Prize Collect

Prize Collect

You haven’t heard anything by Prize Collect, yet. Until today. The Influences has the honour of sharing the first music by the Dutch band, formed by songwriter Marzio Scholten. Scholten is a Dutch guitarist known for his solo work, ranging from jazz to indie, and recently his band Opera Alaska – a collaboration with Moss-singer Marien Dorleijn. I had the chance to listen to Prize Collect’s debut album (no release date has been set yet) and was an instant fan. After watching these videos, I am fairly sure a lot of people will be too. For The Influences, Prize Collect played covers of Blur’s Song 2 and Nada Surf’s Blonde On Blonde and two originals: Demons and The Ones Who Sin.

“To my surprise, people were very excited about these demos.”

“Influences are strange things. Like your desert island picks. They tend to change back and forth as time goes by, and you always seem to forget a few. Exactly like after we did this session for The Influences with my brand new band Prize Collect, when all of a sudden tons of songs came popping into my head for cover ideas. But just like any other studio session, it’s best to treat it as a document of where you are
at that time and place. And I must say, I’m very happy with where we were.”

“Last year I started demoing songs that I had lying around. Songs that didn’t have any destination or didn’t fit any of the bands and projects I was in at that moment. But they were great songs nonetheless. For demo purposes I sang the lead vocals. I let my inner circle of music friends hear some of those demos and to my surprise they were very excited about it, also about the lead vocals. That led me to believe that these songs might be able to become more than just random demos. I started working more on the songs, the details, and kept recording, up to a point to where I had a coherent set of songs that could actually be an album. Prize Collect was born.”

“Damon Albarn’s productivity and output are a huge inspiration.”

“For a new band with an upcoming album and no shows on the agenda it was a great honor to have Matthijs give us the opportunity to let the world hear a few of these songs, as well as two covers. Together with Sam van Hoogstraten on guitar, Roy van Rosendaal on bass, and Ruud Voesten on drums we set up shop in a beautiful theatre and started blasting away.”

“I’m a great Damon Albarn fan, his productivity and output are a huge inspiration. We decided to take Song 2, one of the most iconic Blur songs, and put a different spin on it. Our other cover is a song by Nada Surf. Their album High/Low is one of the albums I keep coming back to (although this particular song is not on that record). It reminds me of high school and summer holidays. As for our own material we recorded Demons and The Ones Who Sin, two of my favorite tracks from our upcoming record.”

Marzio Scholten

Marzio Scholten (1982) is a Dutch guitarist and composer. His musical style ranges from modern jazz to indie. Currently Marzio is active with several of his own projects, including his solo guitar works, and indie band Opera Alaska (Excelsior Recordings), which he leads together with Marien Dorleijn (Moss).

Marzio his music and playing can also be heard in several movies and documentaries showed in cinemas and on national television. Career highlights include headlining Holland’s most prestigious venues and festivals (Paradiso, Rotown, Bimhuis, ESNS, North Sea Jazz and many more), national television appearances, a Deloitte Jazz Award nomination and international headlining tours. I’d recommend starting with his latest solo album Ruis, if you feel like diving into Scholten’s discography.


Originals

Song 2 (Blur)
Tidal | Apple Music

Blonde On Blonde (Nada Surf)
TidalApple Music

Prize Collect

Instagram
Website (Marzio Scholten)

Credits

Filmed & edited by Matthijs van der Ven.
Audio recorded by Matthijs van der Ven.
Audio mixed by Roy van Rosendaal

Location
Cultuurcentrum Parkvilla
Alphen aan den Rijn, The Netherlands

There is no better way to discover music than watching great musicians cover the songs they love. The Influences has been producing these videos ever since 2008.

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