Singer songwriter from Amsterdam with Frisian roots
Geert Damstra was born in Leeuwarden, capital of the provice Friesland. At the age of 17, he “emigrated” – as he sometimes jokingly said – to Groningen, where he studied Business Administration. After working for years as a financial analyst and controller, he auditioned for the performance arts School Selma Susanna in Amsterdam in April 2016.
From nowhere to NOW HERE
A boy, a talented singer, a natural performer. But also an unprotected child that was mistreated and emotional neglected at home. A boy who didn’t feel the safety to tell anyone about the terror against him. A boy who felt ashamed, lonely and misunderstood and who could only forget his problems when he was playing football, reading books and singing songs of Radiohead, together with Tom York…This boy studied at University Business Administration and became financial analyst. But after his mother died in 2015, he transformed from a person surrounded by fears and negative thoughts to a person who embraced the unknown and decided to follow his deepest passion. He did audition at performance arts school Selma Susanna and during this study he remembered and experienced that he got talent in singing. A fruitfull time where he was introduced to a new world from Shakespeare to Bertold Brecht. I was a time where he discovered his own sound, voice and signature.
The director of the performance arts school Selma Susanna advised him one thing. “meditate more”
So he started to delve more deeply into the spiritual world and it’s literature and experimented with different forms of meditation. He followed regression sessions and joined ayuaska ceremonies. His work is inspired by – among others – Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave, Damien Rice,Benjamin Clementine and Radiohead. Themes that often recur are the urge for freedom, alienation, love for life and the magic of love. In 2023 Geert founded De Orbs. A collaboration with guitarist Fernando Cepeda.
He plays own work (Frisian and Dutch). inspired by Damien Rice, Leonard Cohen, Johnny Cash, Nick Cave, Andrea Bocelli, and many others. Geert plays with the Frisian language and mixes it with other languages. Language knows no boundaries, as the recent Frisian-language video clip “Twallingstriel” has proven with – in 2024 – an astonishing 1500 hours of watchtime in Indonesia, 1200 hours in India, 900 hours in the Netherlands, 700 hours in Argentina, 500 hours in Ukraine, 300 hours in Germany and 200 hours in Senegal, to name a few countries.
Together with Fernando Cepeda, Geert started the band The orbs. With The orbs the spiritual world comes together with music. Inspired by Spinvis, The Whitest boy alive, Radiohead and The Doors. Frisian roots with Colombian pepper. Both live in Amsterdam.

Follow your dreams, your heart and soul
“Let us be guided by the mystical power of music. Let us immerse ourselves in a world where the soul sings and the spirit dances. Let us ascend together to higher realms of understanding and love. Let us connect with the deeper meaning of life. Together up to higher vibrations.”