Dutch singer-songwriter Wyke van Weelden started her career in 2012 as a 19-year-old girl on national Dutch TV with her song “I Do Love”. That same night she was #3 on Twitter and interviews and radio performances followed. Later she was asked to write for movies and commercials with songs such as “Make You Mine” for The Pool (2014) or “World Of Blue” for WWF’s biggest campaign of that same year. Eventhough her career took off she decided to withdraw from music due to personal reasons. 

In mid 2020, then living in Spain, she covered “Soldadito de Hierro” (originally by Nil Moliner) and made an official English version called “Soldier”, released by Warner Chappell. Now she is back more dedicated than ever, working on her music independently and especially focussing on bringing art and stories into songs and videoclips. Her new single “take me where you wanna go” is really only the start of what she is planning to show the world. As she says “In my opinion everything should make sense. In “take me where you wanna go” the lyrics do not only connect with the music, but also with everything that happens in the videoclip. I find image and videoclip as important as the feeling and production of the songs, it really has to be special. And thanks to an amazing team of artists I was lucky to work with, we succeeded in creating something with meaning. I feel like I truly found my way back into music and that this is what I want to create.”

“take me where you wanna go” is a melancholic and mellow slowpop song about the difference between the fun and beautiful life we show online, and the sometimes dark and lonely reality. In where you feel the pressure to be and achieve something. It’s a project made with a lot of love and devotion”

What’s your story as an artist?
In 2012 I appeared on Dutch television in a competition for singer-songwriters. I was eliminated after the first episode but “luckily” I became kind of the underdog; I was #3 on Twitter the same night and was asked for interviews to write for movies/commercials. To seize the moment we managed to record an EP in only two days. I was 19 and I honestly think I wasn’t really ready for the attention yet. It made me all nervous; appearing on radio, having to go through interviews. All I felt was people wanting certain things for me that I just couldn’t and didn’t want to give. So I left to Australia, going after a boy I liked at the time. I have regretted it for a long time, feeling like I didn’t take my chances. Now that I am back with and working on more music and my latest single, I can definitely accept it. 

What inspired this last release?
I watched a documentary about drug addicts and started to think over the fact that we are so obsessed with a kind of life where there seems to be no pain. We all have to be so perfect, special and achieve great things. I took it further and thought about the pressure nowadays on social media for example. How it kills my own personality and how it makes me feel bad sometimes. It seems that we all have to be a certain way in order to succeed, so I wrote this song about it. I see it as a reminder for myself to remember that the important things are not success or fame, but the people close to you and the moments you spend with them because those moments are gone before you know it. 

Do you get inspired by other art forms?
All the time, I love photography and cinema so the videoclip was such a fun thing to do. We were backed up by crowdfunding and thanks to that we really could bring the ideas to life. The fact that I am so proud with this release is because it kind of connects with everything, I find the videoclip as important as the song, and that is really the first time I look at a release like that. 

Any funny anecdotes from the time you were recording or writing this?
Hmm, not really! Everything went quite smoothly. Normally I have plenty of those stories backing up my chaotic and clumsy side. I reckon the grounded and amazing people that have been around me in during the recording and videoclip have kind of saved me from that. 😉

What’s your favorite place or environment to write?
Wherever I can be alone. I love it when I am at home sitting on the couch, the sunlight comes through the window and reflects on the wall. It makes me in the mood for writing. I also write well when sad, when I feel no one is listening so the only way to tell my story is writing a song. 

What’s a record that shaped your creativity?
I listen to so many different styles, especially the ones that aren’t very close to what I make myself. I think I need it in order to stay creative, to not get saturated. I try to listen really closely to all kind of music to listen what it is I love about it. The solo in this release definitely is inspired by John Mayer, but then again, John Mayer is again inspired by great guitarists like Mark Knopfler for example. I love it when music is overflowing in other songs and genres, it’s something in art that is beautiful, when you take something but tell it your way. 

Who is an artist or band you look up to today?
I just found out about the Secret Sisters, I love them, they have some amazing covers and their voices sound so beautiful together. Other than that, you could wake me up for any record by J.J. Cale. 

What excites you the most about what you do ?
This release has been the most exciting single I have ever done. I created it together with people that I really believe in and who I trust. I love it when you can trust someone so much with your music that you feel open to their ideas. Normally I have been more closed-minded, like, “don’t touch this song too much, it’s like my child” and I always wanted things a certain way. I still am like that, but recording with Pau Romero of BeatGarden Studio and while filming the musicvideo things were different. It excited me so much to create something together, and it was very delighting to see the people I worked with showing as much devotion and motivation as me. 

What is your view on genres and music styles since you mix a lot of them in your music?
I think genres are made just to understand the styles people like in an ordened way, I mean, it is easier for me to say what genres I don’t like than to say what I like. There is so many of them and I always try to take the little things I love out of all of them, this could be a little guitar solo or sounds. I never have really followed any genre purposely, but I haven’t excluded one either.

What does music and art mean to you?
The world really, it is what makes me wake up in the morning. I know it sounds heavy but I need to have projects going on and give life something extra with meaning. I have found myself most down on days where I didn’t have anything going on. When not doing any projects myself, I am consuming it, I love to listen to music or watch those kind of movies where every still is a photograph. Even when I am just going for a walk in nature I feel like I am consuming art, there really is a lot of beauty to see and enjoy.How would you describe your act in one word?
Pure