iftibeyourwill S05E26 • Marble Sounds

Pieter Van Dessel takes us on an unexpected journey from law student to the creative force behind Marble Sounds, revealing how serendipity and persistence shaped his musical evolution. When his wife received a grant to work in Montreal in 2005, Pieter's planned sabbatical transformed into musical opportunity after landing a position at a recording studio. This fortuitous circumstance provided both equipment access and creative community, allowing the first Marble Sounds EP to take shape with help from Canadian musicians.

His evolution as a performer stands as perhaps the most compelling aspect of Pieter's story. With disarming candor, he admits never aspiring to sing or front a band, making his growth all the more remarkable. "I wasn't a born entertainer," he shares. "I really had to learn it." Through countless live shows and persistence, he gradually developed the confidence that studio work alone couldn't provide. The key lesson? Rehearsals only help so much—real growth comes from repeatedly facing audiences.

For Pieter, songwriting remains his natural strength, with musical composition flowing more easily than lyrics. He chases that elusive creative spark—"the best feeling in the world"—that signals something special is emerging. Recent albums showcase distinct artistic approaches: the self-titled 2022 release employed self-playing pianos in deliberately limited arrangements, while 2025's "Core Memory" embraces 80s influences and childhood musical touchpoints like Phil Collins. Looking ahead, fans can anticipate "More Memory" featuring outtakes from recent sessions, while Peter already contemplates his next full album for 2028. Subscribe to hear our conversations with other fascinating musicians whose unexpected paths led to creative breakthroughs.

Chapters

• 0:35 Introduction to FBO Podcast with Peter
• 3:00 Peter's Early Musical Journey
• 8:42 The Montreal Connection and Band Formation
• 13:18 Learning to Be a Performer
• 19:10 Songwriting Process and Inspiration
• 23:55 Self-titled Album's Unique Piano Approach
• 28:29 Core Memory: Embracing the 80s Sound

Transcript

Marble Sounds: 0:01

I saw your mind was reeling. It was slightly bizarre. I thought you were a little greedy and too eager to start the moments you've been learning from moments when we were young. They confuse you at first, but make sense later on. Don't be shy to confess you're not feeling it yet. I know you at first, but make sounds later on. Don't be shy to confess you're not feeling the chaos, because I know you will rise to an emotional high.

colleyc: 0:35

Another episode of ifitbeyourwill Podcast. I'm reaching pretty far but has some really cool roots that we're going to talk about. In Montreal, where I'm from, where I do the show from, I have Peter van Diesel from Belgium coming in to talk about his music called Marble Sounds. Now Marble Sounds has been around for a long time. It's not a beginning project, but there's been some cool transformations and that's why I reached out to Peter, because I really appreciated his latest record, core Memory. That just came out in March of this year. So check it out. March 7th it dropped Excellent record. We're going to talk about a little bit of that. But, peter, before we get started, I always kind of like digging a little bit back into your background, a little bit of music.

colleyc: 1:21

What were some moments in your career that really started to solidify that you were gonna do music, that that was something that you really like to do

Marble Sounds: 1:30

hey, chris, um well, um well, at an early age I started to do like um, study piano, uh, I was like nine years old and then, uh, it's like music academy, you know, as a kid played some flutes, learned the guitar, but I never thought of becoming a professional musician. Actually, it's like around me and the family there were no musicians at all. So it's like I liked also, like I liked writing songs. You know, I wasn't like a great pianist or a great guitar player, I was. I liked playing, making songs, um, and you know, if you make a song, it's not, you know, you can't invoke. You can't invoice anyone if you make a good song, you know it's like what they're gonna do. So I was kind of lost and you know, I I studied law when I was 18, so I was not ambitious at all, but I I loved music.

Marble Sounds: 2:24

I loved playing music for fun, I think. Well, I did study after studying law. I did audio production like one year, like a sort of master, in London, which was a very important moment because I learned to record, I learned Pro Tools. You know, it was 2000,. 2000, yeah, 2001. Um, that was like my first experience with digital recording. So that was quite a big moment.

Marble Sounds: 2:53

But I think montreal played a big part in my evolution because in 2005, my wife had a grant to work abroad and we chose Montreal. Yay, we moved to Montreal in 2005.

colleyc: 3:11

Wow, that's cool.

Marble Sounds: 3:13

And I thought I'm going to take a sabbatical and start writing songs for my own, which became the first songs of Marble Sounds, basically like in 2005, 2006. Of marble sounds basically like in 2005, 2006, um, but my sabbatical uh stopped when I started working in a studio in montreal, um, and the studio made music like for, for commercials and and, uh, movies.

