https://northempire.nl/ Punk/hardcore bookings, record label, interviews and more Sun, 12 Apr 2026 22:55:36 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/128/november-show We will be hosting a very special show in November. It will all take place at our favorite bar Cafe Lokaal in Heemskerk (NL) on November 17 2023. We will have: Sweet Empire - their last ever show, which also happens to be the release show of their fourth and final album. Translated - yes, Translated. After they quit 10 years ago (remember that farewell show in Cafe Lokaal!?) they were willing enough to pick up their instruments one more time for this special occassion. Classic You! - the last band standing. Expect ferosious skatepunk! 128 Mon, 02 Oct 2023 13:30:59 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/127/june-show June 3rd will be hosting the 15 years Sweet Empire show at De Groote Weiver in Wormerveerd (NL). Besides Sweet Empire we have a few more great bands playing: Dissociates (UK), As We Go (DE), and Slekt. 127 Wed, 01 Mar 2023 19:59:09 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/126/august-show Come and celebrate the summer! 126 Sun, 24 Jul 2022 16:06:58 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/125/june-show We're finally back at it! 125 Wed, 01 Jun 2022 16:45:36 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/124/may-show-canceled Due to the Covid-19 we have had to cancel the Resonars and Lenguas Largas gig which was planned for May 1st. We hope to be able to make up for it soon. For now, stay safe everyone! 124 Mon, 23 Mar 2020 19:33:16 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/123/show-stage-banter-release On Friday the 8th we'll be hosting what is to be a memorable night in Beverwijk. It'll be one of St. Plaster's last gigs and Stage Banter's release show. To top it off the on-fire Sun-0-Bathers will be there too for your pleasure. Make sure to rock out to St. Plaster whilst you still can, check out Stage Banter's release on this very label (click!), and do a stage dive at the Sun-0-Bather's set at the beer-friendly Rockcafé Asgard. Till' November 8th! NB.: St. Plaster had to cancel, Rocket Fuel will be replacing them! Friday November 8th 2019: Stage Banter (EP Release show) + Sun-0-Bathers + Rocket Fuel Rockcafé Asgard, Beverwijk (20:00h, free entry) 123 Thu, 31 Oct 2019 23:47:24 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/122/august-show Friday August 2nd marks a special day in our calander. We have managed to book some of our all time favorite bands in our all time favorite bar. Even more special; it's a free entry show! Though donations are very much welcomed. See you there! Cigar (US) + Hit The Switch (US) + Sweet Empire + Different Homes Cafe Lokaal, Heemskerk (20:00h, free entry) 122 Mon, 22 Jul 2019 10:30:02 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/121/june-show Here we go again! Thursday June 6th 2019: Down & Outs (UK) + Sweet Empire De Bakkerij, Castricum (20:00h, €5) 121 Thu, 23 May 2019 21:57:40 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/120/sweet-empire-a-new-cycle-cd Look at this! NER011 is in, Sweet Empire's new album 'A New Cycle'. 11 hard hitting punk rock tunes dealing with all things important in life. Get your copy here. 120 Thu, 21 Mar 2019 19:34:43 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/119/march-shows Time for a banging show on Thursday March 14th! The mighty Debt Neglector (ex-Mexican Disaster Sqaud) from the US and Small Gods (ex-Bastad! Rats!) from the UK will turn De Bakkerij up side down. Thursday March 14th 2019: Debt Neglector (US) + Small Gods (UK) De Bakkerij, Castricum (21:00h, €4) The weekend straight after we will be resposible for the music bit at Barley Fest! We at North Empire HQ like to drink. Single Malts and Beers mainly. As you know we also like punk rock. Sometimes we combine this into Barley Fest! Whisky, beers, music. The next edition will be hosted on March 16th at Cafe Lokaal, Heemskerk. Also check out the FB-pages of the co-organising co-alcoholics of Malty Mastodons and 5Hoog! March 16th 2019: Barley Fest! w/ Lone Wolf + Coral Springs + 1 Cafe Lokaal, Heemskerk (20:00h, free entry) 119 Thu, 07 Feb 2019 19:44:07 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/118/november-show Friday November 2nd 2018: Fights & Fires (UK) + Wasei Hey Go (IT) De Bakkerij, Castricum, NL (21:00h, €4) 118 Wed, 10 Oct 2018 19:04:00 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/117/10-years-of-sweet-empire They're getting old. Let's celebrate Sweet Empire's 10 years of existence. Saturday September 15th 2018: Sweet Empire + As We Go (DE) + Dowzer + Batwölf + Stage Banter Rockcafé Asgard, Beverwijk, NL (20:00h, free) 117 Mon, 13 Aug 2018 17:43:29 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/116/june-show Saturday June 30th 2018: Lone Wolf + Maybe Not + Stage Banter De Bakkerij, Castricum, NL (21:00h, €5) 116 Tue, 26 Jun 2018 18:10:05 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/115/march-show We have been quite for a while, only to get all our energy together for this belter of a show coming March! The best French Ramones loving band, Dutch vetarans celebrating playing their 300th show, and a young and very promosing local band. Komme potdomme! Saturday March 10th 2018: Nightwatchers (FR) + Sweet Empire + Flying Nemo De Bakkerij, Castricum, NL (21:00h, €5) 115 Wed, 24 Jan 2018 19:29:41 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/114/august-show This will be happening in August. It'll be North Empire's own, Jort's, birthday... Come and celebrate him getting closer to death. In order to do so we have the great Shatterhand all the way from Scotland bringing their socio-political punk to Beverwijk. Opening up will be Anti_Matter. These young guys from Alkmaar (NL) know what punk is and what it should (not) sound like. Saturday August 5th 2017 Shatterhand3 (UK) + Anti_Matter Rockcafé Asgard, Beverwijk, NL (21:00h, free entry) 114 Tue, 18 Jul 2017 22:43:08 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/113/february-show Look at this, this is a crackin' line up. Friday February 10th 2017 Del-toros + Sweet Empire + Gulper JC Kompleks, Heerhugowaard, NL (20:00h, entry tba) 113 Fri, 23 Dec 2016 11:25:20 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/112/december-show We're putting this great show on in December. It'll be the last one we'll do in a while as we're busy with other (less cool) things. It'd be great if you