VI.BE

College days do not only serve intellectual purposes, which is often proved by the musical collaborations that result from nocturnal bar meetings. Cabinet of Curiosities is no exception to this rule: two of the band members, Gorik (guitar) and Emma (vocals, keys) met in their student residency and decided to invite some friends (Robin – bass, Koben – drums, vocals) to the local Irish pub for some in-depth musical analyses and copious amounts of Guinness, cider and whiskey.

What then started off as slightly bashful jam sessions in a dank basement soon evolved into serious song writing sessions followed by equally important team building activities in the aforementioned pub. In the summer of 2014, the band headed into the studio for the first time to record a demo, so they could finally present the result of their weekly seclusion. This was followed by the first, positive encounters with the audience in bars and at small festivals (i.a. at the Blauwe Kater and Lo Rock Festival), as well as an interview (FR) with the music discovery show ‘Génération 21’ at radio station Classic 21.

Soon after this, the band hatched wild plans for a more professional project, i.e. their EP named ‘Courtesy of the Night Before’. To this end they joined forces with the production and recording team of Animal Shelter, young gentlemen Stefano and Joos, and spent a week in the Ardennes, where their songs were subjected to scrupulous analyses and thorough adaptations in order to achieve an outcome to everyone’s satisfaction. The result is nowavailable on cd and through iTunes, and can be streamed for free on Spotify.

Cabinet of Curiosities is more than ready to storm the stage, and has recently been completed by a new drummer named Manu. He skilfully picked up Koben’s drum sticks where he left them when he decided to temporarily swap our Belgian pastures for a different horizon.