Introducing the band: Milan Boom

1. When and why did you start playing?

I started playing the drums when I was 6. At 8, I switched to acoustic guitar and a year after that I picked up my first electric guitar.

2. Which instruments do you play?

My main instrument is electric (and to a lesser degree acoustic) guitar. Furthermore, I can slam on a drum kit and a bass guitar in time with the music, have a basic understanding of piano and I recently started playing the bouzouki.

3. What was the first tune(s) you learned?

Boston - It's more than a feeling. I managed to play that on my first acoustic guitar at age 8.

4. Is your family musical?

Yes. Both my parents have performed with bands in their twenties.

5.  Which famous musicians do you admire? Why?

At age 9, I saw Steve Vai's performance on the Crossroads DVD. That performance inspired me to switch to electric guitar. Over the years I've come to know quite a few great guitar players like John Petrucci, Paul Gilbert, David Gilmour and Stevie Ray Vaughan. These players with their own unique playing styles inspired me to develop my own way of playing guitar.

6.  Which famous musicians have you learned from?

 John Petrucci, Paul Gilbert, David Gilmour and Stevie Ray Vaughan. 

7. Describe your first instrument. Other instruments.

The first guitar I ever played was a beat-up 3/4 size classical guitar. My first electric was an old (but very good) Epiphone SC-450G Scroll I found in the attic.

I've owned many guitars over the years. Swapping them out for increasingly better ones. This is a list of the guitars I currently use for live performances with The Royal Spuds:

My Ibanez getting some action.

PRS SE Custom 22 Semi-hollowbody
Ibanez RG1570 Prestige
Fender Stratocaster (U.S.A. Special, hot rodded/"blackified")
ESP LTD EX-401DX
Morgan W1CE semi-acoustic (yes, we occasionally play acoustic sets/songs!)

Other guitars in my collection (at the moment of writing):

BaCH XPL FR
Schecter Hellraiser C-7 FR
ParamountX semi-accoustic

Zen-on western guitar
SigmaGuitars 12-string western guitar
Century 5-string bass guitar

8. What are your fondest musical memories? In your house? In your neighborhood or town?

Listening to rock&roll music as a toddler. My parents played it for me to keep me quiet.

9.  Were you influenced by old records & tapes? Which ones?

I was raised on a musical palette ranging from classical music to hard rock. Therefore, I've never had the need to stick to a single genre to play.

10.  Who are your favorite musicians? Groups? CD's?

Ayreon, Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree, Symphony X, Racer X, Slayer, Metallica, Europe.

That's just scratching the surface, really. I know and love so many bands it would be very time-consuming to comprise a full list!

11.  Have you been in competitions? Fleadh's? Any prizes?

I have, with The Royal Spuds. We're currently in several band contests.

12. Do you perform in public? Describe those occasions? Concerts, radio, TV?

I play quite a lot of shows with The Royal Spuds. I especially like playing on festivals, but every one of our shows is a party!

13. How do you handle mistakes during a performance?

If the mistake isn't noticeable (doesn't interrupt the song) I play along as if nothing happened. If it's really obvious I messed up, I laugh, pull a face and continue on anyway. The show must go on!

14. Do you get nervous before a performance or a competition?

Not nearly as much as I did when I first started performing live. I still feel slightly anxious whenever I walk onto a big stage, but as soon as I hit the first note that feeling instantly disappears.

15. What advice would you give to beginners who are nervous?

If there are people in the audience, they've most likely come to watch you perform. Keep your head up and play your music. Made a mistake? Re-read question no. 13!

16. Do you attend sessions? What makes a good session?

Occasionally. If there's chemistry between the attending musicians, good music will follow.

17. How often and for how long do you practice?

In high school I practiced at least 2.5 hours a day. With work, study and lots of live shows I'm down to an average of half an hour a day.

18.  What do you practice - exercises, new tunes, hard tunes, etc.?

Scales, chords and progressions, new songs.

19. Do you teach music?

I've taught a few of my friends guitar in high school.

20. How do you balance your music with other obligations - mate, children, job?

I don't plan on having children for at least the next decade. Iplan on finishing my education this year. After that, I plan on dividing my time between my girl, my job and my music!

