June news - I'm recording an album on a sailboat ⛵

June 17, 2025

June news – I’m recording an album on a sailboat ⛵

Hope you are doing well. I’m so excited (and a little nervous!) to share something deeply personal and I need your help: I’ve just launched my new project “Current”, a full-length album that I’ll be recording entirely on my tiny 1951 Dutch sailboat, de Vouw [the fold] in the Netherlands.

This isn’t just about music. It’s about connection. Stillness. Water. The sounds that hold memory and movement. I’ll be living and recording on the Dutch lakes for two weeks this August: capturing songs, natural soundscapes, creaking wood, and collaborating with amazing Dutch musicians on board. The boat becomes both my studio and muse.

I need your help to make it happen.

We’ve launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to raise $5,000 toward key costs, including artist fees, recording equipment, vinyl production, and documentation. We have 21 days, till July 7th (my birthday!!) to reach our goal. Every bit helps. Really.

In return, you can get:

A digital or signed CD/vinyl copy of the album
A personalized voice message or soundscape
A 2-hour sailing session with me on de Vouw
A private dinner (on the boat) by Chef Ted and myself
Or even join me for a live concert on the boat

The album will be released March 22, 2026 – UN World Water Day, with floating concerts in the Netherlands and the USA.

This is a story about music, movement and connection, and with your help, it will sail. With your support you’re not just backing an album, you’re catching the current.

Let’s make something beautiful, together.

With gratitude and wind in the sails,
Vivienne

A new project, quietly brewing…

You have to know this boat is very small: it is only 11m2 and it doesn’t have any cabin or facilities; it’s just wood and a sail. It doesn’t get any more basic… That said, the Dutch infrastructure on the water is designed so that you can find coffee and facilities everywhere; it’s an experience. One night, a couple of years ago, I tried recording on the lake and was stunned by the acoustics: the stillness of the lake, the natural reverb, the quiet intimacy. That experience sparked the vision for ‘Current’. This boat isn’t just a location: it’s a collaborator, a vessel for sound, reflection, and peace of mind.

Recording on this tiny sailboat brings obvious logistical challenges: weather, mobility, space. I’ve already tested the acoustic setup, slept on board, and successfully recorded test material with my home-made hydrophone.

This project offers a rare and meaningful blend of field production and environmental artistry. The Netherlands is world-renowned for its relationship with water, through canals, dikes, and deep-rooted cultural resilience. For me, water feels like a current that runs through everything: identity, emotion, memory, connection.

Over the past years, I’ve found water surfacing in many of the songs I’ve written; almost as if it’s writing itself into my work. One lyric goes: “Outside in, inside out, far is fine, if we’re close, this ship will sail…” Another lyric reflects the emotional weather we all carry: “The pressure to succeed is causing rain in my closet, the wind starts blowing in my room, so much water pouring from above – I’m traveling home, not giving up.”

What else has been flowing lately…

So, behind the scenes, I’ve been studying too. Taking ‘Berklee Online’ classes in engineering, electronic production, composition, and film scoring to prepare for my next project…This one class I’m taking is from recording engineer Sylvia Massy about ‘unconventional and unhinged’ recording techniques. She worked with Tool, Prince and Johnny Cash and is know for the weirdest ways to record an album. So for this class I’ve build a ‘hydrophone’ to record underwater which will come in handy, and recently a 3-in-1 toy with 2 mics and a stutter effect from a old telephone. See this video on instagram.

Other things coming up

The coming months are full of travel and music: Concerts in the Netherlands and NYC. I’m performing on Make music New York on June 21st, and then on June 27th I’ll be at iBeam in NYC with pianist Eva Novoa and Art Jones and I’ll be bringing my crazy phone – mic!

Then we will be Traveling to Vancouver, Slovakia, Switzerland, and Italy this summer, ending with the recording on the boat and a special end-of-August concert on the water in the Netherlands (more on that soon!)

Thank you for being part of this journey. Hope to see you soon!!

Love, Vivienne

Concerts

06/21/25 – Make Music NYC, Naval Cemetery Landscape Memorial Park, 11am

06/21/25 – Make Music NYC, Prospect Heights Community Farm, 3pm

06/27/25 – iBeam Brooklyn with Eva Novoa

07/22/25 – Workshop Ostratice Jazz, Slovakia

07/26/25 – Múzeum Červený, Kláštor Slovakia (more info)

08/10/25 – Start Album recording Sail Boat Netherlands

Random Things

Singing in iX cafe – my fav hang in the hood

Impromptu jam with Elsa Nilsson

Dinner in Leiden w. Kirsten, Ronan, Merel and Teddy

This is how you roll with new plants for your garden, but ur car is too small..

We went to the Efteling.. the best theme-park in the Netherlands (I used to work there when I was 16 😉 …)

Recent release

I’ve added many many layers of vocal textures over his captivating guitar melodies. Listen to my contribution in ‘A Kiss Beneath The Stars‘

“the sensual and romantic dreamscape of “A Kiss Beneath The Stars,” featuring Mody’s meditative coolness caressed by Vivienne Aerts’ heavenly, angelic voicings”

– Jonathan Widran

Typuhthâng: an album with women & chocolate

If you haven’t yet, and you do want to get the physical copy (including the chocolate), you can order it via this link. If you are more of a digital person, check it out on any of the streaming platforms.

Wanna know what I’m reading?

Still keeping up with reading one book a week, and made a list of my favorites, mostly related to creativity and music. Currently reading Recording Unhinged from Sylvia Massy Check it out! Any recommendations ? Shoot me a note!