Introducing The Journey, a new Epiphone series following artists across Europe as they take to the stage, beginning in Amsterdam with Jiri Taihuttu of De Nachtwacht
Epiphone is proud to launch The Journey, a new ongoing series that follows musicians across Europe throughout the year, delivering a backstage look at the process of writing music and sharing the stories behind their music and musical journeys.
The enduring Epiphone promise is For Every Player, For Every Stage, and with that, the series captures the full arc of an artist’s path from bedroom sessions to sold-out crowds, providing an insight into what it’s really like to write and perform your own music today. Kicking off the series is Jiri Taihuttu of Gibson Spotlight Artists, De Nachtwacht.
A backstage look at what it’s like being a musician
The first episode of The Journey follows frontman and guitarist of Netherlands rock band De Nachtwacht, Jiri Taihuttu, who invites us into his home on the day before his band’s show—strumming an Epiphone J-45™—to talk about how he started playing music. He takes to the stage in Amsterdam alongside fellow guitarist and Epiphone guitar-wielder, Dani Kaag.
Jiri Taihuttu describes the guitar as “an extension of who I am,” and a partner with which he has shared his youth and his twenties. This is a real look at what actually goes on before an artist takes to the stage, and the nerves or anxiety that can sometimes impact us beforehand.
Jiri playing his Epiphone IGC 1963 Les Paul SG Custom
On stage in Amsterdam, Jiri is seen playing his Epiphone Inspired by Gibson Custom 1963 Les Paul™ SG™ Custom with Maestro™ Vibrola™ in Classic White, while Dani Kaag plays the Epiphone IGC 1964 SG Standard Reissue with Maestro Vibrola in Antique Pelham Blue.
In the video, we also learn how Jiri’s musical journey started when he entered music school at seven, was accepted into the conservatory by nine, and from childhood onwards, making music has never stopped. “The guitar is inseparable from who I am,” says Jiri. “It’s in my DNA. From the moment I’m on the stage, everything just falls away. And then I’m not Jiri Taihuttu anymore. Then I’m De Nachtwacht. And I’m in my element.”
A hard pivot from hip-hop to rock
For those who don’t know, before fronting De Nachtwacht, Jiri built his name in the Dutch hip-hop scene. But as he grew as an artist, he began searching for something the genre couldn’t quite give him. “There was a clear moment in my hip-hop career when I got stuck,” he explains. “The genre and I drifted apart. I was looking for more depth in music and lyrics, and I didn’t find it in that genre. And that’s when I knew I had to break out of it. Rock—I needed that type of music.”
In The Journey series, Epiphone will check in with artists across Europe throughout the year, capturing the coolest moments that Epiphone musicians experience on stage and during writing sessions, attempting to define what success looks like to them as artists. “What is success? For me, it’s hard to define,” says Jiri. “I’m doing what I enjoy. Music. That already feels like success. Period.”
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