31 May 2011

Ghent



The show took place in this old 15th century mansion, not far from the University's Art School... It belongs to some artist who is currently renovating the whole place, lent to Ondergrond for this special event.


It was kind of a release party featuring our Belgian label Consouling Sounds/Lunasylum (nice to meet Mike & Miguel!), who released the CD version of Aidan Baker & thisquietarmy's Orange, and Syndrome's Floating Veins (Syndrome features members of Amen Ra). I say kind of, because it didn't really feel like one... Though, the event was well attended, it mostly comprised of hipster-ish socialite students who may not really have an interest in the music... Ghent, from what I've seen, has a pretty big concentration of young people as its University is located near the center of the city.

The mansion had two floors and several rooms. All three performing artists, Syndrome (w/ Pieces of Quiet), Aidan Baker & myself had their own room with their own stage and PA. Upstairs, they were projecting a movie in one of the rooms...



During Syndrome, from the merch room:


Aidan & I were in adjacent rooms, back-to-back against the same wall but with passageways through both sides of us. We had the idea to do an impromptu secret collaboration at the end of my set, where he would start to play from his room and his sound would bleed into mine, and vice-versa... The audience would slowly catch on and see what was going on in Aidan's room, then come back to mine... It was a pretty cool concept but I was having a hard time hearing what Aidan was doing as his PA was smaller than mine, so I faded out after about 10 minutes.


Taken by @SQNCS on Twitter:


30 May 2011

Northern France (day-off)

We couldn't get another show in the area on a monday... Though, we were offered a couple of options a bit too on the west side, and it'd be a much too long ride to Belgium the next day. So we had the day off... Instead of hanging out in mad-Paris, we decided to take a long ride in the northern countryside.

We found the gallo-roman ruins of Champlieu, where there used to be a temple, a roman theater & baths:




Then we stopped in Compiègne to grab lunch. By the time we got there, everything was about to close, from noon to 2pm (sieste time) - even the parking meters.




Then we found a pamphlet at the tourist info for Coucy-Le-Château, so we decided to check it out:





And finally, we went to see the Canadian Vimy Ridge memorial and its trenches:




Back to Wanquetin to spend the night with more food and Belgian beers! We also watched music DVDs on the big screen & projector.

29 May 2011

Paris

The show in Paris was an afternoon show, at the Parc de la Villette, a huge public park where the Villette Sonique festival was on-going for the whole week. Artists this year ranged from Animal Collective to Current 93, Glenn Branca to Thurston Moore & Emeralds just to name a few. There are two huge stages on each side of the canal, and these shows are free.



Here's Oxbow (crossing paths with them again) - by the 2nd song, Eugene Robinson had stripped down already:


We weren't part of the official programming. We were playing a showcase for one of our label Basses Fréquences at the Villette Sonique's Village Label - which is a record fair representing several labels, bands, distros & stores in Paris and all over France, such as Music Fear Satan and Souffle Continu. We also only had a 30-minute slot for both of us - so Aidan & I decided to do a collaboration, fitting as we were on tour to promote our CD/LP re-issue of "Orange". The bands played inside of this red thing:



When we got there, we weren't really sure about this... It seemed like a big mess, and the park was filled with families having pic-nics and kids running around. Who knows if people were actually going to show up for us.

As we were setting up before playing, Aidan saw that there was an available drum kit. So he told the sound guy that he wanted to play drums instead, while I went: "...??!?!@#%!". Next thing I knew, Aidan was playing the drums on top of my improvised soundscapes... Yikes, talk about putting yourself in danger on stage, but hey we're er... professionals. But I noticed that the room filled up pretty quickly and everyone was sitting and being really receptive (i.e. quiet and in their bubble)... Here's a youtube, notice the children playing football behind us:


At the label's table of the Village Label - from left to right: Arnaud (three:four Records, just met!), Jerome (Basses Fréquences), thisquietarmy & Aidan Baker - photo taken by Vincent of (MesseBasse/Douleur Fantôme). Some networking & record sales happened.


