ABOUT US stageplan
MISSRAH (Anuradha Triloki :
lead vocalist) www.myspace.com/empressmissrah
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Coming from a musical family, I worked (from the age of 15) with several bands and musicians. The music varied from Soul, Funk, Latin and House to Jungle. I've learned to appreciate reggae music by listening to artists like Aswad, Bob Marley, Maxi Priest, Cocoa Tea, Third World and the Dutch reggae/dancehall band Super and the All Stars. I have played in the band Poor Man Friend. With this band I recorded the song Make It Up on their CD "Come Together". This song was partly the reason why Poor Man Friend won the Talent Price at the Dutch Reggae Awards 2007. I’ve also participated as a guest-singer in the band Different Culture and set up my own group Blended Culture. Nevertheless, comparing all kinds of music I had to deal with, my heart lies in the reggae scene. |
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Bands:
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KENNY WEED (Kenneth Carolina : vocalist) www.myspace.com/kennyweed
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Kenny Weed is not a new name to the reggaeton scene in the Netherlands. With over 13 years in the game, Kenny Weed is currently working on his debut album that brings a whole new vibe to the reggae and dancehall scene fused with hip hop and R&B beats.Born on the island of Curacao, (Kenneth Carolina) Kenny Weed’s fascination of the reggae scene was sparked at the age of 13 by the new developments in Rub and Dub tracks. The key players who influenced Kenny and his friends during that time were Papa San, Ninja Man and Cutty Ranks. It was during this time Kenny would conduct performances as an MC along with his friends during their lunch hours for their classmates and the locals in the community. It was also this time where Kenny adopted the name |
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Kenny Wanna which eventually led to Kenny Weed. During the summer of ’94, Kenny moved to the Netherlands to continue his study in electronic engineer. Aside from school, Kenny would DJ and MC at parties during his spare time; it was during one of his gigs where he met K-Touch. K-Touch was a local DJ who saw potential in Kenny and asked him (with Missrah) to showcase a party in Rotterdam, Crazy Insane Jungle Part 2. It was the success of that party that gave Kenny the drive to jump start his career as a music artist. Discography: The dancehall and reggaeton scene is no longer an island thing. It has been adopted and accepted by all groups of people with thanks to Shabba Ranks, Shaggy, Sean Paul and Elephant Man. These artists have paved the wave for new up coming artists such as Damien Marley, Rihanna and soon to be Kenny Weed. To find out Kenny Weed’s and his affiliates next events, check out www.topselectcrew.com or www.kennyweed.nl |
EYE-NES (Ines Getrouw : vocalist) eye-nes.hyves.net
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Eye-nes started at an early age with urban dancing and because of this, she set up her own dance group Juice in 2004. Later on she started teaching urban dance and founded her own dance school D-JOEZ. Through the years she has gained a lot of experience by performing, giving workshops and participating in dance contests and projects (with Dennis Delano and Mischu Laika amongst others). Nowadays she’s performing and teaching all through the Netherlands. Eye-nes was introduced to the reggae scene while performing with the reggae band Poor Man Friend as a dancer. Later on she also performed with Blended Culture. |
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It was with Blended Culture where she started her singing career in 2008. Shortly after, she also started to perform as a backing vocalist with the reggae band Poor Man Friend. Eye-nes is very excited to sing in Blended Culture and her wish is to once combine singing and dancing together on stage. |
V.J. (Wyindra Fortunati : vocalist)
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From early on I came in touch with singing. First I started rapping in a r&b group, in which I mainly acted as the entertainer. However, you couldn’t compare my style of rapping with that of American rap music. Since I listened a lot to dancehall music, I have created my own style with Jamaican influences. So it was no surprise I ended up in this music scene. I acted in a few music groups, performed several times and even won contests. We composed our own songs and at that time I started using my artist name VJ. In this period I also performed as a chanter in hindi bands from time to time. This didn’t last long, because I preferred own compositions instead of covers and I also wanted to refine my skills as a chanter. |
| After that I stopped for a while and I occasionally performed as a guest singer in a Surinamese band. Up to a given moment I set up my own Surinamese Kaseko allround band W.W.W.W. (we come when we want). Our first performance was for queen Beatrix on Koninginnedag (Queens Day). We have performed for two years and we played our final performance in Het Paard van Troje, The Hague. After almost a year of absence I am making my comeback . . . |
SHAI(N)DIA (Shailendra Bhoelai : keyboard)
