The return of Vastlaovestrio W-Dreej was not welcomed by everyone. Former member Hay Wilders finds it scandalous and “surprised and upset” about the return of the Venlo group.
“W-Dreej is an institution. It doesn’t belong to them. They left it at the time,” Wilders says.
New composition
He is thus responding to the news that Christel van Rijn and Koen Warmerdam are breathing new life into the company. Wilders was replaced by singer Roger Verdelane. The formation of success stopped in 2017, but now it is working again after years, albeit in a new composition.
Read also: Vastelaovestrio W-Dreej is back in stages after years
W. Drig Foundation
But according to Wilders, this is no easy feat. The three-time winner at LVK stopped by at the time because Van Rijn and Warmerdam wanted a wider audience and wanted to focus entirely on their music career. Since Wilders has a catering company, these plans were not parallel. “At the time, it was agreed that they were no longer allowed to use the name,” he says. The institution is also registered at my address.
The head of the institution does not want to comment objectively. Chris Gerts only points out that the news surprised him. The Foundation is considering possible next steps.
Very Old
According to Rob Knubben of artist agency NR.1, the “new” W-Dreej could simply use the name. “Of course we looked at that in detail,” he says. “The foundation that is now in place should have been discontinued a long time ago. They existed only for the administrative support of W-Dreej. They are now with us and we are taking care of that.” Knubben was also around in 2017 when the company collapsed. “Then I played mediation and made sure everything was arranged correctly for everyone, but there still seemed to be an old sore.”
Counting
The manager also says he informed Wilders in advance of W-Dreej’s return. “I was hoping there wouldn’t be more resentment, but it looks like there was.” Knubben believes that W-Dreej’s origins lie in Van Rijn and Warmerdam as well as with the Wilders. “Christel and Quinn have been performing all these years with W-Dreej songs. Now that we’ve found a third member, W-Dreej is moving on again. If Hay wants to play ‘Hay van W-Dreej’ I can’t put him there to stop him.”
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