On 6 September De Niemanders will release their new album De Niemanders II via V2 Records. The album was recorded in various asylum seekers’ centres together with producer Rick Wiegerink.
From 2018 to 2022 songwriters Rocco Ostermann and Wout Kemkens undertook a musical quest behind prison walls: they visited Dutch prisons and tried to tell the stories ‘behind the bars’ through songs. This resulted in an critically acclaimed album, a podcast series and theatrical live shows. Between December 2022 and January 2024, collective De Niemanders (Rick Wiegerinck joined the team) visited asylum seekers’ centres in the Netherlands with a mobile studio in search of singers, musicians and their music and stories.
“Have you ever scratched yourself behind the ears and wondered: what would have happened to me if I had come into the world in a war zone, dictatorship or in a country where there is famine? What tipping points, key moments, would I have seized to flee? People have been fleeing from everything for centuries, wars, dictators, gods and potentates, cheating with their fate cards. Taking matters into their own hands is something that is quite understandable, because for those who saw the light of day on the wrong side of fortune, by pure chance, there is often no other option. Consider also America, how that has been built up by so-called ‘fortune seekers’. It is of all times.” – said Rocco Ostermann.
The music sessions were filled with pure joy, and the conversations were heavy, hopeless, hopeful, joyful and everything in between. The collective got in touch with creative individuals from all over the world, who in turn introduced them to even more artists, writers and storytellers. Heading by feel, they created a new Niemanders album that became a genuine collaboration between the people they met and themselves. A key difference from the prisons was that this time the singers and musicians were allowed to record in a mobile studio. As a result, the album is a mishmash of many singers and languages, telling from their journeys, dreams, family, past lives, and their current situation as refugees.