Maarten Swaan is a singer/songwriter/musician from Holland, and also a founder of the popular Dutch-American band Melou.

In 2005 Maarten left Holland for a life of traveling the world and playing music. Starting in Guatemala, Maarten met Annie Goodchild, with whom he found the band Melou. They recorded 2 full-length albums ("Communication", 2006; "Battery Park", 2008) and did 3 extensive tours through Europe and New England. In the summer of 2009, Melou played her last show in Holland, and the members decided to go their own ways into the world of music.

In September of '09, Maarten's musical adventure took him on a tour in Holland and England with American songwriter Leslie Helpert. He then ventured to Boston to play and tour for 3 months with singer Charlie Christos.

While touring and recording for other groups Maarten began writing his own music. Recording demo tracks on a laptop, based on only piano, guitar and vocals, he created an ambient, 70's sounding vibe reminiscent of Pink Floyd, the Beach Boys and Queen. In February Maarten traveled to the beautiful and inspiring city of Barcelona to record his debut album at the Emergency Room Studio with producer Dave Bianchi. The goal was to keep the ambient 70's sound from the demos in the new recording, but to add a full band. With the help of his musical friends in Barcelona, Oriol Roca (drums), Miguel Serna (double-/ electric bass), Sasha Agranov (Cello), Nick Talvola (trumpet) and Àngela Llinares (violin), Dave and Maarten created a wonderful EP, entitled: "Write Me Notes" .