Antillectual

Almost as contagious as the Corona virus was the recent digital acoustic virus, mostly singers with an acoustic guitars. Drummers have been hit the hardest by Corona it seems. Luckily the last thing we did before quarantining was record a drum chronology! Featuring drum parts of all of our full album discography crammed together into a chronological overview; 54 songs in 5 minutes! From Silencing Civilization to ENGAGE; from No Human Is Illegal to All in the Mix. Even though we still can’t play shows, we can finally do something drum related again!

Obviously inspired by Kye Smith’s drum chronology series, audio by Emiel Thoonen, video by Ruben Smulders.

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It’s amazing to see a mainstream movement coming up. There is a long history of black emancipatory movements building up to this and it’s sad that tragic events like the police killing another black man are needed to get widespread attention. Nonetheless this can become a unique moment in history. It’s up to all of us to make it an actual page in the history books, and not just another people’s protest and hashtag without significant long term change.

Now that change is in the making, here’s things to think about for us as privileged, white, male members of a band that is active in a predominantly white male scene. It’s vital to keep thinking about what’s happening, keep educating yourself. Find the perfect balance between listening to and speaking up for the people that need support. Listen to people in other, less privileged positions, and position yourself. Be humble and understanding, and be an ally or ambassador for the group you’re not a part of. Keep protesting, but also sign petitions, lobby your members of parliament, and when elections come up, go vote. Use that privilege to help others who don’t have it or who are outnumbered.

We’ve been a political band since day one of our existence, but circumstances are changing and perspectives are shifting. As a band we hope to stay or become such allies and ambassadors, when and where we can. We hope to learn and evolve in a constantly developing world. This is the only way we can truly try to change this world and make it a better place. For all. Make sure to end up on the right side of history.

Some possibly interesting links:

Emo Nite Presents: Racism in the Punk/Alternative Scene: A conversation led by Black voices
“Being black is the most punk thing you can possibly do!” A panel including Jason from FEVER 333 and formerly Letlive (our 2011 tour buddies!).

20 Black Punk Bands You Need To Listen To
Featuring bands from underrepresented places like South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Mozambique & more.

CHECK THIS SHIT OUT!
A playlist with Black Voices in Alt/Punk

POC ALT | The Scene in Color
A playlist to celebrate artists of color within the alternative music scene, mostly from 2010 – present. Black artists are at the top. Genres: punk, emo, indie, metalcore, hardcore, alt-pop, & any scene-adjacent artists.

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Today is the release of our COVERS EP! If you pre-ordered (thanks!), it has probably already arrived at your home. If you haven’t, this might be your last chance to order one!

In total we recorded 4 covers of “the roots of our roots” for this passion project. When the cover idea surfaced we didn’t feel like covering the bands we grew up on. Most of them are still around or reunited. It seemed much more interesting to go back some more generations and find early punk songs with a melodic vibe to them. The EP includes covers of Truth Hits Everybody (The Police), Hanging on the Telephone (The Nerves, Blondie), I Believe in Miracles (Ramones) and Search and Destroy (The Stooges). Check the first review we got!

The cover artwork consists of adaptations of the four original designs so you know it’s us. Re-designs by Andy Dahlström (Satanic Surfers). We recorded the rhythm section live and we kept dubs and edits to a minimum. This is as raw/unpolished as we get in the studio! Drums and bass recorded by Emiel Thoonen; vocals, guitars and hammond recorded by Menno Bakker at Amsterdam Recording Company. Mixed by Menno Bakker at ARC, mastering by Carl Saff.

Order

We had 500 EPs made, but after sending out label and pre-order copies there are less than 40(!) left. You can still get one via our webshop; combine it with a shirt, album, tape, etc. Shirts are still available in S/M/L tight fit and S/M/L/XL loose fit. Just like the EPs: while supplies last … Besides releasing cover versions of these classic songs on a classic vinyl format, the EP is of course also digitally available. Check our Covers EP page to play the EP via Spotify, Bandcamp, Youtube and all other services.

Online acoustic sessions

We’re throwing a release party on Friday May 15! These days this means that we will go live via FB and Insta to celebrate the release, play some acoustic songs, do a Q&A and whatever else happens! Reply to this email with your (song) requests! The day after, Saturday May 16 aka Lagwagon Day, Willem is doing an acoustic set for Boatless Booze Cruise. A charity online festival with proceeds going to suffering venues in Hamburg, incl bands like The Creepshow, Teen Agers, Travels & Trunks

Toon has left the band

Sorry for ending this newsletter with a downer, for some this might come as a complete surprise, others were already in the know. It is with a heavy heart that we inform you that Toon has decided to leave the band. We wish him the best of luck with his (musical) endeavors and thank him for all the time and energy that he put into our band since 2014! What’s extra sad is that the last shows we were supposed to play together have been cancelled because of corona. For the remaining 2020 shows we already have a neat plan, including a very appropriate replacement solution. We will tell you all about it as soon as we know 100% sure that the currently booked shows are taking place.