Marble Sounds: 3:37

Okay, uh, as a composer, I could work there. So suddenly, like I, I arrived in Montreal with just two suitcases, suddenly had, like you know, I had a studio, you know, to my disposal. I could write songs, I could record the first Marble Sounds EP. I made friends, you know, in the studio and actually the first, yeah, the first formation of Marble Sounds was with, you know, canadian friends in Montreal and we played a few. We played a few shows there, like in Divan Orange, right, right, yeah, yeah, the Café des Brumes, I don't know.

Marble Sounds: 4:19

Café des Brumes

colleyc: 4:20

yeah

Marble Sounds: 4:20

, oh yeah. Well, I played there.

colleyc: 4:25

That's so cool. I just saw a band there not too long ago and great sound, great place. I mean, montreal has some really great music, has a great music scene in general. Yeah, really cool places to um to perform as well, yeah, so, peter, that that montreal connection was marble sound. Were you already writing songs under that name? Yeah, and what inspired you to want to like, bring other people in and turn it into more of a band style rather than just your personal project?

Marble Sounds: 4:59

Well, it started. I recorded the first EP on my own. I recorded the first EP on my own. The fun thing is, when you're abroad, you always Not always, but you often have friends coming over To visit you, and one of them was a friend from Belgium. He was a drummer, and then I let him play on three songs, which became the first EP. But it was like I played, I sang everything. I played the guitars, the bass, and then I had my friends doing the drums, so, but then, um, I wanted to play live. You know. So, like in montreal I, I looked for some people to play those songs live. And also like when, in, after two years of montreal I, I moved back to bel Belgium and yeah, I look for people there as well, right

colleyc: 5:48

, right, and were they able to transfer your songs from the recording to a live performance?

Marble Sounds: 5:55

I've talked to some artists where that transition is. They got to think about a lot because there's so much that happens on the recording. To reproduce that in a live setting is is a feat.

colleyc: 6:06

Was there? Was there, um? Was that a tricky transition from having this stuff down on tape to actually performing it live in front of people? Did the sound in the, the, the idea behind the song come across?

Marble Sounds: 6:19

Yeah, I think it's, it's, uh, it wasn't an easy process. Uh, uh, you know, we signed to a Belgian label and I remember our label manager said like yeah, Marble Sounds, they're great, but on record it was kind of pretty harsh, Right Ouch.

Marble Sounds: 6:36

But it's also yeah.

Marble Sounds: 6:37

But it's, I think it's also. I wasn't like a born entertainer, you know, performer, I really had to learn it. You also have to, in a way, you have to let go a little bit as well. You know you want to keep, of course, you want to keep the vibe of the record a bit, or you know the vibe, or whatever that means. You know that you want to be Marble Sounds, you know, sure, sure so, but it's, you know, it took a few. It took a few shows, um, and also I had to grow a bit as a, as a performer, um and uh, cause I, I'm, you know, my ambition was never to sing, you know, let alone be on a stage, uh, being in front of a band. So, um, I had to learn it, learn it. But I started to love it, you know, like, I think, by the second album, we played more and more shows and now it's like, I don't know, I love playing live.

Marble Sounds: 7:36

Now, it's really easy Like yeah yeah. It's fun.

colleyc: 7:39

Can you, peter, tell us a little bit about that process? How do you become a showman? You know, like, how do you? How do you become a showman? You know, like, how do you? You know like, that's what you like. People are all on you, your attention's all there. They'll listen to your music, to the words that accompany it. I mean I, I look at that and I get anxiety right away. I'm like, oh my God, how am I going to remember the?

colleyc: 8:01

words? What if they make a mistake? What of all this stuff Like how do you? What was your process to becoming comfortable with performing live in front of people?

Marble Sounds: 8:11

I think it's playing live. I think doing it and also playing rehearsing doesn't really help. You have to do it, you have to be in front of people. You can rehearse a song and, you know, be very good at it, but in the end you really have to play a lot of, make some miles and play live, and I think that's the only. I think we got better when, by the second album, we had one song that became a hit in Flanders. We played a lot of shows in that season. I think that's the only way.

Marble Sounds: 8:59

But I'm still not a showman. I'll never be a David Bowie, I'll do it my way of, but but uh, at least I enjoy it. You know, yeah, and I I know, to my surprise, there are some other people that that you know that also love it. So I don't know, I guess it's okay now.

colleyc: 9:17

Well, you put out really great music, peter. I mean marble sounds a great listen. Um, what do you find the most biggest? Your biggest inspiration was for Marble Sound at the beginning stages. What were you listening to that were like, hey, I think I'm going to try doing this style. How did you kind of build the Marble Sound sound?

