Gisburns

Gisburns were formed September 1992 out of the ashes of Ballad Of A Thin Man when they started playing with newcomer Wiebe, who played in Silicone Madonna. November 1992, two months after they started, the band found themselves in the punk club Parkhof in Alkmaar. They thought it would be some kind of jam session, but soon it appeared that they had been bombarded as headliner. 'It was a great moment to find out what we were worth', according to the band. At the start of 1993 it had been about four years since they had last played a real gig, but they had been jamming in their rehearsal shed. They decided to enter a band contest, not because they especially liked contests, but to get Gisburns going again. It required them to start rehearsing seriously. It worked: they became first in the final of the "Waardse Glorie" on March the 6th of 1993 at Complex in Heerhugowaard. They won a challenge-cup, which was never challenged because Het Kompleks voluntarily stopped being a music venue later that same year, and 150.00 guilders. From a review by Mark Minnema, Alkmaarse Courant, March 8, 1993: "Only Gisburns were convincing musically and as a stage act. Guitar, bass and drums kept it simple, but tight and effective. The trashy songs had enough nice turns and time changes so as not to become boring. And the band holds a trump-card in the singer and part-time guitarist, who draws all attention with his wailing voice and elastic body." Noord-Hollands Glorie Winning Waardse Glorie entitled them to compete against eleven other bands in the "Noord-Hollands Glorie" final on Sunday May 16th, 1993 in the Melkweg in Amsterdam, where winners from all local contests appeared. Gisburns won third place. For photos please go to the scrapbook. From a review by Martin Ottens, MUG, June 1993: "The band that gave the impression of being the most experienced was the last band, who have gained experienced in the squat circuit. Their music is made of sturdy rock with a prominent role for the singer, who sometimes also plays guitar solos with an intensity and feedback like Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr. The drummer and bass-player lay a heavy foundation, to which the other guitarist contributes seamlessly." Photo caption: "Gisburns, by many considered as favorite, became third" Muis in an interview by Joop Reurink in Kul magazine, June 1993: "I played fucking great, it's a big kick to play the Melkweg. In fact everybody tipped us as the winner. There were a lot of bookers of small youth club stages in there, and they were required to book one of the three winners, but we haven't heard anything of them yet." From the same interview: "Influences? Wiebe: 'A lot from the sixties and seventies, guitarists like Jimi Hendrix, Angus Young (AC/DC) and Eric Clapton in his good days, those kind of things'. In short: fat seventies rock. And Muis adds: 'The strongest point of Gisburns is the vocals by Martijn; when he is on stage he gives all and he knows how to attract all attention'. [..] The lyrics are completely irrelevant, they are (according to the band members) about 'absolutely nothing, most of the time they are improvised or the words are only chosen because they sound great'." After the Noord-Hollands Glorie final the band continued playing, mostly student parties and the alternative circuit of squats and small stages and bars all over Noord-Holland and Amsterdam. In squat house Emma in Wijk aan Zee they got paid with free booze and accommodation in a haystack. In a press release from that time they describe their sound as a "concentrate, that could be described as muscled, this is violent contrast to the appearance of the four gentlemen". It would also sound like a cross between Seattle and the "Palingsound" (the sound of bands from Volendam like The George Baker Selection and The Cats - please note that this is 1993, some years before The George Baker Selection were suddenly hip again thanks to the prominent place of "Little Green Bag" in the soundtrack of Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs). By 1994 Wiebe and Martijn lived and Robert studied in Amsterdam, so they could become members of GRAP, a subsidized organization of bands from Amsterdam. Thanks to this they had some shared bill gigs in respectable venues like Melkweg (December 28, 1993), the Arena (August 26, 1994 and September 9, 1995) and Paradiso (last week of 1994, where they played the big stage "like the venue was packed 'till the last balcony"). The first and final CD According to a newspaper article announcing the presentation of their first CD a lot of new material had been written since they started three years ago, and the songs had acquired more depth and the band had aged. From another article, by "our reporter" in Alkmaarsche Courant, October 24, 1995: "Emotion, passion and power. Words that guitarist Wiebe van Ginkel drops when asked to describe his band. Not entirely off the mark, as becomes clear after listening to their self-financed first CD. A pleasantly thrashing band accompanies a very expressive singer who sometimes makes you think of a tormented 'Bono' and sometimes of a melancholic Jim Morrison investigating the dark sides of the inner self. [..] 'At one point in time you out-grow the shed and then you must take the matter up on a larger scale', bass-player Jean-Paul Gazan explains. 'It's a way to break that vicious circle: no CD no gigs, no gigs no CD. And it has to do with your growing process. A painter makes paintings, a musician makes record.' [..] Remarkable between the raw guitars and pounding drums are Martijns emotional vocals. 'I don't feel like I'm a musician', says Martijn. 'As far as I'm concerned it's about expression. It is the extension of a certain passion within you, an anger that you must get rid of in order not to become very unhappy.' [..] Wiebe: [..] 'Listen to what the music does to you. One time it's sensitive, and you play like there's a fire smoldering. The other time it's all about ramming. Our songs originate while 'jamming'. It's all about the magic moment when you connect with each other.' [..] Martijn: 'I don't really understand that whole concept of writing music. Music is made.' [..] 'The problem lies not with the audience, but with the club circuit that's in a state of crisis. Venues can't book bands anymore because of noise restrictions or because of a lack of money. Radio and record companies are not interested, while our music is not even that progressive.' With their roughly 25 gigs a year they don't do all that bad though." Exit Martijn On October 5, 1997 the Gisburns played Atlantis, Alkmaar with Sil Baak of Ripping Ohio standing in for Martijn, who had already been away for some months traveling. The band hadn't played a lot because of Martijn being away, and hoped that this new beginning would mean more gigs. About the name Gisburns were named after Guy of Gisburn, a character out of "The New Adventures of Robin Hood" TV series. Gisburn is also a village in England. Guy of Gisburn of Robin Hood fame was said to have come from here.