Real name: Hubert Frans Joanna De Coninck

Effective period / Period of releases: 1975 - 1979

Belgian singer and guitarist. Born in Mechelen in 1949, he now lives in Portugal with Annie Mad (mother of Jeremiah Persyn). De Coninck started his musical career at the age of 15 playing guitar in his first band, The Hot Matches. He studied classical guitar for just one year, but learned a lot of ‘tricks’ and chords from professional guitarists. In the early 1970s he spent two years ‘busking’ and fruit-picking in the south of France (Provence). Back in Belgium he teamed up with Jean Rousseau and recorded his first album Enfant Terrible after winning a song contest ; Evelyne, an erotic ballad from this album got and still gets airplay in Belgium and Holland. 3 years later he moved to Bruges and recorded his second album Crapule De Luxe, an album with controversial lyrics and a solid rock sound. With his band of the same name he toured for 3 years through Belgium and Holland, releasing the album Rooms For Travellers in 1981.

In the 1990s De Coninck travels to Portugal and falls in love with the country, its people and its unspoilt nature. He follows a 4 years course in Ghent to learn the language and starts to spend more time in Portugal, discovering the rich culture and enchanting fado music. He decides to move to the land of saudade and from that moment his life and music are strongly influenced by his new environment. After the release of a 'best of' CD in 2000 he starts composing and writing again. This time his Dutch lyrics are accompanied by Latin influenced rhythms and melodies. His 2001 album Pomme D'Amour received very positive reviews in the Belgian press but went unnoticed. De Coninck then meets Portuguese multi-instrumentalist and they decide to work together, composing and recording in João’s house by the sea. Spanish and Portuguese traditionals, Brazilian songs (Caetano Veloso amongst others), …Bert learns them all from Joaõ. After concerts in Portugal and Belgium, the duo is augmented by Chris Post, a German keyboard-player and electronic engineer. Together they record Bert´s musical Bert De Coninck - La Salsichafobia De Marzapane. Later, De Coninck reappears in cover band The Woodbines, and around 2018 he starts Château Clochard with Christopher Ford and Scoob..