Minco Eggersman - KAVKASIA

One cannot disavow Minco Eggersman’s ambition. Next to running the VOLKOREN label on a daily basis as well as the Tongval beer-label every now and then, the singer/drummer of the dutch melancholics ‘at the close of every day’ is a very productive producer and soundtrack composer. Born in 1977, Minco is based in Amsterdam and whenever he is not working in his own studio he travels to different studios to record music.

Apart from his activities in various bands, Minco’s first solo album saw the light of day under the meaningful alias of ME at the start of this millennium, after which many would follow. His first soundtrack album ‘OOIT’ (which, as all his soundtracks, was released under his full name Minco Eggersman), are akin to the work of ‘at the close of every day’ (winner of first 3voor12 award in the Netherlands), but sound even more intimate and less polished, raising the question whether pop music can be stripped down any further.

Over the last couple of years soundtracks for films and documentaries have been his main focus. On these soundtracks Minco has worked together with artists such as Wovenhand, Blaudzun and Svante Henryson. The most fertile collaboration has grown with director Jaap van Heusden as after ‘OOIT’, Minco also created the soundtracks to Van Heusdens’s films ‘WIN/WIN’, ‘DRONE’, ‘DE NIEUWE WERELD’, ‘DE VERLOREN ZOON’ and recently ‘IN BLUE’. All of these films have played worldwide and have won several international prizes. On top of this, Bianca Krijgsman, main actress in ‘DE NIEUWE WERELD’, even won an Emmy Award for her role in the film in 2016.

In 2014 Minco left for what turned out to be a very inspirational trip to the Caucasus (Georgia). Together with the helps of befriended musicians like Svante Henryson, Audun Erlien, Jonas Nyström, Paul van der Feen, Jan Borger, Oene van Geel, the Iberi Choir and the Macedonian Radio Symphonic Orchestra, Minco has created his most successful solo album so far. This soundtrack to Georgia (‘KAVKASIA’) got a 9 out of 10 in reviews in several countries and even a 10 out of 10 in the U.K. When he received a message from one of his favorite soundtrack composers Ryuichi Sakamoto saying he loves ‘KAVKASIA’ Eggersman could not be more thrilled.

Minco’s sound is very recognizable as his music is melancholic, layered and very organic. His stripped-down guitar sounds that rest on a heavy bed of minimal, abrasive and layered drones always speak. Many times he has instruments custom-built (like the ‘Baskalimba’) that perfectly add to and enrich the musical jargon he has developed. Nothing is sacred and the beaten paths are easily left – as long as it serves the ‘story’, be it in a film or in a song.

In general Minco’s work has been released worldwide, from several albums through different record labels all over Europe, Japan and the USA till the use of several tracks in documentaries, films and tv-shows. Sometimes his music finds its way into a commercial, like Nespresso. Over the years he has produced over 50 albums of various artists from different countries. His works (publishing) have been or are presented by One Little Indian, Scott Cresto (Radiohead/Daniel Lanois), AMP, DE VOLKOREN UITGEVERIJ and Icewater Music. Minco also joined Depeche Mode, Deep Purple, Bon Iver and many others, to write for the biography of one of Minco’s favorite bands ‘Talk Talk’, entitled ‘The Spirit of Talk Talk’. Besides this he also wrote the preface to ‘The Early Years’, the biography of Prefab Sprout by John Birch.