came down to party to these two amazing bands. Friday December 16th 2016 Antillectual + The Peterlees De Bakkerij, Castricum, NL (21:00h, entry €4) 112 Wed, 07 Dec 2016 16:48:14 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/111/november-show We'll be welcoming our German friends of As We Go and our Dutch buddies of Note To Amy to De Bakkerij on November 26th. If you like midtempo melodic punk rock you don't want to miss out. If you don't like midtempo melodic punk rock you don't want to miss out either as it's going to be a generally fun night, won't it? Yes it will. Saturday November 26th 2016 As We Go (DE) + Note To Amy De Bakkerij, Castricum, NL (21:00h, entry €5) 111 Fri, 07 Oct 2016 12:16:15 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/110/august-show This August we'll be hosting this belter of a show! See you all there! Saturday August 20th Trophy Lungs (US) + Sweet Empire Rockcafé Asgard, Beverwijk, NL (21:00h, free entry) 110 Tue, 09 Aug 2016 16:59:52 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/109/groezrock-acoustic-punk-meeting-vi So, that was yet another very fun edition of the Groezrock Acoustic Punk Meeting. The sixth in a row and it's still not getting old and tiresome. We enjoyed singing along to lots of different artists playing lots of different songs. We've heard some NOFX, The Menzingers, Against Me!, among other covers and even got treated to some spoken word. Thanks lots to Groezrock for having us but the special thanks go out to everyone who was there! We'll see you next year. If you have any audio/video of the event please do share with us: info@northempire.nl ! 109 Tue, 10 May 2016 08:39:56 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/108/groezrock-acoustic-punk-meeting-vi After successful editions during previous years, it's time for edition 6 of the Groezrock Acoustic Punk Meeting. And by Acoustic, we mean acoustic. No PA, no amps, just a guitar and sing-a-longs. When: Thursday April 28th 2016 - 22:00h Where: BBQ area at the campsite LINE UP: Muncie Girls (UK) - also playing the festival Ducking Punches (UK) Evening Call (BE) Girless & The Orphan (IT) G from Second In Line (UK) WCDA (UK) Demon Smiles (UK) Sweet Empire (NL) Orphans (NL) Mark Deans (UK) Andrea Rock official (IT) Anti-Everything (TT) Second Opinion (BE) Reading Between The Lines Collective (UK) Bike Crash (BE) Black Sea Fleet (UK) Reduced (BE) Carl Moorcroft (UK) Info for acts: We'll do our best to let everyone play a few songs. We don't want to make a time schedule or rules for this. Let's just get together and have some fun. We'll bring a guitar and that's it, if you'd like to have additional gear you'd have to bring it yourself. Info for all: You'd need a campsite ticket to be able to attend. Please note that we do not organise Groezrock. We're just a few guys who like to have a great time by setting this up, watching everybody play, singing along, and hanging out. This is the end of this hippy note; just come drink and party.See you there! And don't forget to invite all your friends! More info via Facebook. 108 Wed, 20 Apr 2016 10:41:01 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/107/april-16th Saturday April 16th 2016 Harker (UK) + Casually Dressed (DE) De Bakkerij, Castricum, NL (21:00h, €5) 107 Mon, 18 Apr 2016 14:28:49 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/106/march-29th Tuesday March 29th 2016 Irish Handcuffs (DE) + Resolutions (DE) Café Lokaal, Heemskerk, NL (20:ooh, free entry) 106 Tue, 29 Mar 2016 10:58:36 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/105/show-march-17th We're happy to announce a great show that'll be happening next week already. Thursday March 17th 2016 The Copyrights (US) + Sweet Empire De Bakkerij, Castricum, NL (20:ooh, €5) Facebook event. 105 Wed, 09 Mar 2016 19:40:18 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/104/landlines-debut-out-now LANDLINES' debut album has been released today, February 26th. The album, "Logical Fallacies", will be available on blue vinyl from today onwards. The release show is tonight at AZ, Aachen, Germany. The second release show will be tomorrow at Café Bluff, Heerlen, Netherlands. Stream some songs over here and order your copy from the band. 104 Fri, 26 Feb 2016 12:24:07 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/103/landlines-logical-fallacies LANDLINES' debut album will be released via North Empire on Febraury 26th. The album, "Logical Fallacies", will contain 11 head-banging tracks and will be available on clear blue vinyl only. The release show will be on the release date (how convenient!) at AZ, Aachen, Germany. Along with the album the band has some new t-shirts as well. Over the coming period more and more tracks will be available for streaming over here. Get on it! 103 Thu, 18 Feb 2016 19:14:55 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/102/show-january-22nd Friday January 22nd 2016 Drunk Sincerity (FR) + Sweet Empire De Bakkerij, Castricum, NL (21:00h, €4) 102 Thu, 21 Jan 2016 13:09:26 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/101/new-release-landlines We're very happy to tell you that the punk rockers who call themselves LANDLINES will be releasing their debut album Logical Fallacies via our label. More info on this release soon but for now head over to their page, check 'm out, and give 'm a like. And to the band; welcome to the family! 101 Tue, 05 Jan 2016 09:08:21 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/100/september-29th Tuesday September 29th 2015 Pale Angels (UK/US) + Sweet Empire Cafe Lokaal, Heemskerk, NL (20:00h, free entry) 100 Thu, 17 Sep 2015 19:11:26 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/99/new-release-say-cheese-compilation-vol-4 As usual the forth and newest edition of “Say Cheese” features only Dutch punk bands, showing Holland has enough talent to show. This compilation features 15 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. All the revenue made with this compilation will go to a good cause. Hulphond Nederland is the Dutch expertise center for the training of service dogs, which are used in medical and therapeutic care. This includes people with significant physical limitations, suffering from epilepsy and physical or emotional traumas, and children with severe behavioral problems, autism, and/or mental handicaps. The organization’s purpose is to increase the independence and autonomy of people with any of a wide variety of limitations, thereby