The messy world of this Amsterdam-based duo ranges from indie, funk and dub to electronic, krautrock and psychedelica. Part of this world is instrumental, text and vocals play an increasingly important role. An experience in musical free time at its finest!
The music of I Believe In My Mess is indebted to albums like My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts by Brian Eno/David Byrne and There’s A Riot Goin’ On by Sly & The Family Stone, with its solid experimentation and adventurous craftsmanship. But there is also affinity with musical quests like Sandinista by The Clash and On The Way To The Peak Of Normal by Holger Czukay. And of course there cannot be enough tribute to dub great King Tubby! who added a new dimension to modern music by reusing existing tracks.
Since 2016 I Believe In My Mess has released on their own Filthy Good Records. Since 2019 releases were in collaboration with Dutch Independent label Excelsior Recordings.
In 2020 they released their well received debut album Do Unto Others which got airplay on BBC6, BBC Ulster and WFMU ao.
From May 2024 a series of singles will be released, starting with Not The First. In October there will be a new album.
In addition, I Believe In My Mess mixed dub tracks for De Jeugd Van Tegenwoordig, Hallo Venray, Canshaker Pi, Fatima Yamaha, Scram C Baby and Meindert Talma.
I Believe In My Mess, that’s Geert de Groot on bass, guitar & synths, and Frank van Praag on guitar, rhythms, electronics, tapes & vocals.
About debut album Do Unto Others:
- Amster-Goddamn! I Believe In My Mess have only come up with a great sonic nugget (BBC Ulster – Michael Bradley)
- I am very taken by the album (BBC Radio 6 – Gideon Coe)
- Do Unto Others is a colorful mix of hard, soft, harmony, chaos, cheerfulness and crisis. However, it never gets too heavy, the band always sounds entertaining in its own way. (Written In Music – Edwin Hofman)
- It’s like musical play-doh, do look them up (BBC Radio 6 Recommends – Steve Lamacq)
- A sensational debut LP by an inventive duo. Also works great as an antidepressant. (Opduvel – Gert Derkx)
- One of the best albums of the week (Trouw – Klaas Knooihuizen)
- My favorite album of the year (It’s Sooo Different – Berend Dubbe)