Ten years ago, Michael Riesenbeck released his solo album Michael Riesenbeck II. In the promotion campaign, he promised a drum clinic by Rob Boshuijzen, the drummer on this album. Fortunately, I was the winner, and I won the clinic for my eleven years old son. One day we travelled from the Dutch region Achterhoek to The Hague. There we met Rob at the HPC Facility, where he had his own drum accommodation. Of course, it was an enjoyable day for my son but for me too since this visit had some surprises.
Rob told me that he played in the progressive rock band Ice. In the nineties, the band started as Maryson; they released two albums Master Magician I (1996) and On Goes The Quest (1998). Both albums were based on the fantasy books of band leader Wim Stolk alias W.J. Maryson. In the week after the drum clinic Rob sent me both albums of Maryson and the debut album of Ice called The Saga (2005).

It was here that my journey started with Ice. The Saga hit me like a bomb. For me personally this album became one of my favourite albums. In 2024, Ice released Man In The Moon, their second album which, in my opinion, is an incredible album as well. What I especially like about it are the melodic passages. The album has a prog rock basis, but the entire structure has been based on a melodic approach. So, when Background Magazine asked me to do an interview with singer and guitarist Hein van den Broek (HB) and lead guitarist Chris van Hoogdalem (CH), I didn't have any doubt at all. So, we talked about the past, the present and the future of the band.

First, I would like to congratulate you with the album Man In The Moon. I like the album very much. Would you please introduce yourself and the other band members and tell us a brief history of Ice and how your musical careers evolved?
HB: "On keyboards we have Ardie Westdijk. Ardie is best known for his work with the band Differences. In the eighties and nineties, he recorded two albums with that band. The Voyage, recorded in the Wisseloord Studios, is probably the most well-known. Ardie also played in Maryson, so here began our journey. In Ice, Ardie is the major song contributor; he likes to write new and original songs.

From L to R: Rob Boshuijzen, Ardie Westdijk, Hein van den Broek, René Sterk and Chris van Hoogdalem

On guitar we have Chris van Hoogdalem. He is known for his work with de progressive rock band Cirkel, among others. In 1983, the band released The First Goodbye. Next to Cirkel, Chris also played in a couple of other bands, and he was co-founder of Maryson. For Chris that band was the prelude to Ice. Chris doesn't regard himself as a typical progressive rock guitarist. He always adds some rock elements to the prog."
CH: "Well, now it's my turn. Hein van den Broek is the vocalist of Ice. He also plays guitar which he does above average. Hein even started as a guitarist in different bands with whom he recorded a couple of albums. Hein became the lead singer of Maryson. Beside Maryson and Ice, Hein had several side projects. Hein played for a long time in the Genesis Project. Nowadays, he is the singer of Supertrap, a Dutch tribute band of Supertramp. The band has started to tour the Dutch theatres in November 2024.
René Sterk is our bass player. In 1976, he played together with me in a band called Alpha. Like all other band members, René played in several bands, and he was the co-owner of Studio 147 as well. In this studio the second album of Maryson was recorded. In 1998, René was asked to replace the injured bass player of Maryson on a temporary base and when Ice was founded, he was asked for the same job and from 2009 he became a permanent band member of Ice. Man In The Moon was recorded and arranged in his home studio.
Our drummer is Rob Boshuijzen. He is well-known in the music scene since he played in bands like Maryson, Gilgamesh, Timelock, Fanfields, Michael Riesenbeck and many more. Rob also took part in a couple of hundred recordings, and he played together with Thijs van Leer, Jan Akkerman (both Focus) and Mariska Veres (Shocking Blue).The Studio is Rob's second home."

Ice originates from Maryson, whose spiritual father was W.J. Maryson. He played the keyboards in Maryson, but he was also a writer of fantasy books. The common thread of his books was reflected in Maryson's lyrics. In 2000, he left the band, and the remaining members had to decide whether to continue or to stop being a band all together. Can you please tell us how this process went?
HB: "Well, the answer is shorter than the question. In fact, there was no process at all. When Wim Stolk left the band the remaining band members decided to reform as Ice."

Ice has developed into a progressive rock band with a unique sound. Do you agree with this statement, or do you have a different view?
CH: "We think that the music of Ice is more rock oriented. Maryson and in particular Wim Stolk had a more classical approach in his compositions. Therefore, we don't see Ice as a successor to Maryson. The simple reason for that is that Wim Stolk was too great an influence on the choice of material and the harmonic content. His melodies were often solidly based on classical music, while our current main writer Ardie has a different background. His song structures and melodies are quite different from Wim's. Naturally, the sound and the input from the other band members help the band's sound move towards Maryson and we are happy with that."

Hein van den Broek and Chris van Hoogdalem (r)

Are there any bands or persons who inspired or influenced you?
HB: "Yes, of course. In the first place The Beatles and The Beach Boys touched me, especially their close harmonies and their compositions. When I was eleven years old, I heard Salty Dog on the radio and so I discovered Procol Harum. This song with the intro of the seagulls, the harp-like piano, the beautiful strings and especially the voice of Gary Brooker made a deep impression on me. I painted the name Procol Harum on nearly every door of my father's glasshouses. But later on, I discovered the voice of Peter Gabriel (Genesis), and that voice had a major influence on me as well. Other singers that influenced me were Derek Shulman (Gentle Giant) and Francis Dunnery from It Bites, and his solo albums."
CH: "My biggest influences are bands like Boston, Journey, Rush, Kansas, Pink Floyd, Queen, Dream Theater, and many more. I'm also influenced by vocalists like Paul Rodgers (Free), Steve Perry (Journey), Steve Walsh (Kansas), Freddie Mercury (Queen), Ann Wilson (Heart) and Stevie Nicks (Fleetwood Mac)."

The next questions are especially for Chris. Sorry Hein, but being a guitarist myself I'm very interested in subjects regarding the guitar. Are there any guitarists who influenced you?
CH: "So nice that you ask about my playing, thank you. Like al guitarists, I borrowed heavily from other guitarists like Neil Schon (Journey), Richie Blackmore (Deep Purple), Brian May (Queen), David Gilmour (Pink Floyd), Kerry Livgren (Kansas), Andy Powell (Wishbone Ash), Laurie Wisefield (Wishbone Ash) and local guitar heroes like Hans van den Dool and Gerrie den Hartog, just to name a few."

In my opinion your guitar solos are phenomenal. Obviously, you prefer feeling over speed and shredding. Are you only a progressive rock guitarist or do you like other genres as well?
CH: "Well, I do not consider myself as a progressive rock guitarist at all. I just try to do my utmost to add something to a song. In Maryson and Ice this means to structure the song ideas in the direction of the music I love, namely heavy rock and blues rock. Another fact is that I'm a lefthanded, so my strongest hand is not my picking hand, but the one on the fretboard. Consequently, I cannot play fast very well. Instead, I try to focus on a vocal character in my playing. I often tend to end up with guitar solos that you might sing or whistle. This approach suits me far better than trying to play at high speed that I would never be able to do anyway."

I like your guitar sound on the album. Would you please tell us how you record that sound? With mix-up amplifiers or digital with software?
CH: "I have a long history of using Marshall, Soldano and Boogie amplifiers in the studio and on stage. This record is the very first one that Ice recorded in Rene's new home studio, except for the drums and the vocals in some tracks. And for the first time, I used no traditional amplifiers at all. This time we choose René's Kemper, for which we used custom patches by Dutch guitarist Bert Meulendijk. This works very well for me and for René's neighbours as well, ha, ha! The guitars that I used were my PRS Custom 24, the Fender hardtail Stratocaster, the Les Paul custom, Variax and Hein's Guild 12-string."

Hein, you also took part on the debut album The Saga. That album was well-received. Did you have any expectations at the time and if so, did it meet your expectations?
HB: "Of course I expected this album to be 'album of the year', ha, ha! The Saga is, as well as those by Maryson, a concept album with a story written by René. In those days, we had a vision of playing that album live in the theatres complete with visuals and dancers. We did this in 2005 as an experiment at a college in Zwijndrecht with translations into Dutch in a kind of musical way. The message in the lyrics was the warning for the current climate change because of bad stewardship by humanity. Overall, it appeared to be too complicated to set up a multimedia show."

When I heard The Saga, I immediately liked it very much. It has become one of my favourite albums. I hoped for a quick successor, but it took Ice almost twenty years to record Man In The Moon. How come it took so much longer?
HB: "The first album in the new line-up was released in 2005 by Musea, a French label for progressive rock. Due to daytime work schedules, some health issues and of course the worldwide covid pandemic, the writing and producing of the next project took much longer than expected. By the way, Man In The Moon has been released by OSKAR Records, a well-known Polish label for prog."

Would you tell us something about the writing process? Do you have a place where you come together, or do you exchange ideas online?
CH: "I prefer to come together in a rehearsal room with some basic ideas and then work them out as a band. In this way, there's room for everyone's input and ideas. Sometimes promising ideas for guitar come from the drummer or keyboard player and vice versa, which helps everyone to connect to a song. Sadly, for this album this was only the case for a few songs. However, we got together partly. Ardie, Hein, René, and I worked on ideas at Hein's or Ardie's place. For some songs we adopted the current way of writing which consists mainly of e-mailing ideas back and forth and thus getting a feel for the song. Unlike creating music together, I must confess that this way of working still doesn't feel the same for me. We recorded the drums at Ardie's office and the backing vocals that our kids did, were recorded at Hein's house, both using the mobile version of Rene's home studio. All guitars were recorded at René's home studio, just as most of the lead vocals."

