Tos Nieuwenhuizen

Tos Nieuwenhuizen
Background information
Alias	TOS, T.O.S.
Born	Late 1960s
Occupation	Musician, Technician
Genres	Punk Rock, Alternative Rock, Stoner Rock, Space Rock, Drone Doom
Instrument(s)	Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, Vocals
Years active	1977 - Present
Labels	Southern Lord Records, Man's Ruin Records, Stickman Records, Dischord Records, Rune Grammofon
Associated acts	Beaver, 35007, Sunn O))), Motorpsycho, Jezus And The Gospelfuckers, God, Harlingtox A.D., Funeral Oration, Scream

Tos Nieuwenhuizen is a multi-instrumentalist, tour manager and composer based out of the Netherlands.

Beginning his career in the late 1970s with various punk bands and collaborations with Dischord Records artists, Tos would be known for his tenure with the alternative rock band God and as a recurring contributor to the Dutch stoner rock band Beaver. Since the late 1990s he has served as a tour manager and technician for the Norwegian rock group Motorpsycho and since 2005 he has been a live keyboardist and recurring contributor to the drone doom collective Sunn O))).

Biography

Early Bands and Collaborations

Nieuwenhuizen's first known band would be with the Stooges-inspired punk rock group known as Jezus and The Gospelfucker, founded in Amsterdam circa 1977. This band would be a staple of the Dutch punk scene in the late 70s and early 80s, releasing a single album in 1982. The Gospelfuckers would disband the next year, with members forming a project called Agent Orange, not to be confused with the California punk band of the same name.

In 1985, Nieuwenhuizen would join Funeral Oration, recording guitar for their debut album Communion, Released in 1985 via Diehard Records, Communion would see praise and was ranked No. 3 Best Punk Rock Album of the Year by Flipside magazine, and Record of the Year by Berkeley's own KALX radio station. The unique guitar style of Tos Nieuwenhuizen and heartfelt lyrics of Peter Zirschky earned the album a classic status. That summer Funeral Oration toured Germany and Spain with fellow band Gepopel. By the end of 1985 guitarist Tos left the band. He was replaced by Hayo Buunk and in April 1986 a new 7-inch EP was recorded in Survival.

Tos would found the band God roughly around 1987 as a guitarist and lead vocalist with Daan van der Elsken and Michael Cavanagh. The band would release three studio albums between 1988 and 1991, performing with an alternative rock sound with hints of math rock.

Tos would also notably collaborate with several American bands through the late 1980s, in particular with artists on Dischord Records. He would contribute backing vocals on "Me and Yout" to the one-off punk band Egg Hunt, released in 1986 via Dischord Records and featured members of Minor Threat and Gray Matter Tos also contributed backing vocals to Scream's third studio album Banging The Drum, released in 1987 via Dischord.

Tos would be involved with a one-off alternative band, recording bass and guitar in the Spring and Summer of 1990 at Laundry Room Studio by Barrett Jones. Harlingtox A.D., short for Harlingtox Angel Divine, would feature Nieuwenhuizen on guitar and bass, Barrett Jones (Churn, Darkheart, Magneto, etc.) on drums, Dave Grohl (Scream, Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age, etc.) on bass and Bruce Merkle (9353) on vocals. The five-song EP would be released in 1996.

Beaver

• For more details, feel free to view the Riffipedia page on Beaver.

Beaver began in the late 1980s with Roel Schoenmakers (Guitar/Vocals) and Eva Nohen (Drums) as the band's founders and Guy Pinhas (Bass) and Nieuwenhuizen (Guitar) as early members. This lineup would be brief, as by 1992 Milo Beenhakker (Bass) and Joszja de Weerdt (Guitar) would join and round out the lineup. Some songs written by Tos would recorded for future releases.

Following tours with 35007 and Spirit Caravan, Nieuwenhuizen would join the band to record their next release for Man's Ruin at The Void in Eindhoven. This release would be entitled Lodge and see a release in October 1999 to critical praise. The band began the next year with their only performance in the USA at Troubadour on 7 January 2000, alongside Unida, Fatso Jetson, Goatsnake, Acid King and Nebula. This would briefly reunite the early lineup as Guy Pinhas would join on bass for this special performance. Ultimately, Nieuwenhuizen would re-join the band full-time to help record the band's third album. Beaver toured with Spirit Caravan and Mark Deutrom in Europe which included their first ever shows in the United Kingdom.

Mobile was released on Man's Ruin in May 2001 with the label itself folding a month later. From that point the band's shows became sporadic, barring a short German tour with Bottom in 2002. Eventually by the end of that year Beaver would quietly break up.

