Gijs van den Berg on Creativity, Music & Work Life | Vadelma
Keeping Creativity Alive: A Conversation with Gijs van den Berg
What happens to creativity when life gets busy? Work, responsibilities, family, deadlines and all the things that slowly fill our days can make it easy to put creative projects aside.
This was one of the things I wanted to explore when I sat down with Gijs van den Berg for the first interview on the Simon Vadelma Podcast. Gijs is a photographer, musician and creative director who has spent many years working in the creative industry, including at KesselsKramer in Amsterdam. He is also the person behind VANDALBERG, his one-man punk rock project, and recently released his debut album, Work Life.
The album itself is an interesting reflection of the balance between the different parts of life. Its two sides are called Work and Life, and the project grew from an idea that began in Barcelona before eventually becoming a complete album.
We also talked about something I find particularly interesting: how to keep space for your own creative work while building a career and a family. It is easy to imagine that creative people somehow have unlimited time or that their projects happen naturally. In reality, making something of your own often means deliberately finding the time for it. Gijs chose to create VANDALBERG as a one-man project, giving himself complete creative freedom and control over the music. We talked about that decision, the challenges of making an album alone, and what he learned from the process.
You don’t necessarily have to turn your creative passion into a career. You don’t even have to know where it will lead. Sometimes it is enough to keep making things, even when life becomes busy.
And perhaps that is what makes Work Life such an appropriate name for the album.
You can watch or listen to the full conversation with Gijs van den Berg on the Simon Vadelma Podcast.
Listen to VANDALBERG:
Watch the episode:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYPa3QBLogM
Keeping Creativity Alive: A Conversation with Gijs van den Berg
What happens to creativity when life gets busy? Work, responsibilities, family, deadlines and all the things that slowly fill our days can make it easy to put creative projects aside.
This was one of the things I wanted to explore when I sat down with Gijs van den Berg for the first interview on the Simon Vadelma Podcast. Gijs is a photographer, musician and creative director who has spent many years working in the creative industry, including at KesselsKramer in Amsterdam. He is also the person behind VANDALBERG, his one-man punk rock project, and recently released his debut album, Work Life.
The album itself is an interesting reflection of the balance between the different parts of life. Its two sides are called Work and Life, and the project grew from an idea that began in Barcelona before eventually becoming a complete album.
We also talked about something I find particularly interesting: how to keep space for your own creative work while building a career and a family. It is easy to imagine that creative people somehow have unlimited time or that their projects happen naturally. In reality, making something of your own often means deliberately finding the time for it. Gijs chose to create VANDALBERG as a one-man project, giving himself complete creative freedom and control over the music. We talked about that decision, the challenges of making an album alone, and what he learned from the process.
You don’t necessarily have to turn your creative passion into a career. You don’t even have to know where it will lead. Sometimes it is enough to keep making things, even when life becomes busy.
And perhaps that is what makes Work Life such an appropriate name for the album.
You can watch or listen to the full conversation with Gijs van den Berg on the Simon Vadelma Podcast.
Listen to VANDALBERG:
Watch the episode:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYPa3QBLogM
