Tobias Hengeveld

Tobias Hengeveld Was Born To Dutch Immigrant Parents In A Small Southern Queensland Town. At The Age Of Five The Family Relocated To Victoria Swapping The Arid Darling Downs For The Dense Bush Of Melbourne’s Urban Fringe. His World In Constant Transition As Housing Sprawl Collided With Old Farmland And Wilder Spaces. New Suburbs Steadily Consuming Remnants Of An Older Time. Like Many Musicians Before Him Tobias Found The Freedom To Explore His Creative Inclinations Through An Extended Period In The Open Environment Of Art-School. This Time Was Interspersed With And Then Followed By Long Stints Travelling Studying And Residing Overseas. Away From Home And Searching For An Expressive Voice The Guitar Ever-So Gradually Became A Close Companion. It Finally Took Over. The Shift Of Focus From Visual Art To Song-Writing Was The Logical Progression In An Evolving Aesthetic. Guided By An Accumulation Of Experiences All Those ‘first Times’ He Heard Elliot Smith Chris Whitley Nick Drake Richard Buckner Bert Jansch Skip James And Leonard Cohen. His Introduction To Writing And Performing Original Material Came With Frances Evans In Duo Scout Hall Around The Turn Of The Century. In 2004 They Released Their Self-Titled LP Through Shock Records With Assistance From Arts Victoria. This Recording Also Marked The Commencement Of Collaboration With Violinist Kate Connor - Which Endures To The Present. Shortly After This Debut Release Hengeveld And Connor Were Joined By Cellist Lucy Angwin To Form The Night Bell A Trio Focussed On The Performance Of His Songs. Their Independent Release Hazards & Hard Objects 2005 Received Encouraging Attention And Reviews. Tobias Toured The Material From This Record Nationally And In Europe During 2006. Over The Next 12 Months The Night Bell Continued To Perform Joined By A Range Of Additional Musicians Including Renato VaCirca Drums Andy Papadopoulos Bass And Anita Quayle Cello . New Works Emerged And In Late 2007 Tobias Took The Material For All The Lines Are Down Into The Studio With Producer Andrew Bencina. What Began As A Simple Plan To Record The Current Incarnation Of His Band Became A Far More Ambitious And Considered Collaboration. In Early 2008 The Project Received Financial Support From The Australia Council For The Arts Aiding Its Completion By The End Of That Year. By Far His Most-Realised Work To Date All The Lines Are Down Is A Striking Collection Of Songs That In Their Originality Are Hard To Pigeon-Hole Into Style Or Influence. read less