Beequeen

Beequeen was formed in 1988 in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, by Frans de Waard and Freek Kinkelaar. They were both part of the do-it-yourself (DIY) scene of the 1980s, recording and releasing music and publishing art-zines. The name Beequeen originated from a mutual admiration for the works of German conceptual artist Joseph Beuys. The name is an adaptation of Beuys’ 1956 work Bienenkönigin, which is German for queen bee.

In the Summer of 1988, Beequeen recorded and released their first album, a cassette entitled Mappa Mundi released on De Waard’s Korm Plastics label. This led to a series of 20+ albums, released between 1988 and 2020 on various labels around the world.

Between 1988 and 2002, Beequeen’s musical style can be described as experimental ambient-drone music. In 2002, their musical pallet widened when Beequeen started to incorporate songs into their music, mixing experiment with dreampop music on their album Ownliness.

De Waard and Kinkelaar continued to record instrumental ambient-drone music under the name Wander. As Wander they recorded several albums and singles, each one with the title "Wander".

In 1999, Beequeen released a double LP box set featuring live performances as the first release on their private label Plinkity Plonk records. Over the years, the label would release music by, amongst others, De Fabriek, Mirror, Edward Ka-spel, Legendary Pink Dots, Paul Panhuysen and The Hafler Trio.

Beequeen played live in The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Poland. In 2003, Beequeen toured the American east-coast with Andrew Liles. The tour was organized by their record label Important records. Beequeen also performed several shows in Russia in 2011. The band also appeared on Dutch national radio and regional television.

In 2007, vocalist Olga Wallis joined Beequeen on the album Sandancing. 2014’s album Around Midnight was produced by Mekanik Kommando and Use of Ashes-member Peter van Vliet. The album was followed by the single Sturmwind/Gilbert on Tonefloat records.

From 2015 to 2020, Beequeen has been inactive. In 2020, De Waard and Kinkelaar released a new Beequeen album entitled Winter. The album was created out of previous unreleased archive recordings and brand new recordings made in the Winter of 2020.

Freek Kinkelaar has also been active with various solo projects including Brunnen and currently plays in The Blue Mask, and Frans de Waard has been and is active under various guises such as Kapotte Muziek, Goem, Shifts and Quest. He also publishes Vital Weekly, an online newsletter featuring reviews on experimental music.

Album discography

• Mappa mundi (1989)
• Scala destillans (split album with Technological Aquiver) )1990)
• Fond (1991)
• Der Holzweg (1993)
• Time waits for no one (1994)
• Sugarbush (1995)
• Music for the head ballet (1996)
• Split (split album with Kapotte muziek) (1997)
• Stetson (1997)
• The Surrough Gate (1997)
• Do be do (1999)
• Treatise (2000)
• Natursymfonie (2002)
• Ownliness (2002)
• A Touch of Brimstone (2002)
• Gund (2003)
• Aughton – The Patient Books (2004)
• The Body Shop (2005)
• Seltenturn – B Sides (2007)
• Sandancing (2008)
• Sandancing Demos (2008)
• Port Out Starboard Home (2011)
• Winter (2020)