Archive for June, 2011

Interview about setting up Radical Duke

Posted on Monday, June 27th, 2011 in archives

From the “better late then never” department, I wanted to mention this interview from last autumn that Han, Simon and Hannes did for Poppunt Magazine, a free music mag from Flanders aimed at fans as much as the industry and the media itself.

The thing is different from your regular interview as it touches on various steps the band have taken to survive in the music industry. All of which were everything but commonplace when Radical Duke started up in 2002, such as directly selling merchandise through the website or offering up live recordings for purchase directly after the show.

And furthermore, in this interview Simon takes the opportunity to clear up with one long-running misunderstanding. Apparently, it is not exactly true that DAAU have a classical music background as such – at least they say they didn’t have formal classical training. I promise I’ll stop spreading that lie from now on 😉

You can read the full interview online (by way of a Flash viewer, and in Dutch), on the Poppunt site. It’s magazine number 45.

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A new project lurking around the corner…

Posted on Sunday, June 19th, 2011 in new animals

When DAAU played at the Duif church in Amsterdam last month, it might have been the conclusion of their “Shepherd’s Dream” tour. We don’t know for sure, but at present no concerts are officially announced until September.

But there are a few postings around the net that suggest that DAAU will return to the stage this fall to play some concerts with GEM – that is short for Grupo experimental de Música. GEM is coming over to Antwerp for a residency at the Singel and possibly some recordings with DAAU. The press text promises an amalgam of Brazilian and Belgian folk music, and points out that Fernando Sardo builds his own instruments and installations with unusual materials.

Now I’m thinking that a collaboration between these guys and DAAU could lead to something quite interesting – and possibly even more demanding of the average music listener than Shepherd’s Dream. Will we see the Anarchists move up to the avantgarde of experimental noise music? The answer probably won’t be given until autumn, when the collaborative project plays two festival dates in Gent and Antwerp. I’ll try to be there.

Dates according to toutpartout:

* 10/09/11: Stad als Podium, Philharmonie Haarlem (NL) (DAAU)

* 27/10/11: Vooruit – Gent (B) (Europalia Brasil) – Ferdando Sardo’s GEM vs. DAAU

* 04/11/11: Vamos Brasil! @ De Singel – Antwerpen (B) – Ferdando Sardo’s GEM vs. DAAU

Watch a video of GEM performing live below.

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