contributing to their (re)integration into society. Please help out when you download the compilation by making a donation. The compilation is available on a ‘pay what you want’ basis via: http://northempire.bandcamp.com Say Cheese! – volume 4 1. Giant Eagles - In The Backseat 2. Junkyard Safari - Decisions 3. Different Homes - Soldiers' Heritage 4. The Apers - Always Hate Work 5. Black Volvo - Wacka Wacka 6. Lights Out - All That I've Got 7. The Peterlees - Hey 8. The Guttersnipes - Bollocks 9. The Law Won - Theirs 10. No Progress - I Can't Skate 11. SuperHero Status - Those Days 12. The Heart Monitors - Remember 13. The Overslept - Forgive Me (Feat. Bjørgen van Essen of Only Seven Left) 14. Shoot The Messenger - No Homework 15. The Lost Boys Club - Year 3000 (Busted Pop-Punk Cover) 99 Tue, 01 Sep 2015 18:09:16 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/98/september-4th-de-bakkerij Friday September 4th 2015 Bangers (UK) + Shit Present (UK) De Bakkerij, Castricum, NL (21:00h, €5) 98 Wed, 26 Aug 2015 19:39:59 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/97/july-17th-de-bakkerij This crazy summer punk show is coming up! Friday July 17th 2015 Great Cynics (UK) + Sundials (US) + Jake & The Jellyfish (UK) + Haters (UK) De Bakkerij, Castricum, NL (21:00h, €6) 97 Fri, 10 Jul 2015 20:01:18 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/96/june-18th-de-bakkerij This month we'll be hosting this banger! Thursday June 18th 2015 PJ Bond (US) + James Choice & The Bad Decisions (AT) + Natascha Tamarit De Reus De Bakkerij, Castricum, NL (20:30h, €4) 96 Thu, 04 Jun 2015 18:21:35 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/95/may-30th-de-groote-weiver Great show coming up! Saturday May 30th 2015 Burst One's Side (FR) + Memories (FR) + Valser De Groote Weiver, Wormerveer, NL (20:30h, €5) 95 Wed, 27 May 2015 18:47:00 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/94/may-9-de-bakkerij Saturday May 9th 2015 FilthyMcNasty + LANDLINES + Different Homes De Bakkerij, Castricum, NL (21:00h, €3) 94 Wed, 06 May 2015 18:54:43 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/93/groezrock-acoustic-punk-meeting-v Groezrock 2015 is coming up this weekend and so is the Groezrock Acoustic Punk Meeting! After successful editions during previous years, it's time for edition 5 of the Groezrock Acoustic Punk Meeting! And by Acoustic, we mean acoustic. No PA, no amps, just a guitar and sing-a-longs. When: Thursday April 30th 2015 - 22:00h Where: BBQ area at the campsite LINE UP: Ducking Punches (UK) - also playing MacBeth Stage Jawknee Music (DE) Harry Gump (DE) Monkey Dress (BE) Sammy Battle (UK) Radio 911 (BE) Complaints (DE) I Like Allie (IT) GOODWILL INTENT (DE) Evening Call (BE) Ukerazy Man (UK) Smoking Gun (BE) Lukas Spielvogel (AT) Bike Crash (BE) Greg Legarand (FR) Corbin Parsons (UK) Info for acts: If you want to join the line up: e-mail us info@northempire.nl We'll do our best to let everyone play a few songs. We don't want to make a time schedule or rules for this. Let's just get together and have some fun. We'll bring a guitar and that's it, if you'd like to have additional gear you'd have to bring it yourself. Info for all: You'd need a campsite ticket to be able to attend. Please note that we do not organise Groezrock. We're just a few guys who like to have a great time by setting this up, watching everybody play, singing along, and hanging out. This is the end of this hippy note; just come drink and party. See you there! And don't forget to invite all your friends! Keep up to date via the Facebook Event! 93 Sat, 11 Apr 2015 12:02:42 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/92/2-shows With two great shows, the first weekend of April will be a busy weekend! You'll be sad for the rest of your life if you miss out on these shows. Friday April 3rd 2015 Darwin & The Dinosaur (UK) + Black Volvo + Dead Neck (UK) De Bakkerij, Castricum, NL (21:00h, entry €4) * Dead Neck has been added last minute. Check 'm out, the best skate punk in Europe. Saturday April 4th 2015 Get It Together (UK) + Sweet Empire + Tragical History Tour (UK) (Uniforms has pulled out) Rockcafé Asgard, Beverwijk, NL (22:00h, free entry) 92 Tue, 24 Mar 2015 17:51:32 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/91/show-tonight We're hosting a great show tonight. Do not miss out! Teen Agers (US) + Resolutions (DE) + Dead Giveaway De Bakkerij, Castricum, NL (21:00h, entry €5) 91 Sat, 21 Mar 2015 13:32:20 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/89/show Coming Saturday we'll be welcoming Antillectual and The 101's to De Bakkerij, Castricum. Doors are at 9pm and it's €4 to get in. See you in the pit yo. Facebook event. 89 Mon, 08 Dec 2014 13:57:07 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/88/north-empire-fest-2 In cooperation with De Bakkerij we present: North Empire Fest 2 Sunday November 9th 2014 - live punk rock featuring: 21:30 - 22:15: Joyce Manor (US) - for an interview see below 20:30 - 21:15: Cheap Girls (US) 19:30 - 20:15: Great Cynics (UK) 18:30 - 19:00: Irish Handcuffs (DE) 17:45 - 18:15: Bad Ideas (UK) 17:00 - 17:30: Sweet Empire (set times subject to change) Doors: 16:00h - Tickets: €8 (Only tickets on the door, no presale, so get there on time!) De Bakkerij Dorpsstraat 30 1901 EL Castricum http://www.vriendenvandebakkerij.nl/ http://www.northempire.nl/ De Bakkerij is situated about a 5 minutes walk from the train station. Last trains towards: Amsterdam - 00:40 Alkmaar - 00:49 Komme potdomme! 