The Valley LP was supposed to be on the table, but as you may know, it got delayed again at the pressing plant. The fair ended around 9pm, we packed up and headed to the Japanese 'hood (I didn't even know there was one! Japanese restaurants and Japanese people everywhere!) to eat some noodles, near Place de l'Opéra. We also took a walk to the Louvre.


28 May 2011

Wanquetin

Wanquetin is a very small town near Arras, in the North of France. Though there are trains from Paris or Lille to Arras, the only way to get to Wanquetin is by car. As you can imagine, it is always a struggle to have people come to the Plané Ari Home Gigs.

However, the intimacy and the warm welcoming reception from Marc is unparalleled. Lifts to/from the house can be provided, as well as the possibility of lodging or even camping in the backyard. To make it even more attractive, a concert-meal option (limited seating) is offered for each event, which means that concert attendees have the possibility to stay to eat with everyone after the show: the stage is cleared and the living room gets filled with tables and chairs to enjoy a nice home-cooked late-night complete dinner with main course, dessert & coffee/tea.

I recommend any ambient/experimental/electro-folk artist and music fans to try to play or attend a show there, definitely worth the trip! Pillows, couches or chairs are provided, depending whether you prefer to lay down or not. There was maybe 15 people at our show (there were a lot of last-minute cancellation the same day), but they were a great bunch, all very attentive, quiet and respectful... Perfect ambient show atmosphere. I played a completely improvised ambient set for the occasion.

Here's a picture of Aidan Baker on stage:


If that's not enough to convince you, maybe this will:


The best beer fridge ever!!! Filled with Marc's incredible selection of amazing beers for only 1.50 euros!!! My favorite were the Corsendonk and La Chouffe.


More??? Alright. On the top floor of the house, there are 4 spare bedrooms and a separate bathroom. Aidan and I each had our own room. Behind the door of each room, the internet password is written. Enough said, why would you ever leave this house.


There's even a donkey in the backyard! Come on, Paris - you have no idea what you're missing.


Marc also runs his radio show from there, as Docteur Adams.

27 May 2011

Bochum

The first show of the tour in Bochum took place in some kind of art center called FKT. We were greeted by Dimitri from thepostrock.de & his crew who were very welcoming! We were maybe supposed to play outside, but the rain and the wind were pretty menacing a few hours prior to our arrival, so it was decided to play indoors, in this white room at the end of the hall.

There was no PA/Soundsystem, so we had to play through a SoundCity/SunnO))) amp lent by Kodiak - which, while pretty powerful (the ceiling was falling on my head, while I was soundchecking, realizing it wasn't dandruff but cement powder), it didn't have enough range for my sound... the tubes were also distorting loudly the whole time and it wasn't very pleasant.

Anyway, the whole night was resumed quite well by thepostrock.de: here (google-translate if you don't speak German).

Here's another review.

Photos by Seb Eckert:




More photos from FKT photographer Cristobal Marquez:
http://droned-in-music.blogspot.com/2011/06/aidan-baker-thisquietarmy-in-bochum-27.html

Other tidbits:

- I had a schnitzel for supper. Very german!

- Sold the most merch in Bochum - that was a great start, though it all went downhill from there, until the last show of the tour in Hamburg (which topped it off), funnily enough...

- Timo & Thomas of Denovali were at the show, and it was very nice to meet them. Denovali will be re-issuing Unconquered in 2xLP and releasing my new album Resurgence in CD/2xLP. Very excited about this new partnership! They're a lovely label...

- The hostel we were put at was some christian hostel named after this guy "enthusiastic about Jesus Christ and his church loved him with its lights and shadows", I can't remember the name now... but I did not sleep very well that night. Also, because there were drunk people yelling outside all night.

- Aidan Baker & I had a photo shoot with Cristobal in the park the next day after breakfast (where we avoided tomatoes and cucumbers, because the whole e.coli thing...). Poses with guitars, lying down on the grass, in reverse head-to-head, etc. Quite funny/awkward.

