The journey of Phaedra Kwant

Every career in the arts unfolds differently. In The journey of column of the ArtEZ Business Centre, teachers will tell you about the key moments in their career. There is rarely much time to discuss this in class - but now, you'll have an opportunity to find out what choices they made, and how they got to where they are now.

Phaedra Kwant plays bass guitar and double bass and also sings, writes, and composes. She is currently artistically active at the highest levels of the Dutch jazz, pop and theatre worlds. Since September, she has also been the new bass guitar teacher at ArtEZ Academy of Music in Arnhem. She is a musical chameleon, working as a session musician and recording solo albums under the name "Phaedra." She went on tour with renowned artists like Claudia de Breij, Veldhuis & Kemper, 3Js, Leoni Jansen, Eric Vloeimans, Do, Krystl, Mike del Ferro, Chris Beckers, Mathilde Santing and Charly Luske, and she has toured around the world, including in the United States, Japan, India, Senegal, Russia, Spain, Ukraine, Greece and Great Britain.

In collaboration with Phaedra Kwant, the following key moments from her career were transcribed by Lars Meijer and Tim Bongaerts.

2002 - 2004: On tour with comedian Claudia de Breij

I went on my first theatre tour with Claudia de Breij. I was still an MA student, but I was already playing in some bands and teaching cabaret at De Lindenberg in Nijmegen. So I had some experience with theatre and I loved it. I got to know Claudia through some mutual friends at the theatre school in Arnhem. I was studying at the Amsterdam Conservatory at the time, but I was living in Arnhem, the area where I grew up. Claudia was also just starting her career, so it was really exciting and instructive to see every step from up close: the first time in all those theatres, on television, on radio, live recordings... Later, I had a job as musical director at Veldhuis & Kemper for some years. I learned a lot by being so involved with the creative process, thinking along with and observing famous directors and dramaturgists.

LESSON: I have a vast range of interests and am always curious. I took in everything that people told me. Any opportunity to learn something, I embraced. I try to teach my students to behave like sponges: absorb everything. Time will gradually squeeze you until you find out what's expelled, what remains, and who exactly you are.

2008: First tour with my own music in Japan

My music takes me to many different places. I've played with a big band in Idaho, at the foot of Mt. Olympus, on an island where enslaved people were once trafficked in Senegal, at a diamond dealers' gala in Moscow... The owner of a Japanese travel agency connected me to a jazz pianist he loved, and so we organised a couple of tours together. It was a unique experience to play my own music for Japanese jazz audiences. After that, I got a record deal in Japan and I was interviewed for a few jazz magazines.

LESSON: Sometimes, opportunities emerge in unexpected ways. If someone has an idea you like, don't wait too long. As far as touring abroad is concerned: even if it's not very financially rewarding, or not at all, there is a lot to be experienced and learned from doing it. You should always take this into consideration. It could be a lifelong source of inspiration!

2008: Weekly session band in De Observant in Amersfoort

Through my pianist friend Stormvogel and saxophone player and organiser Alexander Beets, I ended up in the weekly session band that played in café/bar De Observant in Amersfoort. A different soloist joined us every week, so that's how I met people like Hans Dulfer, Anton Goudsmit, Saskia Laroo, Ruud Breuls, Peter Beets, and my network expanded enormously.

LESSON: Try to make connections with the people you meet. Is there something I can do for you, can you do something for me? Make plans, put in the effort, and maintain those relationships.

2009: First album McChicks and first solo album "Too Much In Store"

2009 was a busy year. I had toured with the Japanese band and released my album 'Too Much In Store', I did promotion events for it, and I played concerts. I toured with my cabaret duo Veldhuis & Kemper and started another band called McChicks, a pop trio that wrote its own songs. The debut album got a lot of media attention. It seems like a lot, and it was, but for me, combining all those different styles and disciplines felt very natural. One day a jazz frontwoman, the next day a pop trio, the day after that a supporting musician... I can sing and play bass at the same time, too: switching gears rapidly is apparently a talent of mine.

LESSON: As a session musician, you have to follow another artist's lead. It takes musical flexibility to be able to do that well. In a band, a group, you discuss and decide together. That can be difficult too, in its own way. Try to listen carefully, consider everyone's qualities, and negotiate how decisions are made. And in your own projects, remain open to the suggestions of those around you: value everybody, even if you have the veto power.

