Martin Jan van Dalen - keys and rhythm programming, producer

Musical career:

"I have been studying classical piano between 1975 and 1982. In the years from 1983 until 1997 I played keyboards, bass-guitar and guitar in several local pop and rock bands, including Dawn, Senses of Love, True but Blue, Die Festung Fällt, Fracas, Desert Rose and Fables, and I remember being the lead-singer of Splendour of Fear.

I've always been an important collaborator in composing and writing lyrics. For Sleepstorm I furthermore produce the releases in my own studio. Here I'm also making music and video for TV and businesses. My company AVgenerator has been founded in 2001."

Musical influences:

"Because my parents were just focussed on light and classical music, I only started to listen to pop music at the age of 12. I soon became a big fan of The Police. Shortly after that I discovered the New wave. Bands that influenced me in this period included The Cure, Cocteau Twins, The Sound, Depeche Mode, U2, Clan Of Xymox and New Order.

Halfway the 1980s, I went on listening to the nice produced music of artists like Talk Talk, Tears for Fears, The Style Council, Sade and Prince, but also to rock and heavy metal, because I lived in the same house as Michel Cerrone at that time. The albums of The Cult (Sonic Temple is one of the very best records ever made), Led Zeppelin, Queensryche, Racer X, Faith No More and Cacophony were played continuously in our home.

The 1990s grunge of Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and Nirvana left its traces in my musical taste, at the same time the electronic influences of Madonna, Underworld, Massive Attack, The Prodigy, The Chemical Brothers and Faithless kicked in.

I then went completely with the flow of Lounge, and besides enjoyed the music of Jamiroquai, Air, Portishead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sigur Ros and Radiohead; together with Björk my all time favorite artists."

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