The Bohemes are a Dutch band from The Hague who have been compared to British bands such as The Libertines and Arctic Monkeys, and The Who. The band's name is taken from Arthur Rimbaud's poem Ma Bohème. The band is known for its energetic live performances. In early 2011, the drummer Fabian Dophemont was replaced by Detlef Villerius, who in turn was replaced by the manager Gabriël Huisman in early 2012.
History
Léon Huisman and Milan Weekhout met in 2003 while still in high school. They shared a love for British music and bands and began jamming in their bedrooms. They formed The Bohemes with some friends in 2006, only to disband a year later. A new band was not formed until late 2008, with Leon and Milan in the meantime writing most material for the Black & White Demos. In June 2008, they found a suitable drummer in Fabian Dophemont ; the band was completed by Edwin Oranje on bass guitar. In April 2009, the band recorded its first album. A bit of a DIY effort, the band spent a month recording in rehearsal spaces and eventually in Weekhout's attic. They decided to use all of the material written. The Black & White Demos has twenty tracks and was released on 23 June 2009 at Café De Paap in The Hague. In August 2009, they decided on a more professional approach for their first official EP. It took two days to record I, Boheme in the Dutch Sahara Sound Studio in The Hague, where they worked with Henk Koorn. A music video for track "Insomnia" was shot soon after and both the video and the EP were released on November 5 in Supermarkt, The Hague. The EP was spotted by the Dutch pop magazine LiveXS and subsequently The Bohemes were chosen as Local Heroes of the January/February issue. In March 2010, The Bohemes returned to the Sahara Sound Studio to record a split-single "Up The Modern World!"/"Entitled", considered the best recording so far. For the music video, the band went out on the streets of The Hague by themselves to shoot material for their clip. The Bohemes supported the Dutch indie band Bettie Serveert on their spring tour of 2010 in the Netherlands promoting new album Pharmacy of Love. The bands attended most major Dutch stages, including 013, a sold-out Tivoli and Paradiso. After Dophemont decided to leave the band in December 2010, the three remaining members had to find a new drummer. After a considerable number of auditions they finally met Detlef Villerius, who stayed with the band for a little more than a year. During the summer of 2011 The Bohemes went back to the Sahara Sound Studio to record their album "To the Ears of the Night" with the new drummer and a videoclip was shot for "A Slip Around the Bend". The Album was released in September and only a few gigs followed the release. Because of different interests Villerius and the band finally decided to split in early 2012. Again without a drummer The Bohemes saw Gabriël Huisman fit to play the drums temporarily until they would find a new one. But soon after Gabriël sat down behind the drums it became clear that he had what the band had been looking for so long. The four Bohemes took a year off to give the new drummer time to learn the tricks of the trade and to write a considerable number of new songs. In 2012 they managed to cover close to 120 songs from the 1950s up to 2000s and played a few covershows. At the beginning of 2013 they now had a drummer who could drum and new songs to work with, so in May they released the "Grey Demos" on YouTube.
