Diederik Nomden

A personal trilogy

“It’s really nice to make it all by myself. This time, I left the drums and bass to Kees Schaper and David Corel, which I also really enjoyed. A year ago now, I realized I really needed to get started. So I just sat down at the piano and started playing songs that weren’t finished yet, leaving some parts blank.” Nomden explicitly exchanged control for more collaboration. “That actually worked out really well. I’ve known David for thirty years. He can’t play anything that isn’t beautiful. And it’s the same with Kees. He never plays anything that isn’t tasteful. And I’m not really a control freak. So I think, if I had done it myself, it would have been different, but whatever.”

Sooner/Later is the conclusion of a trilogy that started with Wingman Returns, then Parallel Universe, and now this one. “These were three albums that just had to come out, and are connected, both thematically and musically. On all three, there are songs at the end that I kind of came up with during the first one, so they’re really connected, also historically. Or things that I finished now, like Little Child, butstarted five years ago. There are brothers and sisters among the songs.”

Diederik Nomden enjoys working in his own environment, without outside opinions. “I made all three albums in my own trusted environment, without anyone else’s opinions, which I always really like. That gives it a certain charm, I think. David Corel thinks it’s my best. He said: ‘You’re fifty, you don’t have anything to prove anymore.’ I don’t feel that way myself, but he hears it. So I take that to heart.”

Becoming a solo artist

After many years touring internationally with (among other bands) The Analogues, Diederik Nomden now really is a solo artist, for the time being. “I’s not something I ever thought possible before. Not out of false modesty, just realistically. I only started working on my solo thing at 35 years old. Guys like Djurre (AWKWARD i) or Bertolf, they’ve been focused on their own thing since their mid-twenties. I thought that probably wouldn’t happen for me, but now it turns out I can draw 150 people to the theater on my own. That’s a cool realization, and it makes me want more. I could keep building this for another twenty years.”

The audience remains important, also for motivation, Diederik Nomden feels: “It’s important to have perspective. That’s what makes it more exciting now. I would have kept making records, but playing solo is definitely connected to audience interest.”

On writing and collaboration

“Writing by yourself is tough, because you have to get through the dead spots. When you’re with someone else, especially someone like Bertolf, we know exactly what needs to happen in a song; at least, in our opinion. So if one of us suggests something, the other always has an idea too, and you get results quickly. I don’t remember all of it, but Bertolf said three songs on the album were written in one afternoon. I didn’t remember that, but thinking back, yeah, that’s pretty special.”

One of the best songs ever, period

Diederik Nomden: “I played Here, There and Everywhere in my theater show, and that song just fits me really well. I think it’s one of the best songs McCartney ever wrote, which makes it one of the best songs ever, period. It’s so complete and at the same time so delicate, and then that modulation… I think that’s a beautiful moment. It’s a really well-crafted, complete song.”

“I’m not really a fan of the fully arranged Beach Boys stuff, but the stripped-down piano version of God Only Knows is one of the most beautiful songs ever. For sure.”

Diederik Nomden’s album Sooner/Later is available for sale on his website, and on all the streaming platforms. He’s going on tour with Bertolf in 2026 supporting their album All Good Things – due for release on January 23rd 2026.

Photos

Keep watching

Thank you for watching and enjoying this session. You’ll probably like some other sessions from The Influences’ archive too, like these earlier ones we filmed.

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