Bio
Jan Bechtum was Picture's guitarist from 1979 through "Diamond Dreamer" in 1982. He is regarded by many,
including former vocalist Shmoulik Avigal, as the 'true' sound of Picture. Jan left the band in 1983, prior
to the release of "Eternal Dark". Jan wasn't happy with the band's direction at that point. He became a
born again Christian and pursued a different direction. In Jan's own words:
"When I left Picture in 1983, I helped a good friend of mine with the
production of demos and LPīs for artists that he contracted. That was
because I had experience with producing Heavy Metal Ears and Diamond
Dreamer. It was not until 1992 when I joined a new band. This was a
heavy rock gospel band called Changed. With this band I played for about 2
years, recorded 1 demo and 1 CD and played in Holland, Denmark, Norway,
Sweden, Poland, Belgium and the United States."
"Unfortunately the leader of the band wasnīt happy with the musical
direction of the band and decided to stop the band. The drummer in Changed was
Mark Maas, whom I asked to join me in a new band because Mark and I
understood each other musically very well."
"So in 1996 we joined forces and also found Jos Adema to be a perfect
bass player. When we couldnīt find a good lead singer we decided to try the
name Picture for the band to attract more and better singers. That worked.
Michel Zandbergen was the perfect match."
"Besides playing guitar I am the owner of an IT company in Holland. Note
the picture above. At
the moment we have 7 employees and business is very good.
My great (new) hobby is gardening. I have a nice house in the northern
(quiet) part of Holland with lots of space to perform my hobby."
Links
E-Mail Jan