Band Members – Webshop TerraDown

We proudly introduce

Nick Brouwer – Vocals
Jasper Verhorst – Lead Guitars
Mark Link – Rhythm Guitars
Joris Koenraadt – Bass Guitars
Dimmy Marcelissen – Drums

Discography

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Nick Brouwer – Vocals

“The Storyteller, The Entertainer, The Ladykiller”

The first one in the line-up, the last one to leave the premises wherever he goes. Nick Brouwer never thought his life would turn out this way. Growing up with ‘Sepultura’, ‘Queen’ and a lot of different kinds of 80’s-music (what he’s still grateful for after all these years). His love for music became a dream.

,,That I became a metalhead early on in my life was inevitable. I remember when I was a toddler my father listened to bands like Metallica, Iron Maiden and sometimes (mostly to mess with the family) put on the heavy vocals of ‘Roots Bloody Roots’ from ‘Sepultura’. Instead of crying and running for my life: I loved it! Eventually children grow up (it may take a few more decades) and start to experiment with different kinds of music. I always had a broad array of genres I loved. But when I went to High School, I really started to delve in to the metal genre, and found out there were millions of sub-genres and bands. My hair grew longer, a veil of black hair dye fell on my head and metalhead Nick was born.
,,During a music exam for school, a buddy who played guitar and I thought of a wonderful idea. Let’s make a metal cover! That was the first time I started to experiment with my voice and learned the art of grunting by copying my idols like Amon Amarth. During our performance (that’s still somewhere on YouTube), children cried, windows shattered, a demon was almost summoned, but we got a passing grade!’’
The examstunt resulted into his first cover band and through that, Nick started to develop his vocals. Eventually he found his way to a dream he never thought could ever happen; TerraDown.

,,We were all new to the bandlife, some of us had very little to no experience and we just played some music and were having fun. When Jasper and eventually Mark joined, things were put in a higher gear. We started to make our own songs, and that was also the first time I tried to write my own lyrics! I had never ‘invented’ my own vocal lines before, so that was tricky at first and came with a lot of self-doubt. Eventually it felt good and I found a way to write down my emotions or thoughts on paper. I always had a reflecting way of thinking about life and the world around me. I am proud of what we have made together as a band! Every bit of our songs has something of ‘me’ in it; my story that I wanted to tell. That’s why I let myself go when we perform and why I put my heart out there.’’

Because of the emotions that run throughout the songs, there are also a lot of emotions in the band. ,,We are first and foremost a group of musicians that became best friends. If something happens to me in my personal life, the first ones to know are the bandmembers. Because what we started and what we want TerraDown to become is more than just for fun. TerraDown became our everything. ’’

Jasper Verhorst – Lead Guitars

“The Faithful, The Heart , The Virtuoso”

Though he looks and speaks Dutch, Jasper, the ‘Benjamin’ of TerraDown, originally grew up in Thailand with a household that moved around a lot. His bond with his family is powerful and something that he holds very dear. ,,And that is also why TerraDown is so important and means so much to me.”

He was ten years old when he came back to the Netherlands. Being that a bigger part of his life had been in Thailand, he grew up with a somewhat ´foreign´ upbringing and state of mind. ,,That´s also why I think I´m somewhat different than most people. Taste, opinions, cultural differences and my strong faith is often not the same as those of majority of people. On one hand, that’s something beautiful to have. On the other hand, it’s sometimes very difficult. A black sheep, maybe even an outcast, was something I had to deal with in his childhood. When I came back to the Netherlands I was ´weird´, ´different´ and therefore often bullied. As a reaction, I used to hide myself behind a mask and could never really express myself. Until I found music, until I found metal!”

In this new world, he finally found the place where he was looking for. ,,The metal scene is made out of outcasts. But being different is being normal. Everyone gets accepted for who he is and I finally could express myself. I was home.”
His tattoo on his arm ‘Just be me’ is a testimony to that and became his motto: be yourself and let others be who they want to be.

