by Samantha Bos & Ben Smith
Utrecht is a very cultural city with many creative outlets. Most people, both tourists and inhabitants, will be familiar with music venues such as Tivoli and Ekko: who are both famed for great evenings out. But for music lovers who dare to look further than just the city centre, there’s a hidden gem that awaits: the dB studios.
The dB studios is a rehearsal studio complex in Utrecht, with seventeen practise rooms that can be rented by local bands, a recording studio, bar and a performance area for bands to demonstrate their skills. Over 250 different bands from the Utrecht province come to practice and record in the studios: from Moroccan Rai music or Soul to Heavy Metal. Paul de Brabander – founder of the dB’s studios – gives us an inside look at his cultural enterprise.
“In the 1980’s I helped set up Tivolli at the Oudegracht: back then it was one of the first musical venues for Pop/Rock in Utrecht. The local musicans from the Utrecht area were frequent visitors and always voiced the same complaints: we need somewhere to practise. At that time many bands were hidden away in cellars along the canals in Utrecht. Those areas were dark and had awful acoustics. Your drum pedals would turn from shiny silver to a rusty green/brown because it was so moist in those places. That’s when I decided to start dB’s: to give musicans in Utrecht a decent pratice space to work on their skills.”
The dB’s was set-up in an old warehouse at the Veilinghaven area – the old harbour – in Utrecht. It grew quickly and became more and more known by musicans in the Utrecht province. When the 1990’s arrived dB’s had to find a new location: the Veilinghaven was to be redeveloped as a housing estate. The city of Utrecht provided financial assistance in the relocation process, but did not offer to help find a new location. De Brabander eventually found a new home for his company in an old bus maintenance building – that he rents from owner NS, the Dutch National Railways. “It was a hell of a lot of work to get this place up to scratch. We spend three months renovating the entire area: it had been completely worn out from a fire and years of neglect.”
Fast forward to 2013 and we see dB’s studios thriving on culture, innovation and diversity. “You can definitely see that all the different bands interact with each other. Our practise booths are located on both sides of a long corridor. You constantly see bands wandering into each others booths to have a chat. Besides that, the bar and smoking area are lively hubs of interaction. It’s a case of cross-pollination! For example: If your bassist quits the band and suddenly you are in need for a new band member, you just spread the word at db’s. Everybody will try to help you out.”
De Brabander can give us the perfect example: “A band that plays alternative Country music was in need of a new drummer a while ago. They managed to secure themselves a brilliant new drummer: one of the best Metal drummers in Utrecht. So suddenly you see this tough Metal guy sitting behind the drums wearing a Cowboy hat playing folk music: That’s the beauty of db’s.”
Besides a great mix of different musical genres – db’s always has a great mix of different ethnical backgrounds. Db’s is a very multicultural place, although they don’t pride themselves on it: “We do have interracial bands, it’s not just Dutch rockers. Everyone is welcome, but we don’t try to force a mutli-cultural enviroment. We have a Morrocan Rai band and others from Suriname, but it’s all just about the music. You will find someone with very conservative views suddenly in deep conversation while sitting in the smoking area with Mohammed from Morrocco: it’s all very natural. It integrates better when you don’t focus on it too much.”
De Brabander founded – besides the dB’s – the non-profit organisation Ruis: an organisation that arranges festivals, performances and events in the dB’s studios. Because Ruis has a stricly cultural non-profit character, it receives funding from the local government. The battle of the bands type event ‘Clash of the Titans’ – is it’s prime example. This event features 50 different bands from all over the Utrecht area who battle it out on stage. It’s characterised by different rounds (quarter finals – semi finals – finals) at different venues. The venues this year include: Ekko, Acu, Tivolli and of course the dB’s. “Along with Ekko, Tivolli and ACU we are the Cultural Infrastructure of music in this area”, De Brabander states enthusiastically. “We try to offer bands a platform to show of their skills and it’s been a great success. If the different venues can work together, we can offer the city a great taste in musical variety.”
Next year the dB’s will celebrate its 20th birthday at its current location. De Brabander is planning to celebrate it big: “It will be a very special event – but I can’t reveal any details yet. I’m sorry to be so secretive – but it has to remain a surprise. You should expect something completely innovative, original, cultural and different: maybe 250 bands performing on the parking lot at the same time – just a cake and balloons wouldn’t be enough”, he winks. Only time will tell what the dB’s has in store for the Utrecht public – but one thing is sure: something innovative, original and cultural sounds like music to our ears.