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From the age of eight he started to play on the keyboard. He played in various Hindi Pop bands such as Relax amongst others. Next to this, he set up his own bands Shaindia Classics, Shaindia Rock & Shaindia Romance. As a versatile musician he has also performed as an Indian concert pianist , playing alongside Indian artists like Sonu Nigam, Nitin Mukesh, Pankaj Udhas, Manna Dey and Anuradha Paudwal..At the same time he is a composer of songs and musicals..He has even produced house music.under the alias name Mr. Majestic and spiritual music under the name Cosmic Guru. Shai(n)dia performed all over the world in countries like Belgium, France , Spain, Italy, Denmark, Surinam, India and the United States (New York). |
Since the end of the eighties he is busy in creating his own
unique style of music. He wants his music to be infinite and wants his audience to
be touched from the inside, emotionally and
spiritually.“With music, you can
experience all aspects of live, such as love, happiness, health and the
divine”.
ERIK (Erik Adrianus Hendrikus van der Vorst : keyboard)
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Coming from a musical family (my mother was a singer and my granddad an accordion player and a violist), I studied classical music from the age of 14 till 18. After a break I joined various bands playing various styles of music such as alternative rock, pop and funk. I also started to study classical music again. Since then, I’ve worked with many artists and bands in a wide range of music styles. I have played in the Koos Luijendijk Blues Band on a professional level. And I‘ve worked with Dutch composer Hans van Eijck and Kookie Tian (famous Scandinavian band Hep Stars) as well. Concerning the reggae scene, I have played in various bands such as Him Children and more recently Mischu Laika. |
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Besides playing keyboard I can also play guitar, drums and bass. I am also a music teacher and I teach about all mentioned instruments. Next to that I lead a children’s choir and a youth choir. I am an all round musician playing music varying from soul, funk, pop, rock, blues, jazz, classic, modern classic, gospel, R&B and reggae to even hip hop. However, my heart lies in reggae music and my main objective is to blend all kinds of music into the reggae music. Just like Blended Culture. |
| FRANKY F (Franky Fernandes : drums) |
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Bands: |
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In between the mentioned groups I ‘ve always performed with Different Culture through the years.
Q (Querido Shoshoni Suryanto van Berkel : bass, guitar & saxophone)
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Early on, I came in touch with music through my uncle and my cousin. They both played in a band and I was determined to play along with them on another instrument. Therefore, I choose to play the saxophone, when only nine years old. I studied sax lessons in mainly jazz and classical music for six years. After this, I practiced to improve my skills on improvisation and solos with the intention the develop my own unique style. At the age of twelve I made one of the best decisions of my life when I bought a bass guitar. Again through my cousin, I came in touch with reggae music. As a bass player I have extended my skills playing Funk, Rock, Pop en Ska(-Punk), but still: reggae is my favourite kind of music. One year later at age thirteen, I also started to practise on |
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my dads guitar. Now - four years later – I’m writing my own songs on guitar and I’m still trying to improve my style. I met Blended Culture through MC Nes One of Apache Sound at a Blended Culture performance in De Pater. They asked me to join the band and here I am. At first I played guitar and saxophone, but now I'm playing bass after replacing Papa Jan. My main goal is not only to enjoy performing on stage, but also ever trying to improve my skills. | |||
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Bands:
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2007 – 2008 2008 – now 2009 – now |
Entry #9 NB Blended Culture |
(Bass & Sax) (Sax & Guitar) (Bass, Guitar & Sax) |
KING CHRIS (Chris Stuart : guitar & backing vocals)
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Chris started his musical career at the age of six, when he joined a church choir. With this choir he got used to perform for crowds. At the age of twelve Chris performed in a full soccer stadium in the city of Eindhoven and in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. His instrumental career began at the age of eight when he started playing classical guitar. When Chris turned thirteen he first heard the music of Jimi Hendrix, and it was then that he decided to start playing electrical guitar. Around that time he was also a guitar player, banjo player and vocalist in a jazz band that played jazz music in the Roaring Twenties style. His first electric band came not long after that and several bands followed as he |
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moved from Breda to Utrecht for study purposes. The music varied from rock and blues to progressive music. In 1997 things finally came together as he discovered reggae music. With the dubreggae band Human Rites he toured and played intensively in The Netherlands for several years. After Human Rites Chris joined the roots reggae band Zion Grooves as lead and solo guitarist and backing vocalist. He also played for some time in an Indierock band called The Border. His newest project is Blended Culture.