26 May 2011

Berlin (may 21-26; pre-tour)

Before the tour, I flew into Berlin a week before the tour w/ Meryem of Vessels-artwork Meryem. We stayed at Aidan & Leah's in Kreuzberg and went pretty much everywhere... !

Aside from the obligatory touristic attraction such as Brandenburg Gates, Checkpoint Charlie, Berliner Dom, Berlin Wall, Holocaust Memorial, etc. - we also went to the Museum für Naturkunde, the Dali museum, the Helmut Newton photography museum, rented bikes to the Soviet Memorial in Treptowers Park... but we mostly wanted to hang out in Kreuzberg, great neighborhood to live in.

Here are some pictures from Meryem:




Check out the rest of her photo album of our trip (must-see!): here.

++

We also went to a few shows! Phosphorescent at Magnet Club, Oxbow performing an acoustic-set in some gallery (ok, we actually missed the whole set minus a couple of songs, but got free beers that we took with us for the subway ride!), Lichens opening for Explosions in the Sky at the Astra; it was good to see Robert there - we hung out after the show but they had to leave pretty soon after to head to Cologne overnight. Oh yeah, what's with Explosions playing in front of 2000 people - that's just crazy... it was hot and sweaty, and the sound suffered. I still remember the shows in front of 50 people at Casa del Popolo, some 10+ years ago.


Also, Kevin Drumm at NK in Neukolln - NK is an artist run independent non-profit organization dedicated to sound arts, which has rehearsal rooms, concerts & workshops. Erik from Svarte Greiner/Deaf Center has his studio there.


On the last day, we were eating ice cream in our 'hood park while a WWII bomb alert evacuation was in effect (found under the Oberbaum bridge)... Everyone went home except those who didn't understand German nor Turkish (oh, hay).




See ya later, Berlin! Tour starts now...

24 May 2011

Aidan Baker & thisquietarmy - Eurotour 2011 (May 27-June 16)

Tour begins Friday May 27th... These are the final and official dates. Unfortunately, the shows in Hungary & Poland were canceled.

Please spread the word around! Thanks.

May 27 - Bochum, Germany @ Freies Kunst Territorium

May 28 - Wanquentin, France @ Le Plané Ari Home Gigs

May 29 - Paris, France @ Villette Sonic (Village Label, Free show)

May 31 - Ghent, Belgium @ Sint-Lucas Beeldende Kunst - w/ Syndrome

June 01 - Brussels, Belgium @ Private Home Gig - by reservation only
RSVP: thisquietarmy@gmail.com for info.

June 02 - Luxembourg, Luxembourg @ Rocas - w/ Dog Bless You

June 03 - Metz, France @ Eurofoot Café - w/ Dog Bless You

June 04 - Zurich, Switzerland @ Bazilus - w/ Krankenzimmer 204

June 05 - Geneva, Switzerland @ L'Écurie de l'Ilôt

June 06 - Rovereto, Italy @ The Hub

June 07 - Ljubljana, Slovenia @ Menza Pri Koritu

June 08 - Bratislava, Slovakia @ Obluda w/ Pjoni

June 11 - Berlin, Germany @ Bei Roy - w/ Nadja

June 13 - Berlin, Germany @ Bis Auf's Messer

June 14 - Dresden, Germany @ AZ Conni - w/ Khuda

June 16 - Hamburg, Germany @ Markthalle - w/ Nadja, Svarte Greiner


14 May 2011

last-minute warm up show!

Last-minute warm up show, Sunday May 15th at Deathouse (Fattal Lofts, in St-Henri... somewhere around 679 St-Remi) w/ Monarch (France), Alaskan & Courtaud.

Last-minute addition! Velnias from Colorado!!! Insane line-up.

9 May 2011

New shirts for the upcoming EU tour.

New thisquietarmy shirts made for the upcoming EU tour... abstract birds/lungs/roots/blood, designed by me. interpret it however you want...

If you can't make it to the shows, you can get one here: http://thisquietarmy.com/records/#tqats003