88 Sun, 02 Nov 2014 15:10:10 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/87/interview-joyce-manor Joyce Manor are a terrific band from the US, Torrance (CA) to be precise. They just released their new album 'Never Hung Over Again' on Epitaph. North Empire said down with the band to discuss some random things leading up to their second European tour. This time they'll be touring with Cheap Girls (US) and Great Cynics (UK). Have a read below to see what Matt had to share, and what silly questions Jort had come up with. Could you first introduce the band to us? Hi! We are Joyce Manor from Torrance, CA. My name is Matt and I play bass. You’ve recently released your new album, ‘Never Hungover Again’, on Epitaph Records. How did come about? Any particular reason for going with that label? We actually ended up talking with Epitaph after Mike from Asian Man Records suggested it to us. He felt like it would be a good step up for us, and after talking to them it felt like a really natural move for us. They are a really good team, and right up the street from us. The new album contains similar short songs as the previous releases, but the sound is more polished in our opinion. Was there any/what was the reasoning behind this? We had a lot more time to spend in the studio this time around. Our first two records were always a mad rush to finish in a really short time frame, and for the new record we had a couple of weeks to spend in a real nice studio in LA called The Lair. I think also as a result of trial and error the past few years, we are better at recording ourselves and knowing what works for us and what doesn't. How do you write songs / lyrics? Could you explain a little about the process of writing? After Barry writes a song, he edits and revises it until it feels right, then we work it out together at practice. Chase wrote a lot of the lead guitar parts on the new record. Once Barry has a song he is happy with, we usually have it all put together and finished pretty quickly at practice. At this point, playing with these guys just feels completely second nature. This is the second time you’re coming over to mainland Europe. Though this time it’s with Cheap Girls and Great Cynics. What do you expect of this tour? And what do you expect to be different compared to touring Europe alone? Super excited! We toured Australia with Cheap Girls last year and it was great. This being our second Europe trip, I think we have a better handle on what to expect this time around. It's 17 shows in 17 days, but I'm looking forward to exploring and doing as much touristy bullshit as I can. Are there any European bands you know/like, and you would definitely want to check out/buy vinyl from? I don't know a ton of current European bands, but I like a lot of that Swedish punk stuff, like Vanna Inget, Terrible Feelings, etc. You’ll be playing one show in the Netherlands on this tour. Are there any things you know about the country? Any preconceptions/prejudices about it? We didn't have nearly enough time in the Netherlands last time we came thru, but Amsterdam was my favorite city of our whole trip. The countryside was beautiful, the food was great, and the people were so good to us. Can't wait to be back! If there were one thing you could take on tour with you (anything, really), what would it be? A fancy coffeemaking kit so I can have good coffee anywhere! Now lets talk about your side of the big pond. Is there anything the Europeans could learn from your (DIY) music scene, and maybe vice versa? Not to say that Americans are inhospitable, but the hospitality in Europe is really next level. Every place we have played in Europe, we were fed very well and given an extra comfortable place to stay. It really keeps morale high on the road. Thanks for doing this interview! Is there anything you’d like to add? Thanks Jort! Say hi to your rabbit! *And thanks to Matt for the interview, the rabbit says hi back. Be sure to catch Joyce Manor live at North Empire Fest 2 on November 9th at De Bakkerij, Castricum, NL (16:00h, €8) along with Cheap Girls (US), Great Cynics (UK), Irish Handcuffs (DE), Bad Ideas (UK), and Sweet Empire (NL). Also, here's a picture of Jort's rabbit (on the left, photo by: Jonathan Minto): * 87 Wed, 29 Oct 2014 19:43:00 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/86/new-release-different-homes We're super stoked to announce North Empire's 8th release. Our great friends (a few of 'm even family) of Different Homes have their debut EP ready. These 5 hardhitting skate punk / melodic HC anthems will surely be stuck in your head for weeks to come. The EP will be released on September 26th with a release show at Asgard, Beverwijk, NL (9pm / free) with MARCH and The Peterlees. Be sure to check this gem out! The first song is already streaming over here.  Different Homes - Out In The Open - CD - NER008 Soldiers' Heritage Charlatan Russian Involution Eavesdrop Society Hooligans 86 Fri, 05 Sep 2014 13:01:31 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/85/sweet-empire-release-shows We'll be (co-)hosting the two release shows for Sweet Empire's new album this weekend. Why don't you drop by? (Social Distrust had to cancel unfortunately.) Saturday September 6th 2014 Sweet Empire (RELEASE SHOW) + Harsh Realms + Different Homes ACU, Utrecht, NL (20:00h, €5) Saturday September 6th 2014 Sweet Empire (RELEASE SHOW) + Different Homes + JunkYard Safari De Bakkerij, Castricum, NL (21:00h, €4) 85 Wed, 03 Sep 2014 14:57:01 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/84/show Coming Friday, August 8th, we'll be celebrating Jort's 28th birthday at De Bakkerij, Castricum (NL). What better way to celebrate than with some great live bands!? So we've got The Forum Walters (AT) and Jake & The Jellyfish (UK) for you! Doors are at 9pm. No entrance fee, but you'll be asked to donate some money to pay the bands! 84 Mon, 04 Aug 2014 14:45:10 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/83/march-tony-clifton-july-25 This Friday we'll be welcoming MARCH and Tony Clifton to De Bakkerij, Castricum. Expect some melodic punk rock as usual! Doors are at 9pm and it's €3 to get in. (Initially Lay It On The Line was on the line up but they had to pull out) 83 Mon, 21 Jul 2014 12:55:19 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/82/say-cheese-compilation-volume-3 Dutch punk bands raise awareness for music and animals on “Say Cheese! – volume 3”. The third edition of “Say Cheese” features only Dutch punk bands again. Holland has enough talent to show that punk is not dead, but instead it is a lively scene and music genre. Because punk a socially involved music genre this edition will be focused around Red een Legkip (Safe A Layer Chicken). This compilation is available as of today and features 19 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. All the revenue made with this compilation will go to a good cause. Red een Legkep (Safe A Layer Chicken) in this case. This is an organization that saves chickens from being slaughtered. People are adopting the saved chickens so that they can run around freely. Chickens that have never been able to live the life a chicken should live finally get to chance to experience this. Please help out when you download the compilation by making a donation. The compilation is available on a ‘pay what you want’ basis via: http://northempire.bandcamp.com !!!DOWNLOAD!!! Track list: 1. LANDLINES - Miles Of Engagement 2. Shit Hits The Fan - Disconnected 3. MARCH - Hendrik Lucifer 4. Call It Off - Stuck With You 5. Dead Giveaway - Side Effects 6. Fexet - Reverse Delay 7. Liberty Caps - Boulderheart 8. We Are The Knight - Levitate 9. Smash The Statues - On Ne Matraque Pas l'imagination 10. Alive Again - This Is The Season 11. The Lowest Standard - Curtain Call 12. The Death Traps - Going South 13. Hoist The Colours - Social Needia 14. Volchok - Remember The Day 15. Badlands - Alexandrian Age 16. The Unchanged Plan - No Chance 17. The Duketown Helldogs - Psycho Polak 18. JC Thomaz & The Missing Slippers - Kelly Lynn 19. 