All songs written, produced, engineered, mixed and mastered by Onno Kestens.
Illustrations by Onno Kestens
Halvard live is
Sjaak Christenhusz on drums
Niels Terpstra on bass
Tim Barrie on keys
Michiel Heuveling on guitar
Ruud O.G. Beverborg on guitar
Onno Kesten on Guitar and voice
Review of Drooble Team
'With so many artists trying so hard to be the next big thing we tend to forget in the first place music has to be fun. It has to bring a cool vibe, make you experience something new and take you someplace nice. For this to happen, music doesn’t have to be filled to the top with pretentiousness, big words, and epic concepts. On the contrary, there are so many examples for the best tracks actually being the simplest ones. Do you know why it’s like that? Because sincerity and honesty always win,
no matter if we’re talking music or any other type of art.
‘Lay of the Land’ by Halvard does exactly this – it makes you feel good. In a world which has become way too serious, this CD makes you smile and go through your day with a catchy chorus or an uplifting tune on your mind. Halvard is a solo project by Onno Kestens, a multi-instrumentalist,
based in The Netherlands. Obviously, a man of many talents, Kestens has poured his best possible vibes in nine tracks of lo-fi self-written, self-recorded and self-produced garage rock with a touch of
indie and maybe even country (check out “Movies”). Honestly, there’s nothing to criticize about
‘Lay of the Land’, there’s just enough of everything on it. On some of the tracks Halvard is faster and punchier (“Two Fifty-Three”), on others he’s showing a bit more of his guitars skills and pieces like ‘Find the Cas’ are absolute earworms… Maybe it’s the cowbell. We also dig the lo-fi sound, it fits the garage vibe like charm.
Once again, Onno Kestens handled everything about this record, it’s totally DIY and it’s even published on his own label Stoffer Bliksem. Did we mention he also did the artwork himself? He’s that cool. Now go order this nine-track trip to the beaches of California.'
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