Biography

 

On 23^rd March 1971 in Mortsel, Belgium, Raf Van Brussel is born as the son of Dirk Van Brussel, who runs a company, and Els, a nursery school teacher. Together with his elder sister he grows up in a stabile family in Berchem, Belgium.

 

Raf goes to the ‘Sint Stanislas College’, where he stays down the 3^rd and 5^th class. Raf now has a very logical explanation for that: “I wasn’t stupid or something. I just had a lot of fun and still don’t regret that.” The exact reason is that, at that moment, Raf is more interested in music. Although he doesn’t know any staff notation, he already plays in a band with a couple of friends. His school marks are going the wrong way.

 

At the age of 15, Raf is playing theatre for kids. He gets the role of Gnome Kappons, which is not easy to play, because of the interaction with the public. During that period, his parents visit some of their friends in Holland very often. That’s when Raf learns how to surf. At the age of 16, he doesn’t come with his parents any more and that’s where is surfing pleasure ends.

 

Raf got two uncles who work at the air force. They take him to watch the planes very often. He gets very fascinated and when he’s 20 years old, he wants to be a pilot. Because of the high number of participants, he doesn’t pass his entry exam. Totally confused about the bad news, one of his friends is able to convince him to go to a party of regents. That’s where Raf decides to learn to be a teacher English, History, Geography. Thinking about his school marks, his parents think their son has gone mad.

 

And again his passion for music destroys his plans. In the mean time, he starts a new band, called ‘Liquid’, with some school mates. He puts all his time in this one, and he doesn’t finish his studies. Nowadays he does regret this, but he would never start them again. A few years later, he starts working as a representative, first in his father’s company, later in a company of cleaning products. The clients adore him, especially the female ones.

 

Later he hears about the plans of Claus Jacobs and Danny Dickers for a new band. They are still searching for a singer. After a few tests, Sunny Side Up is born. After a long search for a record company who is interested, it all goes very fast. In 1996, their debut single “She makes me happy” is released, which is success. Also the other singles are popular. If you want to know more about this period, visit The Sunny Side Up Files.

 

During his Sunny Side Up period, Raf is asked to join the male panel in the Flemish TV-show ‘Het Swingpaleis’. After a few episodes, Raf is a permanent panel member. Backstage he meets the famous Flemish female singer Isabelle A, who’s a member of the female panel. In 1997, she is also the support act of the band during their ‘The Chasing The Sun’ – tour. That’s when Raf and Isabelle start a relationship.

 

But in the summer of 1998, Danny and Claus decide to leave the band. Raf releases just one more single under the band’s name: “If you could see me now”. But this one is not a success. Raf needs some time to sit back and think about his future career. In the meantime he joins Plane Vanilla, which consists of Robert Mosuse (The Radios, Robbie Crown), Vincent (Dinky Toys) and some other great musicians. Raf is one of the guest singers.

 

In the summer of 1999, Raf is back with his first solo single ‘Running down the road’. This one doesn’t get very high in the charts. And again it gets very silent around Raf for a few months. This time Raf wants to take some time off to concentrate on his private life. First of all he isn’t feeling very well, but that’s not the main reason for his break. By September 1999, Raf and Isabelle tell the press about their decision to stop their love affair. They’re still very good friends, but the love is gone. Raf moves back to the province of Antwerp to live closer to his family. By the end of 1999, Raf’s sister Sabine gives birth to a baby girl Eline. Raf is the godfather. Spring 2000 Plane Vanilla singer Robert Mosuse dies because of cancer. Raf loses a very good friend. On the funeral Raf and some other showbiz friends sing one of Robert’s favourite songs. Robert always wanted the other to continue with Plane Vanilla after his death and that’s why Raf becomes a permanent member of the cover band. During the ‘Gentse Feesten’ Raf and some other artists sing ‘A Tribute To Robert Mosuse’.

 

In the summer of 2000, Raf is back again with a new single ‘All shook up’. This one’s not really commercial and it doesn’t make it to the charts. Raf is asked again for some songs on the soundtrack of the series ‘Flikken’. A new single ‘Talk 2 me’ is used as the begin tune for the series. This one’s a hit. e also gets a small role in the series, the role of a street musician. Since then Raf, and his colleague and good friend Geena Lisa, is also team captain in the TV show ‘Biebabeloela’.

