FLAMBOROUGH HEAD (The band that launched ProgFrog 13 years ago)

In the early nineties Dutch keyboardist Edo Spanninga was looking for musicians to form a progressive rockband. After a short search Koen Roozen (drums), Marcel Derix, (bass), Andre Cents (guitars) and Sieberein Schaaf (vocals & keys) joined the band which they named Flamborough Head after  a promontory on the Yorkshire coast of England.

Their first effort; a cassette-demo called Bridge To The Promised Land, caught the interest of Malcolm Parker who signed the band to his Cyclops label. The first studio album Unspoken Whisper (1998) was well received; readers of Wondrous Stories – the magazine of the UK Classic Rock Society – nominated Flamborough Head as “Best New Band 1998”. After the release of their second album Defining The Legacy (2000) Andre and Sieberein decided to leave the band and they were replaced by Margriet Boomsma (lead vocals & flutes and recorders) and Eddie Mulder (guitars & backing vocals). This new outfit started to work on new material which gave the band a different sound; more melodic and perhaps less neo and bombastic – even a bit folky. One For The Crow (2002) was well received and led to several gigs in The Netherlands and abroad.

Flamborough Head started to organise a progressive rockfestival at the farm of drummer Koen Roozen. ProgFarm ran between 1997 and 2011; 15 editions of this highly popular event gave more than 60 progbands (Big Big Train, Mostly Autumn, Moon Safari, Cast a.o.) an opportunity to gig before a motivated crowd. One For The Crow was followed by Tales Of Imperfections (2005) and Looking for John Maddock (2009). In this period Flamborough Head gigged at several major festivals in Holland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, England and Mexico (Baja). The gig at the A38 in Budapest was recorded and released as Flamborough Head – Live in Budapest (2008). After the bands last release in 2009 Eddie called it a day and was succeeded by guitarist Gert Polkerman who recorded and produced Flamborough Head’s album Lost In Time (2013) – released on our new label; OSKAR from Poland.

More gigs abroad (Rumania, UK, Norway, Poland, Italy) followed. Between 2014 and 2016 Marcel and Gert decided it was time to move on; on bass we welcomed back our friend Eddie Mulder and on guitar Hans Spitzen joined the band. Hans was no stranger; on earlier occasions he had helped the band out. New material was tested live on festivals in Poland and England after which Covid19 gave Flamborough Head an unwelcome break in which we recorded our new studio album called Jumping The Milestone (to be released late 2022).

The Boxx Orchetra

The Boxx Orchestra was founded in 2016 by keyboard player and songwriter Jan Boekestein. In the seventies Jan started playing with symphonic rock band Argyll and later in power rock band The Boxx.
The line up was completed by singer Ria Mulder, started as a bass player and was very scared to sing in public. She got over it and became lead singer in various cover bands. Now singing is her life saver! Guitarist Jos van der Zanden, raised in a very musical family, playing acoustic and electric guitar in several cover bands and combo’s. Walter Hüsstege, multi-instrumentalist and composer with prog-rock band Cause 17 on bass. Kees Schollen played drums in rock bands such as Bonfire, Challenger, The French Connection, D-Day and La Folie, all in the ‘Hammondrock’ circuit.
Not claiming a specific style, the music of The Boxx Orchestra can best be described as power rock with a lot of symphonic influences. Sometimes complex almost ‘classic’ and then again straightforward “between the eyes” rock.
The bands’ playlist contains songs from the Argyll and Boxx days, however in an upgraded 2021 version, added with new material like the lockdown single ‘The Eye of the Storm’.
Released in 2021 the first album of the band: ‘Out of the Boxx’.