Versatile collective brings musical stories from Dutch asylum centers to the stage
De Niemanders is an initiative by Rocco Ostermann (Donnerwetter/Shaking Godspeed) and Wout Kemkens (Iron Jinn/Shaking Godspeed), in collaboration with producer Rick Wiegerinck, where they seek musical stories from around the world. The collective started in 2018 in Dutch prisons, resulting in a critically acclaimed album in 2020 and a series of concerts. Between December 2022 and January 2024, De Niemanders visited asylum centers in the Netherlands in search of singers, musicians, and their music and diverse stories. The collaboration with newcomers, refugees, and others in reception centers promises an album full of powerful, raw songs with danceable and stimulating elements. The new collection of songs is a creative melting pot of multicolored music, ranging from swinging afrobeat, highlife, desert rock, and rootsy psychedelica, with traces of the alternative rock for which Ostermann and Kemkens are known. The Niemanders live band is a surprising mix of musicians and singers, some of whom live (or have lived) in asylum centers. Iconic musician Rudeboy (Urban Dance Squad) contributed to yet-to-be-released songs of the collective and will add his distinctive energy to the live show at EKKO this fall.
