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BIOGRAPHY
SHORT BIO
BORN IN BELGIUM. RAISED IN THE WORLD. LONDON. BRUSSELS. AMSTERDAM. SOME PEOPLE WAKE UP IN THEIR FORTIES AND SUDDENLY REALIZE ‘WHAT HAVE I BEEN DOING THIS WHOLE TIME’. NOT JASPER ERKENS. HE’S ONLY 28 AND HE HAS ALREADY LIVED A DREAM-CHASING LIFE, LUSCIOUSLY SEASONED WITH MUSICAL FULFILMENT. ERKENS RELEASED HIS FIRST ALBUM AT THE TENDER AGE OF 15. HE FOUND HIS EARLY INSPIRATION IN THE LIKES OF DAVID BOWIE AND DAMIEN RICE. HIS ARDOUR AND MUSICAL EAGERNESS RESULTED IN SOME HIGHLY APPRAISED SUPPORT GIGS. AFTER HAVING EARNED A SPOT AS OPENER FOR ADELE IN BRUSSELS, THE SINGER TOLD HIM HE SHOULD TRY HIS LUCK AT THE BRIT-SCHOOL IN LONDON. WISE ADVICE. HE DIDN’T TAKE IT FOR GRANTED, SAID ‘GOODBYE BELGIUM’ AND LEFT FOR A MUSICAL QUEST. FIVE YEARS LATER – A YOUNG MAN NOW – HE WENT BACK TO BELGIUM, BUT SOON FELT THE URGE TO SPREAD HIS SONG WRITING WINGS EVEN FURTHER. ERKENS MOVED TO AMSTERDAM, FOUND HIMSELF SUBMERGED IN A CREATIVE HUB AND BEGAN TO WRITE.
IN 2021, ERKENS GAINS INDEPENDENCE AND USES THIS FREEDOM BY RELEASING NEW MUSIC DURING THE LOCKDOWNS, STEADILY TEASING TOWARD HIS 3RD STUDIO ALBUM 'LIMBO TERMINAL', OUT ON APRIL 23RD, 2021.
EARLY YEARS
BORN IN BELGIUM ON OCTOBER 1ST 1992, FIRST GUITAR FOR HIS 11TH BIRTHDAY, FIRST SONGS WRITTEN AT 12, FIRST CONCERT AT 13, FIRST AWARD AT 15 (SILVER MEDAL AND PUBLIC AWARD IN HUMO MAGAZINE'S ROCK RALLY 2008)
2008
JASPER'S ACOUSTIC COVER OF GNARLS BARKLEY'S 'CRAZY' GETS PICKED UP BY STUDIO BRUSSELS.
2009
SECOND SINGLE 'WAITING LIKE A DOG' ENTERS ALL MAJOR PLAYLISTS IN BELGIUM AND GROWS INTO A BIG RADIO HIT.
DEBUT ALBUM 'THE BRIGHTER STORY' IS RELEASED AND WILL HIT THE CHARTS TO PEAK AT N°3 AS WELL AS BEING 'MOST DOWNLOADED ALBUM' ON ITUNES.
YOUNGEST ARTIST EVER, JASPER (16) PLAYS SOLO AT THE 'WORLD'S BEST FESTIVAL' ROCK WERCHTER.
JASPER WINS 3 TMF MUSIC AWARDS (BEST MALE ARTIST, BEST NEW ARTIST AND BEST VIDEO CLIP FOR 'WAITING LIKE A DOG').
2010
JASPER (NOW 17) WINS THE MUSIC INDUSTRY AWARD FOR 'BEST DEBUT'.
PLAYS THE OPENING SHOWS IN BELGIUM FOR ADELE, WHO ENCOURAGES HIM TO AUDITION AT THE BRIT SCHOOL IN LONDON.
GETS ADMITTED TO THIS PRESTIGIOUS TALENT ACADEMY, WHERE ALSO AMY WINEHOUSE, THE KOOKS, KATIE MELUA AND MANY OTHER GREAT PERFORMERS GOT THEIR START.
JASPER PLAYS HIS 150TH CONCERT IN 28 MONTHS AND LEAVES
JASPER STARTS HIS STUDY AT THE BRIT SCHOOL AS ONE OF THE 40 STUDENTS OF THE MUSIC STRAND 2010.BELGIUM FOR LONDON.
