vreny
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Bio

  • Professional Bio
    Vreny was born and raised in Belgium in the 70s and 80s. He grew up listening to The Beatles, The Bee …
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  • Resume
    OBJECTIVES: Offer my broad and versatile musical training and expertise in guitar, engineering, production, …
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  • Personal Bio
    Vreny Van Elslande was born 14th June 1971, in the medieval Flemish town of Ypres in Belgium, under the crazy, …
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  • My Favorite Things!!!
    Taste: vanilla Drink: Vanilla Milkshake Color: Blue Guitar: Suhr guitars, from John Suhr Beer: Rodenbach (the …
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  • 44 Random Facts about Vreny
    1. Born and raised: 14th June 1971, at 6am in Ieper (Ypres), Flanders (Belgium) 2. His sign: Gemini, with …
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  • Testimonials from Students, Fans & Fellow Musicians
    1.”On another note, I wanted to tell you what an incredible person you are. Your patience and enthusiasm …
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My Favorite Things!!!

Taste

Vanilla

Drink

Vanilla Milkshake… mmmmm.

Color

Blue (especially the blue-greenish type)

Guitar

Suhr guitars, from John Suhr

Beer:

Rodenbach (the only beer I really like)

Food:

Coq-au-vin, steak champion (means: with mushrooms).

Car:

Porsche 911 SC and Porsche Carrera

Board games:

Chess and Stratego

Sports:

Soccer, tennis, bike riding

Motorcycle:

Harley Davidson

Girl:

Not going to tell you… but she knows.

Countries:

Belgium of course haha,
But also: Italy, Australia and US. I’m in love with Italy.

City:

Rome.

Actor:

Absolutely Robert De Niro. I also admire Daniel Day Lewis and I like Edward Norton a lot.

Actress:

Not really any preference. (But if I would have to choose someone, it would be Lila French: keep an eye out for this girl).

Comedian:

George Carlin… the one and only unbelievable: George Carlin.

Art style/period:

Surrealism

Painters:

Salvador Dali, Renee Magritte, EVERYBODY who is a surrealist painter. I do also like Michelangelo a lot though and Renaissance painters.

My top-10 favorite guitarists (who all together share the first spot):

Steve Morse, Guthrie Govan, Pat Metheny, Shawn Lane, Carl Verheyen, Steve Lukather, Richie Kotzen, Stanley Jordan, Greg Howe and Scott Henderson.

Gypsy guitarists:

Jimmy Rosenberg, Birelly Lagrene, Django Reinhardt, Angelo Debarre.

Male Vocalist:

Glenn Hughes, Steve Perry (Journey) and Freddie Mercury (Queen). All 3 share the 1st place.

Other Male Vocalists:

Ronnie James Dio, David Coverdale (Whitesnake), Ian Gillan (old Deep Purple), Ivan Rebroff, Al Jarreau, Michael McDonald, The Bee Gees brothers, Elvis Presley, Jeff Buckley, Rod Stewart.

Female Rock Vocalist:

My top 3 in no particular order (they are all first spot): Amy Winehouse, Leah Hanna King, and Maggie Reilly. Maggie’s voice is angelic.

Closely followed by other favs: Anastacia, Karen Carpenter, Aretha Franklin, Eva Cassidy, Diana Ross, France Gall, Inga Rumpf (Frumpy and German band Atlantis, 70’s), Ann Christie, Ann Wilson (Heart).

Drummers:

1st place: My dad (he ROCKS… he rules), AND the almighty Vinnie Colaiuta.

I also love Ringo Starr and Roger Taylor from Queen (like my dad: they drum music, not just drum parts).

Other favorites: Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater), Neil Peart (Rush), and Dave Weckl.

Keyboardist/ pianist:

Aydin Esen (Turkish genius musician), Dieter Calliau, Emir Isilay, Derek Sherinian, Jordan Rudess, Brad Mehldau, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett.

Bassists:

Stuart Hamm, Bootsy Collins, Michael Manring, Victor Wooten, Jaco Pastorius, Marcus Miller.

Horn players:

Miles Davis, Brecker Brothers, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Marsalis Brothers, Arturo Sandoval, Maceo Parker.

Classical composer:

Absolutely: J.S. Bach.

Followed by: Beethoven, Mozart, Stravinsky, and Frederic Chopin.

Contemporary composers:

Frank Zappa, Danny Elfman.

Interests / hobbies besides music:

Psychology, traveling, art, reading, going to concerts, hanging out with friends, the mind, history, watching movies, discovering different cultures, learning languages, philosophy, people, getting acupuncture, hiking, thinking about things, healthy discussions about deeper meanings, cuddling, laughing, everything about life and love, doing good, doing crazy stuff…

… a million things really.

Favorite place to live in US:

A house in Venice or Marina Del Rey (California)… Well, now I stop to think of it: A house in the Hollywood Hills would be nice.

