Listen to their Single “Waiting To Exhale'“
Vaselyne
VASELYNE is a collaboration between Dutch vocalist Yvette Winkler and Dutch musician and producer Frank Weyzig (ex-Clan of Xymox, Born For Bliss). A mutual artistic curiosity gave birth to their Vaselyne project in the spring of 2011.
Yvette:
Vaselyne to me is two people making music with substance. Frank writes the music and plays all the instruments. I write the lyrics, vocals, and harmonies. We do add to each other’s work. So I have my opinion on what happens musically and Frank always pushes me to come up with different harmonies. Frank sends me basic demos to which I add lyrics. We record my vocals in his studio in Amsterdam, and after that Franks goes to work on the arrangement. We discuss a lot back and forth before we agree on a track being finished. This is not a quick process, but we go for quality, not quantity.
We tend not to shy away from the darker side of things. Probably mostly lyrically. Words always have meaning, intended or unintended. Lyrics as poetry give you an insight in the writer’s state of mind. I write about myself mostly, my view of the world. It's a very personal thing to share yourself on paper or music. Like the words I sing in "Fragile", "To write from within is to wear on your sleeve". My lyrics speak of everything that makes us human. The trials and tribulations we all go through. Things that happen to make you sad, angry, lose all hope or have faith. Visually moody and dark. Maybe a little hint of the ’80s, but in a modern way.
Everything we listen to or admire in other bands comes together in VASELYNE. Without copying anyone, just being us. Frank’s gentle acoustic guitar or piano, against electronic and rock influences. I use my range to try and add harmonies that go against the grain a bit. We clash genres and write without having a specific style in mind. Hopefully, we succeed in sounding like us, rock and ambient, a dash of classical music and a touch of wave.
I’m lucky to be in the position to do what I love. It’s my way of expressing myself freely and without boundaries. My message to the world. And I hope to touch people and give them comfort with my words, vocals, or images.
Frank:
Yvette worked together with Pieter Nooten and did some of the lead- and backing vocals on his album ‘Here Is why’ (2010). Through Pieter (whom I know from the time that I was with Clan Of Xymox), Yvette became familiar with my work and she contacted me and suggested that we maybe could work together on a new project. So we decided to do a first demo and from the moment that I recorded Yvette’s initial vocals in my studio, I was blown away by the unique timbre and deepness of her voice. I knew right away that this collaboration was going to be more than just another project. Not only is Yvette a super talented vocalist with a very unique sound, but also her way of writing lyrics and composing her vocal melody lines go perfectly together with my music.
As far as the music is concerned; I very much like the fact that we are a duo. There’s no pressure at all when I write the initial demos and send my bare ideas to Yvette. This could be a simple piano part or just an acoustic guitar and sometimes an even more structured and further arranged piece of music. But when Yvette adds her lyrics and vocal melody lines, I get a more substantial idea of how the mood of the song is going to be and I will then work on a more complete arrangement that fits this mood. Subsequently, I add different layers of strings, synths, electric guitars, bass and rhythm parts or any other instrument that will fit the song, but I always try to be true to the mood and character of the initial demo that we started with. Another important ingredient of our sound is the way we layer Yvette’s voice in the studio. This has become a sort of a trademark for the Vaselyne sound as well.
Being a duo could be limiting, but for us this works well. Playing different instruments has always been a natural thing for me and when I start writing a song I always try to see the bigger picture as far as the arrangement for the song and production and mixing are concerned. Of course, it’s a wonderful thing to be able to work in your own studio and to have total freedom over the creative process and Yvette and I only accept a mix when we both agree on the final musical output.
VASELYNE "Waiting to Exhale" - Press:
“The piano-led ‘Waiting to Exhale’ is six minutes of poised, dramatic splendor, a work of melancholic beauty.”
Aural Aggravation - Christopher Nosnibor
“Waiting To Exhale" is beautifully written and produced, mournful but never maudlin, carried high on a sense of dreamy hope and mature optimism. More of this, please. Stunning.”
Reflections of Darkness - Stephen Kennedy
“Influenced by bands like Porcupine Tree and Blackfield, VASELYNE could remain one of ambient-alternative rock’s most intelligent and gifted technical bands.”
medicine-mag.com - Markus Seibel
