His childhood consisted not only of playing football but largely mainly with making and playing music. You can call Ab a great lover of music. He’s certainly eclectic. Many types of music are his preference except for the excessive music genres. He always listens first how a song is arranged and only then to the lyrics. He has a large music collection that he has put all his love into to get them together. Songs that appeal to him and that touch him end up in his collection.
In his youth he worked as a DJ in a club where soul, disco and funk were played and the well-known hits from the charts. After about ten years, punk, new wave and electronic music were on the rise and then it was actually ready for him. He went back to devoting himself to music he wrote himself. In 2014, during a jam session, he met the drummer Richard Heijerman. He got to know him not only as a person, but also as a drummer. The rhythms Richard played on his drums really appealed to Ab. One thing was for sure, Richard was one and the same, focused on music. Just like Ab himself. After jamming a few songs, fate was sealed and Richard and Ab decided to form a band together, in addition to their other pursuits.
The Blues Gang became a fact. And a friendship was sealed. From that moment on, many performances were finished. From the top to the bottom and from left to the right in the Netherlands. The bookings became more and more and every weekend there was a performance somewhere. In the meantime, they were looking for their own sound. And there were several changes with bass guitarists and lead guitarists.
Richard and Ab remained the regular members of the band. And between them there was also a creative drive to make their own songs. The video on this page shows how that worked.
Unfortunately, the distance was too far away to get together often and work out songs. So Ab often wrote the songs first and later on they got together to work out the arrangement. In 2017, The Blues Gang’s first EP was released with three songs of their own, including the song you can see and listen on this page. “What You Do”. What they are doing is energetic. And what is produced is for the future. They wanted to leave a legacy that lives on for generations to come. They thought about it carefully. Because you can only continue to perform until a certain age and sound recordings that remain. And hopefully there are also songs that will be in the charts. They believe in each other and they know what they are doing.