Pierre van der Linden

Pierre van der Linden (born 19 February 1946 ) is a Dutch drummer and member of the band, Focus.

Early life Pierre van der Linden was born in Amsterdam in 1946. His father was Dutch actor Ab van der Linden, who was known in the Netherlands for being "Flappie", one half of the comedy duo "Appie and Flappie". As a teenager in the early 1960s, he played in many local bands, including "ZZ en de Maskers". He and Akkerman were also in the 60s group Johnny and the Cellar Rockets together.

When Colin Allen left Focus, Pierre briefly rejoined the group in 1975 for live dates and an unreleased track, "Glider", subsequently on the "Ship of Memories" LP. He toured and recorded with Jan Akkerman on Jan's solo album "Eli" in 1976, and on "Floatin'" on Akkerman's eponymous 1977 release. He also recorded with jazz keyboardist Jasper van 't Hof and with band Sweet'd Buster's "Out of the Blue" in 1980. He also recorded in a trio with organist Herbert Noord and tenor saxophonist Rinus Groeneveld, and rated the album Dare to Be Different as one that he was particularly proud to play on.

Influence and technique Van der Linden was influenced by his childhood hero Buddy Rich. He finds inspiration in French philosophers and classical composers of the twentieth century. For drumming, he is influenced by Tony Williams and Elvin Jones. Van der Linden practises his drumming technique each day, at least one hour on his practise pad. He avoids modern tuning and prefers to use open tuning, closer to a jazz than a rock drummer, and adopts a mix of matched grip and traditional grip. Away from music, van der Linden enjoys painting and writing poetry.

Discography Brainbox

(See Brainbox)

Focus

(See Focus discography)

Trace

Trace (1974)

Jan Akkerman

Eli (1976) Jan Akkerman (1977)

Solo Swung Vol. 1 & 2 (2014) Drum Poetry (2017)