NIRC - punkrock

Watch out! This is the EXTENDED version of our bio!

Primary school
NIRC is a band with four young players. Abel & Bram met at the primary school, about 10 years ago. They played a lot together, but just for fun. After a few years Remco moved to Amersfoort and met Abel & Bram at the primary school. Back then, Remco hardly knew what a guitar was, and they didn't make music together. Bram was in the Dutch band Swoop Down!, with Derrick; a guy from school. Derrick on the vocals, drums and guitar, Bram on the drums and guitar and kazoo. Abel and Remco were the members of 242, a Dutch rap/computermusic kinda band. These bands were actually very funny, but kinda crappy.

The sausages
At highschool Abel & Bram met Daan, from Bilthoven. They started playing together; just cover-songs.
Before they were NIRC, the band played with female singers. They were called The Sausages, then. It didn't work out very well, so they decided to never take a female singer anymore. And what a coincidence, Abel could sing very well, too!

Remco joins
Remco moved to Oss, the most boring city in Holland's most exciting region. But when he bought an electric guitar, he came over to Amersfoort once in a while to play with Abel & Bram. And after a year orso the NIRC-guys came up with this great idea; to form a band with Abel, Daan, Remco & Bram in it! Brilliant!

School rules
In 2001 the NIRCs are 17 years old, and play together since three years. The first few shows were without Remco, because it used to be kinda difficult to get from Oss to Amersfoort. Daan lives in Bilthoven and goes to the Art Academy in Den Bosch. Bram lives in Amersfoort and goes to the Art Academy in Hilversum, the new media department. Abel lives in Amersfoort too, but he follows his classes at the conservatorium in Rotterdam. Remco lives in Oss and his school's there too. He and Bram also play in the surfpunkband Beachball, but for pure fun. They released a demo cd in May 2001.

First shows
The very first NIRC show was at their school, the Kees Boekeschool in Bilthoven. They played "Molly's Lips" and "Polly", songs of Nirvana and the Vaselines. After a few rehearsels NIRC played two songs on a talent-scouting. They didn't win, but the jury said they would be a great band if they would play their own songs. It didn't take long before NIRC had their own songs, written by frontman Abel.

First demo-cd
Abel writes all the songs and the lyrics. NIRC tries to practise as much as possible in their practise room in Amersfoort. Their first album was recorded in the Robbeknolerf Studios, aka Bram's room. This CD is called "Action on Vacation", and it was recorded in July 1999. It contains 16 songs.

NIRC wins all the contests
NIRC played a several festivals and talentscoutings. They won the qualifing round of the Kleine Prijs van Amersfoort and even played as support act of their heroes, the Travoltas. In December 1999 and January 2000 NIRC recorded their second demo-cd, also in the Robbeknolerf Studios. This time the cd contains 7 songs, and is called "Nurses In Removable Clothes". The guys are kinda satisfied with the recordings and with the songs. They used a few samples of movies like "Starship Troopers" and hired a cello-player for a very beautiful acoustic song. The cd was released the 22th of January and was for sale first at the 'Grote Prijs van Leusden'.

In July 2000 NIRC wins the ''sCool Contest' in and gets to play at Dwergpop in Driebergen, with three other winning bands. Even Green Lizard played at Dwergpop! And again, NIRC proves to be better than the other three bands and wins the contest! They played in Stairway To Heaven in Utrecht in December 2000.

Break
After NIRC recorded their third demo-cd called "Nurses Do It Nicer" and did another acoustic radio show in January 2001, they decided to take a break. Bram and Daan had to concentrate on their finals, and the band had to reload for the "Nurses Do It Nicer"-tour. Remco and Bram used the break to play some shows with Beachball. "Nurses Do It Nicer" was released in May 2001. The new cd is kind of a new start: the new NIRC is faster, better, punkier but...nicer! Bram and Daan form a one-hit-wonder called Boardwackz, a combination of Travoltas and Limp Bizkit. They release one single called "Cruisin' The Boulevard". Two NIRC songs from "Nurses Do It Nicer" end up on the DP-or-not-DP #4 compilation.

Sideprojects
In 2002 Abel and Bram record "Michael Jackson", with two new NIRC songs and a song borrowed from their sideproject Venice Beach Pizza Freaks. This cd gets Abel picked for the Rockacademie auditions. He passes the first round and the second, so he is now a professional punkrocker!

Remco and Bram quit Beachball, and start a new band with Abel, The Snaters. Their first release "Skip The Shit" gets great reactions. "Cadillac Girl" becomes a huge hit in the scene.

Bart
What about NIRC? Plans were made, but some tension between Daan and the other members grew. Daan didn't share the passion for punkrock, and had become an annoying mthrfckr. In april 2002 NIRC decides to get rid of Daan. They soon find a new guitarist: Bart! He also plays in the legendary DNA. After some shows without Daan, Bart's first NIRC-show is a supportnight for Travoltas. NIRC starts playing again, in every region of the country.

New record
Time for a new cd! NIRC will record their new record in July-September. Five new songs, recorded by Abel and Bram.

Stuck In A Day
In summer 2002 Remco and Bram launch their own record label: Stuck In A Day Records. Their first signings are (surprise!) NIRC and the legendary DNA. Meanwhile "Michael Jackson" gets great reviews in magazines like LiveXS and GUN. And they play festivals like Containertrip and UNSKAM, and creates a nice fanbase of skaterdudes and dudettes.

Major labels
To the surprise of the NIRC's, Universal and BMG, to major labels show interest in NIRC's music. It looks like the contracts are gonna be signed and NIRC gets to be the next Krezip or the new Di-rect, but nothing really happens.

Almost...
In August Bram joins Wagtale, a punkrockband from Utrecht.
The last mix of the new cd is almost ready, the cd-cover is almost ready, but the fans will have to wait till December. But in November a compilation with bands from Utrecht is released, with one new NIRC song on it. NIRC puts two new non-cd songs on their website, and on the promo release "Eat Well, Sleep Well".

Releaseparty
The new cd, "Everyone Reacts Differently (but they all feel the same)" was released in April 2003, with a huge party in Leusden. At the same time the legendary DNA released their cd "The Mindflight", and Five Years Later released their first release "When It Comes To Patience". To be continued...