North Empire

NEW WEBSITE - http://www.northempire.nl

Sun, 14 Oct 2012 16:11:18 +0200

As of today our new website is: http://www.northempire.nl

You can still read ‘old’ news over here…

Interview: All Aboard (DE)

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 19:14:09 +0200

On October 16th we’ll have another punk show in Cafe Lokaal, Heemskerk. It’s been a while since we’ve had a punk night at that bar, so we thought we’d put on some amazing bands. Besides Elway (US) and Translated, All Aboard from Germany will fill our lives with some punk rock joy. We had a little chat with Marius on music, touring, partying, and all other important things in life.

Could you please introduce yourself?
We’re All Aboard!, a punkrock band from Monchengladbach, Germany. Artur plays guitar, Nils plays bass, David plays guitar and sings and I’m Marius and play drums.

Who or what has influenced your music? What are you listening to at the moment?
Just to name a few: Descendents, Black Flag, Hot Water Music, Alkaline Trio and so on. We listen to loads of the bands playing THE FEST. We’re good friends with Nothington, Red City Radio and many more in the American Punkrock scene. When we’re in the van we listen to the new THE HOLY MESS record lately. Also the latest ELWAY E.P. is pretty damn good.

What have you released so far? Anything on the shelf?
We started out with a Demo in 2010. On tape. All DIY. Than we had the Radio E.P. out in April 2010. After that we did a split 7” with a German punkrockband called Francesco. It got more professional with our first album called ‘Twelve Little Compliments’ which we released in September 2011. We’re very proud of our new baby ‘Opportunities’. It’s a 7” EP due out in October 2012. Get your hands on this sweety!

You’re touring with Elway this tour. How did that come together? What do you expect of touring with an American band?
How stuff like this comes together :) I loved the band since their 10-4 Eleanor days. A friend of mine, Ryan who plays/played in a band called SPANISH GAMBLE first showed them to me. I was really blown away. So then they came up with ELWAY and I liked it even better. Due to funny circumstances I found out that Tim, lead singer of ELWAY was playing drums on the NOTHINGTON tour last year. We played a couple of shows together and somehow he talked his boys into touring Europe. Before that it was basically Chris from Nothington, Benny from Klownhouse Tours and me talking Tim into doing that tour. I really think Elway is one of the best new ‘Fest-bands’ around. How could you not like them?

What is the best and worst thing of touring?
I guess the best thing is that you’re seeing different cities and get to know amazing people everyday. Plus the party-fact. We love partying. To us, a tour is a big party-holiday where we just do what we love. The worst thing about touring is the smell in the van after the second day. We can’t really complain about anything. Touring Europe is always amazing. You have short drives, get a warm meal and a place to sleep every night. I don’t know what else to ask for. I mean we didn’t tour longer than 3 weeks in a row yet but you get to miss your loved ones at some point already. We invented a very typical saying: Thirst is worse than home sickness.

You’re known as a hard partying band. What are your favorite drinks? Any fun party fact to share with us?
Somehow this rumor keeps coming up to us. I don’t know why. Favorite drinks are possibly beer and whiskey but at some point we’re fine with anything that’s free. There’s loads of cool stories of us partying. I just can’t remember them. I have this drunk-alter-ego called Warius. Maybe you best ask him. He doesn’t do interviews when he’s more than 1 meter away from a bar though.

Where would you still like to go with the band?
We’d all love to tour the US for once. I mean it’s like the worst thing you can possibly do with a European band but somehow we’re all curios. That’s definitely on our ‘to-do-list’.

Germany is a big country with a rather big scene (bigger than Holland). Do you think this is an advantage or a disadvantage?
That’s a hard one. I guess the German punkrock scene (at least for this kind of punkrock) is still growing. You have maybe ten good German punkrock bands. You have loads of mixed bills every night ‘cause there not many promoters for this kind of music yet. The scene is growing and we’re a part of it. That’s awesome. I feel that the Dutch scene is more connected to the UK so you get these trends or whatever you wanna call it earlier. The shows we played in Holland were awesome and there are loads of amazing bands compared to the size of the country. Another point is that Germany is big enough to do like a 10 day-tour in it. You’d not be able to do that in Holland. I just don’t know what’s better :)

You also organize shows. Why did you start doing this? What do you thin k of the whole ‘doing shows yourself’ thing?
I started with small shows like 8 years ago. Just putting on shows for my former band and friends. Somehow I ran into a couple of ‘booking agencies’ then. I made friends with them and the bands over the years and somehow they keep coming back to our hometown. The shows here are amazing most of the time. Monchengladbach is not like a big city (300k inhabitants) but then there’s like 70-150 people actually LOVING what they hear. It’s not like every show is that good, sometimes you have to pay the food you cook out of your personal pocket. But yeah, it’s a hobby. You get to know people and get your favorites bands to play in your hometown. Somehow it’s all worth it even if you don’t get any money out of it. If my shows make a profit, the money is split between the bands or I just donate to cool organizations.

