When it comes to bands on tour most people think huge buses, sold out arenas and partying but independent touring is a whole different world. Sleeping on floors, days without showering, broken down vans and sinking more and more in debt are common occurrences for this kind of touring.

To us, the story told in this film is very familiar, and if you’re in a band yourself you’ll probably recognize a lot of situations. If you’re not in a band yourself, this film is the ultimate way to see what it’s like to tour independently. Enjoy!

THE ONES WHO MAKE IT THROUGH – Full Length Documentary from Randy Frykas on Vimeo.

If you happen to live in France make sure you check out Effervescence Records’ web store for another reason. They now carry the Fat Wreck Chords catalog. Including albums by NOFX, Propagandhi, Rise Against, Good Riddance … you know the list.

In case you are a US citizen, check out the Square of Opposition Records for a similar reason. After our last tour we left our band stock with them. They now have that stuff up for sale. Including our old albums on CD and LP, limited USA tour shirts and great Square of Opposition Releases.

Angry Chuck Records (Russia)
Destiny Records (German, Austria, Switzerland)
Discos Rayados Records (Spain)
Effervescence Records (France)
Infected Records (Portugal)
Lockjaw Records (United Kingdom)
Shield Recordings (Benelux)
Square of Opposition Records (USA)
No Reason Records (Italy)
5 Feet Under Records (Scandinavia)

The new album will feature a song called “Kraken gaat door!” which translates to “Squatting continues!”. This is a song against the to be implemented anti-squatting law in the Netherlands. I know a lot of bands, their audience, artists, students and other people benefit from squatting, so we oppose forbidding it. In case you are a musician (or audience member?) yourself and you want to contribute your voice against this law, please go here and leave your message. We’ve signed it and hopefully you will too! Kraken gaat door!

- Warm Winter Tour
- Dutch Export
- Recording a New Album
- Tour with High Five Drive

Warm Winter Tour

Belgium, France, Spain and Portugal seemed to be the best destinations when touring in January and February. If you live in the area, please drop by and say hi!

Jan 29 BEL Herselt, De Choke. w/ Second Base, more
Jan 30 FR Fumel, Pavillon108. w/ OpeNightmare, Ivan Rebroff’s Armpits
Jan 31 FR Toulouse, Les Pavillons Sauvages. w/ Ivan Rebroff’s Armpits (release show), Messieurs de Fursac
Feb 1 ES Torelló / Barcelona, l’Eclèctic
Feb 2 ES Zaragoza, Sala Ultimátum
Feb 3 ES Madrid, Sala Barracudas
Feb 4 Available
Feb 5 Available
Feb 6 POR Lisbon, Casa de Lafoes Afternoon show. w/ This Routine Is Hell, Albert Fish, Barafunda Total
Feb 6 POR Mouriscas, GDR Os Esparteiros. w/ Defying Control, The Wild Ones, Shake Shake and SMYP
Feb 7 POR Porto, Bar Altar Afternoon show
Feb 8 Available
Feb 9 ES Oviedo, La Antigua Estacion. w/ Threewordname, Mr. Lafleur
Feb 10 ES Pasaia (San Sebastian), Sala Mogambo. w/ Alaska Pipeline, Curasan
Feb 11 FR Bayonne, Bar Kixkil Ostatua
Feb 12 FR La Rochelle, La Barbarella
Feb 13 FR Brest, Espace Léo Ferré. w/ Speedball, Jeune Seigneur, Last Exit To Brooklynn
Feb 14 FR Lille, La Chimère

As you can see, we are still looking for shows on February 4, 5 and 8 in Spain or Portugal. Let us know if you can help us out.

Dutch Export

Since we are known to tour a lot Buma Cultuur (the Dutch authors- and copyrights organization) mentioned us in their press bulletin announcing that the export of Dutch pop music was raised by 15% in 2008. Read the Dutch version and the English version.