Being himself was something he did very early on when he took an interest to his beloved guitar. ,,I was around the age of seven and my parents always put on CD’s with music for children. I remember that on a few songs there were some guitar solos I thought totally kicked ass. I wanted to play that, too! With some friends we ‘rocked’ on an airguitar (nowadays that’s the job of the singer) and I wanted to play it for real. Eventually, after a lot of dedication and asking, I finally got my first guitar. Since that day, there was not a single day in my life that I didn’t have a guitar in my hands.’’ He even made a choice to study music at the Conservatory of Haarlem where he later on met Mark.

After years of dedication to the art of music, he eventually found his way towards TerraDown. ,,I had some experience with some bands, but those were more rock bands who played covers where I could never really do my own thing. The first time I joined up with TerraDown, was the first time I really could let it all go and play metal! I thought to myself: this is freedom, this is the place where I want to be. And after I heard we were going to write our own music, I was sold. I could write the music I passionately love and I found a place for which I want to work, every single day. It also became a group of dear friends and a part of my family.’’

Mark Link – Rhythm Guitars

“The Catchphrase, The Silent One, The Musician”

Born in the capital of the Netherlands, Mark Link grew up with music. With both parents as musicians and always listening to all kinds of different genres, it was inevitable that he picked up the same traits.

,,I always had music around me when I was a kid, but the first time I really wanted to play an instrument was in Elementary School. I really liked a girl who played the piano, I know it sounds stupid, but she was really good and I started to play the keyboard.’’ Though he was not really interested in the instrument and quickly grew bored of it, he always continued and finally found the instrument that he fell in love with: the guitar. ,,I had keyboard lessons on a music school. One day there was an event and they had a little podium where some bands performed. A little rockband played some covers of ‘Smoke on the water’ and the ‘Eye of the Tiger’. That was so much cooler than what I did so I picked up the guitar instead.’’

The sounds, the strings and the possibilities of the guitar became a passion of Mark. But his introduction to metal was through a different kind of hobby. ,,Before I played any instrument, I went over to a friend of mine and we starting playing ‘Prince of Persia 2’ on the Playstation. On one level there was a instrumental soundtrack that really got me. Many years later, when I started to play the keyboard, and later on the guitar, I always remembered that melody and tried to play it.’’

After some old-school researching on YouTube, he found out that the band was called Godsmack. ,,And I was sold. First I listened to every song they had made and through the recommendations I found out that there was more of that kind of music.’’ And so the story of his metal career began.

Within the band he is the silent type, but not the quiet one. Known for his humour, (and terrible) catchphrases, the newbie member of the group, quickly grew and became part of the TerraFamily and we had a lovely orange (the colour, not the fruit) guitar to our ranks. ,,I’m fresh and fruity, as the Dutch would say. I also like to keep the atmosphere relaxed and joyful.’’

Besides his remarks, his jokes and his ‘poooohs’. He also adds a great deal to our music department. ,,I’m a critic and would never accept anything less than perfect. It’s the same when we write our songs. I study on the conservatory of Haarlem and there I learned from my mistakes’’. He adds, “that I made a lot” after that sentence. ,,Maybe I have gained an open mind about genres and, styles because of my history and my study. That same feeling is also found in TerraDown. We are perfectionate, critical, but also open-minded. To our songs, the band, but also to eachother.’’

Joris Koenraadt – Bass Guitars

“The Bass, The Foundation, The Joker of All Trades”

The man who was at the very beginning of it all, Joris Koenraadt, is one of the founding members of TerraDown and is mostly seen behind the scenes of the band. Growing up with classic rock, Joris started his music career in his High School days.

