Formula Indie Sessions _ Interview with Simon Van Genderen
Hailing from Breda, the Netherlands, indie rock band Blue Vultures has always explored the realms of eclecticism since it was established by four friends who were still in secondary school in 2018. Taking inspiration from different facets of rock music, the group, fronted by Simon van Genderen, always managed to keep things interesting for anyone who listened, which resulted in being asked to play festivals, support slots and headline shows, most of them either packed or sold out. The band also won studio time through a songwriting contest and ended up on the Dutch Indie Charts reaching second place at its highest.
In 2025, the band changed their line-up after a long period of unproductiveness. Sven Kwakernaat and Jan-Willem Arink joined the band on drums and guitar respectively and the group has since worked on new material. Although this formation didn’t play shows this year, the indie rock outfit is set to play their first show with this line-up during Eurosonic in Groningen in January 2026.
What is your earliest memory connected to music?
This was probably being in the car with my parents, listening to my dad’s CDs. Nowadays, a lot of people my age listen to Radiohead, R.E.M., Nirvana, Depeche Mode, et cetera, and although I didn’t completely understand the music when I was, let’s say, eight years old, I heard it frequently as a small child before my peers did.
How did your passion for creating music begin?
My parents told me to get a hobby as I was at home all day after school, so I started learning to play the guitar when I was 13 years old. Not long after, I figured I could write my own songs instead of just playing other people’s and it’s been a hobby that’s gotten a little out of hand ever since.
What’s the story behind your current music project?
Blue Vultures formed in secondary school in 2018 after some classmates in music class and I found that we had great chemistry on stage during a practical music exam. We then participated in coaching programmes, won a songwriting contest which lead to studio time, and played packed and sold out shows, but at some point, life got demanding in different ways for each individual band member causing us to end up stagnant. To move forward, you need people who have the time and the willingness to make the band a priority, so at the start of 2025, I got a new drummer and a new guitar player. We’re more motivated than ever to play shows and get the band to become more well-known.
How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music before?
I’d say it’s diverse, eclectic even. When going through our discography, it becomes very apparent that I’ve had phases where I listened to certain (sub)genres within rock music a lot. We’ve had some more pop-oriented songs, but also some punk-inspired tunes. I think that’s why crowds tend to be positive, but that’s also why we don’t fit the mold according to critics and people in the industry. In essence, we just do whatever we feel like.
Nowadays, I would like our band to delve into a darker, abrasive, emo and post-hardcore inspired sound. However, the new members have a bigger influence on the sound now, because I no longer compose every instrument’s part like I did with the original line-up, so we’re getting to some sort of middle ground where we’re truly starting to find our own sound.
What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music?
Working with others and allowing input when you’re used to doing the majority of the writing. I remember being in the studio with the band for the first time to record Venus Child, and everyone, especially the producer and engineers, telling me that we should shorten the song, which meant cutting parts out. In the beginning, it might be difficult to have people modify what’s essentially your baby, but if you look back on the process and the end result, you might find that it’s better than it was. By now, I just provide a recording of rhythm guitar and vocals, I then let the rest of the band fill in the blanks and we give each other input based on what we come up with. Somehow, my bandmates mostly come up with something that I think works fine the first time, so the writing process tends to be a breeze.
What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process?
My guitar and Logic Pro are among my most important tools, because they are vital to both reasonable sounding demos as well as the final recordings and mixes which you will hear on our releases as we are planning to do everything ourselves as much as possible.
Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?
I’ve become a huge fan of a band called Bad Luck Baby over the course of the past few months. Besides making some really cool music, they’re a bunch of lovely people as well.
How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision?
I often question whether I’m understood or taken seriously if I express myself outside of a musical context, so I find music to be a vessel for my thoughts and feelings, where I can be as expressive, dramatic, creative or blunt as I please without being concerned about the repercussions. I am already honest about anything I feel or think whenever I talk to people, but the music is where I say the unspoken thing out loud.
What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work?
I occasionally find comfort in music that other artists made, because they manage to describe something that I can relate to. I hope that people can find comfort in the relatability of certain experiences and situations that I describe in our songs as well.
What’s the most important lesson music has taught you so far?
You can’t please everyone, so either do whatever you please or do what you think is necessary. This applies to how your live performances or releases are perceived by an audience, but also in having to replace band members when you’re the leader trying to make your act work.
What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at?
Although I’m a big fan of smaller venues and festivals, I’d like to say the Pyramid Stage on Glastonbury.
If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why?
I would say Ben Gibbard, who is the lead singer of Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service. I take a lot of inspiration from him and he is my favourite lyricist.
Where can our listeners follow and support your music? (Website,Spotify, IG, links)
We’ve got a very handy Linktree where you can find everything: linktr.ee/bluevulturesband
Looking toward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical journey?
European co-headlining tours with contemporaries would be a dream, but it’s playing shows and potentially finding a booking agency to sign us that has our priority right now.
What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way?
That I take the responsibility of leading and being in a band seriously, but I’m not really a serious person.
