Treble was a
girl group
A girl group is a music act featuring two or more women in music, female singers who generally vocal harmony, harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female p ...
from 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 ...
.
Career
The group started in 1995 when Caroline Hoffman (born 7 March 1975) and sisters Niña (born 26 May 1985) and Djem van Dijk (born 2 July 1987) met during a party, where Caroline was performing with a friend. The parents of the van Dijk sisters asked Caroline to become the music teacher of the two girls. A close-knit group was born, starting with street concerts where they accompanied themselves with
acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...
and
djembe
A djembe or jembe ( ; from Maninka language, Malinke ''jembe'' , N'Ko script, N'Ko: ) is a rope-tuned skin-covered goblet drum played with bare hands, originally from West Africa.
According to the Bambara people in Mali, the name of the djembe ...
. Their harmonised and contagious African rhythm soon attracted a lot of attention. Treble is unique for its use of a fictitious language, called "Treble. As they put it, "In order to be able to get emotions across, music does not always require understandable language." The van Dijk sisters were in their early teens when the collaboration with Caroline started, and were therefore better able to pick up foreign languages. Although the girls have been singing in English and occasionally in French, the Treble language still is an integral and important part of their songwriting and performances.
After performing in the Netherlands and traveling abroad, the girls recorded their debut single "Ramaganana" at the end of 2003, which turned out to be the major breakthrough for the trio, reaching the number one slot on the Dutch singles
Hit List. To promote the single, Treble hit the streets again. Performing with a placard requesting the listeners purchase their single and bring it to first place, they succeeded. In June 2004, their first album, ''No Trouble'', made its debut. The girls, by then, had a record deal with CNR Music. Backed up by a group of session musicians they show the many different styles Treble has mastered, ranging from ballads to uptempo rock songs. The album is supported by a full theatre tour and several festival appearances. On stage the three girls are accompanied by a three-man live band: Olaf Fase (drums), Emanuel Platino (bass) and Willem Philips (guitar).
Their second album ''Free'' came out in April 2006. By then, the group has teamed up with World Sound Management from the US. The American management firm became interested in Treble when the group performed in France during Midem. In true Treble style, the girls weren't invited. They went to France and just hit the streets of Cannes without any planned gigs. The album is recorded in Hawaii and Los Angeles, under the guidance of
Keith Olsen. His involvement lead to a much more coherent sound and the inclusion of the
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British-American Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1967 by the singer and guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green. Green named the band by combining the surnames of the drummer, Mick Fleetwood, and the bassis ...
song Crystal, which also was produced by Keith Olson in its original form. The band returns to familiar water when they went on a theatre tour (Omne trivium perfectum) and a full festival agenda. Treble will compete in the National Song Festival, which is the national final for the Eurovision Song Contest.
Eurovision Song Contest 2006
On 12 March 2006, an overwhelming victory at the National Song Festival in Amsterdam made Treble the Dutch representatives in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2006 in
Athens
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
. During a
live television
Live television is a television production broadcast in real-time, as events happen, in the present. In a secondary meaning, it may refer to streaming television where all viewers watch the same stream simultaneously, rather than watching vide ...
show on the Dutch channel
NOS, their song "
Amambanda" was chosen as the best by 72% of the viewers. After this, Treble went on tour, planning to visit every country that was to send a contestant to Athens. They succeeded in doing so, but were unable to qualify for the final, finishing in 20th place in the semi-final.
After Eurovision
The schedule for Treble after the Eurovision Song Contest was relatively unfruitful. A single "Fly" off the ''Free'' album was scheduled as a
CD-single, but was later rescheduled to appear only as a download. yet another single "Leave Me Alone" was scheduled for 2006 but later postponed to early 2007.
Djem and Niña van Dijk have both enrolled in the Amsterdam Conservatorium to sharpen their musical skills reducing their participation in Treble. The band eventually split up in March 2010. Each of the girls have decided to make their own solo career in music.
After break-up
Niña van Dijk took part in
season 3 of the ''
Voice of Holland'' in 2012 and was part of Team
Marco Borsato
Marco Roberto Borsato (, ; born 21 December 1966) is a Dutch people, Dutch singer. Born in Alkmaar, North Holland, he started performing in Italian language, Italian before switching to Dutch language, Dutch in 1994. He has consistently been one o ...
but was eliminated after the first live show round (Top 32)
External links
Treble websiteTreble websiteTreble page on NOS
{{Authority control
Dutch all-female bands
Dutch girl groups
Musical groups established in 1995
Eurovision Song Contest entrants