Anything to add?
Thanks for the interview buddy. We’re looking forward to the show in Heemskerk as we heard a lot of stories about that place from in Leagues Apart. BRING IT ON :)

www.allaboardnow.com
www.facebook.com/allaboardnow
www.allaboard.bandcamp.com

Well, that should be enough reasons for you to come and check this band out on Tuesday October 16th at Cafe Lokaal, Heemskerk, NL (20:00h, free in). Thanks to All Aboard for doing this interview.

North Empire Fest 1

Mon, 01 Oct 2012 00:07:09 +0200

First of all, we had a great time at the Joyce Manor / Apologies, I Have None show. What great bands! Thanks to all of you who came out to the show. It was great to see people from all over the country.

Also, we will be organizing our first all dayer called North Empire Fest 1 (originality is not our strongest point) on Saturday November 17th at De Bakkerij, Castricum, NL. Expect something like 9 punk bands. More info soooooooon! But we can already say the headliners will be Crazy Arm (UK) and Apologies, I Have None (UK). STOKED.

Next show: September 29th

Wed, 26 Sep 2012 17:00:28 +0200

Joyce Manor (US) and Apologies, I Have None (UK) will take the stage this Saturday at Rockcafé Asgard. Doors are at 8pm and it’s free to get in. You certainly don’t want to miss out on this one!

New/next show: September 24th

Tue, 18 Sep 2012 18:24:45 +0200

On Monday 24th, next week, somewhere in Heiloo, NL we will be hosting a great show featuring some of our good friends.

Punk rockers The Liberation Service and Soey from Austria alongside the white trash punk rock of Crack David.

Starts at 20:00, bring a donation (we suggest 5eu). Want to come and attend? Send us an e-mail and we’ll tell you where this awesomeness is happening.

New show: January 22nd

Sat, 08 Sep 2012 20:41:08 +0200

Time to rock!

Kepi Ghoulie Electric (US) and Sons Of Buddha (FR) will rock your worlds at Cafe Lokaal on January 22nd of next year.

New show: October 16th

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 15:57:59 +0200

We’re happy to announce Elway (US) and All Aboard (DE) will be over in October to show us how to party. Tuesday October 16th @ Cafe Lokaal, Heemskerk (20:00h, free in).

Next show: August 11th

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 17:00:34 +0200

Jort is celebrating his birthday in Cafe Lokaal, Heemskerk this Saturday. Of course there are some great bands playing:

OUT NOW: Say Cheese!

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 16:03:00 +0200

‘Punk is dead’ is a saying often heard. That’s not true, at least in Holland it is not. To prove the Dutch punk scene is vibrant and alive North Empire has released Say Cheese!.
This compilation features 18 Dutch punk rock bands, each contributing one song. Varying from established to upcoming bands, every single one of them hardworking and delivering top quality songs. Making it obvious the Dutch punk scene is alive, varied, and offering a lot of great music to listen to.

The compilation is available as a ‘pay-what-you-want’ download. All the revenue made with this compilation will go to a good cause. Wakker Dier in this case, a Dutch organization fighting for the welfare of animals in the bio industry. Please help out when you download the compilation.
The compilation is available via: http://northempire.bandcamp.com

Featured bands: Anvery, Brat Pack, Long Way Down, Translated, Sweet Empire, Note To Amy, De Aanslag, New Pokerface, Face Tomorrow, Sparky’s Revenge, Antillectual, Drunktank, All On Black, Break Character, Midnight Menace, Sidewalk, The Real Danger, and Sparrow Falls.

Next show: July 14th

Mon, 09 Jul 2012 16:01:00 +0200

This Saturday Andrew Cream, Tes, and Frank Doesburg will be playing De Bakkerij, Castricum. 21:00h, €3.

(Shankland had to cancel unfortunately)

New show: September 3rd

Wed, 04 Jul 2012 19:10:00 +0200

Monday September 3rd we will be welcoming VRGNS (US, members of Dead To Me) on this tour Sam will be joined by Jamie (The Arteries) on bass and Reza (The Cut Ups) on drums. Also playing will be acoustic super star Jeff Rowe (US). Support comes from Sweet Empire. Location will be somewhere in Heiloo, exact address tba.

New show: September 29th

Thu, 17 May 2012 23:39:16 +0200

We’re proud to announce Joyce Manor (US) and Apologies I Have None (UK) will be playing Rockcafé Asgard on Saturday September 29th. This is certainly going to be great.

Versus The World (Donald) playing the Groezrock Acoustic Punk...

Thu, 17 May 2012 14:58:26 +0200

Versus The World (Donald) playing the Groezrock Acoustic Punk Meeting II.

Xenon Razis playing outside in the rain on Groezrock Acoustic...

Thu, 17 May 2012 14:52:54 +0200

Xenon Razis playing outside in the rain on Groezrock Acoustic Punk Meeting II.

Groezrock Acoustic Punk Meeting II: some pics

Thu, 17 May 2012 14:49:13 +0200

Here are some pictures of the Groezrock Acoustic Punk Meeting II last April 27th at the BBQ area on the campsite. Have a look!

(If you have any you’d like to share: info@northempire.nl)

Donald of Versus The World playing some tunes.

James Hull (Leagues Apart) entertaining the crowd.

Outside the tent.

