A ship carrying a promising musician is shipwrecked upon the Dessert Island. All they have with them are eight of their choice tracks, and a cheap set of disco lights. Oh and a cargo of their favourite pudding! YOU CAN CHECK OUT THE SHOW EVERY THURSDAY AT MIDDAY AND THEN AGAIN AT 9PM, BUT TO GIVE YOU AN INSIGHT INTO WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT, HERE’S WHO’S WASHED AWAY ON THE ISLAND SO FAR...

Jonas De Kesel

Inspiration can come from many sources. Some songwriters are inspired by life experience. Others draw from books, memories, or places they've been. Judging from my discussion with Belgian guitarist and composer Jonas De Kesel, his inspiration comes from much stranger territory altogether. We discussed his new track “As Above" which emerged from an unusually vivid dream that lingered long after he woke. The dream began peacefully among mountains at sunset, before taking a darker turn. An eagle appeared, inviting him skyward into something vast and unknowable. "It sounds really freaky," he laughed, recalling the experience. Yet the emotional contrast of beauty, fear, anxiety and transcendence stayed with him long enough to become music.

That transformation from feeling to sound lies at the heart of De Kesel's process. Rather than carefully mapping compositions in advance, he prefers to sit with his instrument and allow ideas to unfold naturally. "I never really know where I want to go," he explained. "It's almost meditative.”

Wrong notes and unexpected turns are not obstacles but opportunities. If an accidental movement leads somewhere interesting, he'll follow it. For De Kesel, music isn't about perfect execution. It's about discovery.

That openness extends beyond the writing process and into his performances. De Kesel's largely instrumental work often feels cinematic, yet he consciously avoids explaining too much. Early on, audience members would approach him after concerts with entirely different interpretations of the same piece. Rather than correcting them or revealing his own narrative, he embraced the idea. "It's cool that everybody kind of has their own imagination that just runs free," he said.

The result is music that functions almost like a wordless storybook. Listeners bring their own memories, emotions and imagery, completing the picture themselves. De Kesel may have personal stories behind every composition, but he prefers letting audiences find their own.

Jonas De Kesel’s “White Horse Chestnut” is available in December 2026.

His choices

Nirvana - School (from The Muddy Banks of the Wishkah)
Paco De Lucia - Mi Nino Curro (Live in America 1993)
Ilyas Ahmed - Black Midas
Fifty Foot Combo - Damage Report
Robbie Basho - Blue Crystal Fire or Rocky Mountain Raga (he says you can choose!)
King Krule - Perfecto Miserable live (You Heat Me Up, You Cool Me Down)
Atahualpa Yupanqui - Si Me Veis Mirando Lejos
Townes Van Zandt - Pancho & Lefty

Favourite Pudding - Tiramisu