Ashtraynutz

The band called ‘Ashtraynutz’, though only put together two years ago, has already played an impressive number of venues in The Netherlands. With their recently launched EP, City Lights, they feel ready to conquer the world! Joël Gaerthé (Amsterdam 1991) was raised in a music loving family yet still had to find his own musical path. At sixteen in music school in Rotterdam, he found himself surrounded by young, talented musicians, beat makers and producers. That environment triggered his creativity. Inspired by Japanese anime, underground hip-hop and artists such as Jamie Lidell and Tom Waits, he created beats, melodies and wrote lyrics. For his final exam he made an album for which he teamed up with beat maker and producer, Jimmy Barbosa. At the presentation he surprised everybody, including himself, by his performance. His unique voice, the sound of his band – bluesy, fuzzy and very soulful – formed an almost perfect combination. What initially was meant to be a one-off performance, turned out to be the birth of a band! Lead: Joël Gaerthé Backing Vocals: Tess Gaerthé Drums: Darryl Ciggaar Bass: Bill Mookhoek Keys: Joël Dieleman Guitar: Nick Croes Throughout 2011 the band played bars, festivals and other venues all over the country. Joël’s warm and soulful voice pleasantly surprised his audience. Ashtraynutz does not go by unnoticed. Not only the audience, but also fellow musicians take notice. Early 2012 the Haarlem group Chef’ Special asks Joël and his band to join them on their Dutch tour which gave the young musicians a chance to play sold out shows in Paradiso (Amsterdam), the Patronaat (Haarlem) and Tivoli (Utrecht). Last February their EP: ‘City Lights’ was launched. The release at De Unie, Rotterdam was a big success. Ntjam Rosie, honored Joël by presenting him with the very first red vinyl sample. The single ‘City Life’ received airplay on 3FM, Sublime FM and was soon found on the playlist of both Radio5 and Radio6. In recognition of their talent they received as award the much sought after title: ‘Radio6 Soul & Jazz talent’! This led to even more airplay, promo and gigs hosted by Radio6. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.