Bands and Musicians (besides the favorites mentioned in previous lists):

Being a professional musician myself, I have too many to mention, but here’s a list of my favorite bands/artists:

Steve Vai, Dream Theater, Jeff Richman, Deep Purple (love these guys), The Scorpions, Bruce Bartlett, Artension, Jennifer Batten, The Beatles, Jeff Beck, Jason Becker, George Benson, Boston, Julian Bream, The Brecker Brothers, Roy Buchanan, Cairo, Philip Catherine, Frederic Chopin, Charlie Christian, Stanley Clarke, Cream, Jan Cyrka, Destiny’s Child, Dire Straits, Dixie Dregs, Doobie Brothers, Doyle Dykes, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Robben Ford, Peter Frampton, Eric Gales, Bill Frisell, Genesis, Gentle Giant, Glory, Grant Green, Dave Greenslade, Buddie Guy, Herbie Hancock, Jimi Hendrix, Jethro Tull, Eric Johnson, Robert Johnson, Stanley Jordan, Journey, Kansas, Albert King, BB King, King Crimson, Wayne Krantz, Lenny Kravitz, Don Lappin, Led Zeppelin, Living Colour, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Mahogany Rush, Pat Martino, Curtis Mayfield, John McLaughlin, Wes Montgomery, Ian Moore, Vinnie Moore, Mike Oldfield, Ozzy Osbourne, Charlie Parker, Joe Pass, Kenny Burrell, Manitas de Plata, Pink Floyd, The Police, Queen, Queensryche, Racer X, Rainbow, Ernest Ranglin, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Patrick Rondat, Rush, Joe Satriani, Savatage, John Scofield, Shadow Gallery, Soundgarden, Steely Dan, Mike Stern, Sly Stone and the Family, Stray Cats, Superior (German prog rock band), Supertramp, Thin Lizzy, Walter Trout, Triumph, Robin Trower, Tygers of Pantang, U2, UFO, UK, James Blood Ulmer, Van Halen, Rick Wakeman, Mitch Watkins, Jeff Wayne, Jeff Watson, Max Webster, Whitesnake, Stevie Wonder and Yes.

Favorite Movies

First off: “The Big Lebowski”, the best AND funniest movie ever made. Also; everything from Alfred Hitchcock, Bruce Lee movies, “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “The Others”, “The Picture of Dorian Gray”, all Sherlock Holmes movies, “Ben Hur”, “Apocalypse Now”, “Fight Club” “Lucky Number Sleven”, “Sexy Beast”, “Murder by Death” and absolutely EVERYTHING from my favorite director Guy Ritchie: “Snatch”, “Revolver”, “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels”.

Television

I would actually go out and buy a television if George Carlin had a weekly show. I do not even have a television.

Books:

“The Da Vinci Code” (Dan Brown), “The Pillars of The Earth” (Ken Follett), “Zen Guitar” (Philip Toshio Sudo), “Effortless Mastery” (Kenny Werner), “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” (Stephen Covey), “Picture of Dorian Gray” (Oscar Wylde), Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes), “The Phantom of the Opera” (Gaston Leroux), “The Power of the Subconscious Mind” (Joseph Murphy), “Think and Grow Rich” (Napoleon Hill), “The Power of Now” and “A New Earth” (Eckhardt Tolle)

Heroes:

My parents Jean-Marie Van Elslande and Denise Vandamme, and my sister Wendy and brother-in-law Johny Cornette, my nephew Jensy Cornette, Marc Knecht (my teacher Latin language in high-school), George Carlin, Mahatma Ghandi, Jesus Christ, all people who have REAL psychic abilities for real, the Dalai Lama, Robert de Niro, Steve Morse, Steve Vai, Pat Metheny, Joe Satriani, Dan Brown (writer of Da Vinci Code), Ken Wilber (American philosopher), JS Bach, Nicolo Paganini, Beethoven, Mozart, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, John Lennon, Spartacus, the 12 Apostles for fighting in a peaceful way for what they believed in, knowing it would cost their lives, Miles Davis, Alexander The Great, Julius Caesar, Achilleus, Odysseus, Napoleon Buonaparte, Admiral Nelson, Leonardo Da Vinci, Bernini, Michelangelo, Bruce Lee, John F Kennedy, Oscar Wylde, Frederic Chopin, Shawn Lane (guitarist), Frank Zappa, Alfred Hitchcock, Albert Einstein, Carl Gustav Yung, Nietzsche, Renee Magritte, Salvador Dali, Robert Johnson, Pablo Picasso, Ernesto Che Guevarra, Father Damian, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Django Reinhardt,

… and any other person who through a rich, strong and beautiful mind and personality, contributed to the greater whole we are all part of: the Universe.

Who I’d like to meet:

All my heroes and favorite musicians from previous lists, and also…

  • Sharon Stone, Conan O’ Brian, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards,
  • God, Buddha, Jesus, Krishna, Mohammed,
  • and many others in the after life: Marilyn Monroe, John Bonham, Raspoetin, Tut-Anch-Amon, Nefertiti, Cleopatra, Ramses II, Ataturk, Attila the Hun, Father Damian, Borromini, Caligula, Joan of Arc, William Wallace, Merlin, Marie Magdalene, Simon Bolivar, Noah, Mozes, …
  • Steve Jobs and Bill Gates.
  • myself in all my previous lives.
  • myself in all my future lives…
  • all my ancestors so I can finalize my family tree, and
  • the woman of my dreams.

I’d love to meet her first actually; so we can both enjoy chatting and hanging out with all the other people on this and previous lists.

My favorite parts of the female anatomy:

Brains, eyes, legs (in that order).