The Influences in 2023
2023 has been a year to remember for The Influences and me personally. I’ve filmed and published more sessions than any previous year I can remember, we celebrated the 15th ...
The Influences is coming to Ireland
Great news: I’m heading to Kilkenny, Ireland in August, to film sessions during Kilkenny Arts Festival. Over the course of two weekends, I will be filming a couple of acts ...
15 year anniversary concert
The Influences exists 15 years! Since 2008, Matthijs van der Ven has been filming his favorite musicians covering their favourites. In 2016, Café de Stad in Utrecht became the permanent ...
The Influences in 2022
Last night I slept 73 minutes in total. Is that enough? Probably not. But here we are, I’m finishing up this year’s overview and you’re reading it. It’s been a ...
The Influences presents Tim Baker
Tim Baker is a prolific dreamer. In 2022, the Canadian returned with his album ‘The Festival’, a sonic embrace, a call to love and a cry for connection. Come see ...
The Influences presents Christopher Paul Stelling
Christopher Paul Stelling is coming back to Utrecht to play our live show at Café de Stad on Sunday September 4th. Get your tickets now.
Jerry Leger & Yorick van Norden live in Utrecht
After a two year delay, Jerry Leger and Yorick van Norden finally played The Influences’ live show at Café de Stad in Utrecht this Sunday.
Brian Dunne – ‘Walk Me Home’
When Brian Dunne recorded his The Influences session late 2021, I took the liberty to request a bonus song. Dunne’s a nice guy, so he kindly agreed to record ‘Walk ...
Elephant – ‘Calling’
Do you know that feeling when a friend of yours is really talented and all that talent comes to fruition? When I heard Elephant’s song Calling for the first time, ...
The Influences in 2021
Another year done and dusted. I published eight sessions this year, and I’ve got fifteen sessions waiting for 2022. Enjoy this overview.
All Bob Dylan covers so far
Happy 80th birthday, Bob Dylan! Your autobiography Chronicles volume one once was the spark that started this website, and it’s no wonder that a lot of musicians have covered your ...
2020, recommended by The Influences
In many ways 2020 was a horrible year for music. Tours canceled, releases postponed, entire yearly incomes vanished. My heart goes out to all musicians and others working in music ...
Senora May recruits influence Jessica Lea Mayfield to produce her second album ‘All Of My Love’
On February 14th, Senora May will release her second album ‘All Of My Love’. A record with eight love songs that will warm many hearts and twist a lot of ...
The Influences in 2020
Well, that was interesting, wasn’t it? I think the last thing anyone needs right now is another long story about the pandemic or personal reflections. So, while the world was ...
A new design
A few weeks ago, the website crashed. Nothing to be done, except… design a new one. So I did. Luckily I was planning on creating a new look for TheInfluences.com ...
24 juni: 10 jaar Onder Invloed
In juni bestaat Onder Invloed tien jaar. Om dit jubileum te vieren, is er op zondagmiddag 24 juni een speciale editie van Onder Invloed in het Utrechtse Café de Stad, ...
Onder Invloed presenteert: Awkward I & Helge
Op zondagmiddag 19 februari is de derde editie van ‘Onder Invloed presenteert’ in Café de Stad in Utrecht, met optredens van Awkward I en Helge. De twee gelauwerde muzikanten én ...
Three Blind Wolves – The Bridge
Song premieres do not happen often at Onder Invloed (The Influences). But, after hearing the upcoming EP by my Scottish friends Three Blind Wolves, I couldn’t help myself. The EP ...
We are coming back to Glasgow
Onder Invloed, the video project from The Netherlands for which musicians from all over the world cover their influences, is coming back to Glasgow. On Saturday 21 November, six Scottish ...
The making of ‘Unterwelten’
A little over five years ago, I decided it might be interesting to start filming Michiel Flamman, a Dutch musician then operating under the name Solo. He had recorded three ...
U rocked
Today, Utrecht is losing one of its finest bars. After years of getting us drunk and making sure we had great nights of fun, U ROCK Cafe is closing its ...
Into The Great Wide Open, News
Onder Invloed at Into The Great Wide Open 2012
Last year, the Onder Invloed stage at festival Into The Great Wide Open at Vlieland was considered a big success. We had a good crowd, a nice location and performances ...
Onder Invloed in de bioscoop
Goed nieuws voor wie van muziek en film houdt. In juni organiseert Onder Invloed in samenwerking met het Amsterdamse filmhuis Kriterion vier bijzondere avonden, waarbij muziekfilms worden vertoond voorafgegaan door ...
1. My Influences, by… Onder Invloed
Here’s a new series at Onder Invloed. I’m going to ask musicians and some other interesting persons to make a playlist on Spotify containing their favourite songs, be it of ...
Record Store Day sampler
Tomorrow it’s Record Store Day. For those of you who don’t know what that means and can’t make their minds up based on the name of the day; it’s a ...
Win tickets to the live shows
Next week there’ll be three Onder Invloed shows in a row. Davie Lawson and his Dutch band will play at all shows, accompanied by Dazzled Kid and Rebecca Sier at ...
Bertolf – ‘English Roses’
Earlier this month, I flew to the South of France to film the album recordings of Bertolf Lentink’s third album. He saved the last song for a recording session in ...
‘Bert Jansch changed my life’, an essay by Paul Tasker
Last night, Bert Jansch died. He was a guitarist who inspired many musicians, amongst them Doghouse Roses guitarist Paul Tasker. This morning, I sent him a text, asking him to ...
Order your Onder Invloed t-shirt
There’s been some demand for Onder Invloed t-shirts over the past months. But, since I’m not the world’s best designer, I decided to ask someone else to make a design. ...
