex’s favourite phrases on the matter are: ‘Speluh’ (Play!) and ‘May the Folk be with you!’.
John spent many years drumming in various bands, playing just a handful of gigs. The chance to join Bunch of Bastards was nothing short of his golden opportunity, especially since playing powerfolk like Flogging Molly and developing original folky material had always been on his wish-list. Finally playing scores of gigs made BoB the perfect band for John.
We at BoB have seen our fair share of line-up changes. We are happy to still be on friendly terms with formed bandbuddies Wouter, Cor, Peter, Huib and Wessel, who all contributed to where we are now.
We had the pleasure to play support in Holland for Ferocious Dog and Real McKenzies, we shared the stage with Dutch fellow-folkpunkers Royal Spuds, Circle J, LQR and Drunken Dolly and we shared the bill and the stage at international folkpunk festivals with the likes of Mr Irish Bastard (G.), Uncle Bastard and the Dirty Bastards (It.), Porters (G.), Paddy and the Rats (H.), Moorings (Fr.), Ceili Family (G.), Smokey Bastard (U.K.) and Fiddlers Green (G.).
