| WHO ARE THE NAPOLEONS? That's an easy one. Eric Geevers sings and plays guitar, Joke Visschedijk plays bass, and Rixk Heidt plays drums. Sometimes Eric pulls a Vox organ from under his bed, sometimes Rixk takes up a tambourine, and every now and then Joke promises whe will try backing vocals one day. Eric writes the songs and supplies the amplification (all Vox), Rixk has a car and a driver's license, and Joke launched the theory "we are world famous, because everyone I know has heard of the Napoleons". There is no tour manager and no sound engineer. Although The Napoleons gig regularly, they hardly tour - and they don't need a PA system, thank you: their sound comes from two original Vox LS40 speaker columns for the vocals. Even in the larger venues! Most of the time they bring light engineer Ruben ("I'm not a drum roadie"), Maaike (who sells records and shirts), and Hans (who's our dedicated driver). And there's a bunch of nutters trying to see all our concerts and others buying our records through the internet. Poor souls. |
 |
 |
HOW DID IT ALL START? The Napoleons emerged from De Koornbeurs, in Delft (Holland). Eric, Joke and Rixk are regulars at this venue, and they had been playing at one of the annual 'organized jam' evenings there, together with four or five other musicians in a one-off band. Eric, who was playing Vox organ (and guitar) in The Ace-Tones at the time and playing bass with Link Wray, had plans to form a lo-fi, no-frills, back to basics 'beat combo' and Rixk and Joke were ready to give it a try - although Rixk had just recovered from a broken wrist and Joke had actually never played bass before. The first 'gig' was at an evening that everyone was (at least slightly) intoxicated, and when a whole new bunch of people walked in asking the band to play the entire set for the second time 'cos they had missed it... well, the Napoleons were just as intoxicated when they did that spontaneous repeat performance. But they alledgedly sounded better that second time and that struck a chord somewhere. |
| WHAT DO THEY PLAY? Their musical influences, or rather their skills, are pretty one-dimensional. Like, they couldn't even play complicated stuff if it would save their lives, see? And besides, do you think it's relevant whether or not someone secretly plays Hungarian folk music records at home..? Hell no! As long as the Napoleons play rock'n'roll the way it should be (i.e.: raw and recklessly, with heart, soul and guts), I don't care if they listen to nursery rhymes or to that Minneapolis midget - as long as they do it at home... However - if you want to know what they play: Eric writes his songs mostly following the receipe of "take two pounds of Pebbles, a pound-and-a-half of Back From The Grave, stir with some Garage Punk Unknowns, add some Sixties Rebellion for personal taste, sprinkle with beer, skip the agression some bands confuse with scene cred, and serve Childishly". The songs grow from melody and fuzz guitar, 4/4 beat and Wrayful solos. Most of the time. They throw in the occasional cover, some obvious, some pretty off the wall.
|
 |