De Mens


De Mens is a Flemish rock band from Belgium. The current members of the band are Frank Vander linden, Michel de Coster, and Dirk Jans.

History

After playing in many hobby groups together, long-time friends Vander linden and De Coster decided to start De Mens. Vander linden, a journalist for the Belgian magazine Humo, left his job to pursue a career as a full-time musician. In 1992 the band released its first radio single, "Dit is mijn huis", followed by the full album De Mens. Later came other successful singles "Jeroen Brouwers " and "Irene".
The band's second album, called Ik wil meer, contains the singles "Nederland", "Zij zit daar en ik zit hier", and "Lachen en mooi zijn". Meanwhile, Vander linden developed a reputation as writer. Thanks to his success in the Studio Brussel radio programme Collage, he has frequently been asked to be a columnist and spoken-word performer.
In the winter of 1995, Vander linden went on a small tour titled Solo bij u thuis. A mini-CD, Patti Blues, followed. During that same winter, the band recorded a new album titled Wil je beroemd zijn? at the ICP studios in Brussels. It spawned two popular singles, "Maandag" and "Sheryl Crow I Need You So".
De Mens embarked on a partly acoustic theatre tour from October to November 1997. A compilation CD followed, containing the radio singles "Ik wil een vrouw zijn", "Val niet in liefde", and some brand-new songs.
The band signed up with the Play It Again Sam record company, and released the album Sex verandert alles. It was recorded partly in the ICP studios and partly at home. The singles "Einde van de eeuw" and "Sex verandert alles" scored well in the alternative charts. A club tour followed. Meanwhile, Vander linden became a regular panel member in the television quiz show Nonkel pop on a channel of the Belgian public broadcaster VRT. He also played himself in the film Film 1 by Willem Wallyn.
Since then, they have released five more albums: Liefde with hit single "Ergens onderweg", Blond with hit single "Kamer in Amsterdam", In het Gras Onder de Duinen, with hit single Luide Muziek in Kleine Auto's and recently Is dit mijn hart? with hit single Hier komt mijn Schip.

Discography

Studio albums