Needless to say I’ve always wanted to work with Ken, but I didn’t know how to get in contact with him. Then a friend of mine, Lars Ratz (bassplayer of Metallium), who works with Ken regularly, gave me his email address. I emailed Ken and luckily he agreed to do it- provided he would like the music…
Keiko Kumagai
Arjen explains: Keiko plays in an all-girl band (keys/keys/drums) from Japan called Ars Nova, and I remember being quite impressed the first time I heard them. Especially Keiko’s keyboard parts and arrangements are awesome. I contacted her via email and after having sent her a few Ayreon CDs, she let me know she liked my music a lot, and…
Joost van den Broek
Arjen explains: I was looking for a keyboard player for the Star One tour who was able to do the symphonic as well as the fast work, and for practical reasons it had to be someone from the Netherlands. Everyone I approached was unavailable, until I got a phone call from Joost. Without being arrogant he told me that it was no problem for him to figure out all the complicated parts and then…
Jens Johansson
Arjen Explains: Jens is one of the fastest, if not the fastest, keyboardplayer on this planet. The first time I heard Jens was on an Yngwie Malmsteen CD, on which he effortlessly kept up with Yngwie. One day I received an email of someone named Jens who really loved my music and my concepts. It turned out he was one and the same…
Cleem Determeyer
Arjen explains: Cleem is classically trained and an incredible pianist. He taught me a lot about arrangements. He used to be in the band Finch with Peter Vink. I met Cleem at a party Peter had organized and we found out that we were on the same musical and personal wavelength…