Douglas Firs

Douglas Firs is a Belgian indie band, formed by Gertjan Van Hellemont, aka Douglas Firs. When their first album Shimmer & Glow (2012) got rave reviews and no less than four radio singles in Belgium and The Netherlands, Douglas Firs took to stages in Belgium, The Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany. Douglas also did some gigs at the US West Coast and in Canada. Over there he bought an old acoustic Gibson guitar and a new kite, and started writing new songs for second album The Long Answer Is No. First at a friend’s house in the Italian Alps, then all by himself at a deserted old house in a French forest. The new songs came effortlessly. Songs about life, love, and the importance of having a pet turtle some time in your life. Douglas Firs the band, including Simon Casier (see also Balthazar), Christophe Claeys (see also Amatorski and Magnus) and Douglas’ older brother Sem, recorded the new album in Mechelen, Belgium, with co-producer and engineer Jasper Maekelberg (see also Gabriel Rios, Jef Neve, Mintzkov, ...). They invited some guest musicians on congas, trombones, and the album also features extra vocal performances by The Bony King of Nowhere, Steven Debruyn (see also El Fish, The Rhythm Junks) on blues harp, Patrica Vanneste’s string quartet (see also Balthazar), David Poltrock (see also Hooverphonic, De Mens) on Hammond organ. Douglas then flew to Chicago to watch the Soccer World Cup at the Wilco Loft, but mainly to have the album mixed by studio wizard Tom Schick (see also Wilco, Ryan Adams, Norah Jones, M Ward, Rufus Wainwright, ...). It was mastered by Fred Kevorkian in New York (see also The National, Joan As Police Woman, Sonic Youth, Iggy Pop, ...). After excellent debut Shimmer & Glow, The Long Answer Is No sounds like Douglas Firs is/are eager to see the world. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.