Beaver would reunite in 2011 at Roadburn Festival as one of the bands selected by that year's curator Sunn O))), to which Nieuwenhuizen would participate as a guitarist.

Sunn O)))

• For more details, feel free to view the Riffipedia page on Sunn O))).

In May of 2005 the band would begin work on their fifth album, working with a host of various black metal musicians and composing drones inspired by classic Black Metal bands such as Bathory, Mayhem and Immortal. Nieuwenhuizen would join as a live Moog & Keyboard performer that same year, stating the band had nine compositions worked into a "setlist" for live shows. Tos' first studio contribution would be on the Angel Coma split with Earth.

Throughout the fall and winter of 2005 the band would work on a host of releases behind the scenes while touring early into next year, one of these releases in question purely conceptualized and without rehearsal. Announced in the Summer of 2006 would be Altar, a full collaborative album with Japanese experimental band Boris. Along with the five main performers the album would also feature the likes of Jesse Sykes, Joe Preston, Bill Herzog, Kim Thayil and Dylan Carlson. Altar was ultimately released on 31 October 2006 to positive reviews via Southern Lord Records (With Inoxia Records covering the Japanese release.).

Beginning 2007 Sunn O))) would announce Oracle, an EP release in collaboration with New York sculptor Banks Violette. Along with Anderson, O'Malley and TOS, Oracle also featuring collaborative guests Joe Preston (on Jackhammer), Atsuo and Csihar. Some copies also contained a bonus live CD composing various live drones from their 2005 European shows. Sunn O))) & Boris would close the year with a collaborative performance at Kentish Town Forum in London on 10 December 2007. Sunn O))) would follow up with the live album Dømkirke, a performance at Bergen Cathedral for the Borealis Festival and released exclusively on vinyl circa 22 September 2008.

Along with touring and performing in support of the new album the band would also follow up with more Shoshin/Grimmrobes showcases in Japan and close the year off with a Grimmrobes duo performance in the UK on 12 December 2009 at Butlin's Resort in Minehead for All Tomorrow's Parties. The band would tour early 2010 with Eagle Twin and work behind the scenes on new material. On 18 August 2010 it would be announced that Sunn O))) would be the curators of the 2011 edition of Roadburn Festival, featuring the likes of Jesse Sykes, Trap Them, Beaver, Keiji Haino, Earth, Corrosion of Conformity, Winter and Sunn O))) themselves among others in the curated lineup. Before the Roadburn performance would be a special curated performance in Brooklyn's Masonic Temple of Sunn O))) & Boris with BXI as support.

In the fall of 2011 Sunn O))) would tour Europe and again twice in 2012 along with an appearance at The Power of The Riff and a tour of the US (A tour of Australia was planned and canceled due to conflicts with promoters.). On 10 December 2013 Sunn O))) would announce the first of two collaborative albums to be released into the next year. The first of these special records would be a full-length with Norwegian experimental metal group Ulver entitled Terrestrials, released via Southern Lord on 4 February 2014. With only a handful of shows under their belt the band would also announce a second collaborative album for a 2014 release: Soused, a full-length with Ohio avant-garde singer Scott Walker, released on his label 4AD on 21 October.

Sunn O))) would follow throughout the next two years with live touring throughout the United States and Europe in support of the recent album (With one European show in 2016 being in the world's largest labryinth.). On 11 June 2015 Sunn O))) would also open a bandcamp page for bootlegs recorded of their live performances over the years while also maintaining a bandcamp for their official studio and live output, several of which featuring Tos as a contributor.

Sunn O))) would announce the first of many tours set for 2019 and hinted at two new studio albums in 2019. On 5 February 2019 Sunn O))) would announce one of these albums in Life Metal, which was recorded purely to analogue via Steve Albini at Electrical Audio. Additional recording via TOS would be done at Dave Grohl's 606 Studios. The album also features collaborators in renowned film music composer Hildur Guðnadóttir, Tim Midyett (Silkworm, Bottomless Pit, Milk Mile) and new music composer Anthony Pateras. Life Metal is set to be released in April 2019 while the second album known as Pyroclasts is set for an autumn release, also recorded with Steve Albini and featuring TOS, Tim Midyett, and Hildur Guðnadóttir. Pyroclasts would be described in the press release as a "more meditative" release.

