Iron Jinn
“We like to surprise each other, as musicians but also as listeners. We want to reach an audience that is curious and open-minded, and not too hung up on this genre or that genre.”
When Roadburn organiser Walter Hoeijmakers commissioned some Dutch musicians to perform an improvised set at the festival, he probably didn’t realise that he was conjuring a new band from the ether. As former members of a variety of underground bands, including the much-missed Molasses and psych-rockers Shaking Godspeed, Oeds Beydals and Wout Kemkens had plenty of progressive and psychedelic pedigree, but when they joined forces as Iron Jinn, their chemistry was instant and magical.
“We had three rehearsals and clicked right off the bat,” says Kemkens. “We knew we had to do 'something', and to rehearse more often, but Oeds had his other band Death Valley and I had my projects, so it marinated over time. During the whole Covid situation, we both had time, because obviously there were no concerts. We got together and went really deep. We made the first album and we were both so hyped about the material we decided to start an actual band! [Laughs]”
Released in 2023, Iron Jinn’s self-titled debut was a startling first foray. Full to the brim with esoteric ideas, hypnotic riffs, skewed vocal harmonies and moments of unadorned chaos, it touched upon everything from sinister old school prog to woozy, lysergic and jazz-tinged rock. Gleefully resistant to being pinned down, Kemkens and his comrades performed the album in its entirety at Roadburn, wilfully expanding and moulding the songs into ever-more remarkable shapes. This year, Iron Jinn will release their second album to demonstrate exactly how much the whole project has evolved since its humble inception.
“I agree that we had a lot of ideas on that first album, and maybe almost too many!” Kemkens laughs. “We had a hard time wrapping it up, because we kept coming up with more ideas. With the new album, I think the arrangements are much more clear and that’s the impact of testing the material out in front of a live audience. You can see when certain parts are really working, because you can see the people moving. So it’s a real motivator to crystallise things more.”
A 70-minute, mind-expanding rock odyssey, 'Zeitgeist On The Run' is an absurdly ambitious sophomore effort. From the swirling prog grandeur of the opening 'Sayonara', to the 17-minute colossus of grand finale 'The Futurist', Iron Jinn have casually outstripped their debut and plunged into an even more fascinating world of cross-pollinated madness. Inspired by everything from Steve Reich to jazz legend McCoy Tyner, their music is palpably alive and often seems to be mutating in real time.
“I like to create contrasts, and I like music to be very rich,” says Kemkens. “Maybe what we do should be described as ‘adventurous music’? Around every corner you discover something new, and when you hear it multiple times, you hear different things each time. We like to surprise each other, as musicians but also as listeners. We want to reach an audience that is curious and open-minded, and not too hung up on this genre or that genre. The music should be an adventure!”
- Dom Lawson
PROG FILE
LINE-UP: Oeds Beydals (guitar/vocals), Wout Kemkens (vocals/guitar), Bob Hogenelst (drums), Gerben Bielderman (bass), Jarno van Es (keyboards)
SOUNDS LIKE: Exploratory, psychedelic prog with an esoteric, liberated mindset.
CURRENT RELEASE: 'Zeitgeist On The Run' is out in September
WEBSITE: Music | Iron Jinn