People really enjoyed James Hull.

Before we took over the tent.

Recordings of Groezrock Acoustic Punk Meeting II

Mon, 07 May 2012 17:02:47 +0200

Ian of Acoustix ‘n Stones made some recordings of some of the people who played the Groezrock Acoustic Punk Meeting II. Recordings include Communicaution, Oliver John Ward, Rob Lynch, Slowyear, Sweet Empire, and Versus The World.

Have a listen here.

If you have any material (photos/videos) of the event please send ‘m over to info@northempire.nl

We’ll post a selection of the received material soon.

Next show: May 11th

Sun, 06 May 2012 23:22:15 +0200

This is the next show… We really can’t wait, this is certainly going to be a very good one.

Friday May 11th: Crazy Arm (UK) + The 20 Belows (DK) + Against All Odds (NL) @ Rockcafé Asgard, Beverwijk (20:00h, free entry)

That was Groezrock...

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:34:59 +0200

Hope that the people who were there have enjoyed themselves at the Groezrock Acoustic Punk Meeting II just as much as we did, and at the rest of the festival of course. We really had a blast! Thanks for coming down to the BBQ area and making this happen. We’ll definitely be doing this again next year.
If you have any pictures or videos please do share them with us: northempirebookings@gmail.com
See you at Groezrock Acoustic Punk Meeting III ! We’ll do our best to make that even better!

It's Groezrock time!

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:19:57 +0200

We’ll be heading down to Groezrock tomorrow to see some of our favorite bands. But first the Groezrock Acoustic Punk Meeting II will be happening tomorrow (22:00h, BBQ area at campsite, facebook event).

After a successful edition last year, it’s time for edtion 2 of the Groezrock Acoustic Punk Meeting.

We’ve got a guitar and this is happening:
Versus The World (US) - http://www.facebook.com/vstheworldmusic
Leagues Apart (UK) - http://leaguesapart.bandcamp.com/
Sweet Empire (NL) - http://sweetempire.bandcamp.com/
PJ Bond (US) - http://pjbondmusic.bandcamp.com/
Mark McCabe (UK) - http://markandhisguitar.bandcamp.com/
Oliver John Ward (UK) - http://oliverjohnward.bandcamp.com/
James Choice (AT) - http://jameschoice.bandcamp.com/
Translated (NL) - http://translatedpunk.bandcamp.com/
Ray Average (DE) - http://www.facebook.com/rayaverage
Slowyear (UK) - http://slowyear.bandcamp.com/
ScrXtch (NL) - http://facebook.com/ScrXtch.music
Jimmy Holland (UK) - http://jimmyholland.bandcamp.com/
The Lion And The Wolf (UK) - http://thelionandthewolf.bandcamp.com/
Rob Lynch (UK) - http://roblynch.bandcamp.com/
Violent City (BE) - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Violent-city/178129252204855
Crappy Fab (CH)- http://crappyfab.bandcamp.com/
Emma Hallows (UK) - http://emmahallows.bandcamp.com/
Social Distrust (DE) - http://www.facebook.com/socialdistrust
Barcelona DTD Punker Crew (ES) - http://www.daylightband.com/
Bad Ideas (UK) -http://badideas.bandcamp.com/
A Great Notion (UK) - http://agreatnotion.bandcamp.com/
Andrew Cream (UK) - http://andrewcream.bandcamp.com/
King Lui Van Beethoven (DE) - http://www.facebook.com/kingluivanbeethoven
The Attika State (UK) - http://theattikastate.bandcamp.com/
Communicaution (Lux) - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Communicaution/181442761867621
The Static Cult (UK) - http://thestaticcult.bandcamp.com/
Xenon Razis (GR) - http://xenonrazis.bandcamp.com/
Ren Spits At Magpies (UK) - http://www.facebook.com/renspitsatmagpies
In Clear Sight (BE) - http://www.facebook.com/inclearsightcore

When: Friday April 27th 2012 - 22:00h
Where: BBQ area at the campsite

Bring some booze and party!

See you there! Don’t forget to invite all your friends!

Info for bands:
- We’ve got one acoustic guitar, anything else should be brought along yourself.
- We’ll try to get some kind of stage available, if you have any ideas please get in touch.
- In case of rain we will probably cancel the event.
- Due to the huge line up, we can’t let you play entire sets. Probably 5 songs max, maybe even less. This is just so that everybody can play. Thanks for understanding.
- When you get to the BBQ area please try and find one of the North Empire Bookings guys to ‘sign in’.
- Any other ideas are very welcome! This is a thing we all do together (DIY yeah!), so any plan to make this a better/cooler/funnier/etc. event are more than welcome.

info@northempire.nl / http://www.northempire.nl/

New show: June 2nd

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 13:24:00 +0200

We’re proud to announce Ants! and Jack Holmes from Austria will be playing Crackers, Haarlem on June 2nd. Dutch support from Translated and Sweet Empire. Check out the flyer/poster.

P.S. Don’t forget to come over to De Groote Weiver, Wormerveer today for a great show with Spraynard (US), Caves (UK), Trails (UK), Translated, and Crack David. oi!