Mascot Records and Vandenberg MoonKings Announce Release Date for Band’s Self-Titled North American Debut

 Album Marks First New Release in 16 Years for Former Whitesnake and Vandenberg Guitarist Adrian Vandenberg  

The Details

Mascot Label Group’s Mascot Records and Vandenberg MoonKings have announced an August 5 release date for the band’s eponymous debut in North America (the album was issued overseas on February 24).  Vandenberg MoonKings marks the return of Adrian Vandenberg to the world of music and is his first collection of new material in over a decade and a half.  Joining the former Vandenberg and Whitesnake guitarist are Jan Hoving (vocals), Sem Christoffel (bass) and Mart Nijen Es (drums). The album was recorded at the world renowned Wisseloord Studios outside of Amsterdam and tracked in September, 2013 on vintage gear.  Vandenberg gave us a glimpse inside the process: “We worked with tubes compressors, we used a Neumann microphone from the sixties, and we recorded everything with a Neve desk from the seventies. Consequently the result sounds really rock & roll: exciting and loud and completely analogue. But just as fresh, dynamic and explosive as the tightest rock bands of today.  I’ve let my intuition guide me.  You have to ignore what others think will sell or whatever. You have to make music from the heart, rock & roll that you yourself think is absolutely great. Then and only then there’ll always be other people who might love it as well.”

 

The thirteen tracks on Vandenberg MoonKings’ debut are:

“Lust And Lies”

“Close To You”

“Good Thing”

“Breathing”

“Steal Away”

“Line Of Fire”

“Out Of Reach”

“Feel It”

“Leave This Town”

“One Step Behind”

“Leeches”

“Nothing Touches”

“Sailing Ships” (featuring a special guest appearance by Whitesnake singer David Coverdale)

 

More About Adrian

Adrian Vandenberg rose to worldwide prominence with Vandenberg, the melodic rock band that gained international attention with the powerful ballad “Burning Heart.” His status as one of the most talented rock guitarists of the period was cemented when he joined David Coverdale in the hard rock super group Whitesnake, co-writing many of the band’s Billboard Hot 100 hits.  Vandenberg co-penned the tracks “The Deeper The Love” and “Now You’re Gone,” but his virtuoso guitar work was immortalized by his legendary guitar solo on the unprecedentedly popular power track (and accompanying video) “Here I Go Again.”

It was during this time that the lifelong friendship ~ or what the two refer to as a bond stronger than brotherhood ~ between David and Adrian was forged. When Adrian stepped away from music, he had been a member of Whitesnake for 13 years, topped the American charts twice, and sold in excess of fourteen million albums. Ever the artist, after leaving Whitesnake, Vandenberg concentrated on a successful and fulfilling career as a painter, exhibiting his work in prestigious galleries across Europe.

 

More About Vandenberg’s MoonKings

The birth of Vandenberg’s MoonKings came in 2011.  The guitarist was asked to write a song for FC Twente, the football club from his hometown of Enschede that had become the champions of the Dutch premier league the year before. He wrote the stadium rock song “A Number One” and then needed to find someone who would be able to sing it. He remembered a vocalist whose band had supported Whitesnake at a concert in Holland several years before, tracked down his number, and picked up the phone. Singer Jan Hoving recalled, “When I got a call from someone who said he was Adrian Vandenberg, I thought they were playing a joke on me.  When we met, we hit it off immediately, both musically and on a personal level.” 

Hoving sang the track effortlessly, and his performance in front of a crowd of 60,000 at FC Twente’s victory celebrations was so impressive that it earned the song the addition of a rhythm section, a decision that sparked the coincidence-heavy formation of Vandenberg’s MoonKings.  It turned out that Adrian had crossed paths with drummer Mart Nijen Es ten years earlier when he judged a talent contest and made the then-13 year old the winner.  That was coincidence number one.  Coincidence number two, almost unbelievably, was that he had met his future bass player the same way: “Mart had a buddy he’d been playing with for many years, bass player Sem ‘The Sham’ Christoffel, and believe it or not, I judged him in a different talent contest around the same time I first saw Mart.  He impressed me enormously by casually playing a Jaco Pastorius-like piece. And I let him win as well!”

Seemingly brought together by the musical fates, the musicians became Vandenberg’s MoonKings and were signed by Mascot Label Group. CEO Ed Van Zijl shared his enthusiasm with, “Adrian is one of the most outstanding rock guitarists in the world. I have always followed his career and needless to say we are thrilled to finally be working with him. Vandenberg’s MoonKings are a fresh and hard rocking new band that will surely make an impact in the scene.” 

Adrian added, “The last record I made was with Whitesnake in 1998. Now that I’ve announced my return, I am really overwhelmed by the thousands of enthusiastic reactions that I’ve gotten from all over the world. It amazes me how faithful the fans have remained. It’s just bizarre.  And it just so happens that the MoonKings’ album is the best record I’ve ever made. Well, in my modest opinion, anyway. People probably expected the obvious classic rock, but I didn’t want to go that route semi-automatically. I wanted to build a bridge between the greatest rock of the seventies and that of today, and I have the feeling that worked out very well.”

Some Fun Stuff…Enjoy!

Official Video “Close to You”

Official Video “Feel It”

Official Video “Good Thing”

Official Video “Breathing”

Official Video “Lust & Lies”

 

 

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