35-year-old bass player, singer and composer Daniel de Boer makes music that he calls world pop, connecting cultures from all around the globe.
Musician
Daniel grew up on the island of Texel, in the North of The Netherlands. He was born into a musical family, so there was always a lot of music around him since childhood. From a young age he started learning several instruments. First accordion, then piano, drums and guitar. When he was 18 years old he discovered the double bass, and it was love at first sight.
He studied classical bass and eventually also jazz and pop related styles at both the Conservatorium of Amsterdam and Codarts University of the Arts in Rotterdam. Recently he finished his Masters in Contemporary Performance from Berklee Valencia, where he studied electric bass with the great Gary Willis.
From 2015 Daniel became active as a freelance bassist, and he has performed with ensembles such as the Metropole Orkest, the NBE (Dutch Wind Band), Holland Opera, Circus Extreme and the Celebrity Edge Theatre Ensemble.
Artist
It had been a dream of Daniel for many years to one day record an album with his original songs. In the summer of 2020 he found the time and mind-space to work on material, and he made sketches for nine compositions. One year later, in June 2021, he moved from his home country to pursue a master’s in performance at Berklee Valencia. In Spain he developed the songs and the concept for the album, together with Indian producer Shakthi Prasad, whom he’d met at a musicians meeting in the famous Turia Park in Valencia.
Together they began approaching Daniel‘s friends from all around the world to ask if they would be interested in playing on the album. All of them said yes, and now musicians from thirteen countries are part of the project. Amongst the instruments you can hear in the recordings are diatonic accordion, lyra, ud, and oriental percussion such as riq and darbuka. Stylistically, the album is a mix of pop and a variety of world music genres. Each individual musician brought something unique to the project, and everyone left a personal mark on the music.
Awards and Grants
2023. Multi Music Disciplinary Award for Out of Shadows. Ogima Awards by TJPL News
2023. Bronze Award for Fly Away. Best pop song categorie. W.A.M Awards
2023. PopKanjer grant for organising an album release tour. NH Pop
2022. Peer Recognition Award. Berklee Valencia
2021. ‘Cultuurfonds’ grant (to attend Berklee Valencia). Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds
Daniel de Boer 