They worked there for at least forty years. Rehearsing, recording, encounters,memories. On May 16 of this year, the studio of the Nits burned to the ground.Instruments, equipment, archives, videotapes and concert recordings from theband’s nearly fifty years of existence: all gone.
The fire in the Werfstudio started outside, probably due to a spreading fire,started by an unknown passer-by. Four months later, only a bare plain and afew pieces of wall remain on the spot near Amsterdam-Sloterdijk station.Singer Henk Hofstede received a message that Monday from drummer Rob Kloet,who was on site after the first reports of a plume of smoke from the building.
“The flames were already out when he arrived. I immediately cycled there. Theidea played into my head that we should order a truck right away, pull stuffout and dispose of it as quickly as possible. But it was too late, there wasnothing left to save.”
thieves
All of the band’s master tapes were lost, including the original 24-tracktapes. Guitars were buried under the rubble. Hofstede is fairly level-headedabout it, he admits.
„I am not someone from the school of fanatic guitar collectors, like HennyVrienten was. I had one guitar at home. Another, my Fender Jazzmaster, haslanded again in a very special way. We were no longer allowed to enter thesite because of asbestos and the danger of collapse. Thieves apparently stillsnooped around at night, and took things with them. And a few weeks after thefire I was told to come to the police station because they had something forme. My guitar, barely damaged! Stolen from the flight case, along with adulcimer and another guitar that I also got back. They were not allowed to saywhere they found it.”
Henk Hofstede with a charred fragment of the LP In The Dutch Mountains(originally from 1987, this is the 2017 repress on red/gold marbled vinyl).The photographer found the LP during the photo session on the spot where theNits Werf studio was located until May 16, 2022. Photo Andreas Terlaak
Remains of a poster for the Nits album Malpensa from 2012, with from leftto right Rob Kloet, Henk Hofstede, Robert-Jan Stips. Photo Andreas Terlaak
Cover of the album ‘Urk’ by the Nits.
Keyboardist Robert-Jan Stips always took his stuff home with him, includingthe old Moog synthesizer he’s been playing on since his time with GoldenEarring (1974-1976). Drummer Rob Kloet lost almost everything. Only the bigdrum, pictured on the cover of the live album Urk (1989), was found underthe rubble. “We were allowed to enter the site for one day,” Hofstede says.“Then we were busy with a shovel and we found all kinds of things. In thechests of drawers where we kept the unique tapes of live recordings from thepast decades, we found only heaps of ashes. I have some rescued items in mybasement. I don’t like going there, because the smell of smoke makes me a bitsad.”
survival
A crowdfunding campaign from the fans allowed the Nits to continue theirscheduled performances with replacement equipment. Fortunately, the new albumwas released NEON was already done. „The CDs and LPs had not yet returnedfrom the factory, because then they would also have been in the yard. Thatmight have been the most bitter, if our new album had gone up in smoke. But wewere able to continue with our tour and the album release. We have neverdoubted the survival of the Nits.”
The Werf studio was just under 45 minutes by bike from his home in EastAmsterdam, says Hofstede. “When I cycled away from home, I was alreadythinking about the things we were going to make that day. We now have atemporary rehearsal room, close to the old studio. For me, the creativeprocess involved quite a bit of cycling. That’s good, because I don’t go tothe gym and that way I still stay fit.”
Starting out as a Beatles-inspired guitar group in the New Wave era, De Nitsdeveloped into an impressionistic pop trio that continues to innovate. _NEON_sounds more electronic than the band has ever sounded, although Hofstedepoints out that the influence of Kraftwerk has always been there.
The 24th Nits album, NEON is part of a trilogy that started with Fear(2017) and Knot (2019). “The similarity between the three is that the musicwas created by improvisation. There is no plan, there are no texts in advance,no mutual agreements. In the past I sometimes had the demo version of a recordready and we would translate that into the band sound. Today we allow eachother maximum freedom. Everyone should see for themselves what they are doing.That process only works if you’ve played with each other a lot. During thoseimprovisations I just sing some sounds. In the distance it resembles English,a kind of secret language. Only later do I mold the final lyrics from there.”
Athens
NEON , named after a dear old cafe in Athens, satisfies the unwritten rulethat a Nits album title usually consists of four letters. “That is useful forthe design,” Henk says. But it is not an iron law. See In The DutchMountains or Urk. Rob [Kloet] drew my attention to the chemical fact thatneon, as a noble gas, does not combine with other elements. The Nits havealways occupied a special place in the pop landscape. We find it difficult tomix with the zeitgeist or with other artists. Personally, I prefer to listento music that I cannot and do not want to make myself. I think Kae Tempest isfantastic. But I’m not a rapper and I could never do something like thatmyself.”
“How long does it take/ weaver of my life/ to make a tapestry?” Henk Hofstede(71) sings in the closing song ‘The Weaver’. Is it ever finished, thattapestry of life? “As a metaphor it is of course on the verge of kitsch,” helaughs. “But the Family group did it too, in ‘The Weaver’s Answer’. And CaroleKing with her album tapestry. I myself am not ready yet. The Nits have tolook for another location to make new music together. I can well imagine thatwe no longer choose a permanent place for that.”
There is already an invitation to do something in the small hall of the Opérain Lyon next summer, if it will be empty there for a few weeks. Rehearse,maybe record something. Richard Robert, director of the alternative department’Opera Undergrond’ is an old friend of Hofstede, from when he was still ajournalist for the music magazine Les Inrockuptibles.
Hofstede: “And so we have plenty of plans for the future. The Nits certainlyhave a few good years in them.”
NEON of the Nits is out on YARD Records. Theater tour from 7 Oct. Inl: