Hallo Venray () is a guitar rock band from

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. The band is a mainstay in the Dutch rock scene and has produced a number of successful albums of which ''Coffee and cake'' (2022) is the latest.

Biography

Hallo Venray was founded in 1985 by Henk Koorn and Toon Moerland. Together with drummer Dim Veldhuizen the band released its debut album, ''You Don’t Hit a Guy With Glasses On'', in 1989. In 1990, a follow-up album ''King'' was released. It was with the band's third record, ''The More I Laugh, The Hornier Due Gets'', that the band's star began to rise. Released in 1992, the album received a lot of airplay on Dutch national radio stations. The band toured extensively in their home country, with

Pinkpop Pinkpop is an annual music festival held in Landgraaf, Netherlands. It is usually held on the Pentecost weekend (''Pinksteren'' in Dutch, hence the name). If Pentecost falls on an early date in May, the festival is held later in June. Starting in ...

as a crowning achievement. ''A Million Planes to Fly'' (1993), the band's fourth record, built on this success. The band played a number of international shows, including supporting the band

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

in France. By 1995, the band's popularity had waned, and the album ''Merry-Go-Round'' failed to live up to the success of the previous two. Two years later, Hallo Venray released a self-titled album, showing off a more modern sound with samples and electronic instruments. After this album, the band became less active. In 1998, drummer Dim Veldhuizen left and was replaced by Henk Jonkers. The group's members dedicated their time to side projects in the following years. During this period rumors of a possible break-up arose. But with 2000's album ''I’m Not a Senseless Person, At Least I Don’t Want To Be'', Hallo Venray returned. In 2003, the album, which was originally released only in the Netherlands, received a UK release on the Lo-Max label. The co-operation with Lo-Max didn't last long, as that same year the band signed with

Excelsior Recordings Excelsior Recordings is an independent record label located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The label has over 400 releases. History Excelsior was founded by Ferry Roseboom and Frans Hagenaars under the name "Nothing Sucks Like Electrolux", releasi ...

. Together with that label's staff producer Frans Hagenaars, the band began recording in November 2003, resulting, two years later, in the release of ''Vegetables and Fruit''. The CD was presented in Paradiso,

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

on January 23. This show lands the band an extensive club tour through the Netherlands. In 2008, the double CD ''Leather on My Soul'' was released by Excelsior Recordings. This album contains each song twice: An acoustic version on one CD and an electric version on the other. In 2017, Hallo Venray released their most recent album ''Where Is The Funky Party?''.

External links

* {{Authority control Dutch musical groups