His love for music started at the age of 9 when his grandparents gave him a record player and started playing records from his father’s collection. He was touched by Jim Reeves and Elvis Presley and he started collecting records of his favorite singers. His collection soon grew with records by Tom Jones, Roy Orbison and Neil Diamond.

At 16, he formed his first band with his classmates and, on the advice of his music teacher, he took singing lessons. From then on, he developed broadly in opera, musical, classical music and pop. Eventually, he ended up where his love and influence for music began: the narrative music of Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson.

In 1990, he recorded his first single: “Separate Ways” by Elvis Presley. From his savings, he rented a studio and had 500 copies printed, which he delivered to various radio DJs. Weeks passed, when suddenly Radio 3’s Frits Spits played the single and it reached the top 100. This led to Maarten’s first record deal.