Recording a New Album

A week after we get back from tour we will be entering the studio. It has been almost 2 years since we released our last full length album “Testimony”. We will record 12 new songs with Nico van Montfort at the Erock studio in Panningen. On the upcoming tour and shows we will play a lot of these songs to get them into shape. A release will follow later this year.

Tour with High Five Drive

We never promised to slow down. After we finish recording, mixing and mastering we will embark on another tour. Together with High Five Drive from Canada we will be playing shows in France, the UK and Belgium between April 25 and May 1. Routing to be announced soon. Get in touch if you feel like helping us out.

Other shows:

Feb 17 NL Utrecht, ACU. w/ Nothington, Bivouac
Feb 19 BEL Wachtebeke, VZW MaNo. w/ Bound In Blood, Rumble Fist, The Dancing Morons
Feb 20 NL Krommenie, De Groote Weiver. w/ Sweet Empire, Union Town
Feb 27 NL Nijmegen Waalhalla. w/ Static Thought
Mar 6 NL Hoogeveen Het Podium. w/ Nuestros Derechos, Nuclear Driven Animals

If you feel like the recession is over and your liquidity is increasing (what?!), please consider visiting our webshop to fund our upcoming recordings. In the next issue of your favorite newsletter you will find some news about our new release, and more new touring plans. We hope.

Apparently Dutch pop music generated 50,2 million euro, 15% more than the year before. Now you know how we can afford our lifestyles!

Other Dutch artists mentioned:
André Rieu, Epica, DJ Tiësto, Peter Pan Speedrock, Armin van Buuren, Ferry Corsten, Within Temptation, Laidback Luke, Born from Pain, Marco V, Sander Kleinenberg, No Turning Back.
What a great company!

In the mean time Punk Your Store has aired. It is supposed to be(come) the European Interpunk. That means that you are able to digitally order ALL punk/hardcore albums ever released. Well, a lot. And being resided in Europe that means for Europeans no longer having to bother with importing taxes and more bullshit like that. And another good reason to go there: they have our stuff …

And last, a news letter will be sent out next week. Keep you children at home.

Check it out! You can listen to the sampler online, but make sure you get a hold of a copy to support the good cause. We’ll be carrying the sampler in our distro as soon as we receive our copies in the mail.

And last but not least: if you, your band, sportsclub, whatever are interested in getting fair shirts for a decent price, get in touch with David or Tobi at Fair Trade Merch. We had our last t-shirt design done by them and are more than pleased with the quality, pricing and service. And no, they’re not paying us to say that

Some might know we always carry a bookdistro to our shows. It was very inspiring to see so many people who were interested in the books at the Propagandhi show. It’s an extra boost to keep on doing the distro and get more books in stock. If you are interested, feel free to check out www.typewriterdistro.org

Some time ago we said Suzette’s pregnancy isn’t going very well and therefor we had to cancel some shows. We’re completely overwhelmed by all heartwarming messages we got from people all over the world. I feel I owe these people a little update: things are not going much better with Suzette, but she’s also not really sick. We can’t handle the situation a bit better now than a couple of months ago. The baby is really healthy and can be born any day now, we can’t wait!

This weekend we will be playing the Give It A Name Fest in Italy, Milano. We'd love to invite all Italians to come over, but we simply don't have all your email addresses. Therefore No Reason Records put our new album temporarily as a stream on their website to promote our show at Give It A Name. If you are Italian and want to read about us in your native language go here, Noize Italia did an interview with us.

For our tour in June we're still missing some dates for which we'd love to have shows. Please check the show section and let us know if you're able and willling to help us out. Would be much appreciated! In our own little country we keep on getting more and more shows confirmed. See the same show section for details.

Remember the news that Just Like Your Mom's new van got crashed? In case you didn't believe it, here's some proof for you:

Pretty F'ed up, no? Fortunately Mom will be getting a new toy again soon.

And, as usual, we have some new reviews for you. Check em out here or under the "About" section. Both Testimony and the Waves EP have been reviewed lately.