From L to R: Fleur Westdijk, Irma van den Broek and Merel van Hoogdalem

The backing vocals on the album have been done by three female singers with familiar surnames. Who are these background singers?
HB: "These singers are the daughters of Chris, Ardie, and me! In the first place my daughter Irma appeared on the song Man In The Moon. And so came the idea to ask Merel and Fleur, daughters of Chris and Ardie respectively, to join and do the backing vocals on other tracks. All the girls are competent singers. It was great to see that their voices blend so beautiful."

Is Ice primarily a studio project or do you also intend to play live? Was it a deliberate choice not developing into a live act?
HB: "For now we consider Ice to be a studio band. It is not easy to play this album live. We need at least one extra keyboard player to do this. Moreover, it's a pity that our music belongs to a 'niche' kind of music, so to say. Unfortunately, for our music is not a big audience, but never say never..!"

In July 2019 Ice released the song Man In The Moon, an advanced version from the album. It was a kind of ode to all people involved in the Apollo project of 1969. What is the background of the story and why did you release this song much earlier than the album?
HB: "Well, in July 2019 it was exactly fifty years ago that Neil Armstrong made his first steps on the moon. Before that, Ardie and I were working on ideas of famous pictures from the Hubble telescope. I discovered then the so-called pareidolia phenomenon. The human brain has the tendency to perceive a specific, often meaningful image in a random or ambiguous visual pattern. Famous examples are the 'face on Mars' and the 'hand of God' in a huge gas cloud. So, Ardie came up with the idea of the man in the moon. A somewhat darker aspect of this song is that the USA used the knowledge of German rocket scientists among whom Werner von Braun. After the fall of the German nazi regime he surrendered to the US-army to help to conceive and build the Apollo project, thus turning the V into a five."

The album "Man In The Moon"

In 2024 the album Man In The Moon was released. I think that album is a big step forwards compared to The Saga. What are the main differences between the two albums in your opinion?
HB: "Maybe Man In The Moon is a bit heavier, more evolved regarding the compositions. The album contains more layered keyboard passages to sixteen tracks per song harmonies, which in some songs worked very well. They make the arranging and especially the mixing much more challenging. We believe that we did an outstanding job in this field."

As far as the lyrics are concerned, I think that they are a bit darker than on The Saga. Do you agree and would you tell us something about the lyrics on this album?
HB: "Most lyrical ideas came from René and together we moulded them until they fit for the melodic and rhythmic flow of the song. I would not say that the lyrics are darker, but they are all meant to leave as much as we could to the fantasy of the listener. Still, you can say that the song Man In The Moon is about to make the wildest dream come true with a dark edge. Many people thought that Kennedy was insane when he spoke in 1961 about landing on the moon. They called him a lunatic. Other songs are real fantasy, like Black Mountain, Frozen Lake, Inside The Bulb and The Wizard. The basic idea of Cambridge came from Chris and that one is very down to earth. It tells the story of a British combat pilot in World War II. The song recounts of his very last moments, when his life passes before his mind's eye, as he dies. Lost In The Blue is about the loss of Wim Stolk, founder of Maryson, and Bert van Meeuwen, who played saxophone on The Saga. Leslie van der Heul (Supertrap) played a brilliant saxophone solo on this one."

What is your most favourite track on the album and why is that?
HB: "My most favourite tracks are Man In The Moon and Inside The Bulb. It's not easy to say why, but they really make me proud both as a composition and my vocal interpretation."
CH: "I also like Man In The Moon the most. We altered little to Ardie's basic idea and we only structured the song. Soundwise, the song has plenty dynamics. My other favourite is Cambridge because of my heartfelt tribute to Geoffrey, the Hurricane pilot whom I briefly met at Biggin Hill airfield. The music box at the top plays 'the farewell' from The Saga album, the Spitfire sound is real as is most of the radio chatter in the middle section."

I know that Rob Boshuijzen has a lot of side projects in which he takes part. Do you have side projects as well or is Ice the only band you play in?
HB: "I used to sing in Genesis Project, but nowadays I'm only playing in Supertrap, the tribute band of Supertramp. It's nice playing in a number of theatres in the Netherlands."
CH: "I was fortunate enough that they asked me to help writing and recording of Another Daybreak by Gilgamesj, a metal band that already exists from my school days. Formerly, the band played live on a regular basis, but Gilgamesj is still going strong, and they have the intention to play live on stage again in the near future."

What are your future plans? Are you already planning a new album for example?
HB: "Most band members reach the age of retirement, so there will be more time to work together. I've noticed that we all have innovative ideas that are impatiently knocking on our doors. So, yes we think a new album is lurking ahead. We will see. By the way there is a big chance that OSKAR Records will re-release The Saga."
CH: "At the time, we have no concrete plans for live performances. However, the band is in the process of writing new songs. We all hope that you will enjoy listening to the new album as much as we had putting Man In The Moon together. Our hearts are in this music."

Thank you for answering my questions for Background Magazine and for meeting up with me.
HB & CH: "It was our pleasure."