10 TO GO - Amsterdam 82 Wed, 04 Jun 2014 14:50:25 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/81/tuesday-may-13th On Tuesday May 13th we'll be welcoming two of the finest Canadian garage/punk bands to Heemskerk, NL: Sonic Avenues and Needles//Pins. They will be playing beautiful Cafe Lokaal. Doors are at 8pm and it's free to get in, as always. See you all there! 81 Tue, 06 May 2014 17:48:35 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/80/groezrock-acoustic-punk-meeting-iv After successful editions during previous years, it's time for edition 4 of the Groezrock Acoustic Punk Meeting. And by Acoustic, we mean acoustic. No PA, no amps, just a guitar and sing-a-longs. When: Thursday May 1st 2014 - 22:00h Where: BBQ area at the campsite LINE UP: The Smith Street Band (AUS) Crazy Arm (UK) ASTPAI (AT) The Dutch Rudders (BE) Tragical History Tour (SCO) (Derrick from UNIFORMS) Trash Candy (SLO) Evening Call (BE) Radio 911 (BE) ScrXtch (NL) James Choice (AT) Xenofon Razis (GR) Dirty Leaves (UK) Icons Down! (FR) Greg Rekus (CAN) Sweet Empire (NL) Ducking Punches (UK) Jonathan Marriott (UK) One Strike Left (DE) I Like Allie (IT) Emma Hallows (UK) The Murderburgers (SCO) Andrew Cream (UK) DEAD NECK (UK) Steve Allen (Wreck the Place, UK) Sammy H Stephens (UK) Recession Youth (NL) The Roughneck Riot (UK) Benjamin Weston (UK) Ponk (NL) Click here for a Spotify playlist featuring artists that are playing. If you'd like to be on the line up get in touch with us via e-mail (check 'info'). We'll do our best to let everyone play a few songs. We don't want to make a time schedule or rules for this. Lets just get together and have some fun. Please note that we do not organise Groezrock. We're just a few guys who like to have a great time by setting this up, watching everybody play, singing along, and hanging out. This is the end of this hippy note; just come drink and party. See you there! And don't forget to bring all your friends! 80 Thu, 03 Apr 2014 15:50:09 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/79/next-show-friday-march-28th Coming Friday we will be hosting a show at Rockcafe Asgard, Beverwijk. This time we'll have a killer line up with some of the best pop punk acts you can think of: House Boat (US), The 20 Belows (DK), and Mikey Erg (US). The Asgard will be opened from 4pm, show starts a bit later: 9:30pm. Of course it's free to get in. 79 Tue, 25 Mar 2014 21:41:52 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/78/pale-angels-post-march-18th On March 18th we'll be hosting yet another show at Cafe Lokaal, Heemskerk. This time it'll feature Pale Angels (US/UK) and Post. If you're into 90s alternative/garage/punk/stoner, you shouldn't miss out on this one! (8pm, free entry) Update: unfortunately Ride The Fader had to cancel, though we found an excellent replacement: Post. Stoner rock! 78 Mon, 10 Mar 2014 17:36:01 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/77/2-shows-coming-up Coming Friday we'll be hosting an amazing party at De Bakkerij, Castricum, NL. On the line up are Crazy Arm (UK), Bangers (UK), WOAHNOWS (UK), The Liberation Service (AT), and Starfish. (20:00h, €6) Next Tuesday UK's The Social Club and our local heroes of Different Homes will be playing Cafe Lokaal, Heemskerk, NL (20:00h, free) 77 Tue, 11 Feb 2014 16:08:41 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/76/2-new-shows-in-march We're happy to announce two very cool shows for March: Tuesday March 18th 2014 Pale Angels (US/UK) + Ride The Fader Cafe Lokaal, Heemskerk, NL (20:ooh, free entry) Friday March 28th 2014 House Boat (US) + The 20 Belows (DK) + Mikey Erg (US) Rockcafe Asgard, Beverwijk, NL (21:30h, free entry) On March 18th we'll be welcoming Pale Angels in Cafe Lokaal. On this tour, Pale Angels is comprised of one American and two British dudes. They make music that'll remind you of the times that grunge was still cool. Think of Nirvana and Dinosaur Jr. No wonder this band was formed after a Nirvana cover set. Of course they stay true to their punk roots at the same time, so you can defintely hear some Hüsker Dü in there too. Opening band on this night will be Ride The Fader. Formerly known as Bivouac, this band plays impassioned, melancholic yet hopeful indierock of the kind that thrived in the 1990s. A triumvirate of guitar/vocals, drums and bass not unlike great trios of the 1990s such as Nirvana, Buffalo Tom, Dinosaur Jr and Sebadoh, which are all of great influence on the sound of Ride The Fader. But do not efface contemporary influences in the pursuit of a unique sound where melody and dynamics strive for a prominent place. In short, this night is a must-attend! On March 28th we'll be partying to some high quality poppunk at Rockcafe Asgard! Opening with Mikey Erg and his guitar, just to show you how good this already sounds. After this The 20 Belows will take it a step further with a full band explosion of the best European poppunk at the moment. Closing band of the night will be House Boat who simply are great. If you like anything ranging from The Ramones to The Queers to Screeching Weasel to (put your favorite poppunk band here), you'll be in for a treat at this show! 76 Wed, 22 Jan 2014 16:06:50 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/75/show-17-1 Coming Friday we'll be hosting an acoustic show at De Bakkerij, Castricum with Mark McCabe (UK) + Elen Cox (UK) + D.R.I.E. (21:00h, €3). Our first show of 2014 so please come by to make it a good start. Frank Doesburg had to cancel unfortunately. 