Johnny Kickstarter & The Shifting Gears to release debut single “Fire” on November 24th

Johnny Kickstarter & The Shifting Gears to release debut single “Fire” on November 24th

Johnny Kickstarter & The Shifting Gears featuring singer / guitarist Ypke Dijkstra are gearing up to release their debut single “Fire” in the near future.

Photo courtesy of Ypke Dijkstra

The group’s press release states: “Johnny Kickstarter & The Shifting Gears is the musical project of dutch singer/guitarist Ypke Dijkstra (46). He writes the songs and records them at home and calls on the help of musician friends where necessary. Musically it is in the corner of hard rock. With influences ranging from glam metal to Motown and from pop rock to punk.

Many songs have already been recorded or are almost ready. The intention is for Johnny Kickstarter to release a new single online every so often. Starting with the debut single ‘Fire’. This first single will be released on November 24 on all streaming platforms available (such as Spotify, iTunes, etc).

Ypke has always been in bands (including Ginger likes…) and therefore he knows rock musicians throughout the Netherlands. This was ideal for his next challenge, because how far can you get as a songwriter and musician if you do it on your own? And it’s not about becoming famous or playing everywhere, but about the process of writing a song. How do you get as close as possible to the idea you have in your head? And where do you need others to help out?

That’s how Fire came about. A song written for his previous band. But where they couldn’t agree on the direction. After which Ypke withdrew the song and decided to record it himself. Where Ypke is the Kickstarter and his friends are the Shifting Gears. For example, Bjorn Nuninga took care of the bass part and the lead guitar comes from Willem van der Tuuk. Producer Mendel bij de Leij then reprogrammed the drums and did the mix, giving the song a sound that can compete with the best productions.

Ultimately, what matters is that a song, any song, comes to life. That’s what you want, for a song to touch someone. That it might be moving, that it might be exciting or make someone happy. So listen to Fire online, put the song on your playlist, share it with your friends. Johnny Kickstarter can be found on Facebook or Instagram, and let us know what you think of Fire!”