Bertolf & Nomden

How has working together inspired you?

Bertolf: “One nice thing about writing with Diederik is that he has a lot of vocal range. That means I can also think up melody lines that I wouldn’t be able to sing myself. Conversely, my voice has a lower register that his voice doesn’t have. And so we ultimately expand the dynamic range of a song’s melody. On top of that, we have so much overlap in taste that writing with him just works really fast. When you’re stuck for a moment, the other person always knows the solution, which is also exactly what you’re actually looking for.”

“Beyond that, our voices just color well together. When we sing the same melody together, our voices become sort of one voice, and it gets Diederik’s width and my presence. That also really inspires me when writing.”

Diederik: “Bertolf is much more meticulous than I am and also much more well-versed and experienced in music theory and harmony. He can also arrange much better than I do, which means he often comes up with really cool (counter-)melodies.”

What about Stealer’s Wheel’s Star do you find inspiring?

Bertolf: “Yeah, really the voices of Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan together. And it has an incredible Rubber Soul vibe, I think. The lyrics also have a certain John Lennon sarcasm. Fun fact: When I went to record my first demos with Diederik in 2005, he introduced me to Stealer’s Wheel. Yeah, I already knew Stuck in the Middle with You, but not the rest of the catalog. So that’s when I heard Late Again and Star for the first time. I thought they were really cool right away.”

Diederik: “I don’t necessarily think it’s a really good song, but it just suits us really well.”

What about the other person makes him such a good musician?

Diederik: “Bertolf has a very broad background in terms of writing, and an enormous technical development and skill. I work more intuitively, which also has its advantages. But he’s just really steady and reliable, and well-versed, you know.”

Bertolf: “Diederik just has the complete package. He’s incredibly musical, in an innate, intuitive way. Beyond that, I think he’s one of the best singers in the Netherlands. Even if he were singing a shopping list, it would already sound good. He has a beautiful voice, with that lovely rasp. He has an infallible feel for beautiful chord progressions and exactly the right notes over them. And then he can also write a good lyric, because his English is basically excellent, and he’s not a stupid guy so it always has substance too.”

Why did you chose Calico Skies to cover?

Bertolf: “That song is on Paul McCartney’s album Flaming Pie, which came out just after The Anthology. For both of us at the time, it was the song that made us think: wow, McCartney can really still do it… It’s a high point in his solo work, and less well-known so we thought it would be fun to put a spotlight on it.”

Diederik: “Because it’s both a really good song and it suits us really well.”

Which one of you is Lennon and which one is McCartney?

Diederik: “I’m McCartney. But he’ll say that too.”

Bertolf: “In terms of vocal range, Diederik is McCartney and I’m Lennon. We have roughly the same sweet spots in our voices as they did, and that’s why our harmonies work well too. When we sing a third apart, we both have to put in the same amount of effort for the note. And somehow that’s pleasant to listen to.”

Sometimes all good things come in one great album

The two of them wrote about two songs together each year. Catching up a bit and then making a song. And at a certain point there were suddenly 12. A full album. How that sounds is roughly predictable. But definitely listen to All Good Things yourself. A beautiful record from two craftsmen who bring out the best in each other.

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2026 All Good Things album Beatles influence bertolf bertolf lentink collaborative songwriting counter-melodies diederik nomden Dutch albums dutch music Dutch musicians Dutch pop music Dutch singer-songwriters Gerry Rafferty influence harmony vocals intuitive songwriting Lennon and McCartney comparison melody writing music arranging music collaboration music craftsmen music theory Paul McCartney Flaming Pie Rubber Soul singer-songwriter duo songwriting collaboration Songwriting process Stealer's Wheel technical songwriting vocal blend Vocal harmonies vocal range