The Prague Post
November 22nd, 2008
Endowment Fund     Business Listings ONLINE      Reservations      Classifieds    Subscriptions
Hotel Prague Centre

Home » Archives » Night & Day

Clubhouse rock

No venue is too obscure or outrageous for The Ex
Stage Review | Search restaurants | Archives

By James Scanlon
For The Prague Post
November 7th, 2007 issue

COURTESY PHOTO
Tunes in the loo? The Ex rushes in where no one else dares to go.
The Ex

When: Friday, Nov. 9, at 7:30
Where: Palác Akropolis
Tickets: 390 Kč, available through Ticketpro and at the venue

Whenever G.W. Sok steps up to the microphone, it’s always with a deep sense of profound urgency, as if he’s singing for his life. Twenty-eight years of fronting the Netherlands’ most caustic, unconventional post-punk noiseniks, The Ex, thankfully hasn’t mellowed this guy one little bit — a sure sign that the band still means business.
What keeps the momentum going? Perhaps it’s something to do with the fact that ever since the incendiary 1980 debut single, “All Corpses Smell The Same,” the band has been prepared to open itself up to all kinds of global influences.
In October of last year, The Ex raised a few curious eyebrows by issuing an album titled Moa Ambessa with 74-year-old Ethiopian saxophonist Getatchew Mekuria. Despite his years, he still performs free-form jazz with a fiery spirit. And, to add emphasis, he’s prone to don a lion’s mane.
Where it all fits in with The Ex’s agenda is unclear at first. But a talk with Sok soon brings clarity.
“Our guitarist traveled to Africa with his girlfriend in 1996 and met a lot of interesting people there,” Sok says from his home in Amsterdam. Since that time, the band has made Ethiopia part of its touring itinerary. “In January, we got to play the album in front of Ethiopian people in a clubhouse. Getatchew was so proud. We played in his home town, in front of his children and friends.”
Most bands dream of selling millions of records and playing in big stadiums. Even though The Ex has a strong following in the United States and Europe, the members are just as happy performing in a club house in Africa and even more obscure venues.
Back in 1987, the band allegedly boarded a fluorescent fire engine for a tour behind the Iron Curtain. With transit permits in hand, the group stole the show at the Carrot Festival in Warsaw, then ended up in the former Czechoslovakia, playing a backyard in Brno.
“I remember we were only allowed to stay two days in Czechoslovakia with these transit permits,” Sok says. “Word somehow got round that we were doing a show in someone’s backyard, and about 50 people came to see us. It was an afternoon performance, and there were paintings, a theater play and dinner going on as well. It was a very noisy afternoon.”
On its travels, The Ex has absorbed alternative and ethno sounds like a sponge. Indeed, there are not many bands who have quite mastered the art of being able to churn out an Eritrean liberation song like “Hurriyat” one minute, then “Dog Tree” the next, a scathing number about a dog relieving itself on a tree.
Collaborations with Sonic Youth’s Lee Renaldo and Thurston Moore for 1989’s Joggers and Smoggers album, and New York avant-garde cellist Tom Cora for 1991’s Scrabbling at the Lock long ago established that boundaries don’t exist in The Ex’s world. What gives the band further depth and dimension is Sok’s clever use of wordplay. His talent for it puts many native speakers of English to shame.
If there’s anything worth shouting about, like social injustice or inept governments, Sok will soon have a song about it. Still, he’s keen to point out, “It’s not that we only write about political problems. They’re only political when you read between the lines. We see things happen and want to bring attention to it; the band is our medium to show what we think. It’s also good to get things off your chest.”
Although things have a tendency to get a little chaotic, even apocalyptic, when the band plays live, Sok confides that The Ex remains a tight, well-oiled machine, and that everything you see and hear is intentional.
The last time The Ex played in Prague was December 1996, though Sok can’t remember exactly where. “It was somewhere in the old part,” he says. “I remember after the gig a band called Už jsme doma took us to a bar. It was very nice. We also walked a little through the town, and then it was off to the next concert.”
As to what mode of transport took them there, it was probably best not to ask.
James Scanlon can be reached at
features@praguepost.com

James Scanlon can be reached at features@praguepost.com


Other articles in Night & Day (7/11/2007):

Browse the Current Issue

If you enjoyed this article, why don't you subscribe to the print version!
We accept secure online transactions provided by PayPal and Moneybookers

Be the first to add a comment!


Full Name: *
City: *
E-mail: **
This comment can be published in the print version of The Prague Post
Enter the text on the right:
 visual captcha
Comment: *
* Required field. In order to be approved for display, comments must have a first and last name and a city.
** E-mails are required and will only be used for internal purposes.

Most visited in Business Listings

Provokator
Hotel booking
The Prague Post Online contains a selection of articles that have been printed in
The Prague Post, a weekly newspaper published in the Czech Republic.
To subscribe to the print paper, click here.
Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.