Personal Background

Growing up

My journey as a musician began while swinging on a wooden rocking horse, listening to "Letter From Home" by Pat Metheny. I was almost two years old. My parents often played music by artists like Jan Garbarek, Pat Metheny, and Joni Mitchell. This music surrounded me throughout my upbringing, becoming the soundtrack of my life. Unbeknownst to me, I was studying music from a very early age, training my ears unconsciously. From the moment I could understand singing, I was doing it—singing along with Jan Garbarek and Pat Metheny, mimicking their solos, and later improvising my own melodies around their music.

I am deeply grateful for the musical upbringing my parents provided. Although they are not professional musicians, their passion for music allowed me to connect with it purely through its beauty and emotional impact. The music I heard became stories, and to this day, music runs through my life with a deeply emotional and narrative-based meaning.

Reflecting on my childhood experiences and the music I listened to, I realize how they shaped the musician I am today. The music from my early years remains close to my heart and has significantly influenced the kind of music I create. The atmosphere that this music has created in my life is the kind of atmosphere that I like to create in my own music now too.

Every summer, my parents, sister, and I traveled to Norway, a country our family fell in love with. We drove through the entire country with the music of Pat Metheny, Jan Garbarek, Led Zeppelin, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Silje Nergaard, Kjetil Bjørnstad, and Joni Mitchell playing through the speakers. I strongly associate this music with the Norwegian mountains and fjords. It became an anchor, bringing me back to those mountains even when I was in the Netherlands. Norway has always felt like my true home, and it was this inner child within me that led me to move here—a dream I've had since I was young.

When I was eight years old, we were asked to bring a piece of music to school and share why we liked it and what it meant to us. I brought "Grace" by Kjetil Bjørnstad. The song begins with Arild Andersen's bass improvisation, which sounds like seagulls singing. I shared that the song reminded me of being in Norway, by the sea, hearing the seagulls at the fjords, the landscape, the openness, the wind, and the nature. The song lasts for almost 10 minutes and builds up to an energetic saxophone solo by Bendik Hofseth. This must have been quite intense for my fourth-grade classmates, but it provides a clear picture of the child I was and the musical journey I've been on ever since.

In high school, my phone's ringtone was the opening of Pat Metheny's solo from "Song for Bilbao." This piece of music narrated a story to me, making me feel free and alive. I always yearned to share that feeling with others. The way these musicians touched my soul and guided me through their beautiful melodies is how I aspire to touch and guide others. I want to convey a profound expression that connects with our deepest emotions, transforming into a story that adds deeper meaning to someone's life.

When I moved to Norway, I realized that the music I had been creating and performing over the past ten years was primarily an attempt to evoke the feelings I experienced in Norway, a place I longed to be. I now see how my childhood memories and the music I listened to while driving through Norway have profoundly influenced the music I produce today. After moving here, I found that the music and atmosphere I had been creating to feel connected to Norway were no longer necessary, as I was finally living here. This realization was both confusing and a bit frightening, yet deeply touching. It highlighted the powerful impact that holiday memories and the associated music have had in shaping me as a musician.

Studying music

When I was sixteen, I attended a concert by singer Francien van Tuinen at Bimhuis in Amsterdam. That experience was the first time I seriously considered becoming a musician. Although music had always been my greatest passion, I had never thought or dreamed of becoming a musician myself. The concert at Bimhuis awakened something within me. The interplay between the musicians on stage, the lights, the sound, and the meticulous attention to the music created a truly magical atmosphere. It was then that I realized how enchanting it could be to become a singer myself. This inspired me to explore how I could begin studying music.

This journey led me to take lessons in singing jazz standards, something I had never done before. My musical roots were deeply embedded in the ECM Records collection. While I enjoyed singing jazz standards, there was always something that felt alien to me, something I couldn't connect with in the same way I did with the other jazz music I listened to and played along with.

As I progressed through my bachelor's program at the music academy in the Netherlands, I felt increasingly disconnected from jazz standards and the magic of music I had always experienced. Studying these songs didn't evoke the same enchantment I felt when listening to Jan Garbarek and Pat Metheny.

I attended jazz sessions, singing the standards, and eventually realized what was missing. When performing a standard with my fellow students, I would sing the themes and lyrics, then step aside to make space for the musician taking the solo. I observed how the musicians became deeply connected, weaving the web of the song together through improvisation. They entered a magical space together, creating something extraordinary, while I, as the singer, was merely accompanied.

Don't get me wrong, there is definitely magic in singing the traditional standard melody and lyrics and being accompanied, but for me, it always felt limiting. Not being part of the collective magic with the other musicians made me feel very sad. In that moment, I decided to do everything I could to become part of that magic with my fellow students. This decision set me on a journey to find my own voice, to use it as an instrument, and to create and discover my own palette of sounds. I aspired to become a singer who could interact with every musician in every moment, regardless of the music genre.

Important to the beginning of that journey was my teacher at the time, Renske Taminiau, who guided me in discovering my own sounds. She encouraged me to "bring a song that you love and start exploring with sounds how Sanne would express herself on this song." I brought Joni Mitchell's "Hejira" to class and began to freely explore how my voice wanted to move.

Important events

Around that time, two significant events occurred. First, I attended a concert by Susanne Abbuehl, which profoundly influenced the direction of my music. Her intense, silent songs, inspired by the poetry of great poets like Emily Dickinson and James Joyce, touched me deeply. The atmosphere she created with her voice—using it as an instrument, with sounds, sighs, and beautiful melodies, with each note receiving the utmost loving attention—guided to an unknown place that felt incredibly special.

Second, I formed a trio with Joost Lijbaart and Bram Stadhouders for a small carte blanche concert, where I could experiment with my musical ideas, vision, and artistry for the first time. Little did I know that this trio would become incredibly important for my journey. With Joost and Bram, I free improvised for the first time, which opened new doors for me. This was the magic I had always been searching for and knew existed. We became Under The Surface and have now been playing together for ten years, touring on six continents in more than 30 different countries.

The tours around the world involved numerous collaborations with traditional musicians from various countries, each bringing their unique musical cultures. Through my studies, I discovered the power of using my voice as an instrument. This ability allowed me to communicate with everyone, across all genres, and with every musician, expressing myself authentically in the moment.

Collaborating with various musical traditions has significantly enriched my vocal palette. The knowledge and inspiration I gained from these traditions have seamlessly merged with my current musical practice. However, this journey also sparked a quest to find my own musical tradition. While it was wonderful to sing the music of different cultures, it left a void. Singing those pieces in specific collaborations was fulfilling, but it wasn't my own tradition that I could carry forward. This disconnect between performing vibrant musical traditions and lacking one of my own led me to seek out my own folklore.