Banty Holler - Lost in Song (2025)

This album was born out of a cliche entirely devoid of sex appeal: the midlife crisis; one mainly centered around returning to the substance abuse and music of my youth

Gijsbert is suffering no such crisis but likes to crank his Telecaster and so we got lost in different musical genres close to our hearts: punk, alt country, folk, rockabilly, blues (although “Sitting on Top o’ the World” didn’t make the cut). We let the music take us in different directions. The concept was there was no concept, just let it rip. Get out of your head and go with your gut.

Lyrically, the theme that runs through most songs is escapism. “Bail on this Town,” “Live to Tell,” “Once in a Blue Moon,” “Running” and the title track all have this thread. There is also an ode to my kids: “Ride the Breeze,” a song inspired by a reflective hangover enhanced by Better Call Saul: “Hard Work Don’t Pay,” and one of love, remembrance and survival: “The Genoveez.”

A good part of this album was recorded live and hopefully you will hear the spontaneity of the approach as well as the joy we had in working with Eric and Arthur and Andre of Bunt Studio, who engineered and mixed the record with Eric. The later additions to tracks by Joost, Sara Lee and others added a wonderful layer of depth that wouldn’t have been possible without them.