75 Mon, 13 Jan 2014 12:35:57 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/74/end-of-the-year 2013 was great! We organised a total of 19 shows for 45 bands, all of which were a lot of fun, featuring the following bands: Kepi Ghoulie Electric (US) Sons Of Buddha (FR) Fighting Fiction (UK) - 2x Bad Ideas (UK) Society Off (DE) Kill The Rooster (DK) Luther (US) Perdition (US) Jack Holmes (UK) Sam Russo (UK) Jimmy Islip (UK) Wank For Peace (FR) One Thousand Directions (FR) Great Lakes (US) Leagues Apart (UK) Crazy Arm (UK) WOAHNOWS (UK) The Liberation Service (AT) New Dead Project (HU) Hanoi (HU) No///Se (US) Eat Defeat (UK) Elway (US) Broadcaster (US) Muncie Girls (UK) The Windowsill Ride The Fader (f.k.a. Bivouac) Different Homes - 2x The Lost Noise - 2x Geen Italie The Cut/Up Starfish Tes Frank Doesburg Natascha Tamarit De Reus Het Brein Dat Kwam Uit De Ruimte The Minority The Road Home Translated (our best friends quit the band, RIP!) Wolfhunters Sparky's Revenge Aldemar Florian Krijt Bouke Winters Sweet Empire Thanks to all the bands and venues for making 2013 such a rememorable year. But most of all, thanks to all the people attending the shows. Without all of you, putting on our favorite bands would be a lot less fun. Of course we'll be back in 2014 with more shows. So far we have the following confirmed: Friday January 17th 2014 Mark McCabe (UK) + Elen Cox (UK) + Frank Doesburg De Bakkerij, Castricum, NL (21:00h, €3) Friday February 14th 2014 Crazy Arm (UK) + Bangers (UK) + WOAHNOWS (UK) + The Liberation Service (AT) + Starfish De Bakkerij, Castricum, NL (20:00h, €6) Tuesday February 18th 2014 The Social Club (UK) + Different Homes Cafe Lokaal, Heemskerk, NL (20:00h, free entry) Thursday May 1st 2014 Groezrock Acoustic Punk Meeting IV - lots of artists BBQ area Groezrock Campsite, Meerhout, BE (22:00h, campsite ticket needed) Tuesday May 13th 2014 Sonic Avenues (CAN) + Needles//Pins (CAN), Cafe Lokaal, Heemskerk, NL (20:00h, free entry) 74 Sun, 22 Dec 2013 16:50:19 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/73/valentines-day We'll be doing a show on Valentines Day. We are super excited to have some of our favorite bands to play De Bakkerij on this night. Probably our best line-up to date. Friday February 14th 2014 Crazy Arm (UK) + Bangers (UK) + WOAHNOWS (UK) + The Liberation Service (AT) +Starfish De Bakkerij, Castricum, NL (20:00h, €6) 73 Thu, 12 Dec 2013 17:17:46 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/72/more-new-shows Here are 2 new shows that just have been confirmed. We're super stoked to be hosting both: Friday January 17th: Mark McCabe (UK) + more @ De Bakkerij, Castricum, NL Tuesday February 18th: The Social Club (UK) + Different Homes @ Cafe Lokaal, NL 72 Tue, 03 Dec 2013 15:19:41 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/71/new-show Last Saturday was lots of fun at North Empire Fest 1.5. Thanks to all the bands involved, De Bakkerij, and most of all, all the people who came down to the show. We're happy to announce the next show. It's still a while away but on May 13th 2014 we'll have two Canadian bands play Cafe Lokaal, Heemskerk: Sonic Avenues and Needles//Pins. More shows to be announced soon! 71 Mon, 11 Nov 2013 14:10:26 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/70/north-empire-fest-1-5 Saturday November 9th 2013 - live punk rock featuring: 23:00 - 23:45: Broadcaster (US) 22:00 – 22:45: Muncie Girls (UK) 21:15 – 21:45: All Aboard! (DE) 20:30 – 21:00: Sweet Empire 19:45 – 20:15: the Windowsill 19:00 - 19:30: Ride The Fader (ex- Bivouac) 18:15 – 18:45: The Lost Noise (line up/times can change!) DJs: Andy Idol and Sweet Empire DJ Team Drive In Show Doors: 17:30 - €6 to get in. De Bakkerij Dorpsstraat 30 1901 EL Castricum http://www.vriendenvandebakkerij.nl/ http://www.northempire.nl/ Komme potdomme! Every day we will high light a band performing at North Empire Fest, sorry, it's in Dutch. Though there is an English interview with headlining act Broadcaster at the bottom of this post. Broadcaster - November 8th Deze drie mannen uit New York spelen een mix van moderne punk, indie rock met een heerlijk sausje van 90s college rock. Denk aan bands als Jawbreaker en Superchunk en je hebt een idee hoe deze band klinkt: energieke bouncy nummers met zanglijnen die binnen een nanoseconde zijn mee te zingen. Moeten er nog meer lovende aan vuil gemaakt worden? Nee, gewoon komen kijken naar de afsluiter van North Empire Fest 1.5! En bouw mee aan het feestje natuurlijk. Voor een klein interview, scroll wat naar beneden... Video - The Current Muncie Girls - November 7th Dit trio uit Exeter speelt gepassioneerde poppunk. En met een sterke front-vrouw zorgen ze voor een fris geluid in het punkrockwereldje. Afgelopen augustus is hun nieuwe plaat uitgekomen en deze is met lovende recensies ontvangen. Op hun tour met het Amerikaanse Broadcaster zullen ze het vasteland van Europa zeker laten zien dat dit een band is om in de gaten te houden. Oftewel, mis het niet! Video - Railroad All Aboard! - November 6th Deze Duitsers houden wel van een goed potje mid-tempo melodieuze punk rock. Ze houden ook wel van een feestje. Om zo veel mogelijk feestjes mee te maken touren ze zich helemaal suf. Dit zorgt ook weer voor veel ervaring op het podium en een goede liveshow, een win-win situatie dus. Kom deze avond lekker genieten van deze gekke kuilengravers en worstenvreters! Video - Don't Linger, Don't Listen Sweet Empire - November 5th Lokale halve garen. Spelen best wel vaak en het gaat best lekker, zeggen ze. Onlangs een split 7” uitgebracht met het Engelse Fighting Fiction en een compilatie tape (ja, die dingen van vroeger) komt eraan. Vorig jaar kon hun optreden op North Empire Fest niet doorgaan, dit jaar wel. Leuk? Dat moet blijken, kom maar kijken, komt vast goed. Video - Emma The Windowsill - November 4th Deze Rotterdamse band, met leden van The Apers en The Accelerators, staan garant voor een puik potje melodieuze punkrock! Dat valt te horen op de puike platen en 7”s die onderhand uit zijn gebracht. Dat de energie van de opnames tijdens een live show nog beter tot zijn recht komt is geen geheim. Deze band is een absolute must-see en must-party. Video - Mess Me Up Ride The Fader - November 3rd Ride The Fader (voorheen Bivouac) is een door punk geïnspireerde band uit de IJmond. Met (ex-)leden van Soda P en Quality Export heeft deze band genoeg kwaliteit en ervaring in huis. Ze hebben zich een tijdje teruggetrokken maar zijn nu, als trio en onder een nieuwe naam, aan het snakken om het podium weer te bestijgen en een zaaltje plat te spelen. Dat komt komende zaterdag wel goed! Verwacht een knallende en dynamische set met wat bekende Bivouac nummers, alsmede nieuwe nummers. The Lost Noise - November 2nd The Lost Noise. Wie houdt van ‘what you see is what you get’-rock