**Shifts** was a [[artist:Frans de Waard]]’s solo project, started in 1995 to explore the depths of ‘guitar ambient’ music. In the mid-nineties De Waard was frequently communicating with [Richo Johnson](https://www.discogs.com/artist/435056) of [[label:Fourth Dimension Records]], who specialized in noise and loud guitar music, and eventually decided to make some music in the similar manner. He recorded a short improvisation on electric guitar with some effects, and then slowed it down via tape manipulations on 4-track recorder to create a longer piece. (This debut work was released only five years later, on limited edition [r=917271] 10"). A few shorter pieces were soon recorded and released by Frans through his own [[label:Korm Plastics]] label.

Without any skills of playing a guitar, Frans de Waard soon borrowed a tiny motorized device from [[artist:Freek Kinkelaar]] (his partner in [[artist:Beequeen]]) and repurposed it to mechanically play the strings on acoustic and electric guitars – in the manner somewhat similar to famous machine guitars of [[artist:Remko Scha]]. Guitar sounds were further processed with various effects and layered on tape to produce a denser, textured noise ambient. The majority of tracks were based around De Waard playing guitar himself, but a few pieces explored additional possibilities: on [r=536578] 7" he treated and processed [[artist:Roel Meelkop]] playing a guitar, while [r=327303] 7" and [r=262499] (7" lathe cut) were created as plunderphonics experiment with guitars sampled from well-known bands. Two albums were recorded without guitars at all: [r=291886] 10" on piano and [r=498650] CD-R with a single cymbal.

Even though it was always intended as a studio-only project, in 1998 Frans de Waard agreed to present Shifts material in concert. Several live performances were organized, most notably an improvised set with [[artist:Zoviet France]] on [[label:MS Stubnitz]] moored in Stockholm. He also played at [[label:Extrapool]] in Aug 1998 and participated in (k-raa-k)³ Festival '99 at [[label:Democrazy, Gent]].

In the late nineties and early 2000s, Shifts released three CD albums, several CD-Rs and limited vinyl editions through acclaimed European, American and Japanese independent labels, such as [[label:Meme]], [[label:(K-RAA-K)³]], [[label:BOXmedia]], [[label:ERS]], etc. The initial phase of the project was concluded with an epic 2xCD [remix project](https://discogs.com/release/311602), which contained Shifts source records recycled by [[artist:Vidna Obmana]] and [[artist:Asmus Tietchens]]. A couple years later, Shifts was revived with *Vertonen* cycle. Original seven tracks, recorded back in 1995 for a cancelled album on [[label:Freedom From]] label, were reworked on computer by Frans de Waard who shifted very far from a source guitar sound. These compositions were published on [r=361441] CD-R by Norwegian label [[label:Humbug]]. From 2004 to '07, he continued making new Vertonen tracks (most of them – by recycling previous Shifts recordings), ranging from full-length albums to shorter pieces. They were released on [[label:Public Eyesore]], [[label:Verato Project]], [[label:Beta-lactam Ring Records]], [[label:The Locus Of Assemblage]], and other experimental labels in UK, Europe and USA.

In 2004, Frans de Waard recorded three final pieces for Shifts project, all created on a 4-string Spanish guitar purchased for 1 euro. They were released on [r=810159] (2006) mini CD-R by French label [[label:taâlem]], and a limited edition [r=1078577] LP on British label [[label:Entr'acte]]. In November 2013, a complete Vertonen cycle (consisting of 22 tracks) was published online via [[label:KormDigitaal]], and soon after most Shifts albums were reissued in digital format. Lost and forgotten demo tracks from 1997 were rediscovered and released on a limited edition [r=7954568] cassette by [[label:Maneki Neko Tapes]] in 2015.