DOUGLAS FIRS

2020 was een emotionele rollercoaster voor Gertjan Van Hellemont aka Douglas Firs. Het begon allemaal in één absurde week, waarin een dokter hem het heuglijke nieuws meedeelde dat hij vader zou worden, maar een andere
dokter het vreselijke nieuws dat zijn moeder ongeneeslijk ziek was en nog hooguit een paar weken te leven had. Ongeveer een maand na zijn moeder stierf ook Gertjans grootmoeder, aan de gevolgen van Covid-19.

Heen en weer geslingerd tussen verdriet over zijn moeder en grootmoeder aan de ene kant en blijdschap en opwinding over zijn nakende vaderschap aan de andere, trok Gertjan naar zijn zolderstudio en begon te schrijven aan wat “Heart of a Mother” zou worden, het nieuwe Douglas Firs album.

“What If I Can” is de eerste song van die nieuwe plaat. Met de vertrouwde Douglas Firsbezetting: Gertjan (vocals, gitaren, synths), Sem Van Hellemont (piano), Simon Casier (bas) en Laurens Billiet (drums). Steven de Bruyn maakte een atmosferische, dromerige intro op harmonicas en de weemoedige trompetten zijn van Sam Vloemans. De mix werd gedaan door Kevin Ratterman (Strand of Oaks, Ray LaMontagne, My Morning Jacket) in Louisville, Kentucky. De mastering door Fred Kevorkian (White Stripes, Black Keys) in New York.

‘Voor mij gaat dit nummer gaat over escapisme’, zegt Gertjan, ‘over de drang om je eigen weg te volgen en niet die van iemand anders, maar ook de zorgen over de gevolgen van die beslissing’.

Gertjan Van Hellemont aka Douglas Firs, went through what you would call ‘an emotional rollercoaster’ this year. It all started during one absurd week, in which one doctor told him the good news that he was going to be a father, and
another told him his mother was terminally ill and only had a couple of weeks left to live. About a month after his mother, his grandmother also passed away after being diagnosed with Covid-19.

Not really knowing how to handle these conflicting feelings of deep grief at his mother's and grandmother’s deaths on the one hand, and the pure excitement about his soon to be born first child on the other, Gertjan climbed the
stairs to his home studio in his attic, to start writing and recording “Heart of a mother”, the upcoming Douglas Firs album.

“What If I Can” is the first new song off the album to be released. It features the usual Douglas Firs line-up of Gertjan on vocals, guitars and synths, Sem Van Hellemont on piano, Simon Casier on bass and Laurens Billiet on drums, supplemented by Steven de Bruyn, who created an atmospheric, dreamlike intro on harmonicas and Sam Vloemans, who added some wistful trumpet parts. Kevin Ratterman (Strand of Oaks, Ray LaMontagne, My Morning Jacket) mixed the track in Louisville, Kentucky. Fred Kevorkian (White Stripes, Black Keys) did the mastering in New York.

“For me, this song is about escapism,” Gertjan says, “the urge to follow your own path and nobody else’s, and the worry about the consequences of that decision.”

Gertjan Van Hellemont aka Douglas Firs, went through what you would call ‘an emotional rollercoaster’ this year. It all started during one absurd week, in which one doctor told him the good news that he was going to be a father, and
another told him his mother was terminally ill and only had a couple of weeks left to live. About a month after his mother, his grandmother also passed away after being diagnosed with Covid-19.

Not really knowing how to handle these conflicting feelings of deep grief at his mother's and grandmother’s deaths on the one hand, and the pure excitement about his soon to be born first child on the other, Gertjan climbed the
stairs to his home studio in his attic, to start writing and recording “Heart of a mother”, the upcoming Douglas Firs album.

“What If I Can” is the first new song off the album to be released. It features the usual Douglas Firs line-up of Gertjan on vocals, guitars and synths, Sem Van Hellemont on piano, Simon Casier on bass and Laurens Billiet on drums, supplemented by Steven de Bruyn, who created an atmospheric, dreamlike intro on harmonicas and Sam Vloemans, who added some wistful trumpet parts. Kevin Ratterman (Strand of Oaks, Ray LaMontagne, My Morning Jacket) mixed the track in Louisville, Kentucky. Fred Kevorkian (White Stripes, Black Keys) did the mastering in New York.

“For me, this song is about escapism,” Gertjan says, “the urge to follow your own path and nobody else’s, and the worry about the consequences of that decision.”