Photo's by: Nouzie van den Bos and Cornflower Photography

Introducing the band: Michael Silver

1. When and why did you start playing?

I started playing music when I was about 6 years old. My parents took me to a Flairck concert. Flairck is a Dutch folk band, which has been around for many years now. I was deeply impressed by the sound of the pan flute, and with my own savings I bought myself a small panflute. Two years later I started playing the piano, and throughout the years, my interest for other instruments kept growing. Nowadays, I am a musician as well as a collector of instruments, and try to play as many as possible 

2. Which instruments do you play?

Accordion/Piano/Synthesizer (anything keys), Irish Bouzouki, Tin Whistle, Cajon

3. What was the first tune(s) you learned?

With my pan flute I mainly tried (and mainly didn't succeed) to play tunes I heard from Flairck. Later, when I started playing the piano, the first song in my songbook was “Mary had a little lamb”

4. Is your family musical?

Yes, although I'm one of the few who is still this much into music.

5. Which famous musicians do you admire? Why?

I admire any musician who puts a lot of effort, time and probably most of their money into a musical career/hobby

6. Which famous musicians have you learned from?

I've mainly learned playing music from my teachers and from musicians around me and close to me. I sometimes watch recorded concerts to get inspiration for stage performance.

7. Describe your first instrument. Other instruments.

As mentioned above, my first instrument was a small panflute, which I still have.

Here's a  list of other instruments I use nowadays:

Accordeon:

Roland FR-1 V-Accordeon 

Keys:

Technics SX-PR 53

Roland D70

Behringer UMX 250

M-Audio Oxygen 49

ESI KeyControl 25XTS

M Audio Pro V-Machine

Korg X5DR

Hohner Student 32 Melodica

Irish Bouzouki:

Blue Moon with EQ

Hudson F-Style Bouzouki

Cajon:

Self-made

Whistles/Flutes:

Tony Dixon High D

Chieftain Soprano D 

Multiple Generation Whistles 

Several Traditional Flutes

8. What are your fondest musical memories? In your house? In your neighborhood or town?

My first time on stage of course, and how nervous I was then! And the sessions I usually attend leave a nice impression too.

9. Were you influenced by old records & tapes? Which ones?

I'll have to go back to Flairck then. I have a lot of tapes and cd's from them, and they keep inspiring me. I also get my inspiration from traditional music from all around the world.

10. Who are your favorite musicians? Groups? CD's?

Ayreon, Clive Nolan, Manu Chao, Traditional Music,

Aina, Turisas, Madness, Eluveiti, Kiuas, Flairck, Korpiklaani, 

Lebocha, The Dreadnoughts, Dropkick Murphys, Steeleye Span, Alestorm,

Skyforger, Arena, Basily, Tom Waits, Rainbow, The Mahones, Gogol Bordello,

Skyclad,  Katzenjammer, Corvus Corax and many, many more

11. Have you been in competitions? Fleadh's? Any prizes?

We're currently in several competitions with The Royal Spuds. In the past, I've been in competitions with other bands as well.

12. Do you perform in public? Describe those occasions? Concerts, radio, TV?

Yes.

13. How do you handle mistakes during a performance?

Keep playing (on a lower volume), until you pick up the pace again

14. Do you get nervous before a performance or a competition?

Not anymore, I usually can't wait to get on stage again.

15. What advice would you give to beginners who are nervous?

Stop getting nervous! I think about 80% of the mistakes you make on stage are not noticed by the audience.

16. Do you attend sessions? What makes a good session?

I attend a folk session in a bar in Leiden every other Tuesday. A good session starts with a good atmosphere and a good amount of beer! 

17. How often and for how long do you practice?

I try to practice at least 1,5 hours everyday, but I hardly get to it nowadays.

18. What do you practice - exercises, new tunes, hard tunes, etc.?

Usually new tunes, or I just sit behind the piano and start playing away anything that comes to mind.

19. Do you teach music?

I get a request now and them from friends to teach them music. I'd love to do that, but as mentioned above, I hardly get to practicing for myself. 

20. How do you balance your music with other obligations - mate, children, job?

Luckily I don't have children yet. As for other obligations, I try to focus on my studies first of all, and divide the rest of my time between my girl, my friends, my pets and of course my music!

Photo's by: Nouzie van den Bos and Cornflower Photography

Song Explanation: Duncan McIntyre

So, as a first blog for the band I figured I'd write about something I know. And since I wrote the lyrics to this song, and did the research it makes sense to write about it.