2010 - 2011: The Dutch Jazz Expeditions

Organiser and saxophone player Alexander Beets wanted to promote Dutch jazz abroad and took a group of musicians with him on the Dutch Jazz Expeditions. I joined for trips to Thailand and India. We played our own music and each other's, and we jammed with local jazz musicians.

LESSON: The tours were obviously very instructive and fun, but they also helped me find new (international) contacts. For example, I befriended Izaline Calister and played with her, and I am still in touch with organisers and fans in those countries. Of course, social media makes that very easy now.

2012: Writing songs for a royal wedding in Tuscany

Through a well-known family for whom I'd performed and written before, I got a very special commission. I wrote, rehearsed, and accompanied the family cabaret at the royal marriage of one of Princess Irene's daughters. Of course, it was a unique private moment with a lot of distinguished guests; trustworthiness and reliability are essential conditions to be asked for something like that. Needless to say, it was a lovely experience.

LESSON: No matter what you do and for whom, make sure that people can count on you. Call back, reply to e-mails, be on time, come prepared. To build a career in music, simply being talented is not enough; you also need to have social skills. Try to be a good and reliable person, be honest and straightforward and give something back to others, too.

2013: Founding my own record label: "Rosemile Records"

I released my second solo album "Still Listening" in 2013 on my own label. The industry had changed a lot compared to a few years before. I released my first album on another label, mostly because I believed it would be a huge amount of work to do it myself. Other than the physical distribution, it's actually not that bad. And since the music industry has been digitalised so much, barely anyone buys CDs or records anymore, so releasing music is much easier now. The consequence of that, however, is that making an album has become something of an investment. Even just breaking even financially has become almost impossible in the Netherlands.

LESSON: Making an album is expensive. I chose to save up for it by performing a lot and doing studio gigs. Others might apply for subsidies or collect money through crowdfunding. I personally dislike asking others for money, but everyone can make their own decision about that, of course. Because I pay everything myself, I release it on my own label and then hire a PR professional to handle the media contacts.

2014: Self-promotion

After an amazing tour in Rochester, New York with my jazz trio, my collaboration with the promoters I was working with unfortunately came to an end. Because I was active in multiple musical genres, my profile as a "musical chameleon" was confusing to programmers. The question was, "So...  what does she play, jazz or pop?" I never cared for those kinds of labels, but the consequence of that is people find me hard to define.

LESSON: Since 2005, I have done most of my own management. A few times, people offered to take over for me, but that was never successful in the long term. One meant well, but had no experience in the jazz scene; another ran off with all the album revenues or tried to have me booked for unrealistically high prices, so that I never got programmed. I'm still open to work with somebody who really gets it and wants to go into business together. This is an important lesson, too: if you do everything yourself and you're always in the spotlight, people will think that you don't need any help. So it's definitely a good idea to ask for support once in a while.

2020: Tour cancelled because of COVID

I was already on my way to the theatre when I heard, like so many colleagues in March 2020, that my tour with Do would be put on hold. Months later, even the COVID-proof version of 'The Story of George Michael' with Charly Luske (a musical theatre show I'd written about my childhood idol) was cancelled. Ever since I was 18, I had never taken a real break, so to be honest, it wasn't bad for me to have some quiet time. Despite that, I immediately started working more as a voice actor, something I'd been doing regularly for some years, mostly by narrating audiobooks. And I managed to write a new album, which I'll have to record at some point, when I find the time...

LESSON: Besides staying healthy by not taking too many risks, I started writing songs as soon as the crisis began. I studied a lot of bass guitar and did live-stream concerts. I focused on the things that were possible: voice-over work and narrating audiobooks, in my case. I didn't wait for subsidies but took the initiative to start earning money in a different way once performing became impossible.

2021: Teaching at ArtEZ

Teaching at ArtEZ feels like coming home: back in my old city, at the music school where my mother once studied and where I spent time regularly since I was just six years old. Starting from the time I was 18, I have been continuously teaching, despite my busy schedule, and I also began teaching recently at the conservatory in Amsterdam, where I now live. The reliability and especially the opportunity to pass on my knowledge and inspire students at the start of their music careers make this feel like a natural next step. It's the right moment in my career to do this, and I look forward immensely to starting this new chapter.

LESSON: It's fun to share your knowledge and experience with others, plus there is a hidden advantage to teaching: students also inspire their teachers. By creating more financial security for myself, making artistic decisions also becomes easier, and I hope to be able to invest more time in my own projects.

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You can find key moments of other ArtEZ teachers' careers on our page Teachers and their professional practice.