Thijs de Boer (music) biography
When Thijs is about five years old, he starts singing himself to sleep, rolling around with his head on the pillow. The songs he hears on Hilversum 3 are his source of inspiration. He sings along phonetically, simply copying the sounds.
He is absolutely delighted with his first transistor radio, a gift from his uncle Klaas. Even happier is he when he gets his first record player, a present from his neighbour Henk van der Tempel.
Through his older brother Tjeerd, he hears The Beatles for the first time, but it is especially the screaming sound of the crowd on At the Hollywood Bowl that makes an impression.
A 1970 compilation album by The Rolling Stones is also played until the record is practically worn out.
Later, when he is eleven, he visits his neighbour Werner Draaisma one day and is amazed by a collection of sixties singles Werner has just received. Together they play every one of them on the record player.
One beautiful melody after another comes along, including songs by The Kinks.
Then, after a little accident, Thijs breaks his arm, abruptly putting an end to his so-called rolling around in bed — and with it, his singing himself to sleep.
The rest of the family breathes a sigh of relief...
But the peace won't last long.
At eleven, he joins a marching band and starts playing the snare drum, but this is short-lived; he doesn't fancy marching around as part of a show.
Puberty arrives, and his older brother starts playing some seriously great music;
New Wave. The Smiths, The Comsat Angels and Joy Division, as well as the local band Der Junge Werther, make a deep impression on the young Thijs.
At sixteen, he starts playing drums in a garage rock band, simply because they are short of a drummer. Bands such as The Replacements, The Stooges and R.E.M. are favourites.
Dreaming away to R.E.M. is very much his favourite pastime.
He would much rather be the singer, but unfortunately, he still can't sing.
The band breaks up in the early nineties and, wanting to keep playing, he joins a successful party band.
During a legendary R.E.M. rehearsal session with fellow musicians from Bolsward, Bas Ridder and Hans de Beer, he meets Egbert van der Werff. In van der Werff, he recognises a kindred spirit.
Egbert has also discovered Big Star by then, and Thijs is captivated by his charisma, his voice as a singer, and his talent as a songwriter.
This also sparks a desire in Thijs to start writing songs himself.
A genuine competition develops;
Who can write the better song?
Whenever one of them finishes a song, he immediately calls the other and plays it live over the phone.
Suddenly, an acoustic guitar sounds like an electric guitar over the telephone; even better!
The group is initially called The Palomines.
The band name changes to Travis, and at the end of December 1995, together with multi-talented Hans Lotstra and bassist Johan Kramer, the demo No. 1 in Dallas, Texas is recorded on the island of Texel. The title refers both to Big Star's #1 Record and to a whisky advertisement they spotted in a pub on Texel.
After Michel Scheltema and Rene Monsma join the band, the debut album “Wicki Purrs” is released under the name Travis in late 1997. It receives rave reviews, but partly because a Scottish band called Travis is becoming successful throughout Europe, and partly because of the varying quality of Travis NL's live performances, the name is changed to Lucas.
While Wicki Purrs features only four songs written by Thijs, the next CD, released in January 2000, “Undesired Lonely Story” under the band name Lucas, features no fewer than seven tracks written by Thijs.
Once again, the press is highly complimentary, but there is no breakthrough. It almost seems as though Big Star, their great source of inspiration, is also beginning to dictate the course of their career.
Internal disagreements, a change of management and a relationship eventually become too much for Thijs, and in March 2000 he stops making music.
Twelve years later, and one divorce down the road, Thijs meets Judith.
She encourages him to start playing again. After sixteen (!) years without playing a single note, De Boer returns to music.
Judith's friend Ilonca van der Ven is a pretty good singer herself and is also looking for a band.
The duo Ilonca - Thijs starts working with existing material, and there is chemistry!
So much chemistry that Thijs starts writing songs again. Together with brothers Peter and Romke van der Wal, they record the EP I-Lonca, which promptly becomes the 2019 EP of the Year in Friesland.
The single Tessa’s Parties reaches number two in the charts.
After too many changes in the line-up, De Boer calls it quits there as well at the end of 2020.
Also dealing with psoriatic arthritis, a rheumatic condition, he finds it difficult to spend an entire rehearsal evening playing drums.
He decides to continue on his own as a solo artist.
Being a practical man, he converts the shed behind the garage into a proper little studio.
However, just when, after several other renovation projects, he is almost ready to start recording his songs, disaster strikes; while doing some DIY work, he cuts two tendons in his left hand.
Two and a half months of rehabilitation follow.
But finally, in September 2021, under the project name Tummy Soother, De Boer records his first single; Funtime.
At the end of September 2022, the double single Three Times in a Row and Deaf On the Left Side is released.
Together with guest musicians Romke van der Wal, Egbert van der Werff, Ronald Moerman, Rene Monsma and ??? (there will probably be more), he is quietly working on his solo album “Almost There”.
De Boer has plenty of great new material waiting on the shelf, and he would very much like to get it recorded.
Enjoy or Annoy