The Miners Of Muzo
Summary
Biography
Guitar band that is especially popular in France.
Members
Marc Lemmen
basgitaar
Gert-Jan Smits
drums
Léon Lemmen
gitaar, zang
Hans Vroom
achtergrondzang, gitaar
Former members
Daan Appels
orgel, piano, zang
Moniek van Dusseldorp
toetsinstrumenten
Marc van Gennip
drums
Ruud Diederiks
drums
Ben
basgitaar
Biography
Guitar band that is especially popular in France.
1981
The Miners Of Muzo are formed from the ashes of local bands Schopenhauer Smiles and Split Brain Effects. The garage band is named after the poor Colombian farmers who work in the mines in search of precious stones. Marc Lemmen and Gert-Jan Smits are not part of the band's first line-up. Léon Lemmen is the band's original bassist. Moniek van Dusseldorp plays the keyboards and Ruud Diederiks is the band's drummer.
Schopenhauer Smiles Split Brain Effects
1982
In April Van Dusseldorp and Diederiks quit. Sax player/percussionist Daan Appels takes over the organ. Marc van Gennip replaces Diederiks.
1984
The band's first release, the Birthday Party-like mini album In Surf Of Fish, is released via the local label Eksakt Records. In June Smits takes over from Van Gennip as the band's drummer.
1985
The Miners Of Muzo's first full-length album Apogee is in comparison with the band's debut more melodic and sunny and also shows '60s influences. In March Marc Lemmen takes over on bass, while his brother Léon takes up the guitar. In December the Miners play six gigs in France and Switzerland.
1986
The band can be seen on French television with single Hey Gypsy Woman. Beauty Of Pain comes out in the autumn. The album combines '60s acid pop, psychobilly and 'sunny' pop and includes covers by the Chocolate Watchband and J.J. Cale. Producer Antoine Kroes plays the guitar and keyboards and also acts as backing vocalist.
1987
In May the band goes to France for six shows. In October the Miners travel to Switzerland for three gigs. In the autumn Dig Deep For..., comes out, an album which contains only four self-composed songs, and features acid rock and punk. The seven covers on the album include 1-2-5 by the Haunted and Who Do You Love by Bo Diddley.
1988
In March the Miners Of Muzo play 15 gigs in France and in the autumn the band plays five gigs in Germany. Make My Day gets both positive and negative reviews in the press. Single Sandman does not evoke much response.
1989
In March the band can be seen at a festival in Prague. The mini album Are You There contains both covers (including the French-language song On Nous Cache Tout) and demo songs.
1991
The Love & Life Storybook Album is release in February and has as subtitle Part 1, Shovelin' The Ashes. The album combines cheerful guitar pop, roots pop, guitar rock and '60s pop and includes an acoustic Alex Harvey cover. Guest musician is Ad van Meurs on lap steel guitar and dobro. In the period September 1991 until December 1993 the Miners Of Muzo play 25 gigs in France and the South By Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.
1993
In April Marc Lemmen quits because playing the bass in the Pat Mears Band takes up too much of his time. He is replaced by former Masai bassist Ben (last name not known). About Time is an 18-track compilation album covering 10 years of Miners Of Muzo in the studio. The album includes two previously unreleased tracks (including the folk song St. John Martyr) and three new songs.
1994
Keyboard player Daan Appels also leaves the band. Because of the band's lack of gigs and a record deal Léon Lemmen leaves the band. He and Vroom, Smits and his brother form Funrazor.
1996
Funrazor first hits the stage in February. Lemmen and co. play heavy rock music and are inspired by the likes of Monster Magnet. The guys also work under the name Holy Joe (The Rocking Bishop).
2000
The Miners Of Muzo are back. The band's line-up includes Léon Lemmen, Hans Vroom, Marc Lemmen en Gert-Jan Smits.
2002
The band launches its official website and starts recordings for the album Love & Life Part II which is scheduled for release in 2003.
2007 - 2008
Guitarist Hans Vroom moves to France. This makes it difficult for the band to promote the new double album Love & Life Part II (To Mars, To Venus And Back).
Discography
In the discography you will find all recordings that have been released listed chronologically. We restrict ourselves to the title, the type of audio, year of publication or recording, label, list of guest musicians, plus any comments on the issue.
Albums
In Surf Of Fish
| Type and year | LP, 1984 |
| Label | Eksakt, 008 |
| producer | Antoine Kroes |
Apogee
| Type and year | LP, 1985 |
| Label | Eksakt, 013 |
| producer | Antoine Kroes |
Beauty Is Pain
| Type and year | LP, 1986 |
| Label | Eksakt, 027 |
| producer | Theo van Eenbergen |
Dig Deep For The Miners Of Muzo
| Type and year | LP, 1987 |
| Label | Eksakt, 033 |
| producer | Lats Varga |
| producer | Léon Pelkmans |
Make My Day
| Type and year | LP, 1988 |
| Label | Eksakt, 037 |
| producer | Theo van Eenbergen |
| gastmuzikant | Tim van Asten |
| gastmuzikant | Ad van Meurs |
Are You There
| Type and year | CD, 1989 |
| Label | Columbus, COL 269519 3 |
The Love & Life Storybook album
| Type and year | CD, 1991 |
| Label | Columbus, COL 269536 2 |
| producer | Lats Varga |
| gastmuzikant | Ad van Meurs |
About Time
| Type and year | CD, 1993 |
| Label | Music Mania, MMCD 049 |
Love & Life Part II (Diggin' The Future)
| Type and year | 2CD, 2008 |
| Label | Eigen beheer |
Hey Gypsy Woman
| Type and year | 7", 1986 |
| Label | Eksakt |
Sandman
| Type and year | 7", 1988 |
| Label | Eksakt |
| B-side | Night Of The Miner/Red Hot Sun |
Hey Gypsy Woman
| Type and year | 7", 1989 |
| Label | Spliff France |
| B-side | Sandman |
No One
| Type and year | CDS, 1991 |
| Label | SilenZ |
Robin & Mary-Ann
| Type and year | CDS, 1991 |
| Label | SilenZ |
The Beauty Queen Of Beach Rock City
| Type and year | CDS, 1991 |
| Label | SilenZ, 269577-3 |
Audio/Video
No audio- or video material is yet available.
Add audio or video