Author: David Marote

Dog Eat Dog – Jera On Air 2018

Dog Eat Dog has been an institute for cross over music since the early 90’s. With their unique blend of rock, punk, hip hop, funk and so much more they conquered the world and inspired thousands of musicians to pick up an instrument and make their own blend of music. 28 years later Dog Eat Dog is still going strong and playing shows, time for RMP Magazine to talk to vocalist John Connor about the past, present and future of Dog Eat Dog.

Hello, welcome to Jera On Air. are we having Good Times?

What an amazing festival great atmosphere great lineup!

Today’s show is part of the European tour, Year Of The Dog. Is this way of several short tours the best way for Dog Eat Dog?

Yes, so Dog Eat Dog has been a part-time band for many years now so it’s important for us to balance touring with our home life and for some of us that means working day jobs.

Last Thursday you played a special festival in Belgium, Rock For Specials. Could you let us in who the audience was and if they liked it?

It was really amazing to play Rock for specials I had no idea what it was going to be like because we didn’t have so much information going into it. The crowd was amazing it was so nice to see the light in so many people’s eyes and smiles on their faces. But honestly the thing that I like the most was taking a walk around the festival site and seeing so many people who have special needs just being normal in the presence of their peers. It’s also a great day out for the people who give so much time and effort to care for those with special needs truly a magnificent event and something will never forget

You did learn the ropes of music touring from some of the best. Bad Brains, Biohazard,;..  Over the 28 years playing in Dog Eat Dog what would be your favorite tour experience?

Well of course for us having our first tour overseas supporting Bad Brains was incredible. Those guys were so generous with their time and it made a huge impact on us as a young band. Biohazard/Dog Eat Dog/ Downset tour had to go down as one of the best tours of the 90s… people are still talking about it for obvious reasons it was a special time before big changes happened in the music industry and I can only say that we are very happy to have been a part of it. It’s really impossible to pin down one tour or one moment as being a favorite, It sounds cliche but it’s really the journey not the destination that makes all of this worthwhile.

Last year Dog Eat Dog released a new 4 song album titled Brand New Breed. It’s self released and only sold at your shows. How has the feedback been so far?

The feedback from the EP has been really great it was so nice to be able to create and release new music after more than 10 years. The feedback has been great we weren’t looking to take over the world with this release it was more of a love letter to our fans who have stuck with us for a long time with no new music. One of the nicest things anyone has said about it is that it sounds like Dog Eat Dog, after all this time we still have a unique sound

It’s a diverse release, like one of the songs, Lumpy Dog, has more of a chill reggae vibe but ends with some heavy beats. One for the tokers and smokers?

With the new music we had no one to please other than ourselves so we had lots of freedom to do whatever we wanted. Lumpy is a playful song about my now deceased dog Curtis. we have always been into reggae music, our last two releases have had reggae influenced songs so it should be no surprise to anyone to hear another song with reggae influence.

The band has always been in it for nothing but the fun of it. Could you tell us some more on the Dog Eat Dog Gots Talent competition that you do with bass players at your show?

On the song Rocky Dave Neabore takes the lead vocal so anytime we have a bass player friend around we usually invite them up so Dave can run free with the microphone. The night you were referring to our last show in Uden Netherlands we had 3 capable bass players in the house ready to play so it was Dave’s idea to do something funny for the fans but it’s not something we have a chance to do every night.

The Netherlands and Dog Eat Dog have always been a good combination it appears. One of Dog Eat Dog’s most memorable shows was at Dynamo Open Air festival in 1995. I think every European 90’s kid knows that image of you surfing the crowd at Dynamo. How crazy was that?

Yes, we have had some amazing gigs in the Netherlands I can even remember going back to the Mucky Pup days in that late 80s how much fun the Dutch crowds are. Obviously Dynamo Open Air and the reaction was something that no one could predict. A few weeks before the festival our record company told me that it was going to be a very special day and did I have anything that could make the show special. I told them to please get me a surfboard and I would take it on to the crowd. On the day of the festival I almost cancelled the plan because I was upset with them for spray painting the board with Dog Eat Dog and the crown logo on it. I thought it look corny and stupid but in the end I decided to go through it. When I finally went into the crowd on the board the people in the crowd were packed in so tight that they were falling over like 20 or even 50 at a time and it became really scary not for me but I didn’t want anyone to get hurt so I stood up and got the fuck off that surfboard as quick as possible. I truly had no idea it was going to be a career-defining moment but I’m proud so many remember that move. 

Don’t Be A Dick! This slogan on stickers and more has been flying round since last year and has an origin that also has ties to Dog Eat Dog. Could you tell us some more about Don’t Be A Dick?

Well we can’t take credit for the Don’t Be A Dick slogan that is 100% Ludo right there and a great bunch of friends who love and miss him and are using the sticker, t-shirts and guitar picks as a way of preserving his memory and we are happy to help perpetuate the memory of our friend Ludo de Schrijver and his awesome way of looking at the world.

There also was a special toast at Sound Of Revolution festival in Eindhoven last year with Dog Eat Dog and some of his closest friends that involved a huge bottle of beer. A touching gesture.

Ludo was such a generous guy and so many of his friends and bands he appreciated we’re at the festival that day so it seemed like a perfect time for us all to honor him and I am very proud that we were able to do so in such a big way. Ludo had a way of bringing people together and that should be celebrated since we are living in a time when so many people are being divided.