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| Bands | |
| 1994 – 1996 | Floor and More (Jazz) |
| 1996 – 1998 | Blender (Progressive) |
| 1999 – 2001 | Mean Gasoline (Blues/Bluesrock) |
| 1999 – 2003 | Human Rites (Reggae) |
| 2003 till present | Zion Grooves (Reggae) |
| 2006 – 2007 | The Border (Indierock) |
| 2009 till present | Blended Culture (Reggae) |
NUBIAN HAMODA (Hamoda Hissain : percussion)
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Dear friend, I am a recording artist and a stage show performer. As an experienced all round musician I have performed in several bands and projects all through the world, playing all kinds of music styles such as afro-beat, reggae, soul, Latin and African rhythms. I have performed with the Soto Koto Band (world music band), Ghetto Blaster (Nigeria) and the renowned Egyptian world music star Mounir amongst others. Playing in so many bands before Blended Culture, I only want to mention a few live shows below: |
| Year | Location | Band | |
| 1994 | Germany | The Vibe (Reggae) | |
| 1995 | Belgium | The Vibe (Reggae) | |
| 1997 | Opra Cairo, Egypt | Mounir (Nubian Pop) | |
| 1998 | The Fabrik, Germany | Roots Connection (Reggae) | |
| 1999 | African Music Festival | Ghetto Blaster (Afro Beat) | |
| 2002 | Keil Concert, Germany | Whatever (70/80's) |
MOELCHAND TRILOKI (percussion)
Talat Mehmood, Enoch Daniels, Van Shipley and Arun Adikari. A
year later I moved to the Netherlands and I did not stop performing as a
singer and musician. At that time I have learned myself to play the
keyboard as well. I really couldn’t imagine a life without music. I
inherited my love for music from my parents and music is my absolute soul.
The apple doesn’t fall far from the three as lead vocalist Missrah is my
daughter and my inheritor. This explains my involvement with Blended
Culture.
Being the son of musically talented Indian immigrants I came
in touch with music at a very early age. My father was a singer and a dhol
(Indian percussion) player. Once in a while he let me – as a exception for
being the youngest in the family – play the dhol and this how my
fascination for music was born. Later on I met Dadien Mahabier, who was
known as the best baithak gana dhol player of the West Indies. At that
time I only was a singer as he accompanied me on some qawwali
performances. He encouraged me to learn to play the dhol and I did. Next
to my father and my older brother Bisnath Triloki (also a singer), he was
a big inspiration to me. Also
worth mentioning in my younger years was winning a singing contest while
the jury consisted of famous Indian artists like
| Surinam | |
| 1963-1969 |
Saadia Orchestra led by J. Kadirbaks Vocalist (Hindi music)
Veena Orchestra Vocalist (Hindi music) together with brother Bisnath Triloki
Chummans Orchestra led by L. Chumman aka Harry Tota Vocalist, percussion (Hindi music, Latin) together with brother Bisnath Triloki |
| Netherlands | |
| 1978-1985 |
Indian Sound Vocalist, percussion (Hindi music, Reggae, Latin, Pop, Rock)
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| 1986-1989 |
Indian College Group led by Sonnylall Bisoendial (some guest performances & an album release) Vocalist, percussion (Hindi music , Kaseko, Latin)
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| 1990-1996 |
Naya Daur Vocalist, percussion (Hindi music)
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| 1996-2000 |
Avishkar led by Ronny Bikhari (some guest performances)
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| 1998 |
An album release with Ronny Bikhari |
| Present | |
| since 1980 |
Chautaal Samaadj Zoetermeer led by Moelchand Triloki TV and radio appearances, tour in Surinam and an album release. Vocalist, percussion (Indian folk music)
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| since 1997 |
Own ensemble/Solo performances working with artists such as Ronny Bikhari, Remi Mangal, Raja Mustaq, Wirinder Kisoendial, Vijay Laxmi Ghiraw and even Shailendra Bhoelai. Vocalist, percussion, keyboard (hindi music, semi classical, bhajan, ghazal, qawwali)
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| since 2008 |
Blended Culture percussion |
WINFRIED (Winfried Kicken : guest guitar) www.kickenmusic.com
