Dressed Like Boys at Rock Herk 2026

About this set

You may know Jelle Denturck as the frontman of DIRK., with whom, in his own words, he has ‘made a nice lot of noise the last few years’. But really he considers himself a huge softy, with a record collection full of melancholic indie pop and rock: Bowie, The Beatles, Lou Reed, Elton John, Nina Simone, Anohni & The Johnsons, Sufjan Stevens, Perfume Genius, Wilco, Tobias Jesso Jr… there’s clearly a side to Denturck that doesn’t come out easily in DIRK. He decided it was about time. As Dressed Like Boys he wanted to write songs and make a record that were entirely his own. Not as an ego trip, but as a form of self-examination. Denturck sings about the search for his personal freedom, his closest friends, his homosexuality and relationship, but doesn’t shy away from ugly themes like gaybashing either. It doesn’t get more personal or fragile than this. As much as Denturck loves making noise with DIRK., with Dressed Like Boys he can turn the volume knob a little to the left for an open-hearted look into his soul.