Onderox review

ROBBER ZANY PRESENTS CD “FUNNY FACE” – UNDEROX 2007

Bands that record a CD are thirteen in a dozen. Solo artists who record a CD are a lot fewer. But what Frans Willems, alias Robber Zany performed is simply “not done”. He wrote the music for a CD on his own and recorded it in the best studio, with the best musicians in the country. “Funny Face” is the name of the CD. Officially, the CD was recorded by “The Robber Zany Band” but actually that band does not exist.

Frans Willems wrote the music and because Frans Willems sounded a bit too much like Frans Willems, he made up a stage name for himself: Robber Zany, which means as much as “Bandit weirdo”.

“I like bandits because they act so thoughtfully, go straight for their target and don’t let anything or anyone disturb them. That’s how I experience music, by the way. Apart from that, I also like craziness, frivolity, palms that give colour to life. The combination of the two led me to the name Robber Zany”.

But Robber Zany did not record his music alone. He hired a dozen studio musicians to give an extra cachet to his compositions. “They did their work with such dedication and the result is also so stunning, that I really couldn’t make it to put only my name on the CD. So I just made it The Robber Zany band instead of Robber Zany”. The names of the musicians who collaborated on Robber Zany’s  project are impressive, to say the least. Jef Neve, the country’s best jazz pianist, strummed along and Philip Kerckhofs ( Coco Spirit,…) played drums.

The occasional formation went to the Galaxy Studios in Mol to record the songs Frans Willems had written over the years. “It felt very strange to hear those songs, which I have been playing by myself on guitar for so long, suddenly played by a sizeable band. The way of working was unique. We went into the studio without rehearsing once beforehand. That’s why the music sounds so lively, so enthusiastic”.

“The music itself is a hotch-potch of many styles,” says Robber Zany. “It’s hard to do otherwise because it took me 15 years to write them. So there is no particular or predominant style. You can hear some pop, jazz, blues and Latin: in short everything I’ve been doing for the last 15 years. The lyrics are positive and accessible. If there are lyrics at all because there are also a lot of instrumental songs on it”.

“It was difficult to bring unity to the album despite all those styles. We succeeded in the end by working only with basic instruments like guitar, piano, organ, bass and drums and leaving out the unnecessary bells and whistles like samples, drum computers and synthesisers. Although that wasn’t easy, because I also like those kinds of instruments”.

Whether Robber Zany will go on the farm with his new CD is still an open question. “Not all the musicians who have played along now would be able to make themselves available,” says Frans Willems, “although I do know enough good musicians to be able to put together a regular backing group if I have to. But I want to wait and see how the reaction to the CD is and whether there is any demand for live concerts.”