Di-rect

Di-rect (2008)

Di-rect is a Dutch rock band from The Hague with mostly English lyrics.

history

The band was formed in 1999 by four teenagers with the support of Dick Westland (Jamie's father) and Dennis van Hoorn (Rock Palace). After the well-known Dutch DJ Rob Stenders from 3FM heard their demo tape with five songs, the group got a record deal. Just the Way I Do It contained on the tape became a first hit.

In 2001 the debut album Discover was released . Di-rect was supported by Kane and Skik, among others . Thanks to the support of 3FM, the album quickly became number 1 in the Dutch album charts . In the summer of 2002, Di-rect played at the three largest Dutch festivals : Pinkpop , Parkpop and Lowlands . The second long player Over the Moon was released in 2003 and contains the single hits Adrenaline , She , Rollercoaster and Don't Kill Me Tonight .

In connection with the 2005 album All Systems Go! Di-rect had various festival appearances , including at the PinkPop Festival . In the same year, the band was part of the MTV reality show Road Rally and thus came to the United States for the first time. With the albums Live & Acoustic and Direct doet Tommy (both 2008) the group continued their previous successes.

After Akkerman left Di-rect in 2009, the television show Wie is direct on BNN was looking for a new lead singer. The albums This Is Who We Are (2010) and Time Will Heal Our Senses (2011) were created with the new singer Marcel Veenendaal . In 2014, Daydreams in a Blackout, recorded in their own studio, followed .

Members

• Tim Akkerman - vocals, guitar (until 2009)
• Bas van Wageningen - bass
• Jamie Westland - drums
• Frans "Spike" van Zoest - guitar
• Paul Jan Bakker - guitar (from 2016)
• Vince van Reeken - Keyboard (2009-2016)
• Matteo Iannella - Keyboard (from 2017)
• Marcel Veenendaal - vocals (from 2009 for Akkerman)

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)	Remarks
		NL
2001	Discover	NL14th gold (68 weeks)NL
2003	Over the moon	NL2 gold (26 weeks)NL
2005	All Systems Go	NL1 (28 weeks) NL
2007	Di-rect	NL2 (9 weeks) NL
2008	Live & Acoustic	NL14 (8 weeks) NL
	Tommy does directly	NL53 (7 weeks) NL
2010	This Is Who We Are	NL3 gold (28 weeks)NL
2011	Time Will Heal Our Senses	NL6 (21 weeks) NL
2014	Daydreams in a Blackout	NL1 (15 weeks) NL
2017	Rolling with the punches	NL6 (5 weeks) NL

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)	Remarks
		NL
2001	Just the Way I Do Discover	NL24 (4 weeks) NL
2002	Inside My Head Discover	NL8 (13 weeks) NL
	Free Discover	NL14 (6 weeks) NL
	Adrenaline Over the Moon	NL10 (10 weeks) NL
2003	She over the moon	NL2 (13 weeks) NL
	Rollercoaster Over the Moon	NL27 (3 weeks) NL
	Don't Kill Me Tonight Over the Moon	NL21 (7 weeks) NL
2005	Hungry for Love All Systems Go	NL4 (15 weeks) NL
	Cool without You All Systems Go	NL4 (11 weeks) NL
	Webcam girl All Systems Go	NL10 (10 weeks) NL
	Blind for You All Systems Go	NL13 (10 weeks) NL	feat. Wibi Soerjadi
2007	A Good Thing Di-rect	NL2 (12 weeks) NL
	I Just Can't Stand Di-rect	NL36 (2 weeks) NL
	Johnny Di-rect	NL26 (5 weeks) NL
2009	Times Are Changing This Is Who We Are	NL11 (14 weeks) NL
2010	This Is Who We Are This Is Who We Are	NL15 (8 weeks) NL
	Hold On This Is Who We Are	NL23 (8 weeks) NL
	Natural High This Is Who We Are	NL28 (4 weeks) NL
2011	The Chase Time Will Heal Our Senses	NL22 (5 weeks) NL
	Young Ones Time Will Heal Our Senses	NL26 (3 weeks) NL
2013	Where We Belong	NL24 (6 weeks) NL	with Fedde Le Grand
2020	Soldier On	NL24 gold (… Where.)NL

More singles

• 2001: My Generation
• 2003: Name of the Game
• 2004: Underground Cafe

Video albums

• 2002: In Indonesia
• 2003: Live in Paradiso

swell

1. ↑ ^{a b} Chart sources: NL albums NL singles
2. ↑ Awards for Music Sales: NL

Web links

• Official website (Dutch and English)
• The Call at Allmusic (English)
• Direct at Discogs (English)