“One of the subjects was music. That was also the first time I wanted to play an instrument. First, I wanted to learn the drums, but I never tried and in contrast picked up the guitar. So I picked up the guitar and after a few years of lessons, I grew tired of the high-pitched sounds and the lack of something more solid.” With a smirk on his face, he gestures to his bass guitar. “I always loved the heavy tones of bass. Even before I listened to metal and rock I loved hardcore, which is basically a heavy bass and beat together. I learned the bassline of ‘For Whom The Bell Tolls’ from Metallica on the guitar. The first time I picked up a bass guitar, it felt like coming home. It felt good, it felt heavy, it felt like me.”

In his younger days, Joris was known as a quiet guy. But with the help of music and being a band member of TerraDown, he grew into the guy we all know and love, a ‘joker of all trades’. “I like to crack a joke, make a pun or make light of any situation, with ‘bad humor’…’’, he laughs to himself. (And yes he makes bad jokes). “Sometimes to great annoyance of the other band members!” But he makes up with it with the ‘… of All Trades’-part of his name, especially behind the scenes. Managerial duties and administration is where he excels. “I like helping the band wherever I can and with whatever the band needs. I’m working in the IT-business and naturally I took up those responsibilities within TerraDown.”

But with responsibilities comes… great power? No, for Joris it has much more value than that. “TerraDown stands for freedom, adventure, brotherhood and most important of all, a whole lot of fun! We are experiencing things that you only dreamed of as a kid. We played at Wacken, went backstage, meeting bands and tasted the bandlife. That’s something most people will never know or experience. And that’s something to be proud of.”

And that feeling also applies to the songs of the band. “Music is an outlet, but also a sanctuary. Everything you do will disappear in the end, but the music you make will always stick around. I think that’s also the reason you create a special bond with a song, and for me that song is ‘Memories’. That song has brought us to the place where we are now. It was a beginning for so many things and it means a lot for me. That also goes for TerraDown, we are comrades, friends and even a family.”

Dimmy Marcelissen – Drums

“The Energetic, The Dedicated, The Animal”

The last, but not the least of our happy little family is our ´Abraham´. The oldest and also the ´youngest´ of us. Full of energy and steadfast opinion. The one who was at the beginning of it all, Dimmeh! ,,I think I speak for everyone in the band. It became a part of my life.”

But before the ´adventures of TerraDown´ began. His introduction to metal and especially his drumkit, was somewhat of a different tale than most of the musicians would tell. ,,For me it all started with a videogame called ´Rockband´. I bought the game with my little brother and we both got hooked to it. First I took the guitar and he played the drums. But we switched it up and the rest became history. I seriously played that game every single day, for years on end. I was sold.”
After all those years he finally bought his own electric drumkit and started to finally play the drums for real. ,,After all those years of ´guitar hero´-drumming, I had learned the basics through the game and learned most of the things I do now by myself or through listening to music.’’

Now a fervent supporter of the local and the international metal scene. Dimmy, as all of us metalheads, started in a whole other direction. ,,When you are growing up you’re following the ‘hype’ and what most kids of your age listen to. But in high school I grew bored of all that dance and trance music. I asked my mom if she knew anything better. She introduced me to the 80’s-hardrock. This was something I’d never heard before, but it was good. Gradually the songs became louder and the bands became heavier. Then I found one of my favourite bands of all time and my introduction to metal: ‘Metallica’ with ‘Master of Puppets’.

A born perfectionist and steadfast critic TerraDown and Dimmy is a perfect match (Yes, we are all that difficult!) ,,I want something new, something that is different. Variety of music genres and styles. That is what TerraDown means. It first started as a ‘buddyband’. Playing some covers and messing around. But eventually we figured we could do more than that. Before we knew it we worked day and night, and it started to be a part of your daily life. Even my girlfriend got involved!’’

Even though you have dreams and expectations, no one excpected our greatest adventure of 2019: Wacken Open Air. ,,It was our first metal band-focused competition we participated. To our surprise we won the Dutch preliminaries. That led to our very first big festival and our first international gig. The fact was that we were only rookies, with no album, little to no experience, battling against dozens of bands who played for many years and on big festivals. We were outclassed and outmatched. But we ended up with the sixth place! That was unique and something to be very proud of!’’