General Fuckedupness Notwithstanding

Gram Records is proud to present the long overdue fourth Walker Diver album, available now on vinyl and cassette!

Musically, the album may not be a big departure from the trusted mix of alt. country, power pop and indie rock, but lyrically it is by far the most topical album to date, reflecting the times we are living in today. The lyrics deal with the Corona crisis, gender issues, the increase of violence amongst young kids, social inequality and the influence of social media on public debate. It took nearly four years to make the album, partially because of the lockdowns. The album was recorded in three different studios with three different producers and a whole lot of guest musicians borrowed from famous Dutch acts such as Danny Vera, Tim Knol, Anouk, Belle Perez, Trijntje Oosterhuis, Daniël Lohues, Within Temptation and Spinvis. The result is “General Fuckedupness Notwithstanding”, perhaps Walker Diver’s most prolific album to date.

Walker Diver is basically Utrecht-based musician Stefan ‘t Hooft. In the 90’s he played in several punk and garage bands, doing hundreds of shows across Europe. In 2002, after the band Mitch falls apart, Stefan decides to go solo under the moniker of Walker Diver. After doing a 7-inch on his own for Black Death Records, he assembles a live band and releases debut album “White Knuckle Ride” in 2004, followed by “Junior Blues” in 2007. After a series of live shows Stefan takes a break from Walker Diver, playing lead guitar for The Light Brigade. This hiatus ends in 2017, when Walker Diver’s third album “Mk III” is released.

In 2018, Stefan starts working on album number four in the Okapi Studio in Rotterdam. Aided by top session cats such as guitar wizard Maarten Ouweneel, Jan Pohl on drums and Ferry Lagendijk on keys, four songs are recorded and produced by Rogier Hemmes, who also plays bass. And then Corona kicked in. It took a long time before the tracks were mixed, and due to the second wave of Corona and other setbacks it wasn’t until 2022 that Stefan resumed work on the album, in his beloved Studio 195 with the help of guitarist Yassir Oostrom, bass player Joris Verbogt and drummer/producer Patrick Delabie. A final song was recorded with the Bluegrass Boogiemen, possibly the finest bluegrass band in Europe, at Studio Moskou by Silvia Vermeulen.

Desperate times call for hopeful measures. And a cover of “Grease”.

Listen to the album on Spotify and other platforms.