Marble Sounds: 9:40

Yeah, I think the very first song I wrote was a song called Redesign, which is very indie pop. I really wanted to sound like a band with two guitars and a keyboard player and playing some lo-fi indie rock or something Like a pavement or something.

colleyc: 10:01

Yeah, yeah, In those lines yeah, I don't know.

Marble Sounds: 10:03

Do you know Pinback, for example? Yeah, totally Beautiful those lines yeah, I don't know do you know, pinback, for example, yeah, totally Beautiful band, love them, yeah. And you know that's like, because I'm not like, as I told you, I'm not like a born performer or singer. But then you know, I listened to Pinback and I think like dude, those guys they're, you know they're not like amazing singers, why.

Marble Sounds: 10:22

But they do, it works, but that kind of that was like a, an inspiration for me, like, like, uh, you know, I'm just gonna double track my vocals and it sounds better than I feel my own, you know, right, and uh, and sparkle horse, for example, you know, this kind of lo-fi indie pop. Um, that was my inspiration, basically, basically Nice.

colleyc: 10:45

And was it hard for you? Is it a hard writing songs? Is that a hard process for you? Have you found tricks and techniques throughout the years where writing songs becomes easier or more natural for you?

Marble Sounds: 11:05

I think, in the whole scheme of of music, things like like playing music, performing, playing guitar, piano, I think, um, I think I'm the best at writing songs. I think that's the most, the most um comes, comes out the easiest for me. You know, like, um, I'm not really talking about music, not lyrics, because the lyrics that's another skill, that's another how do you say it? Craft. Yep, you play music and you write lyrics. You know it's kind of music is playing for me and I think, yeah, yeah, songs, and they still. You know I still have ideas for the next album.

Marble Sounds: 11:46

So it's, yeah, I'm not yeah, how does your song start, peter? Like how, like you said, you always start with the music before the lyrics come into play. When does when does a song come to you that you're like, where you feel there's something, there's some magic, or there's something to it that you want to keep going with it. Like what, what is that feeling for you when a song starts to blossom in front of your eyes?

colleyc: 12:10

yeah, that's um, that's, that's the feeling you're looking for. That's like the best feeling in the world. You know, that's why I think most songwriters keep on writing, just to have that one spark. You know that's the best moments when, once you have that, the annoying parts part starts and then you polish and fine fine tune and um, but you know the spark it's, it's, it's like, it's like a drug. You know it doesn't happen often, you know it doesn't happen every day. So that's why it's so valuable. You know, like, like that moment when you yeah, it's nothing more than and nothing less than than you have a small ID. Sometimes it can be like, but sometimes it's like a backing vocal in a chorus. You know you can have a lame chorus and add a higher backing vocal on top of it or have a string line, because you know there's like a sort of myth that says, like a song is good if you can play it on guitar, right, but I don't believe in that. Sometimes, you know, it's like a backing vocal or a string that makes a song brilliant and you know, that little that can give it a spark and that's a nice feeling, of course

Marble Sounds: 13:17

totally and like from the self title to the one that you just put out, core Memory. It feels like it feels different in texture and style, style and I mean, obviously it's sound, but there's a transition that's going on. Was the self-titled um created with other musicians and core memory was more of you like. Could you kind of like describe the differences between? And? The self-titled came out in 2022, people october 2022, so it's only three years removed from one another, but can you talk about the differences between the process, how you came to the songs that that that there's a difference between those two records?

colleyc: 14:02

yeah sure, um, I think it's funny. You know it was the other way around. Like the, the soft title was more me, okay, and then the last one, the more electronic one, was more the band. So I think that the soft titles was I think it's still my favorite right. It's gonna be always be my most personal and it's gonna have a special place for me. I know if you do a promotion you always have to tell journalists that your last album is the best, but I can tell you the self-titled one for me. I don't think I can do better than that one.

colleyc: 14:44

I'm not saying it's a great album, but I don't think I can do much better. I don't know, it doesn't really matter, but it's still.

Marble Sounds: 14:53

Can I ask you, Peter, just on that, what is it with the self-titled that connects so readily to you? Why is it? How does it make you feel different than all the other stuff? What was it about that song, that that record, that that connected you so closely to it?

colleyc: 15:13

I think because I don't know, and that's that's kind of um, I don't know why it connects and that's you know. I connect also with I mean I, I, you know, I mean I'm proud of every album. But if I connect with an album I can say yeah, because I like that chorus is catchy or that I love that song and whatever. But with the Soft Idols album it's more like, yeah, I don't know, it's really an album. The album is more than the sum of the songs. You know what I mean.

