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An overview of how Anguish was formed, things we did and how it all ended...
How it all began...
It was 1989. A young man by the name of Yme Dijkstra was throwing a b-day party and had invited a friend of his, called Willie Scholte. Willie had a shop where he sold all kind of things dealing with music. Oh yeah, he also sold drumkits.
Anyway, Willie, clairvoyant as he was and with quite a few connections in the world of music, invited two guys he knew to come along with him. These two young men were two brothers called Robert-Jan August and Johann August. Also present at that memorable party was a man carrying the name Martijn van Limbeek. Practically all of the present party animals were involved in the fine art of making music, or at least thought they were.
At some point that fine eve, RJ, Martijn and Johann decided to jam a little on the instruments present and they performed (if I recall correctly) the ever famous song "The Prisoner" from Iron Maiden. Now, very few people could have guessed that the spark that was sizzling that eve between the three musicians would prove to be a very stable basis for a musical thrill.
The formation...
A get-together was arranged in a town called Heerenveen, in the northern regions of Holland. Martijn brought his guitar and accompanied equipment, RJ brought his bass and Johann assigned himself to try to keep the whole lot going at a steady pass by means of drums.
Before long the cooperation was steadily producing songs and the guys were looking for a name. A mutual agreement was reached on the name Anguish. What is the next thing a three-guy formation needs? Correct....a singer. After some time he was found and the very first gig was arranged a this terribly twit-of-the-year club called Bellefleur in Leeuwarden. The musicians were stressed out, the sound guy was stoned and the audience was drunk. In short, all the elements for a swell eve were present. Despite of the fact that the paying audience got treated to a style of music they had not quite expected, the alcohol consumed and the jolly atmosphere made sure everyone was having a marvellous time. Not in the least the guys performing. Unfortunately, the owner of the club thought the style of music played, did not totally fit in the image of his club he so carefully created over the years (and he was right). So, he decided to make an early end to the little party.
Well, after reviewing the video shot at the gig, the guys thought it best to search for another singer. The band then went through a rough period of writing songs and switching between rhythm guitarists, singers and what more.
After a while, a singer by the name of Ronald Kuik was found. This guy seemed to be having what it took to feel the same spark that had cracked the air back in '89.
New songs were written, old songs were dumped and Anguish was heading toward the studio to record their first demo tape.
But first, someone was needed to fill in the blank spots on the musical background. That someone was found, personificated in the shape of Tatjanna August (yes, yet another member of the family RJ and Johann are part of). She would from then on be responsible for the keyboards and luring the men into the bars.
The recording days...
So, in the summer of '91, Anguish trod to Studio Tremp and recorded their first demo tape, called "Libera Me". It contains six songs written in the very first period of the band. Although the band still had a lot to learn (concerning song writing and producing a demo tape), the songs breathe out the energy and passion with which the guys and gal make their music. In fact, I still listen to it now and then with a content smile on my face.
Playing, learning and expanding...
Throughout '91 till '93 Anguish wrote quite a number of new songs and performed live on stage in many towns in the northern parts of Holland. However, even with this 4-man-and-1-woman formation, the band members felt there was still something missing. And so it came to pass that Martijn got into contact again with Yme (read the top part of this page to find out who he is again) to help out with the wall of sound musicians call guitar. Yme's enthusiasm was a huge impulse for everyone to go on with performing and writing and Martijn could now freak out on his guitar even more, which he gladly did. And so, two years after the first demo tape was recorded, Anguish went back to the studio to make sure a few of their musically creative inventions would be eternally available for all those who would want to listen to it.
The recording days, part II...
So it was in the summer of 1993 that 5 men and one girl, together forming the band Anguish, went to the studio to record 4 songs they chose. This time they were accompanied and directed by a producer by the name of Harry Zwerver. During a six day period, the four songs were recorded, mixed and produced on tape. The name of this demo tape is "In Memoriam". It clearly shows that Anguish had experienced a huge musical growth over the two year time span between the two demo's. After completion, the tape was sent to the Dutch version of Metal Hammer, "Aardschok" (try to pronounce that!) and received some pretty good critics.
Le grand Finale...
The following year was filled with some more writing and performing. However nearing the summer of '94, Martijn, Tatjanna, Ronald and Johann had things going on in their personal lives that made it hard, if not impossible to continue with their activities in Anguish. So, in the summer of '94, the last gig for Anguish as everyone knew it was planned. This time not in a bar, but at the annual beach festival "strandpop" near a tiny town called Anjum. Some 3000 visitors were present and everyone (that means both visitors, but not in the least the band members) had a marvellous time. So, after that both marvellous AND tragic summer, the Anguish members all went their own way...(are you weeping yet?)
The resurrection...
It should be obvious to the reader by now, that the remaining two Anguish members had too much electricity up their behinds to be able to sit still. And so they roamed the land in search of people who would want to replace the four traitors (and be honest, who wouldn't?!). The four victims were found, being; Han Feddema (straining the vocal chords), Dicky Veendorp (slaying the cymbals and drum skins), Harmen Boomsma (scaring the neighbourhood kids with his keyboard) and Wieger Dijkstra (scaring everyone else) on guitar. So the band continued, with one other minor change. It became apparent that another band called Anguish already existed (in Sweden, if I'm not mistaken and if I am...well...what are ya gonna do about it, eh?!) started working on new songs, skipping most of the old ones that somehow didn't feel right anymore in this line up. Then, after a period of hard work and writing songs, the guys decided the time had come to go to the studio once more.
The recording days, part III...
And so it came to pass that in the spring of '97, six men went hither to the studio again, this time to Sing Sing Studio. There, after many days of hard labour, producing a lot of blood, sweat and tears, the recording and producing of the first Angwish album "Tangled in Corrosion" was a historical fact. It's a 12-track album which has a few musical links with the old Anguish, but is certainly a whole new Angwish with it's own style and view on music.
The final split up...
In the summer of 1997, RJ concreted his planes to move to the USA to continue his musical career as an organ player and had to say goodbye to Angwish. This decision, although beneficial for his personal life, would prove to have a major impact on the future of Angwish. In fact, that future turned out to be a short one. RJ, being a skilful bass player and producing most of the keyboard parts (thanks to his conservatory background) was, together with Yme, one of the driving forces behind Angwish. So after his departure, Angwish slowly had to find another bass player, which proved to be quite hard. After a while the remaining band members got into various side projects that started to consume their time. So after 9 years Angwish was forced to leave the world of the living and the band split up, leaving a legacy of two demo tapes and one cd.
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