THE STORY
WESTHINDER is the project of stien carlier, singer and songwriter of the band. the album serves as a musical tribute to stien’s mother, solange, who passed away in 2016; each track narrates a different aspect of stien’s grieving process. however, the album primarily revolves around the theme of light finding its way back, no matter how dark the darkness may be. other topics such as grief, loneliness, and sorrow are consistently intertwined with gratitude and love.
five and a half years after solange’s passing, they independently released “I” and performed their release concert on mother’s day, may 8th, 2022, at muziekodroom for an audience of 300 people. their second concert was a success at rock herk 2022, where they opened the main stage on friday. their third concert was a (last -minute!) spectacular home match at the LIFT stage on the sold-out saturday of pukkelpop 2022.
the name WESTHINDER was borrowed from the ‘west-hinder II,’ an old lightship currently anchored in zeebrugge, the favorite place of stien’s mother. lightships were historically used as beacons on rough seas, serving as floating lighthouses.
stien wrote the first song, ‘forget,’ as comfort for her mother’s final moments, and after her mother’s passing, she realized that songwriting had become a form of therapy. seeking moral and musical support, she enlisted the help of daniël vanderhoydonks (drums) and david demuynck (synths & keys), two friends and fellow students from her time at the conservatory, where she graduated as a master of music in jazz baritone saxophone. after about four rehearsals with this trio, it became clear that there was more potential in this project, and this music needed to be shared. with the addition of the fourth member, jan viggria on guitar, the final piece of the puzzle fell into place: WESTHINDER became a genuine band and a close-knit family.