Marble Sounds: 15:50

It's like it's a whole concept album.

colleyc: 15:53

Yeah, it's a concept more like the individual songs yeah, yeah and also it was fun making it. It was with the subtitle that was really isolating a little bit. Like my bandmates didn't hear much of the album. Okay, like there are no guitars on it, no bass guitar. That was kind of my with that album. I really tried to limit myself. You know, like with I really wanted to stick to the piano, yeah.

Marble Sounds: 16:26

On your band camp page it's three pianos on stage A grand piano, self-playing grand piano, a self-playing upright piano, and then you controlling or nipping through a laptop.

colleyc: 16:36

Yeah, amazing, wow yeah yeah, I had like, and also I only had 10 demos and it's like the 10 demos, for you know I didn't have more songs. It was really it had to be those 10 songs and I wasn't like. Sometimes you'd think, like you have I don't know 13, 14 songs and you're wondering what's gonna be the album. But with that album I knew, like you know that's, that's the 10 demos I have now and you know that's gonna be the album. And also the working process was really nice the, the idea of using USB driven pianos you know playing pianos was an idea of David Paltrock and he's a pianist in Belgium. And because I had all the demos, you know, with programmed pianos.

colleyc: 17:24

But you know just plugins, you know like, like and it sounded good. You know plugins, you know like, like and it sounded good. You know plugins, these days, they sound, they sound amazing. Yeah, yeah, he told me like. Yeah, you have to. Um, you know we're gonna ask yamaha for for some pianos and oh, we got them for for free, nice, nice but I was thinking like you know that's a lot of effort.

colleyc: 17:44

You to have real pianos instead of plugins and they sound nice. But we had a blast five days. We were manipulating the pianos and it made the album 5% better, but it was an important 5% or 10%. And just the experience of doing it was fun.

Marble Sounds: 18:05

Peter, I have another question. I just find it so fascinating that when you were creating that record and we're going to get to the new record, but I find this record so fascinating how did you do you set a melody with one piano and then the other two are just adding flourishes here and there, or are they totally intermingled that somebody that wouldn't be aware of would just think it's all like? One, yeah, yeah is that the objective when you're trying to do something like this?

colleyc: 18:37

it was more like intermingling, uh, I didn't know the word, but I just repeat it because it's. I mean, it's like yeah, it's like um, it's uh, sometimes it's just, you know, we separate the left hand from the right hand. You know, I had like a piano part and I played it like um, yeah, with two hands, yeah, but then we, you know, then we could send, you know, the left hand to what? To the, the grand piano, and the right hand to the wow, wow that is cool yeah to the other piano, right, and manipulate them differently, then you've got more spacious effects.

colleyc: 19:08

So it's kind of it's. And then we put it's like, yeah, we did it that way in the song Axolotl. And then we put you know, punazis, you know this when you hang posters on the wall, right, right, right. And we put those in the hammers of the piano and then it gives a metallic vibe. Oh, wow so you in the hammers of the piano, and then it gives a metallic, metallic vibe, oh so you can.

colleyc: 19:29

That's amazing as a listener. You know, as a tool it's maybe like five percent difference for for the listener, right, but it's, it makes a unique sound. You know it's, it's like, you know it's, it's um, but it's the sound not of a plugin, but you, but of those pianos on that moment, on that stage, with those microphones, it was magic.

Marble Sounds: 19:50

Yeah, it was fun. So there's that production, self-titled yeah. What was your vision with the next one? So, core Memory, what was your kind of plan at the start of it when this record was you were going to put a record together. It was going to come out March 7th 2025? What was your big plan for it when you were first kind of figuring out how?

colleyc: 20:13

you're going to do it. Um, I wanted to do something else. You know, like, like the, the soft title was the fifth album and before that, you know, when you make a first album, a second album, it's like, I wouldn't say on automatic pilot, but you, you make. You know it's like, yeah, you've done it before. Yeah, it's default marble sounds a bit, and then after a while you start to look for, you know, I want to make like every album has to tell something. I'm not saying it's going to be a concept concept album, but it has to be musically like a universe, more or less.

colleyc: 20:50

And um, after the orchestral piano album, I really wanted to do something, you know, without whatever, not without piano, if possible, uh, without strings, um, and also like, because on on the soft titles I worked with some other people, the orchestra with David Boltrock, as I mentioned, with this album you only hear the five of us or the six of us. So I really wanted to keep it in the band. No extra clarinet player or extra whatever bagpipes. I wanted to keep it in the family Right Totally, or extra whatever backpipes. That I really, you know, I wanted to keep it in the family.

