Lander Gyselinck (1987°) is a Brussels based drummer, composer and producer.
For some time now Gyselinck has been an important reference in the Belgian and international music scene.
His particular, inventive and exploratory drumming style has accorded him a broad and individual sound palette that is appreciated by a wide range of musical fields. He thrives in very diverse artistic environments ranging from jazz, pop, studio, electronic, hiphop, to experimental improvised music, not only as a drummer but also as a composer and producer.
His creative curiosity is a driving force in many of his different projects that have become established bands: STUFF., Lander & Adriaan, BeraadGeslagen, LABtrio, Hihats In Trees…
He graduated summa cum laude at The Royal Conservatory of Brussels for his Master’s degree with Stéphane Galland. He won the Toots Thielemans Jazz Award in 2010 and in 2012 he received the SABAM Youth and Music Award at the Ghent Jazz Festival.
After finishing his teacher’s degree there, he continued studying composition with Kris Defoort.
In 2013 he moved to New York where he studied at The New School of Jazz & Contemporary.
He was voted MIA best musician of the year in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
He received the Flemish Culture Prize for Music in 2015 from the Flemish Minister of Culture Sven Gatz.
The jury report states: ‘This drummer, composer and jack of all trades is a unique, creative and rigorous musician who already stands out at such a young age and has huge growth potential. It’s impossible to pigeonhole him and he is the creative linchpin in various projects’.
As a jazz drummer he has played with many great artists such as Mark Turner, John Zorn, Lionel Loueke, Chris Speed, Bojan Z.... and from 2019 he’s has been touring intensely with the quintet of the French clarinet player and composer Michel Portal.
Aside from his instrumentalist career as a performing and recording artist, he’s also active as a producer and composer, for his own projects and others.
In 2022 he released the album ‘Pourriture Noble’ with Belgian rapper Zwangere Guy, for which he wrote, played and produced the music.
He is currently active at the School of Arts KASK & Conservatorium in Ghent as a professor and researcher. In 2017 he started working on a Phd in Arts, researching the influence of electronic music and clubbing culture on his instrumentalist based vocabulary. His project ‘Hihats In Trees’ is one of multiple projects -that altogether form the artistic output of his Phd- that has been well received.
In 2023 he was invited by fashion designer Dries Van Noten, who had already used Hihats In Trees’ music for the presentation of his collection in 2020, to perform live for the men’s and women’s show of the Fall/Winter 2023 collection.