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About Robin Berlijn - creator of Berlin Sounds

 

 

Inspired by black-and-white Beatles footage, shown on tv when John Lennon dies, he buys his first acoustic guitar and a

record player.

 

From there, he traces the history of pop music back to its country, blues and rockabilly roots.

 

 "Music from the 50s and 60s is still a source of inspiration to me. In this era people really expressed how they felt, and I keep returning to those sounds "

 

Only 17 years old, he joins Dutch rockband Fatal Flowers. They tour extensively throughout Holland and Europe, their final cd

" Pleasureground " is produced by the legendary Mick Ronson, David Bowie's Spiders of Mars sidekick.

 

Since then, Robin has had a varied musical career. 

 

His main guitar, a yellow Fender Telecaster, has taken him around the world. He has performed on hundreds of stages for

thousands of people and 100,000’s of cd’s have been sold featuring his sound.

 

From performing and recording with some of Holland’s most successful rockbands such as Kane, Johan and Moke, to working with celebrated female singers Ellen ten Damme and Wende Snijders.

 

From composing “ High Speed Train ”, a three-minute piece for electric guitar and symphony orchestra, (performed with the North Netherlands Orchestra) to cutting edge songs with his own band 13 (featuring himself as a singer in the Iggy Pop/

Lou Reed vein).

 

 " I love the variety of working with different people… when you build rapport, you can work wonders "

 

 

Over the years, his focus starts gravitating more towards composing and producing, learning to play new  instruments in the process.

 

"  After having spent so much time in studios, this naturally evolved into producing and learning to play new instruments … night after night, experimenting with synthesizers, combining them with guitars and percussive instruments…  painting

with sounds, trying to create new landscapes…"

 

 

Through his experience with theatre productions, video clips and live dvd’s, his interest in the relationship between sound

and image develops.

 

 

" Of course … it’s only natural to get involved, because you can see with your own eyes how an edit can make or break a song, and vice versa. So when making video clips with your band you end up sitting beside the editor."

 

 

One thing leading to another, Robin Berlijn starts composing film scores.

 

 

" Having spent most of my life in recording studios surrounded by like-minded musicians, who can lie awake over the sound

of a kick drum, it has turned out to be liberating for me to work with film directors and editors, most of whom are also complete maniacs.

 

But because their passion is visual rather than auditory,  their decisions regarding music sometimes turn out very different from what one would have done with one’s eyes closed, so to speak. 

 

You become a little less precious about your own creations… sometimes it may even have be healthy to have your brilliant idea trampled upon and cut down to size in the editing room, haha!  Though I will defend my idea if I’m convinced it helps to make a better film.  

 

I love the gratification you get from hitting upon a sound or a theme that obviously works for a scene and brings more depth to it.

 

Although it can be a nerve-wrecking journey for both parties, because you’re investing so much energy into it, I find this a

very exciting process. 

 

At the start of a new project you don’t know where you’ll be going, and then suddenly out of nowhere things start taking shape. When you get to know the other person along the way, you can really move fast together and take the film to a

higher level. "

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