Marble Sounds: 21:31

Right, totally.

colleyc: 21:32

Totally Love it. And yeah, I wanted to make more like, introduce more 80s sounds as well. We never did that with marble sounds, which is a bit weird, maybe you know I started, as I told you, as a spin back Sparkle Horse, totally. It's not really Phil Collins. You know, I started, as I told you, as spin back part sparkly horse, totally it's not really phil collins, you know it's not. Um so, and I love phil collins, for example. So I thought let's do a bit more phil collins, or or right, I love jean-jacques goldman, you know, I don't know if you know him. He wrote for still indian. I'm a huge fan of jean J Goldman and he's still an influence, right. So that's why I also had the title Core Memory, because it brought back my childhood. But also I'm singing about A Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton. You know that's like a song I love and Give or Take a Few is a song on that album. That's a reply to her song. So, core Memory, it's really about, you know, music from my childhood and teenage years, amazing.

Marble Sounds: 22:42

And it's been out for a while now, and like you've had a bit of distance, I guess, from like you're so inundated when you're getting ready for the launch and the records coming and this and that, how have you felt? Um, it was received, did, did it? Did it do what you hoped it would do to people?

colleyc: 23:00

I was, uh, for the first time I was. I wasn't scared, but I was really wondering, like, will people still be, you know, are they going to appreciate it? Because it's different, you know. Also, because the self-titled album really worked. Yeah, it was really well received. And when you come with a pop records after that, yeah, I wasn't really sure. But then I was really, you know, yeah, yeah, I was, yeah, I was, it was. I was really surprised in a way, you know, yeah yeah, and it was really nice yeah, yeah.

Marble Sounds: 23:44

And what does the rest of 2025 look like for you with Marble Sounds? Do you have the record? Do you have any up-and-coming performances or new music coming or collaborations, anything that you can share that 2025 will be like for Marble Sounds?

colleyc: 24:03

Well, we're going to release a few more songs from some outtakes from Core Memory, and I can tell you that it's going to be called More Memory.

Marble Sounds: 24:16

Nice Great.

colleyc: 24:19

So I think it's going to be like I'm working on, of course they were written during the same period, right on, you know, of course they were written during the same period, right and uh, but I have to, you know, they're gonna fine-tune, you know, you know, make them ready for the release. Uh, that's gonna be probably probably later this year. Um, and then I have, uh, some, yeah, I'm, I'm thinking about the next album, but that's gonna be maybe, like I don't know, 2028 or something, but right, that's how it goes, you know?

colleyc: 24:52

yeah, that's how everybody does it.

Marble Sounds: 24:54

You know, you're always three years ahead of that's it's a cycle, right, it's a real cycle that happens and um and thinking about this, you know the new direction a little bit.

colleyc: 25:04

So it's gonna be no, no, no, self-playing pianos. No, uh, pop hooks, but more like I don't know it'll be something new, fresh yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, love it, love it, love it.

Marble Sounds: 25:20

Well, peter, thank you so much. This has been a real treat. I've loved having this chat with you. Um, I'm really enjoying the music. Like, like I said at the start of this, that I came a bit late in discovering core memory, but has it been in my speakers a lot these days, so I really appreciate that you put that out in the world and and all the best in 2025. And I look forward to the next cycle. Please come back and share your next record with us. I will do. Thank you, chris.

Marble Sounds: 26:13

I am going back and forth again to reach you and I feel like I'm another kid who's wasting precious time. But you probably know that I'm someone who's really bad at breaking the ice. There's distortion in the signals that I'm picking up around you. The assumption might be better than what's written black and white. If you want to go looking for lightning, you're never gonna know when it strikes.

Marble Sounds: 27:02

When we were hoping for our lives to be turned around, we didn't even know what it's all about Wishing for a dream to be passing by To catch it alive In the morning. I'm going through your letters to reply you, but I've never had the skills to read between the lines. Have you ever been looking for lightning and do you think it never strikes twice? When we were hoping for our lives to be turned around, we didn't even know what it's all about Wishing for a dream to be passing by To catch it alive. There was little left to lose and a lot to gain. At least we knew that. No one remained the same Wishing for a dream to keep passing by To catch it alive. We'll see you next time To catch it alive. Well, we were hoping for our eyes to be turned around you.