bio
“A truly grand and adventurous album. (..) The sky is the limit.” – Musicfrom.nl, about ‘Independence?’
They know how to handle this thing. (…) One out of few shining, groundbreaking musicians of the night. Simply astonishing.”- 3voor12, about Marlon Penn & the MU at No Sleep ‘Til Burg
photography: (c) Herman Stehouwer, Joost Bazelmans
Marlon Penn (The Netherlands, 1985) is a songwriter, composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, mc, dj and a poet. As a live performer, he tours with the five-piece band The Modern Underground, as well as solo, with his acoustic guitar. Marlon Penn is a self-managed artist.
In january of 2010, his solo debut album ‘Independence?’ was officially released, published by Moon Records, an independent label set up by producer Wouter Budé.
‘Independence?’ features 12 atmospherical tracks, swiftly touching many genres of music within the pop spectrum. All very different from each other, yet manufactured with the same DIY spirit with one objective: to be diverse, to take the risk. Marlon Penn’s ‘Independence?’ was hailed by the Dutch music press / blogs for its diversity.
Marlon Penn made all recordings in Roermond, at the Moon Studio. In the process of recording, both Marlon and Wouter showed vision in pursuing an all anolog sound that would still appear to sound like the modern age.
Writing the songs and playing most of the instruments himself, Marlon Penn directly expressed his emotion in every song. As a producer, Wouter Budé (drums, percussion) made sure that every song was approached differently.
Even before releasing the album, Marlon Penn’s voice was already being compared to Ben Harper, Jeff Buckley and even Thom Yorke in live reviews.
Marlon Penn & the Modern Underground
Marlon Penn started playing with The Modern Underground (also known as ‘The MU’) one year after the first recordings, in 2008. From the start, the band has been praised by the press for their highly energetic live shows. Many were amazed by their unconventional playing style and performance, submitting the audience to rushful noise and awkward silences.
In 2009, Marlon Penn & the MU reached out to an audience of 3 million listeners, playing live at the ‘Best of..’-week at Radio 2, a major Dutch radiostation. ‘Independence?’ was also noticed by KinkFM, the nation’s largest alternative radiostation. In the summer of 2009, Marlon Penn & the MU set up their own tour in France, playing in bars and venues.
In 2010, Marlon Penn & the MU gave away two free shows during the Eurosonic/Noorderslag weekend in Marlon’s place of birth, Groningen. The band almost made it to the Pinkpop festival, winning the 2nd place in the Nu of Nooit rally in Limburg, just behind Sungrazer. Marlon Penn & the MU were invited to play at Europemania in Hungary, along with JunkieXL and Jazzanova. Also, the band is selected for Popronde, the largest (traveling) festival in The Netherlands.
Get out and hear this!
Management:
info [at] marlonpenn.nl
+31 6 128 45 928
Bookings (band):
bookings [at] marlonpenn.nl
+31 6 24 101 988
Bookings (solo acoustic / dj-set)
info [at] marlonpenn.nl
+31 6 128 45 928
Marlon Penn & The Modern Underground
Marlon Penn – lead vocals, guitar
Tom Veugen – lead guitar, vocals
Pitt de Jongh – bass, vocals
Joop Janssen – guitar, keys
Wouter Budé – drums