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Winfried Kicken, founder of Kickenmusic, discovered his musical talents in 1980 when presented with his first guitar. His career as a professional musician started with the formation of his band “Roots Syndicate”. The band toured Europe extensively, playing to enthusiastic audiences in sold out clubs in the cities.In 1993, the band achieved a major commercial breakthrough with their Number 1 hit “Mocking Bird Hill”, Winfried having been the arranger and producer.This success resulted in extra media coverage and international popularity, leading on to collaborations with renowned musicians, singers and songwriters. Winfried succeeded with several more hit productions with singers and musicians such as Ruth Jacott, Gunther Neefs, Def Rhymz, Paskal Jakobsen (Bløf), Jo Lemarie |
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and Gordon. Later he became involved in various projects, festivals and events. In 1998 he became Projectmanager for “Bureau Medelanders” in Rotterdam. In recent years, Winfried has also become very successful in the worldwide ringtone industry and international new media. Never failing to impress, Winfried is a very experienced, self-assured musician who actually shows enjoyment in what he does - and that’s always a bonus! |
R.V. (Roy Victor Seriese : guest guitar) www.myspace.com/rvseriese
At the age of
eight I was introduced to the guitar and immediately I was sold. From
the age of twelve I played with several bands. At that time I went to
the Segbroek College, which I combined with a music education
(Muziekplan). It was there that I got acquainted with all types of
music, which was helpful with developing my broad taste of music. In
the same year as my HAVO exam I also passed the Muziekplan exam with
considerably high grades. In these five years I have played in bands
and projects like Explosion (Indo Rock, Blues and Rock n Roll), a
school band (Pop, Rock, Funk and Reggae) and the Nederlands Blazers
Ensemble in the Anton Philipszaal (Pop and Classical). After this I
played in the Pop/Funk/Rock band Relish as well as in
Blended Culture.
Nowadays I appear as a guest performer with Blended Culture.
PAPA JAN (Jan Abspoel : guest bass)
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I started playing music at the age of 18. First I played percussion in the reggaeband El Zacazier. At that time I started to get more and more fascinated by the bass guitar and at last I ended up as a bass player with the band The Vibe. With this band I toured through Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. As support act we backed up artists like Eek A Mouse, Errol Dunkley, Michael Prophet, UB40, Revelation Time, Stephen Wright and Johnny Baby. After this eleven years experience everyone went his own way and I ended up as a bass guitar player and lead vocalist in the reggae band Roots Connection. There I met drummer Fabian. After a number of years we took off together as a drummer and bass player to the reggaeband Poor Man Friend. |
| With this band I ‘ve accompanied several artists on big festivals such as: Reggae Sundance (Eindhoven), Reggae Summer Night (Germany), Gentse Feesten (Belgium). With Poor Man Friend we recorded 2 cd’s in several studios and we recorded and released one single. Next to Blended Culture I am also a bass player in the band Dubwise (a mix of Jazz, Soul and Reggae). |
ZAPPOSTAR (guest vocalist & songwriter) www.myspace.com/zapperstar
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Coming from a musical family, I went along with my relatives to their repetitions and performances from the age of eight. Naturally, this is where I developed my love for music.By working with several musicians and singing several styles of music (varying from soul to reggae), I created my own style. I have sung in several reggae bands in which I often performed as the front man. Nowadays I'm still performing with the reggae band Different Culture. At the same time I am also a reggae promotor (Reggae Sessions with Zappostar) and I've acted as a host of many reggae events. Next to this, I'm involved with bandcoaching (guiding bands, so they can improve their performance and stage act). And last but not least, I'm also a songwriter for Blended Culture and at times even appear as a guest performer with Blended Culture.