2012
HE GRADUATES WITH DISTINCTION AT BRIT SCHOOL AS A SINGER, PRODUCER AND SONGWRITER.
DEVELOPS HIS PRODUCER AND WRITING SKILLS BY WORKING WITH THE LIKES OF EG WHITE, AMANDA GHOST AND JUSTIN PARKER.
2014
RELEASE OF EP 'ALTREGO' (JASPER'S SIDE CHANNEL FOR PRODUCTION BASED MUSIC) MIXED AND CO-PRODUCED BY VALGEIR SIGURDSSON (BJÖRK, SIGUR ROS, FEIST, ETC.)
PERFORMS AS ALTREGO ON ROCK WERCHTER & PUKKELPOP 2014 AS WELL AS VARIOUS UK CLUBS AND FESTIVALS
REDISCOVERS HIS PASSION FOR POP MUSIC, SIGNS WITH UNIVERSAL MUSIC AND MOVES TO AMSTERDAM
2016
STARTS RECORDING HIS SECOND ALBUM WITH JIM ELIOT (KYLIE MINOGUE, ELLIE GOULDING, ETC.)
SECOND ALBUM 'DRAWING A LINE' IS RELEASED IN OCTOBER 2017.
2019
RELEASE ACOUSTIC EP 'INNOCENT DESIRES'. WHERE ERKENS OPTED FOR ELECTRONIC ELEMENTS AND BIG PRODUCTION ON ‘DRAWING A LINE’, HE NOW RETURNS BACK TO HIS ROOTS ON ‘INNOCENT DESIRES’. ERKENS RECORDED THIS ACOUSTIC EP WITH FRITZ SUNDERMANN, WHO ALSO PRODUCED HIS DEBUT ALBUM ‘THE BRIGHTER STORY’ AND THE SUCCESS SINGLE ‘WAITING LIKE A DOG’. THE FOUR TRACK EP IS RELEASED ON MAY 3RD.
2020
WE'RE ALIKE IS DROPPED AS THE FIRST SINGLE OF OF HIS SELF-PRODUCED, THIRD, ALBUM. TO BE RELEASED EARLY 2021. THE FIRST SINGLE ‘WE’RE ALIKE’ GAVE US A TASTE OF ERKENS' NEW FOUND SOUND. “I WANTED TO EXPLORE THE WAYS THAT WE AS INDIVIDUALS RELATE TO SOCIETY AND VICE VERSA." 'TRUE LOVE' IS THE SECOND HARBINGER OF JASPER ERKENS' NEW ALBUM. “THE SONG DESCRIBES THE BATTLEFIELD AFTER A BITTER BREAK-UP, AS A KIND OF REMINDER NOT TO MAKE THE SAME MISTAKES ALL OVER AGAIN. WHEN YOU GET KNOCKED DOWN, GET BACK UP, DUST YOURSELF OFF AND KEEP GOING.” THE SONG IS ACCOMPANIED BY A TARANTINO-STYLE MUSIC VIDEO DIRECTED BY FRANGGY YANEZ.” NOVEMBER MARKS THE RELEASE OF ERKENS' THIRD SINGLE CALLED GUILT TRIPPIN'. MILLENIUM ROCK, INSPIRED BY RADIOHEAD AND QOTSA, INJECTED WITH A HEALTHY PORTION OF DISTORTED GUITARS AND RETRO ELECTRONICA. "THE SONG IS ABOUT THE IMPACT OF HUMANS ON NATURE, OUR AWARENESS OF IT AND THE FEELINGS OF GUILT THAT ACCOMPANY IT." THE TRACK CONCLUDES WITH A SCREAMING GUITAR SOLO PLAYED BY NONE OTHER THAN BENJAMIN TOTTEN (JORJA SMITH). GUILT TRIPPIN' WILL BE RELEASED ON 20TH OF NOVEMBER ALONGSIDE A MUSIC VIDEO FOR WHICH ERKENS LITTERALLY BROKE HIS RIGHT FOOT… “TOTALLY WORTH IT!”
IN MARCH, ERKENS DROPS A FOURTH AND FINAL SINGLE CALLED ‘YOUR WORDS (NOT MINE)’ WHILE ANNOUNCING THE RELEASE OF HIS 3RD STUDIO ALBUM.
APRIL 23RD BRINGS THE INDEPENDENT RELEASE OF ERKENS’ SELF-PRODUCED ALBUM ‘LIMBO TERMINAL’.