Venus In Flames is the band of the Belgian singer and songwriter Jan De Campenaere.
*Jan started playing in various high school bands in the 90’s.
*1999: Venus In Flames went solo and got selected by Studio Brussel (belgian national radiostation) for the Debut Rock festival, a showcase for new talent.
*2000: Venus In Flames was the winner of the bronze medal at Humo’s Rock Rally, the biggest national rock contest with over 700 competitors. Critics and press loved it and called it ‘a revelation for fans of Jeff Buckley, Elliott Smith, Neil Young or Nick Drake’.
*2001: Release of the debut EP ‘Cynthia’s Gone’ with high rotation airplay on national radios. Lots of small clubshows and support shows for o.a. Stereophonics, My Morning Jacket, Novastar, Arid, …
*2002: European tour as support act for K’s Choice. 6 amazing weeks of sold-out venues. One of the highlights of the tour was the concert at the famous Olympia in Paris.
*2003: Recording of the first full album ‘Notes Of Tenderness’ at the Jet Studios in Brussels with producer Gert Bettens. Mastering of the album at the legendary Abbey Road Studios. First single ‘Better Man’ stayed in the charts for 3 months. Tons of great reviews in the press, speaking of Radiohead, Beatles and Beach Boys.
*2004: Release in Holland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Luxemburg. Lots of touring in clubs and at festivals (o.a. Marktrock, Dranouter, Lokerse Feesten, Gentse Feesten, Pukkelpop etc). Support acts for o.a. Elbow, Counting Crows, Sarah Bettens, Simple Minds.
*2005: First headlining tour in Germany and Switzerland. Solo clubtour in Belgium. Jan got together with David Du Pré (Arid) for the recording and producing of the second album ‘Shadowlands’.
*2006: The mixing of the album took place at the Alamo Sound Services Studio (Brussels), the mastering was done in the Sterling Sound Studios in New York. First single ‘Easy Way Out’ (released on March 6 2006) got tons of airplay on Belgian stations Studio Brussel and Radio 1. The album reached number 28 in the alternative hitlist (Ultratop). Splendid press-reviews of the album came in from all sides. They called the album ‘more mature’ than the debut and compared it to the work of Radiohead, Coldplay and The Verve. It became a very busy year, including lots of summerfestivals and a fall club tour together with Mint.
*2007: In spring Jan did a double-bill club tour with Gert Bettens called ‘Double Solo’. He started writing songs for the next album and finished the year with a sold-out theatre tour with the band ‘Living Roots’, actually a bunch of musicians from all kinds of bands such as Triggerfinger, Kommilfoo, Ambrozijn, K’s Choice, Neeka etc, singing songs of their heroes.