Bands:
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1981-1982 |
Population Construction (Soul & Funk) Tour Netherlands Singer, Entertainer, Songwriter, Frontman
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| 1982-1983 |
Inner Control 80 (Soul & Funk) in Surinam Singer, Entertainer, Songwriter, Frontman
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| 1984-1987 |
Revolt (Reggae) Tour: Netherlands Singer, Entertainer, Songwriter, Frontman
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| 1987-1989 |
High Spirits (Reggae) Tour: Netherlands Singer, Entertainer, Songwriter, Frontman
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| 1989-1991 |
Different Culture (Reggae & Dancehall) Tour: Netherlands Singer, Entertainer, Songwriter, Frontman
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| 1991-1993 |
Super & The Allstars (Reggae & Dancehall) Tour: Netherlands, Germany, Austria Singer, Entertainer, Songwriter, Frontman Winner of Grote Prijs van Nederland 1991 TV programs: MTV, VPRO en Leidsekade Live
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| 1993-2004 |
Different Culture (Reggae & Dancehall) Tour: Netherlands
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| 2004-2006 |
Poor Man Friend (Reggae) Singer, Entertainer, Songwriter
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| 2006 |
Zappodro (Reggae) Singer, Entertainer, Songwriter
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| 2007 till now |
Different Culture (Reggae/Dancehall) Singer, Entertainer, Songwriter
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JOE (Joseph Nathaniel Corbett : guest vocalist)
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I was born in Hackney (London/GB). In my early years I didn’t realize that I had a talent, even though I heard my father singing many times. This changed later on, while listening, singing and playing drums in church everyday. At the age of 16 I joined the family group Trinity, that consisted of three people (bass, guitar and a singer). I came to Holland in 1987, when I travelled with a church choir from England. I decided to stay here and got married. In 1992 I found faith in Jesus Christ and got involved in church for a couple of years. After this, I became a choir singer in a gospel choir with famous Dutch singer Gordon, which resulted in a few TV performances amongst others. This was followed by me joining world wide renowned techno group 2 Unlimited as a backing vocalist. |
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I brought out my first single in 1994 and I carried on participating in talent shows, which even resulted in a couple of wins. Then in 1996 I participated in the Soundmix Show and reached the finals on national television. It was great being a part of that. From then on I worked as a solo artist, writing my own songs and working on several projects. In this period I have also worked with three other reggae bands before joining Blended Culture. Eventually, my goal is to always touch people with my voice in a way that they can feel it in their soul…..goose bumps! And God is my strength in all I do. |
RO-KEY (Rocuillio Giersthove : guest vocalist)
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In the eighties I danced on several styles of music, such as soul, funk, hip hop and reggae. I really got inspired listening to this music and started creating beats by using human beatbox. Shortly after, I started to write lyrics and also started rapping. I took part in the famous contest "De Grote Prijs van Nederland" twice. This was in 1986 (final: 2nd place) and in 1999 (qualification round Zuid-Holland: 2nd place). Through the years I participated in a lot of music projects and worked among artists like Funky Force, DJ Chippie, Iba Man, Sweet Lake Inc, MC Ryan and Missrah. When Missrah combined her own singing skills with unprecedented dancehall talent Kenny Weed, I already knew what to do when she asked me to perform with Blended Culture. Therefore, it really is a honour for me to act with Blended Culture. |
For more information about Blended Culture you can also visit
www.myspace.com/blendedculture and blendedculture.hyves.nl