Summer has just begun but what’s next for Dog Eat Dog?

We are going to continue to do festivals and Club shows through the summer and early autumn. We plan on writing and releasing more new material in the next 2 years. that should lead us up to our 30th anniversary and hopefully a new album. We are very close to signing a record deal and it will be nice to have a partner to help us get new music out and help let people know we are still around.

Ogikubo Station – We Can Pretend Like

Ogikubo Station is the brainchild of Mike Park and Maura Weaver that grew organically out of a former song they collaborated on in 2015. The former get together for the song Weak Souls Walk Around Here led to a self titled Obikugo Station 6 song EP that was released last year. Leading in to 2018 where the duo continued writing and recording and compiled their efforts in a new album titled We Can Pretend Like.

A swinging 11 track album was the end resul. Actually we should say ten new songs as Weak Souls Walk Around Here, the flame that lit Ogikubo Station, was added to the album. Ranging from just both artists their vocals and acoustic guitars strumming to a more developed broader sound with full band in songs as Take A Piece Of All That’s good. Leading into Drowning At The Watering Hole with it’s keyboard intro, We Can Pretend Like delivers 11 diverse heartfelt tracks dealing with topics like love, life, loss and so muc more. Overall the album delivers a hopefull message.  Hoping this is not the final station for this happy accident meeting by Mike and Maura. 

Jera On Air 2018

Jera On Air is a nice, cosy and kick ass two day punk and hardcore festival in the rural town of Ysselsteyn located in the Limburg province of The Netherlands. The year 2018 brings the 26th edition of this punk rock banger and to sum it up, this year’s line-up is basically off the charts.

 

But more on that later, first let’s have a look at what bang your buck will bring with a Jera On Air weekendpass. Two days of punkrock, hardcore and metalcore located in an idealic setting surrounded by eager punks who are ready to kick of the summer vacation. Because let’s admit it, we’ve all missed Groezrock this year and let’s face it, we haven’t had a proper opening to the festival season yet so far.

 

So in 2018 Jera On Air is the place to be if you’re on the edge of getting two months away from school. And for the working folks, that moment when you feel that yearly vacation creeping up but still so far away.  Maybe Jera On Air might be just what  you need to refresh yourself for those final weeks of counting down. Hell, it might even be better than your vacation… Actually it’s more like three day as Jera On Air also hosts a small camping pre festival on Thursday 28th of June, but the main course still remains two rocking day on Friday 29th and Saturday 30th of June.

 

Two massive tents with killer stages will have you hopping back and forth to catch all the bands playing and it doesn’t stop there. There’s also the cosy Punbrockbar if you feel for more of a clubfeel. Or what about the refreshing beergarden at the festival that serves plenty of delicious special beers and of course their signature Jera On Air beer, brewed especially for the weekend. Throw in a walhalla foodcourt serving everyone’s taste from fresh charred beef burgers on the grill to vegan delights and much more and your set for a punkrock gourmet weekend. Side animation is provided by signing sessions where you can have a short chat  with your favorite artists and get their autograph or a picture. And for those that like to get active the Dutch Stagediving Championships may provide a relief, as you can jump of the stage onto an airpillow will performing your signature stagedive moves.

 

But the main recipe for a succesfull Jera On Air remains the amazing line-up featuring bands such as Sick Of It All, Terror, Anti Flag and Dutch punk legends  I Againstt I, who have recently reunited, are all playing on Friday.

 

The saturday brings us NOFX, Less Than Jake, Underoath, even a Swedish invasion by Satanic Surfers and No Fun At All. Or what about Dog Eat Dog who will get the whole festival jiving to their smooth saxophones. Ysselsteyn will be shaking to it’s core.

 

The Jera is also a rune sign meaning as a sort of ancient blessing for a good harves. Well in that case Jera On Air must mean a supermoon harvest of bands looking at this year’s line-up.

 

See you all soon in an Ysselsteyn field to ‘officially’ kick of the summer of 2018.

 

 

 

Sjock Festival 2018

At the beginning of summer, a small Belgium town in the ‘Stille Kempen‘ is not so quit any longer. Hordes of raging Rockabilly fans, Punks, Metalheads and many more music loves have found the path to this three day celebration of all things rocking in the lovely town of Gierle.

Kicking off the 43st edition of Sjock festival, this years edition is packed with legendary bands, up and coming talent and of course the overall chill vibes that Sjock festival has become known for.

On Friday the 6th of July Sjock festival commences the celebrations with more of a welcoming evening programme to get the weekend started. A diverse line-up focused featuring artists such as Rev. Horton Heat and The Bronx may set the pace for the days to follow.

On Saturday a full on festival day begins and will have the visitors of Sjock running from left to right to catch all the great acts on the roster. A few of the must see’s that day include Californian proto punks Dead Kennedy‘s and the Scandinavian dragqueens from hell Turbonegro that will get Gierle rockin’ and rolling all night long.

But the piece de resistance must be the Sunday line-up with a few bands that the punk kids can eat their heart out too. At least four long lasting punk outfits will destroy the Sjock stage on Sunday ranging from the most handsome vocalist in punk, Blag Dahlia from The Dwarves to the smartest punk around, Milo of Descendents and let us not forget the epic sing a long that Pennywise never travels without or what about some Swedish cool from No Fun At All.

A diverse line-up featuring all kinds of rock’n roll in a stunning scenery accompanied by Belgian beer and hopefully sweet summer weather. What more could you wish for to start your summer?