VI.BE

The story of "De Gunne" I was introduced to the world of classical music by my father when I was 6 years old and started playing drums in the local brass band. After a couple of years, I decided I wanted to master another instrument, and chose the trumpet and then the djembe, and I started my own band. We

rehearsed every week and did a couple of shows, as well as some street performances. One day, at one of the brass band rehearsals, my oldest friend - Leo - brought along something he wanted to show me. It was the Roland TB-303. Outside during the rehearsal break, we were jamming with headphones on in Leo's old ford Fiesta, falling head over heels in love with the

sound of electronic music. This was the start of my first electronic project: Future Insane. Leo had all the equipment and the knowledge, and I quickly learned the basic principles and started my early creations on an Atari

ST-1040 with my very first synths. Wanting to understand more about theory, I started taking evening classes in music It quickly became clear that this way of learning didn't suit me, and I started going to bars instead of class... So after giving up on a plan that I found to be both dull and ineffectual, I decided to

teach myself what I needed to know.

This was before the internet evolved into what it is today, so

unfortunately no YouTube videos to teach me! Somewhat discouraged by the technical limitations of creating electronic music in the '90's, our first encounters with the music industry and losing a couple of local talent shows, we decided to leave Future Insane behind us, but we remain friends to this day. I continued playing in the brass band, but gave up on creating electronic music due to my frustration with the technical limitations at the time, and the enormous financial investment that would have been required to achieve what

I wanted to achieve. At the age of 17 l was introduced to the unique world of Goa-trance, a brand new style of electronic music, born on the beaches of India. This was a huge turning point in my life, allowing me to open up socially and make peace with my own weirdness. As a result, I was filled with energy and drive, with new motivation and a clear idea of where I wanted to go with my life,

rediscovering my love of creating music and DJ-ing. This coincided with the digital revolution that triggered an explosion in the development of VSTs,

samples and tutorials, bringing together like-minded spirits.

The result was my next big

milestone, the release of my first psytrance album, "Logical" by Bitkit, released on Kairoo records My first live shows were tough, as I struggled with technical problems, but I persisted, eventually getting my nervousness under control. Slowly the audiences started to build and international bookings started to come in. There have now been 4 Bitkit albums and 6 EPs released, and I've had the pleasure of playing more than 250 shows around the world, including highlights like

Tomorrowland (Belgium), Nepal, Canada, Australia, Thailand, Mexico.. Another big piece of my musical puzzle was Boulvard, a project with an amazing singer, guitar and violins, which surfed every musical style. We played some fantastic shows in Belgium, but sadly we ran up against the same obstacles as Future Insane - we ran out of money after funding

our own album and mastering, so we couldn't take this beautiful project any further.

I'm so thankful that I was able to discover my talent and take the time to develop my skills. Making music and being able to travel the world have made my life truly fantastic! I've never relied solely on music to support myself. It's remained a hobby, and I'm very proud to be an independent window cleaner, enjoying every day's work to pay the bills and not letting financial

stress interfere with the greatest joy of my life.