zonder trucjes, is bij deze band aan het goede adres. The Lost Noise wisselt grungy rocksongs af met mooie dynamische ballads, iets wat zangeres Natascha met haar unieke stemgeluid uitstekend onder de knie heeft. Drummer Jelmer en bassist Mati zorgen voor die grungy basis, terwijl gitarist David de verdieping opzoekt. Met hun uitgebreide podiumervaring zijn ze de band bij uitstek om North Empire Fest 1.5 waardig te openen! Video - Mirror Glass. Interview - BROADCASTER (US) Here's a small interview with a band from Long Island, New York, US calledBroadcaster. This band plays a mix of punk rock, indie, and 90's college rock. Too vague? Think of Jawbreaker, Superchunk, or Cheap Girls and you get the general idea; bouncy tunes with instant sing-a-long lyrics. They just released their second LP 'A Million Hours' on Jump Start Records/Ass-Card Records, which is a record you should definitely check out. Here goes with the silly questions, fortunately the answers by singer/guitarist Jesse are better: Could you please introduce the band? Broadcaster from Long Island, New York. For how long have you been a band and what have you done before? We've been a band for a little over 3 years. We've released 2 LP's and 2 EP's. Done 5 tours and played a bunch of festivals in the US and Canada. You are from Long Island, NY. What we think about NY is that it is super busy and that there are 1.000.000 bands who all want to play as much as possible. How is it for someone who actually lives there and is in a band? It definitely feels that way to us too haha. Lots of bands, lots of shows, which can be both a good and a bad thing. We just try to play with friends that are coming through on tour as much as possible. What are your songs about? Relationships, touring, working, drinking, the ocean, and pizza. Your new album just recently came out. How does the music on that album compare to the older stuff you've done? It's definitely a little more layered, as far as the recording goes. New instruments like piano, 12-string guitar, and theremin were added. The lyrics are also a little more personal than past releases. Whether those are good or bad things, I'm still not sure haha. What is the most fun thing about being a US band, and what do you think is the least fun thing? Most fun: finding all the good pizza and burritos. Least fun: dealing with ignorant people who unfortunately occupy most of the US outside our little music world. What do you expect from touring Europe? We hope to meet lots of kind, new people. Find out about some great new bands. See some more of the world and try as much different beer and food as possible. What is still something you'd like to do/achieve with this band? Travel and just share music and beers with people. You are all in other bands as well, how do you cope with that? Yeah, we all keep busy. Basically our entire social life (or lack thereof ) is playing or going to shows haha. Any bands/artists from your region we should definitely check out? Aspiga, State Lines, Sainthood Reps. Anything you'd like to add? Thanks so much for taking the time to talk to us, we truly appreciate it. Thanks to Jesse/Broadcaster for being so kind to answer the questions. We can't wait to see the band perform at North Empire Fest 1.5 @ De Bakkerij, Castricum coming Saturday (Nov 9th). Doors are at 17:30h and it's €6 to get in. Hope to see plenty of you there. 70 Sat, 02 Nov 2013 12:43:00 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/69/show-tonight Tonight we'll be hosting the Dutch release show of the split 7" of Fighting Fiction (UK) and Sweet Empire (NL) at Cafe Lokaal, Heemskerk, NL. Doors at 8, free entry. Party times. 69 Tue, 22 Oct 2013 17:43:27 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/68/translated-ravens-magpies Yesterday was the last ever show of our best friends in Translated. Fortunately they didn't leave us without giving us something. Besides an awesome last show, that something is an amazing new EP. Have a listen/download to hear what we'll be missing in the future. We're happy to be able to help them out with this last thing they'll be doing. We'd also like to thank the guys in Translated for an awesome time with lots of good memories. Big love! x 68 Sun, 13 Oct 2013 13:56:48 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/67/say-cheese-volume-2 We're proud to announce the release of the second edition of the digital compilation "Say Cheese!", which features solely Dutch punk rock bands. Holland has enough talent to show that punk is not dead, but instead it is a lively scene and music genre. Because punk a socially involved music genre this edition will be focused around Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth Netherlands). This compilation will be released on September 19th and will features 16 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. All the revenue made with this compilation will go to a good cause. Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth Netherlands), in this case. An organization that campaigns for a better environment. Clean air, less traffic. Solar and wind energy instead of schale gas. Organic instead of factory farming. Together with you fighting for a sustainable, clean and fair world! Please help out when you download the compilation by making a donation. The compilation is available on a ‘pay what you want’ basis via: http://northempire.bandcamp.com Tracklist: 1. Harsh Realms - Sink In Time 2. The Windowsill - Said and Done 3. The Minority - Lights Out In Wonderland 4. Coral Springs - Bearing Expenses 5. The 101's - Still Distant 6. Tim Vantol - Dirty Boots 7. Progress - Dear Natasha 8. Dowzer - Friendshipwreck 9. RunningLate - RLS 10. Screw Houston Start Screaming! - At The End Of The Tunnel 11. Jamestown - Go Find Yourself 12. Accelerators feat. Sugus - 12, Calle De Las Tres Cruces| 13. Tes - Your Backyard Airstrip 14. The Road Home - Too Cold To Run 15. The Hearted - Jack Knife 16. Like This - For Four 67 Wed, 18 Sep 2013 15:11:50 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/66/next-shows-sep-21st-22nd These shows are coming up this Saturday and Sunday. Guess the flyers say enough: 66 Mon, 16 Sep 2013 19:41:29 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/65/new-shows-oct-10th-nov-9th We're proud to announce two new shows. First of all there is the North Empire Fest 1.5 coming on November 9th. This 'smaller version' of the previous NE Fest will still have 8 bands playing (last time there were 11) and it will be at the same venue as last year; De Bakkerij in Castricum, NL. We're proud to announce the first part of the line up! The 5 bands confirmed for NE Fest 1.5 are: Broadcaster (US), Muncie Girls (UK), Sweet Empire, Bivouac, and Different Homes. More details will follow, you can also check the 'shows' section. On October 10th we will have ИO///sé (US) playing at LUA, Beverwijk. Doors are at 8 and it's only 3€ to get in. Other bands playing are the locals of Sweet Empire and Different Homes. Probably we will get one more band on the bill... For all the shows we're doing check the 'shows' section on this website! 