How do you describe your music?

I call it Rhythm & Blues, played with a lot of energy.

How did your collaboration with the first edition of the Blues Festival come about?

Mark Randon, the organiser of the Blues Festival, contacted me. He still knew me from my time in Malta with The Creepers and I think he kept track of what I have been up to since I moved back to the Netherlands.

What should the audience expect from your performance?

Well, the setup of the band is drums (Jody van Ooijen), bass (Bird Stevens), two saxophones (baritone saxophone: Evert Hoedt, tenor saxophone: Martijn van Toor) and myself on guitar/vocals. Many people expect jazz when they hear this line-up because we have a small horn section with the saxophones. I’ve heard it quite a few times when people attend our gigs that we don’t play the style they expected. They see the instruments on stage before the performance and they expect mellow music. Then they come up to me afterwards to tell me how incredibly surprised they were because we put a lot of energy in to our songs right from the start and it always ends up being a party. We play mostly originals.

Will this be your first time performing in Malta? How familiar are you with the Maltese music scene?

I have spent about four years in Malta as my girlfriend for 12 years (Shirley Blake) is Maltese. I had started a band called The Creepers, with whom I played quite a bit for two years around the island. It was a fantastic time and the memories will stay with me forever. Malta feels like my second home and I love coming there. I am really hoping to see many familiar faces in the audience and I hope they will like the music I make now.

What makes good music?

I believe music is all about emotion. It can be happy, or sad. It can be about frustration, or love, or anything in between. As for the musicians on stage it is important to play together and support each other. No egos. It is all about the song in the end.

Where do you find your inspiration?

Mostly, experiences in my life that I put in to a song or into my guitar playing.

You recently had a line-up change. What can you tell us about it and has it affected the band’s sound/dynamics?

Well, Martijn (tenor sax) needed some more time for other projects and so we moved Thomas Streutgers in his spot. It turns out that Thomas became so busy with worldwide tours that Martijn is now our ‘back-up’ tenor sax player, who ends up playing most of the gigs. Haha! So it turns out not to be much of a line-up change after all. Next to that Martijn and Thomas are quite similar players, so it didn’t affect much.

Is there a new recording in the pipeline soon?

We have released our debut album about 15 years ago. I have been focused on other projects and am now putting my attention to writing new material for Little Steve & the Big Beat. A new CD will come eventually, but not anytime soon.

You have done a lot of touring and played a lot of festivals. Can you describe some of your best experiences/most memorable highlights on stage?

Oh wow, there are so many! It has been so great touring with this band because we really get along with each other. There’s never a boring moment. We had a great time in February touring France where we played in some old converted convents. That was quite special. Another thing I will never forget is when we played a festival on a cruise ship at sea and the wind was blowing at force 9. It started out a bit choppy at sea but got gradually worse. When I was singing on stage it was tough to keep my mouth in front of the microphone because of the waves. Amps were sliding over the stage from left to right and back! Haha!

How have you seen the rhythm & blues scene in the Netherlands – and internationally – change over the years?

Well, around this part of Europe (Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France) there has always been quite an active blues (and related roots music) scene since the 1960s. I wouldn’t say there’s really a ‘rhythm & blues scene’, it’s more of a sub genre of the blues and roots scene. I have been active in this scene for the past 15 years. When I started, most blues bands were influenced by acts from the US who were big in the 1990s. Bands like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Hollywood Fats, The Fabulous Thunderbirds. At this moment many blues bands aren’t pure blues, they take some soul or rockabilly and try and make it their own. One thing that has changed is that the guys who invented this music are slowly passing away one by one. BB King used to fill stadiums full of people and introduce people to blues. 

Would you say it’s still an appreciated genre?

Definitely! But it’s not out in the open like popular commercial music. It is very much alive within its own scene.

The Malta Blues Festival takes place on June 30 at Sir Temi Zammit Hall, the University of Malta, Tal-Qroqq. Also performing are Paul Audia and the Band, Toni Grimaud and Mikaela.