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ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� College Utrecht alumni band How Was It For You did not let the pandemic get in their way of making their feelgood music. In fact, they have been busier than ever! With three brand new singles and an EP release coming up we decided to check in with band members Paul van Laar and Kit Davis to see how they’ve been doing.

Let’s start at the beginning, who is ‘How Was It For You’ and how did you start playing together?

Kit: “The current band consists of four guys; Paul van Laar, Rohan Thomas Mathew, Tom Veltman and myself. We all met while studying at ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� College Utrecht and we used to hang out a lot. At some point some of us went to the music room on campus and started to jam. The vibe at the time was very electric. Normally you don’t meet up and end the session with a full song, but we did. Everybody just played their bit and it worked. That is pretty rare.” Paul: “I was on an exchange in Canada at the moment and they called me saying, something happened and we need you when you return.”

How did the College contribute to your musical success?

Paul: “at ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� College Utrecht you always have an audience that is ready to go. Even when we organized something spontaneously. It didn’t matter, the next day a hundred people would be there. That gives an energy to a musician to take it to the next level. We are also collaborating with a lot of creative people from the College, for the artwork, photography, video production. When we released our first EP in the cultural centre EKKO, it sold out. If you looked at the audience it was like a ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� College Utrecht reunion. Some of my friends who study at the conservatory are jealous of that”.

Back to the present. How did you manage to record and EP during a pandemic?

Paul: “This was the weirdest process ever. The full thing was recorded in lockdown. We would all record our parts at home and mix it together afterwards.” Kit: “That was one of the defining features of the process, it definitely was a huge limitation on what was possible”. Paul: “We played one of our new songs during a live set in a corona safe environment the other day. It was the first time we played together since writing it together on Zoom and we realized we hadn’t actually played the song together in real life”.

How would you describe the music you make and what bands have inspired you?

Kit: “The most defining feature of the music is its intention. It’s hard to name a particular genre. I guess it is funk and rock, mostly, with rap on top. I would say the vibe is warm. It’s music that makes you feel good. Paul: “One of the bands that come to mind is Vulfpeck. They are the most amazing musicians. We covered one of their songs with the idea of trying to engage Vulfpeck. The audience shouted ‘Vulfpeck, Vulfpeck’ and they recorded it with their phones and tagged the band. And it worked! They reposted it.” Kit: “I remember when we found out they reposted it, we all started screaming. Some of us even started sobbing.”

Does your music have a message?

Kit: “The lyrics come from Rohan mostly. He writes about various themes like racism and social injustice. The new single ‘Misbehavin’ also ties into that, for sure.” Paul: “We definitely also have silly songs. We have a song that’s called ‘You’re so sexy’ which is only about that, there is no deeper meaning to it. But that’s also to make people forget a little bit about what’s going on around them.

What are your future plans?

Paul: “We are big dreamers. I don’t like setting low goals. We are always saying we are going to headline festivals one day. Kit is getting really good at production, so if we can produce the songs ourselves we can save a lot of money and make more music”. Kit: “In terms of our musical careers, as far as I’m concerned, the sky is the limit. But short term what also interests me are our creative goals. The big dream for me now is to be able to sit down and listen to a song we made and feel like “Yes, that was top tier stuff right there”. I can’t tell you what that music will sound like, but I know what that feeling is, because I’ve felt it before.  

Recent and upcoming releases:

• 4 Dec. release of single Misbehavin' (listen )
• 11 Dec. release of musicvideo Misbehavin' (see below)
• 2 more singles and the full EP in early 2021!

Make sure to check them out on , and .