X!NK ( ) is a Belgian

pop punk Pop-punk (also punk-pop, alternatively spelled without the hyphen) is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop music, pop. It is defined by its fast-paced, energetic tempos, and emphasis on classic pop s ...

band. The band consisted of two pairs of brothers: Jonas and Niels Meukens, and Thomas and Philip Valkiers. Jonas was the lead singer and occasionally the second guitarist, his brother Niels was the

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

. Philip played the bass guitar and Thomas played the guitar and also occasionally the

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mus ...

. X!NK gained mainstream success after becoming Belgium's submission for the 2003

Junior Eurovision Song Contest The Junior Eurovision Song Contest, often known simply as Junior Eurovision, is an international children's Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 2003. Each part ...

where they took sixth place. The band was also the subject of a series of

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

s by Mario Boon.Biography for Mario Boon
(accessed 2007-04-02). The band is planning on making a comeback with a new song and four concerts in 2023.

History

Junior Eurovision Song Contest

In the national qualifying rounds for the

in Belgium, X!NK competed against nine other contestants: Laura, Martijn, Remi, Kia, Jelly Pie, Simon MC, the twin girls Tonya and Charlotte. X!NK beat, Tonya the second-place winner with a difference of 3 points. The band then represented

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

at the first

on 15 November 2003 with the song "De Vriendschapsband" (The Bond/Band Between/Of Friends). The song, which they wrote themselves, is about the origin of their band and their friendship. In the field of 16 contestants, they ended in sixth place with 83 points at the final in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. The first place was for Dino representing Croatia and the second place for Sergio from Spain with a song dedicated to his mother who died some months before the contest. Like the other contestants, they got to record their entry in a studio with a professional producer, in their case Paul Despiegelaere. Their winning song was released as a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

After the Junior Eurovision Song Contest

X!NK launched their second single, named "Oh-Ho" in the beginning of 2004. Later that year their first album, containing twelve songs was released. The album went

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

(the Dutch language area of Belgium). X!NK often perform at rock festivals in Belgium (for example

Marktrock Marktrock is a music festival held each year around 15 August, in the heart of the university town of Leuven, Belgium. There is also a smaller Marktrock festival in Poperinge, which is held on the last Saturday of August. The name Marktrock come ...

Leuven Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipalit ...

). In 2004, they released the song "Laat Me Vrij" (Let Me Free) which served as the

theme song Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

for the Flemish version of ''

Garfield ''Garfield'' is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis (cartoonist), Jim Davis. Originally published locally as ''Jon'' in 1976 (later changed to ''Garfield'' in 1977), then in nationwide Print syndication, syndication from 1978, it chro ...

''. For the sequel to ''Ice Age'', '' Ice Age: The Meltdown'' which debuted in Flemish cinemas on 31 March 2006, they recorded the song "De Andere Kant" (The Other Side) which served as the theme song for this film. Lead singer Jonas also provided the Dutch voice for the character Jimmy the Anteater in the film. Their second album ''Vergif'' (''Poison'') was released on 30 September 2005. They also performed on the big 0110-event in Belgium. They opened the show in

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

. The band announced their split in 2009. Recently Niels and Thomas also play in another Belgian band called The Crackups with two other musicians.

Reunion concert and comeback

X!NK announced they would reunite for a concert in Brussels. When the concert sold out within minutes, the band announced three more shows, which are all sold out as well. The band later announced new music, with a new lead single 'Misschien'. After decent commercial success, and multiple successful shows and festival appearances, the band continued releasing new singles. After 'Misschien' we quickly got 'Aura' and 'Ik Wil de Wereld Zien'. The two newest songs did not catch the eye of the mainstream public as 'Misschien' did, but the band kept true to their philosophy of bringing raw, Flemish, pop punk and forged a core audience. 2024 started with some bad news as bassist and original member of the double pair of brothers, Philip Valkiers, left the group. Citing differences within the group as his reason to leave. It took a while for the news to come out to the public, so a new bassist was quickly found in Jasper Mulier. With Jasper, the band continued and announced an upcoming album 'Dag Nul'.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

*Part of this article is translated from the corresponding article from the Dutch Wikipedia, retrieved 7 April 2007.

External links

*
Official website
featuring tour guide, biography, pictures, news and audio.
X!NK
at the Boy Choir & Soloist Directory. *
The X!NK comic book series
at Dupuis.com (Google cache) with "Accroche-toi" {{DEFAULTSORT:Xnk Dupuis titles Belgian pop punk groups Musical groups reestablished in 2001 Musical groups disestablished in 2009 Dutch-language musical groups from Belgium