Following extensive touring through the summer of 2019, Sunn O))) would announce the official release date of their ninth studio album Pyroclasts, set for 25 October 2019. Described as a result of a daily practice regularly performed each morning or evening at the two week sessions in July 2018 for Life Metal, the work process of Pyroclasts is built around the musical participants gathering and working through a 12 minute improvised modal drone at the start and or end of the day’s work. The piece performed was timed with a stopwatch and tracked to two inch tape, it was an exercise and a chance to dig into a deep opening or closing of the days session in a deep musical way with all of the participants. To connect/reconnect, liberate the creative mind a bit and greet each other and the space through the practice of sound immersion. The players across the four pieces of Pyroclasts are Tim Midyett, T.O.S., Hildur Guðnadóttir, and as always Stephen O’Malley & Greg Anderson.

Other Endeavors

Nieuwenhuizen would be briefly involved with the Dutch space rock band 35007, joining in 2004 and playing guitar on their final album Phase V the next year. The band however would quietly disband sometime after.

Since the 1990s, Nieuwenhuizen has been a stage manager and touring technician for the Norwegian rock band Motorpsycho and has been credited on several of their live and studio releases.

Bands

• Jezus and The Gospelfuckers - Guitar (1977 - 1983)
• Funeral Oration - Guitar (1985)
• God - Guitar, Vocals (1985 - 1991)
• Harlingtox A.D. - Guitar, Bass (1990)
• Beaver - Bass (1991 - 1992, 2000 - 2002, 2011)
• 35007 - Guitar (2004 - 2005)
• Sunn O))) - Keyboards (2005 - 2020)

Selected Discography

With Beaver

• 13eaver (Studio Album; Songwriting on "Decision in Time") (1996, W•e•r•k Works)
• Lodge (Extended Play; Guitar (1 - 3, 5; Songwriting on "I Reckon") (1999, Man's Ruin Records)
• Mobile (Studio Album) (2001, Man's Ruin Records)

With Sunn O))) (Selected)

• Solstitium Fulminate (Live Album; Synthesizer) (2005, Southern Lord)
• Angel Coma (Split with Earth; Synthesizer) (2005, Southern Lord)
• La Mort Noir dans Esch / Alzette (Live Album; Synthesizer) (2006, Southern Lord)
• Altar (Collaboration with Boris; Oberheim (4), Moog Taurus (5), Moog Rogue (6)) (2006, Southern Lord)
• Oracle (Extended Play: Synthesizers) (2007, Southern Lord)
• Dømkirke (Live Album; Guitar, Synthesizer) (2008, Southern Lord)
• Soused (Collaboration with Scott Walker; Contributor) (2014, 4AD)
• Нежить: Живьём В России (Live Album) (2016, Southern Lord/Ideologic Organ)
• Life Metal (Studio Album) (2019, Southern Lord)
• Pyroclasts (Studio Album) (2019, Southern Lord)
• Metta, Benevolence (Live Album) (2022, Southern Lord)

Other Discography

• Jezus and The Gospelfuckers - Jezus and The Gospelfuckers (Studio Album) (1982, Brand)
• Funeral Oration - Communion (Studio Album; Guitar) (1985, Diehard Records)
• Egg Hunt - Me And You (7" Single; Backing Vocals on "Me and You" (1986, Dischord Records)
• Scream - Banging The Drum (Studio Album; Backing Vocals on Side A) (1987, Dischord Records)
• God - Sweet Life (Studio Album) (1988, Konkurrel)
• God - The Shametree (Studio Album) (1989, Konkurrel)
• God - Headrush (Studio Album) (1991, Destiny Records)
• Harlingtox A.D. - Harlingtox Angel Divine (Extended Play; Guitar, Bass) (1996, Laundry Room)
• The Obsessed - Incarnate (Compilation; Liner Notes) (1999, Southern Lord Records)
• 35007 - Phase V (Studio Album) (2005, Stickman Records)
• Motorpsycho - Roadwork Vol. 4: Intrepid Skronk (Live Album; Technician) (2011, Rune Grammofon)
• Antillectual – Perspectives & Objectives (Studio Album; Backing Vocals) (2013, Destiny Records)
• Motorpsycho - En Konsert For Folk Flest (Live Collaboration; Technician) (2015, Rune Grammofon)
• Motorpsycho – Begynnelser (Music From An Imagined Play) (Live Album; Technician) (2017, Rune Grammofon)
• Motorpsycho – Roadwork Vol. 5: Field Notes (Live Album; Technician) (2018, Stickman)
• Motorpsycho – Terje Brekkstad’s Kosmiske Reise (Pts 1&2) (EP; Keyboards) (2019, No! Records)
• Motorpsycho - Kingdom of Oblivion (Studio Album; Keyboards) (2021, Stickman)

External Links

• Discogs
• Interview via 3voor12 in Dutch
• Interview via Music and Riots
• Interview via Astral Noize UK
• Interview via Sound Sphere Magazine