Onder Invloed at the festivals
In May 2011, Onder Invloed will be part of two great Dutch festivals. On May 5th, we are presenting Case Mayfield at Bevrijdingsfestival Overijssel in Zwolle. Also, for the second ...
Traditionals album coming soon
We are proud to present a first official Onder Invloed album. In cooperation with the recording project In A Cabin With we’ve recorded this album in the summer of 2009. ...
Line up for Onder Invloed at EKKO in March
Here is the line up for the Onder Invloed night at EKKO on Thursday the 17th of March 2011. Headliner of the night is Moss-frontman Marien Dorleijn, also The Seventeenth ...
A month of celebration
Last December, it was the 2,5 years anniversary of Onder Invloed. Since the launch at 16-06-08, 62 sessions and more live videos have been published. January will be our month ...
Best Of, Grasnapolsky, Live, News, Scotland
Best of Onder Invloed in 2010
I can’t do it. The idea was to make a Top 12, just like in 2009. I just can’t do it, I’m sorry. These thirteen videos all make me want ...
Onder Invloed at Hedon, Zwolle
|Dutch, sorry.| Onder Invloed is terug. Na een zeer positief ontvangen eerste editie in oktober 2010, vindt op zaterdag 29 januari 2011 de tweede avond in Hedon plaats. In de ...
Onder Invloed at Grasnapolsky festival
Grasnapolsky, a brand new Dutch festival, asked Onder Invloed to become a partner for their first edition and to come and do something special. We’re always up for something special, ...
Making of Biff Smith’s video message
The Starlets toured The Netherlands in October and with success. Got a lot of people enthousiastic and sold even more cd’s. One of the funniest things we did when lead ...
Tonight: Onder Invloed at UROCK
Tonight, The Starlets (UK) and Furlong will perform at the last Onder Invloed live show at UROCK Cafe in Utrecht. Together with Starlets singer Biff Smith, we came up with ...
The Starlets, free download
I’ve got a surprise for you. One you’ll like a lot. Stuart Murdoch (Belle And Sebastian-singer) once said: “Check out The Starlets, they’ve got soul!”. And he was right. In ...
Onder Invloed at Hedon, Zwolle
Starting in October, there will be four Onder Invloed nights each year at the wonderfull Hedon venue in Zwolle. To start of in style, we present a brilliant line up, ...
Anne Soldaat – ‘Born To Perform’
I had the honour to direct a music video to the wonderful song ‘Born To Perform’ by Anne Soldaat. I have been working on this film for a while, recording ...
No Windows Without Walls
Last April, we premiered the documentary ‘No Windows Without Walls’ on the Welsh musician Davie Lawson. The documentary by Onder Invloed founder Matthijs van der Ven follows Lawson on one ...
Release: Nat Jenkins – Live in Amsterdam (free download)
On the 11th of December 2009, Nat Jenkins flew over to Amsterdam from London to play the Onder Invloed show. His very first show in The Netherlands. Surely one to ...
Best of Onder Invloed in 2009
It’s been an incredible year for OnderInvloed.com. The second year of our existence, we recorded sessions with wonderful and talented musicians. Live shows in Utrecht and Amsterdam, OI-recordings on the ...
Anne Soldaat – Mr Randalph (music video)
I had the honour of making a videoclip for the Anne Soldaat song Mr. Randalph. The clip is made out of footage from a weekend on Terschelling with Soldaat and ...
Onder Invloed visits Glasgow, Scotland
This week, the Dutch music journalist Matthijs van der Ven is bringing his project ‘Onder Invloed’, which means ‘Under The Influence’ to Glasgow, Scotland. For ‘Onder Invloed in the City’ ...
Davie Lawson & Steve Savage at Onder Invloed live
This Wednesday, you’ve got the chance to see an international edition of Onder Invloed Live at U Rock in Utrecht. Starting at 20 o’clock, both Steve Savage (USA) and Davie ...
Interview on Radio 1
Last Monday, I was invited to the studio by BNN Today on Radio 1. They interviewed me about Onder Invloed and played some parts of songs from sessions. You can ...
Download: Perfect OnderInvloed.com
‘Perfect’ is een initiatief van Niels ‘Eerste Hulp Bij Plaatopnamen‘ Aalberts en Wilbert ‘Het Zesde Vlak‘ Leering. Een reeks verzamelalbums met de beste vloervullers, Joni Mitchell-liedjes, liedjes uit 2008 en ...
Big plans for 2009
Making documentaries abroad, writing a book, organise live shows: 2009 promises to become an interesting year for Onder Invloed. I booked plane tickets to Glasgow for a special, the first ...
3voor12/Utrecht interview on 2008
The leading local music magazine 3VOOR12/Utrecht asked me about my music year. I told them about some personal highlights like the show Anne Soldaat played at my graduation party and ...
Perfect Joni, by Charlie Dée
The Dutch singer Charlie Dée composed a ‘Perfect Joni’ in addition to her Joni Mitchell-tribute. ‘Perfect’ is an series of music collections, initiated by Niels Aalberts from Eerste Hulp Bij ...
A year of Onder Invloed #2
March started out in Amsterdam, with the guys of Nobody Beats The Drum. They finally released their brilliant debut album ‘Beats Work’ and started touring from Amsterdam to Utrecht to ...
Daryll-Ann – So This Is Christmas (John Lennon)
I just received the Excelsior Recordings newsletter, which brought a lot of interesting things in the spotlights, but ended with a link to a cover I hadn’t heard in a ...
A year of Onder Invloed #1
Well, here it is. The first year of Onder Invloed is almost done. At the end of the year you’re somehow supposed to be looking back on the highlights, so ...