Van Stratum started music at age 14 by singing, before being pushed to play bass by his friends. His first instrument was a brandless bass guitar brought for 50 euros. The band released their debut album
Embrace the Storm in 2005, with Lucassen acting as composer and
Marcela Bovio as lyricist.
A War of Our Own was produced and released
independently, and funded via the
crowdfunding site
Indiegogo. In April 2016, the band announced via Facebook that they would be separating at the end of the year, stating "Over the past eleven years we've had the time of our lives playing in stages all over the world and sharing moments of joy on stage. But all good things come to an end, and we feel it's time to move on and search for new musical challenges. We're proud of everything we've achieved, with your help, and we want to end the band history on a high note instead of losing focus, interest and drive. Before parting ways as a band we will perform a few goodbye shows; we also want to record a DVD to serve as a memento of the good times we've had. [...] Once again, we'd like to express our eternal gratitude for the support you've given us all these years. All of us will continue to make music, one way or the other; so we still hope to see you soon on a stage near you. Thank you for being part of the wonderful adventure that has been Stream of Passion!" The band released a live album entitled
Memento later that year, and performed their final show on 28 December 2016. In 2016,
Anneke van Giersbergen created the band
VUUR, and chose Van Stratum, whom she had worked with as a part of The Gentle Storm, as bass guitarist. He was featured on the band's first album,
In This Moment We Are Free – Cities, released on 2017. == Personal life ==