George Smits

Who is George Smits?

George Smits, aka 'Toet', was a Belgian visual artist, experimental musician and inventor of experimental musical instruments.

In the sixties he was a member of the band of Ferre Grignard. Smits was also active as an actor in a few movies, and was part of Antwerp's underground arts scene. Besides his musical career he was active as a painter, and an experimental musician with his own radio show on the Belgian public radio Radio Centraal. This radio show, broadcast at night, gave Smits the motivation to increasingly focus on creating music, using instruments he had invented himself as well as effects, but also, gradually, new electronic tools. Smith prepared his radio show very precise, spending about 20 hours of recording of sounds in advance of the broadcast. On the radio broadcasting he worked under the pseudonym Captain Zbolk.

George Smits is mostly known for his self-created musical instruments. Many of Smits' instruments are acoustic and made with polystyrene, large springs and long strings.