Kris Warger (39)’s bed seemed spread. As the son of the owner of a paint wholesaler in Uithoorn, he could easily take it over, but after a ‘mental breakdown’ he decided to change course and opted for music. “It hurt my heart,” says father Ed.
Kris and his father Ed Warger (72) are standing in front of a large steel building on the Zijdelweg in Uithoorn. The signboard reads in large letters: ProCoatings, paint wholesaler. It is the name of the company founded by Ed that Kris could have taken over and at first it seemed to be heading in that direction.
When Kris failed his studies, he started working in his father’s company in his twenties. He worked his way up to assistant director. But when he lost his ability to speak at age 32 and started having panic attacks, everything changed. “It felt like I was playing a play in my own life,” he explains. “You do all kinds of things, because that’s how it should be: working in my father’s company, getting married, having children. But I wasn’t happy.”
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Kris opens the door of his music studio on the right side of the building, next to the paint store. In recent years he has been working under the stage name SIRKRIS on his first LP with the appropriate name: Uit de Verf. “During my burnout, it turned out that I only got energy from music, reading and texts,” says Kris.
Admitting this to his father was not easy. De Uithoorn calls him a successful role model, who has done everything for his family and has come out of nowhere. “But the bar is therefore also high to be successful. I found it very difficult to tell my father that I wanted to study music to become an audio engineer and that I was neglecting my responsibility.”
At that time, his father expected Kris to take over the company and therefore did everything he could to leave his empire as good as possible. The company went from three branches to 25 branches: it became the largest paint wholesaler in the Netherlands. “When Kris dropped out of college and started working in the company, I realized that the company could stay in the hands of the family. That’s great of course.”
In the end, his father also saw that Kris was not happy about this and had to choose his own path. In the song Uit de Verf, Kris thanks his father for all the support. “It hurt my heart,” says Ed, while the title song plays in the background. “But then I realized that I was asking too much responsibility from him. It was simply not his hum.”
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Ed sold ‘his baby’ to a wholesale supplier. “I’ve always supported Kris and I’m glad he’s doing something he likes. Pride is a difficult word for me, because I have trouble saying things I don’t mean. It would be nice for him if it also pays off and he is successful.”
Kris is not yet done with his personal quest. “I am still looking for the recognition of others, especially my father’s. Because my father has been so successful, that will always be my goal. I hope he is still there if I succeed.”