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December 2004: The beginning..


It was December 2004, when Giel Mulder, a Dutch reggae trombone player, founded a new band. Since Giel was a young boy, he had a dream to start an early reggae group. Not to copy the sounds of the Jamaican late sixties and early seventies, but to take them by the hand and use them in his own way.

Giel knew a singer-songwriter by the name of Boss van Trigt. Boss just quit the famous ska-reggae group 'Rude Rich and the High notes' and was looking for new adventures in ska music. After Giel phoned him up, Boss was heavily inspired by Giel's enthusiasm and started to write songs immediately. Giel, in the meantime, searched for the right musicians for this new band, successfully. He phoned Stijn Verhagen.

Stijn was a great piano-organ player, sharing Giel's love for early reggae and ska music. Stijn brought a top ranking drummer, Ron Rotteveel, at that time playing in 'the Second Hand Sneakers'. When Ron heard about the Upsessions, he decided to come along.

Giel knew a guitar player, Bart Izaks, who had great picking techniques and loved to play in a reggae-ska band. Giel invited him for the first session. After a long search for the right bass player, Ron took his brother Peter Rotteveel with him on a rehearsal and the Upsessions were heavily impressed by his great lazy bass timing.

At that time, with Boss van Trigt as the singer-guitar player, the Upsessions were born. It was January 2005 when the Upsessions, in this formation, had their first rehearsal.

March 2005: First demo recorded

The music was there and the Upsessions were ready to get the party started. Their first show was on the 23rd of April in a club in Noordwijk, called 'Join'. It turned out to be a great party and it was clear that this band just wanted to play, no matter where, no matter when. In March 2005 the Upsessions recorded their first demo. Six songs were recorded on an eighttrackrecorder. After mixing and mastering the songs with the help of Patrick Tukker, a friend, the result was fabulous. The Upsessions demo didn't sound like a 48 track studio record, but like a reggae band playing in a garage, just like it should be, and just how the Upsessions wanted it to be.
June 2005: Jackie Miller down!

On the 19 th of June the Upsessions had their second gig, at the Amsterdam roots festival in the famous Oosterpark. And again it was a great show. The audience started to dance immediately and it all ended in a big party. The Upsessions demo, which was sent to a lot of places and booking agencies, was reviewed different times by fanatic listeners. One of them even described the song ' Jackie Miller Down', about the tragical life of boxing legend Jackie' the killer' Miller, as the new underground hit. Some record companies showed their interest in the Upsessions, and the Upsessions were invited to play in Switzerland in February 2006.
October 2005: Recordings and the radio

The Upsessions started to record their debut album. They bought a fostex 8-track tape recorder and started recording their songs during the free weekends in an old school hall in Zaandam. In the meantime the demo was played on several radioshows in and outside Holland.
January 2006: Upsessions go international.

The Upsessions had their first international gig on the 28th of January in Reims, France. It was the farewell show of Western special, a French skaband, in le Cartonnerie. 1000 people were there to watch the Upsessions, doing the support act, successfully. On the 14th of January, the Upsessions played in the P60 in Amstelveen together with Neville Staples and his new band.
February 2006: Luzern and the dutch 'breakthrough'

The Upsessions drove to Luzern, Switzerland to do a gig in the Sedel, organized by rudeattack records. A hall full of skinheadreggaelovers were heavily supporting the Upsessions. On the 18th of February, the Upsessions played on Holland's biggest skafestival; the Dutchskafestival in the Melkweg, Amsterdam. A lot of skapeople and reggaelovers watched the Upsessions and started to dance immediately. And everybody was able to see that 'Jackie Miller Down' was the new underground hit!
March 2006: Germany and the mixing process

In March the Upsessions finished the mixing process for their debut album, together with the famous engineer Patrick Tukker. Also they had their first German gig in Mainz.
"cool and deadly, rough and badly, this band's gonna rock you up madly"