Nina Mae Harper

Not everyone knows that I have been in bands all of my adult life. I started at 17, singing in a curious and rather rickety combo at the local music school in the provincial Dutch town of Emmen, with a drummer who couldn’t keep time, and a 7-year old girl on bass guitar. We played rock covers. I soon grew out of that unsteady ensemble, and a whole string of other bands followed.

One of them was called Nina’s Dochters (Dutch for Nina’s daughters). It’s a funny story.

It was 1999, I was a second year student of History of Art, and I was accepted to take part in a talent contest in my university city of Groningen with my rock band back home. However, three weeks before showtime, my band pulled out, and I was left alone with three original songs and no one to play them with . My dad had kindly paid the 100 guilders of entry money, and he too was miffed.

I wrecked my brain and started looking for last-minute solutions.

One sleepy morning down at the faculty I sat with a few of my fellow students in the hallway before our first lecture. “I need a band fast”, I said. I told them what had happened, and that I was hoping for a miracle.

“My boyfriend plays the cello”, said Frederiek, sipping from her coffee. “I can ask him”.
“I play African djembé if that’s any good”, said Erik overhearing the conversation.
“I’ll join on guitar”, shouted Bart from the stairs, and that was it.

We practiced three times in my tiny student room. 

We won the contest. 

‘Nina’s Dochters’ (a spin on the phrase ‘Nina and her boys’ in an article in the local newspaper) was the most unusual combination of instruments, but the most creative and prolific band I have ever been in. It was fast and furious, we played everywhere for a year and a half, made it onto national radio, had groupies, and then, like most young bands, we fell out with each other and never spoke again. 

Other than these analogue photos and an EP on CD, I have very little evidence of that time. You got to take my word for it. We had no smart phones. It was fun.

Back then I wrote about young love, blue skies and missing my boyfriend.
Next week, my latest track is coming out on all streaming platforms. It’s called ‘Warrior’ (I guess life gave me more to write about after 26 years).

Here is an early exclusive on Bandcamp: Warrior