That’s it for now, till next time! Then we can hopefully tell you all about our plans for the 2020 shows! Thanks for reading, stay in touch …

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Our Covers EP will come out on May 12, starting today you can pre-order it! We created some nice bundles including a shirt design, stickers, pins and full length albums. Check in tonight to hear Willem play some (cover) songs from our HQ!

Pre-orders

You can now pre-order our Covers EP via our webshop! We added some nice bundles with a Cover Shirt, full length, tapes, stickers and pins options. Since getting merch at a store, show or festival is not an option at the moment we added reduced prices on multiple EPs. That way you can order a couple and distribute them to your friends (at 1,5m distance!) or throw one in their mailbox as a quarantine gift. Distribute It Together! With every pre-order comes an instant download of 2 tracks.
Order the Covers EP / Cover shirt / Cover EP+shirt / Covers EP tape / EP+Shirt+Album bundle

Acoustic Live Stream

Tonight, Sunday April 12, at 20h00 CET Willem will do an acoustic live session to celebrate that pre-orders are available. Come hang out, expect some of the covers from the EP and some original songs. BYOB, tell a punk! Check in to our Facebook or Instagram page to join in!

Touring

In the overview below we also included the shows that got canceled because of Corona. We can’t guarantee that the other shows will take place. Keep an eye on our site, FB, Insta or Twitter for more info and instant updates if anything happens.

• CANCELED Apr 24 CH Lugano, Punk Rock Weekend
• CANCELED May 21 UK London, The Amersham Arms
• CANCELED May 22 UK Manchester, Retro Bar
• CANCELED May 23 UK Bristol, Booze Cruise
• Jun 20 DE Minden, Kraetzeval
• Aug 22 DE Karben, Karben Open Air
• Sep 18 DE Wuppertal, Die Börse
• Oct 03 NL Den Bosch, The Anthem Fest (World Skate Center)
• Oct 30 NL Oss, Groene Engel
• Dec 27 NL Nijmegen, Friends First Fest #6

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With events like these it takes some time to fully realize what’s going on. It will take even longer before all the dust has settled and it becomes clear what kind of impact Corona has on this generation. Most of us grew up in a world that was defined as a “postmodern society” or a “post 911-world”. Maybe this will shift into the “post-Corona generation”. A generation that never experienced a war, just economic crises, nothing that hit us directly or physically. Until now: we’ll be Corona survivors. Hopefully.

Meanwhile it’s important to unify this earth’s nation. Show solidarity with the ones suffering most from this pandemic. It is sickening to polarize our world under these circumstances and not support or even obstruct the current measures being taken for political gains. This is a non-political disaster happening to everyone, no exceptions made. Corona doesn’t discriminate. You’d think.

Because on the other hand, why treat this crisis differently than other crises? Simply because it’s also hitting us, the rich western people, and not only a minority somewhere at the other side of the world? Saying “This catastrophe is an unprecedented unique case” is a sign of privilege, of not feeling the impact of other disasters happening around the world.

Every crisis is a moral crisis. Even this one. Sometimes it’s hard to see what ethics have to do with for instance an earthquake or an epidemic like this. At first sight it might not be too evident, and moral appeals might not change the direct course of events during such catastrophes. First things first, get done what needs to get done. But when we look at how, for instance, epidemics come to existence (epidemic zoonoses are the result of how we see and treat animals) and what policies come into effect to “normalize” the situation, moral dilemmas become apparent and those in power have the option to take left or right turns. Naomi Klein wrote a terrific book about how catastrophes are being used to shift political paradigms seemingly unnoticed: The Shock Doctrine. A recommended read in times like these. This crisis could also be a great opportunity to do a factory reset; double check if we want to re-install certain mechanisms that are currently shut down because of the quarantines, that we might not want to see come back when we return to our normal lives.

It’s crucial to stay united and show solidarity with all involved. But it’s also important to stay critical of what’s going on, what decisions are being made and how power is being used. Some measures taken now seem obvious and necessary, but are unwanted to remain standard procedure. For instance: will cash payments return, will small (physical) shops survive and revive after the crisis? On the other hand, more online education options becoming available to more people and the increase of contacting people (far away) via digital communication might be nice side effects of this crisis. It will be crucial to check what choices will be made when the dust starts to settle, and how strong our unity will remain and how far our solidarity will reach then.

Stay safe, stay healthy! <3 

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