ABOUT US

In Andijk, a group of musicians came together through their shared love of Nirvana. Not simply to play a few well-known songs, but to bring the raw energy, vulnerability and rebellious spirit of the legendary Seattle band back to life. This is how Come As You Were was born: a five-piece Nirvana tribute band in which every member brings their own role and personality to the group.

The band consists of Niels van Doorn on vocals, Milan Nieuweboer and Rens Venema on guitar, Jurre van de Gruiter on bass, and Hein Keur on drums. That is more musicians than Nirvana itself had, but it is a deliberate choice. Kurt Cobain both sang and played guitar; in Come As You Were, those roles are divided. This allows Niels to focus entirely on the vocals and the character of the songs, while Milan and Rens work together to recreate the layered guitar sound. Jurre and Hein provide the solid rhythmic foundation that supports the rest of the band.

Each band member discovered their love for Nirvana in a different way. Milan introduced Hein to Smells Like Teen Spirit during a judo class they attended together. The song stayed with him and grew into a fascination with everything connected to Nirvana. They listened not only to the major hits, but also studied old concert recordings, lesser-known songs and different live performances.

For singer Niels, the story began with an old car. A Nirvana album had been left in the CD player by the previous owner. Niels kept playing it while driving until he had almost completely absorbed the songs. The music never let him go. A few years later, he took the initiative to form a dedicated Nirvana tribute band. The other musicians already knew each other from previous bands and had occasionally played Nirvana songs as well. As a result, forming Come As You Were felt like a natural next step.

What brings the five musicians together is not only their admiration for Nirvana, but above all the joy of making music together. Each member has a clearly defined role within the band, yet on stage they become one. Hein delivers the explosive power on drums, Jurre keeps the songs firmly grounded, Milan and Rens complement each other with both heavy and melodic guitar parts, and Niels delivers the lyrics with the intensity the music demands.

Come As You Were does not aim to be an exact copy of Nirvana. The band members remain unmistakably themselves. In fact, having five musicians allows them to reveal the many different sides of the music: from quiet and fragile to loud, chaotic and overwhelming. Their performances are not just about playing the best-known songs, but about capturing the feeling Nirvana created. During an approximately hour-long set, they perform a selection of the band’s finest work and bring Nirvana’s raw atmosphere and energy back to life.

The success of this approach became clear during their performance at De Avond van Andijk festival. According to music venue Manifesto, Come As You Were set the stage on fire. The band shows that, more than thirty years after Kurt Cobain’s death, Nirvana’s music still has the power to bring people together.

Come As You Were is, above all, the story of five musicians from Andijk coming together to honour their heroes. Not as a distant reconstruction, but as a band that brings Nirvana’s music back to life through friendship, enthusiasm and a shared love of grunge.