I first heard about this story on National Geographic channel and decided it would make for a good song.

Ducan McIntyre was born into a family of pipers, his father and brother had played in the Glasgow police band and Duncan himself had played in the city transport band.

As the lyrics read, Duncan McIntyre joined the army in WWII in June 1942 and got stationed in northern Africa. To actually get there they had to sail all the way around the southern tip of Africa because the Mediterranaen was deemed too dangerous. After 2 months of sailing they arrived. Duncan got assigned with the 51st Highland Division which was lead by Major-General Douglas Wimberley.

On the 30th of August 1942 the Axis' Africa Corps made an assault on Alam el Halfa, which is a mountainridge just south of El Alamein. This assault failed though and the Axis dug in waiting for an Allied counterattack. This counterattack started 2 months later. The 22nd of October.   


To achieve the maximum amount of surprise the Allied infantery was ordered to dig slit trenches and lie in them until nightfall. When it finally went dark the men were allowed to stand up again and enjoy a hot meal, brought in by trucks that had stealthily arrived during the day. They got themselves a drink, refilled their ammunitions and went on. 

The Axis had dug in well though, and placed minefields over the past months which the Allied infantery had to tread through. Most of the mines were designed to knock out tanks and wouldn't explode under human weight. There were some anti-personnel scattered around the minefield though, so they had to tread carefully. 

The plan was to send in the infantery, who would knock down gun posts, with the sappers following them to clear two corridors of mines and allow the armor through. 

Preceding the infantery's advance the Allies released the largest artillery barrage of the entire war. 750 cannons shot their opening salvo at precisely the same moment. It sounded and felt like an earthquake, shaking the ground. It caused the entire battlefield to be covered in smoke.
The 51st advanced in a line, 5 metres apart to make them harder to hit by enemy gunfire. 

Because of the smoke the men were seperated and this could make them feel vulnerable. To counter this Wimberly sent them off saying "Scotland for ever and second to none", and attached a kilted piper to each company whose sounds pierced through the gunfire and boost their morale. 

Duncan was one of these. 

Duncan was assigned to the Black Watch, a regiment that had been around since the Jacobite rebellion to "watch" the Highlands, "black" because of their dark green tartans.

As the Black Watch approached one of the gun posts a merciless barrage hit Ducan. Despite being injured, he kept playing, after the second shot he got knocked down. Astonishingly he got back up and kept playing. After the third hit Duncan carried on playing and broke into the regimental march: "Higland Laddie". This increased the morale and the Black Watch pushed on. The gun post was taken but the pipes had stopped.

The following morning, when the smoke cleared, Duncan was found dead on the ground. With his cold fingers on his chanter and his pipes under his arm. He was only 28 years old.

I found this to be such a great story of courage and perseverance that Duncan McIntyre deserved his own song to be remembered by.

- Maarten  

P.S. Michael mentioned I should add the lyrics, so here you go!

Summer of 1942
Young men are getting shipped of to fight

                                                                      Back in 1942

The sixth month of the year

Father McIntyre said goodbye

To his son out on the pier

Duncan he got shipped away

To a far and foreign land

Bravely he got on the boat

With his chanter in his hand

And we'll sing ooh

Ooh ooh, We will remember you

For everything you went through

We'll sing ooh

Ooh ooh, Duncan McIntyre

This one's for you

When he arrived he joined the 51st 

To lead the 5th Black Watch

Win the battle at El Alamein

And celebrate with Scotch

They surprised the Axis late at night

The Black Watch was inbound

Duncan's chanters droning through the dark

Axis woken by the sound

[Chorus]

The Italians got up

And found their rifles in the dark

Mortars blasting through their tents

Powder igniting with a spark

Rifles fired as the Trento charged

The Black Watch had their fight

Duncan he got shot three times 

Didn't make it through the night

[Chorus]

The stories that are told 

Remember Duncan as he was

After the first shot he kept playing

Supporting 5th without a pause

The second shot did take his breath

There on that fateful night

Duncan fell onto the ground

But still he was alright

After the third shot Duncan started off

The regimental march

"Highland Laddie" blasting through the pipes

The 5th increased their charge

When the fight was fought and won

Duncan lay dead there on the ground

With his fingers on his chanter

And his pipes under his arm

[Chorus]

I guess I should also add the song itself