 

Spring 2001, Raf meets Ine Van Den Brande, who is 7 years younger. They meet in a restaurant where she is working. Later he meets her again behind the scenes of Radio 2. By August, the two are a couple. In November, they go on holiday to Gambia and it is very clear that these two are made for each other. They buy a house in Lint, Belgium, and Raf asks Ine to marry him. But in the Spring of 2001, Raf again has problems with his health. He is taken to the hospital with kidney stones. This is the signal to slow down a bit. In the mean time, ‘Talk 2 me’ is nominated for the Donna Award. Unfortunately it’s X-Session who gets away with the award. Still Raf is very realistic about it: “Just to be nominated is already a victory”. During the summer Raf releases another single ‘Make me feel good’.

 

On Saturday, 18^th August 2001, Raf and Ine get married. First they have the plan to visit Bali for 2 weeks, but because they’re both very busy, they decide to spend their honeymoon in the Domonican Republic for just one week. Spring 2001, Raf can be seen in ‘Het Swingpaleis’ again and he makes his debut as a presenter in the music quiz ‘Popslag’.

 

Raf may be popular in Flanders, he still has a dream to make it in the international scene. Raf decides to join ‘Eurosong 2002’, a national competition, of which the winner, who is being chosen by various juries and the public, is the Belgian participant for the ‘Eurovision Song Contest’. His self written song ‘Flyin’ is selected, out of 351 candidates, for the last 28 songs. Later he makes to the final, where he finishes last. But that doesn’t matter to him. He had fun on stage and he had shown what he’s worth. In the mean time, he gets back to his old passion and he takes flying lessons.

 

Halfway 2002, Raf is in full expectation. Not just because his wife Ine is pregnant, but he also makes the final touch for his debut solo album. But first he releases the single ‘Do you think’, for which he shoots his first clip. On 5th December 2002, his long expected album Flyin’ is released. Raf is so busy, that he even has has to delay his flying exam. For the third time he can be heard on a ‘Flikken’-album.

 

On 6^th December 2002, Ine gives birth to a baby girl, called Lucca. After that, it’s very silent for a while. Raf enjoys his fatherhood. In June 2003, Plane Vanilla releases the single ‘Love, peace and happiness’.

 

In Januari 2004, Raf will join Eurosong again with the song ‘Chemistry’. Hopefully he make it to the final again, or maybe he’ll do even better. He also has some plans for a new album. So we’ll certainly hear from Raf this year.

 

In 2004 Raf takes part in Eurosong again, this time with his song ‘Chemistry’. Just like two years earlier he makes it to the final. He ends sixth. The single gets a lot of airplay on the Flemish radio stations. Due to his participation on Eurosong 2004 Raf is being offered a contract by an record company. In June Raf decides not to sign the contract. He’d like to keep his career in his own hands. He goes back to the studio to record his new single ‘Dirty game’. Unfortunately ‘Dirty game’ will never be released as a single. By the end of August Raf gets some trouble with his voice. A few gigs are being cancelled, Plane Vanilla has to perform without Raf and the recording for his new single ‘Bittersweet’ is postponed. Halfway October Raf is okay again and starts his preparation for a new album.

 

In the beginning of 2005 Raf sings on a benefit single ‘Geef een teken’, which is a remake for ‘Breek de stilte’ by Stef Bos and Bob Savenberg. The profits will go to the victims of the tsunami in Southeast-Asia. In February, Raf releases his new single ‘Bittersweet’, which also gets a lot of airplay, and records his new album. On 4^th June 2005, ‘No Looking Back’ is officially introduced to the press. The new album contains the two singles ‘Chemistry’ and ‘Bittersweet’, the song ‘Dirty game’ and songs written by Jean Bosco Safari (‘Always be there’) and Kris Wauters (‘All the time’).

 

By the summer of 2005Raf and Ine are expecting their second child. In September 2005 Raf gets the job of a reporter in the Radio 2-program ‘Allemaal Sam’.  In this program he follows people with new projects and ideas to make our society more pleasant. There are two more singles released from the album ‘No Looking Back’: ‘Fading’ and the titlesong.

 

By the end of 2005 the family Van Brussel is looking forward to the birth of a second baby. And then on New Year’s Eve, Lucca welcomes her baby sister Sam. In January and February 2005 Raf spends a lot of time with his family. In the meantime he prepares the release of a new single: a duet with Sarah.