Session 9: Eva Waterbolk on building Zeevonk Records as a genre-free, no-gatekeeping collective
Zeevonk Records grew out of loneliness and a lack of opportunity into a genre-free collective that does admin together on a shared spreadsheet, over food, at someone's house. Recording for this session was lost; this is the written recap only.
Eva Waterbolk started making music at 18 as a self-described shy artist in Groningen, a city she credits for being small enough that people connect easily. Zeevonk Records began from that same loneliness and turned into an open, genre-free collective with no gatekeeping: members meet informally, share food, and work through booking and admin together on one shared spreadsheet, which makes the unglamorous parts of being an artist lighter to carry. The collective grew from local Groningen roots into collaborations with other Dutch collectives and labels, sharing opportunities rather than competing for them. Her advice is to stay honest about what you don't know and ask for help rather than pretend, trust your instincts over pure strategy, and not lose your own voice to formal music education.
Note on this entry: the audio recording of this live session was lost to a technical issue. This page is the written recap posted afterward in Discord, not a full transcript.