Our Oceans launch crowdfunding drive

Our Oceans have launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise cash to record their debut album.

The outfit features guitarists Tymon Kruidenier and Michel Nienhuis along with bassist Robin Zielhorst from Exivious. They’re joined in the project by singer/songwriter Noora Hakkinen and drummer Jasper Barendregt.

And Kruidenier says he decided to form the band as he needed another outlet for his music away from Exivious’ purely instrumental material. And he reveals when he found singer Hakkinen, everything fell into place.

He says on their : “Shortly after the release of Exivious’ debut album in 2009, I wanted to change our musical direction in a very drastic manner. I felt there wasn’t much left to say for me as a guitar player and composer in the context of instrumental fusion inspired music. So the plan was to go for a more song driven approach and add a singer to our lineup.

“I spent weeks scouring every corner of the internet, trying to find a suitable singer. Eventually I found Noora. She just started composing her own music for which she played the piano and sang. I immediately fell in love with her voice. So I contacted her and we started talking. As it turned out, she actually knew about Exivious and liked what we were doing. What are the odds?”

He continues: “As time went by, plans changed and we decided for Exivious to stay true to its instrumental roots. But Noora and I kept in touch and developed a strong friendship and musical connection. We always knew we wanted to work together at some point, it was simply a matter of time.

“In a sense, Our Oceans is the realisation of the alternate musical path I had in mind for Exivious.”

The band are seeking €8000 and are offering backers a range of incentives including Digipaks, t-shirts and guitar lessons from Kruidenier. They hope to release the album in May.

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.