GOLDEN & SILVER RECORD FOR OUR HIT SINGLE "BLOW YA MIND" AS LOCK 'N LOAD !!!!

Our record company (Midtown Records in the Netherlands) phoned... "Guys I've got good news, in fact, very good news! You have just been awarded a Silver Record in the UK for your dance music single "Blow ya Mind" by Lock 'n Load! It recognises the fact that you guys sold over 200.000 copies in the UK alone". Well... that's FUCKIN' amazing we replied!!! "Than, to make your day even better, you guys have also been awarded a GOLDEN Record for the same single in Scandinavia!"... WHAT THE FUCK! That's awesome! U sure this is not some sick joke?!! "Nope...It's Real!". We partied... HARD!

THE OFFICIAL QUEEN MANAGEMENT ON THE PHONE. IF WE WOULD LIKE TO DO A FREDDY MERCURY REMIX?

We're (My music buddy and best friend Niels Pijpers and myself) busy in the studio, working on one of our new Lock 'n Load tracks. We had just been awarded a Golden Record and Silver Record, the vibe was good! (Understatement!) or... as a friend of us (Ben Crossman) would say: the vibe was bitchin'. The phone rings... "Hi, we're from the official QUEEN management and we were wondering if you guys would be interested in doing a remix for Freddy Mercury?"

What the HELL is going on here?! It feels like deja vu as we ask them if this is some kind of sick joke? "UHHH, No it's not guys, we'd really like you to do a remix for Freddy's song 'Love Kills', u guys interested?" We're trying to keep our cool and reply "yes, sure, that'd be great!" "Ok, great" the voice on the other side replies. "So what do you guys charge for the remix and when can it be ready?" Our 'cool' had dropped on the floor alongside our jaws, but we managed to pick it up and "fake ruffled" our supposedly fully booked agenda. (We would have dropped anything and anyone to have done the remix, but they didn't have to share in this knowledge). "UHMM, we're thinking of .............. £ (An astronomical amount of Great British Pounds that I will not disclose, sorry...) and we can have it ready in 3 weeks from now if that's ok?". "Yeah, that sounds like a deal" the Queen management replied. "Oh, and by the way, we are going to release it on the Parlophone label, the official label of the Beatles. Thought you guys might be interested in knowing that". We couldn't believe what we were hearing!!! "Alright, we'll send you the studio outtakes of Freddy by courier, you should have it by tomorrow". And so it was done! We were going to remix Freddy Mercury and it was for REAL!!!!

Needless to say, we worked our ASSES OFF on that remix and till date, I still think it is one of the best remixes we ever produced! A courier was going to come pick up the DAT tape with the remix from our studio on monday morning at 06.00 sharp in the morning. We worked till 04.00 that night to do the final mixdown. We're exhausted!

That same day round 16.00 the phone rings. It was the Queen management.
The only thing they said was:
"WE FUCKIN' LOVE IT!"

KULTIVATE CLOTHING BRAND

In January 2002 two partners and myself founded Kultivate Clothing. A rebellious clothing brand for people with attitude and a good sense of their own individuality. As Creative Director I was responsible for the brand, its visual identity and all visual communication such as: advertising, the corporate identity, website, clothing designs, fashion shows, fashion fair stands and concepts, accessories, gadgets, sales books, photo shoots (including sourcing models), brochures, production preparations, digital mailers, online content and attracting and directing freelancers. Kultivate is still operating and expanding Internationally. Kultivate is currently being sold in The Netherlands, Germany, Scandinavia, Australia, Belgium, Greece and the UK.