History Nasmak

Nasmak was an experimental post-punk / new wave band from the small town of Nuenen, The Netherlands. Their 1982 LP 4our Clicks is generally regarded as one of the best Dutch albums of all time. The legendary John Peel was a fan of their first two albums in particular. Nasmak became the first Dutch band to do a 'Peel Session' for the BBC.

Established in 1978 as Nasmaak (Dutch for 'Aftertaste'), the group slightly altered its name in 1979 because they no longer wrote in Dutch. The word Nasmak doesn't exist in Dutch, but indicates how an English-speaking person would pronounce Nasmaak.

Closely associated with the Amsterdam-based Ultra movement, Nasmak released four fully-fledged LPs during their six year existence: Nasmak Plus Instruments/Instruments Plus Nasmak (1980), 4our Clicks (1982), Duel (1983) and Silhouette (1983). They also released three cassettes of experimental music, entitled Indecent Exposure, volumes 1 to 6 (1981-1982). Nasmak split up in 1984.

The band's core line-up was: Henk Janssen (guitar, vocals), Joop van Brakel (vocals, guitar), Theo van Eenbergen (bass) and Toon Bressers (drums). The band had several collaborators during their existence, notably Aad van Vught (bass), Koen Ankers (bass), Milco Bogard (guitar) and Truus de Groot (vocals, crackle box).

Truus de Groot worked with Nasmaak in 1978. She had a musical project of her own called +Instruments. She moved to New York in 1981 and established a New York incarnation of +Instruments, which featured Lee Ranaldo (later of Sonic Youth) for some time.

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