65 Wed, 04 Sep 2013 15:55:58 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/64/new-next-show Coming Monday, August 5th, we'll be putting on a show/party to say goodbye to Rick's awesome place called The Creche. Unfortunately he has to move out, but not before we crash the damn thing one more time! What better way to do that with Crazy Arm, Sweet Empire, and The Cut/Up playing! 64 Fri, 02 Aug 2013 13:51:37 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/63/new-show-september-21st So far the next show we're putting on is this: WOAHNOWS (UK) + The Liberation Service (AT) @ Rockcafé Asgard, Beverwijk, NL (20:00h, free entry) 63 Tue, 02 Jul 2013 17:55:28 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/62/next-show-tuesday-june-18th Tonight is going to be crazy! Great Lakes (USA) + Leagues Apart (UK) + Starfish Cafe Lokaal, Heemskerk, NL (20:00h, free entry) 62 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:30:35 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/61/next-show This will be coming Saturday... Saturday June 1st Wank For Peace (FR) + One Thousand Directions (FR) + Sweet Empire Discovery, Castricum, NL (20:00h, €3) 61 Wed, 22 May 2013 11:48:44 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/60/some-pictures-of-groezrock-acoustic-punk-meeting-iii Foto's by: Amanda http://www.flickr.com/photos/amy_kokori/ 60 Fri, 17 May 2013 19:34:05 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/59/thanks-new-shows-next-show Last weekend we had a trully amazing time at the Groezrock Acoustic Punk Meeting III. We'd like to thank everyone involved, with special thanks to Groezrock for helping out. We're looking forward to next year. Please share photos/videos with us: northempirebookings@gmail.com Also we're pleased to announce some new shows: On June 1st we'll be hosting our first show ever at Discovery, Castricum. The show will feature two great French punk bands: Wank For Peace and One Thousand Directions. Local band Sweet Empire will open the night. June 18th we will welcome back Leagues Apart (UK) to Cafe Lokaal in Heemskerk. Joining them will be Great Lakes (US) and local opener of the night: Starfish. Last but not least, Feel Free Fest (Liberation Day afterparty) will take place coming Sunday at De Bakkerij, Castricum (20:00h, 4€) with Perdition (US), Sweet Empire, and Het Brein Dat Kwam Uit De Ruimte. Party! 59 Tue, 30 Apr 2013 17:28:17 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/58/groezrock-acoustic-punk-meeting-iii Lots of people, music, drinks... Party! Line up including: Joey Cape (US, member of Lagwagon), Russ Rankin (US, member of Good Riddance/Only Crime). Starts at 10pm sharp at the BBQ area at the campsite of Groezrock. More info (i.e. full line up) on Facebook. 58 Thu, 11 Apr 2013 19:03:02 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/57/next-show-march-30th The flyer says it all... 57 Sat, 30 Mar 2013 11:56:10 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/56/interview-luther-us LUTHER (US) * March 30th 2013 will be Luther's first ever show in Holland. Luther is a band from Philadelphia, US and are signed to Chunksaah Records. Currently the band is on tour throughout the UK with The Bouncing Souls and Cheap Girls. Nick was kind enough to take some time and answer some questions to get you to know the band a little better. If you're reading this we hope to see you at the show so Luther can get to know you as well.* Could you please introduce the band? Well, there's Andy who plays drums, Greg plays bass and has the longest hair, Phil is the tallest and he plays guitar and sings about half the songs, and I'm Nick and I sing the other half of the songs and also play guitar. How did you get to name the band 'Luther'? We got it from the show "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," the character Mac's father is named Luther. That's not true. Who or what influences your music? What are you listening to at the moment? We actually all listen to really different stuff. In the van we all agree on Explosions in the Sky, None More Black, Tegan and Sara, and Baroness. Personally, I've been listening to a ton of We Were Promised Jetpacks and Converge on this tour. Your album has been released on Chunksaah Records (runned by the Bouncing Souls), how did that happen? When we started Kate (who runs Chunksaah) would come to our shows and became really good friends with all of us. We'd known her for a while, but it just sorta lined up that we all became quite close around the time our band was starting. Kate and I were driving to New York to see Wilco and she asked if we'd like to do a record with Chunksaah. It was a no brainer. Also, you're touring with Bouncing Souls and Cheap Girls at the moment. How is that tour going? This tour is one of the best tours we've done so far. We've done a bunch of shows with the Souls, and have played a few here and there with Cheap Girls in the states. We're actually sharing a van / backline / sound guy / tour manager with Cheap Girls and were a little nervous going in to it all, since we didn't know them that well, you know? However, by day two we were just a family. It's really nice to be on a tour where everyone loves each other's bands, but more importantly where everyone gets along and has a good time together. How has the UK been treating you? What do you expect of the mainland? Any differences? We are having a blast! It's not insanely different from a USA club tour, but everyone we've met seems to be a little more polite, which is a bit strange considering the general attitude of the Northeastern region of the US, where we're from. Mainland is going to be crazy I think. In the UK there's very little language barrier, but there's going to be a huge one in Europe. We're really excited! Since we released our first EP, people have been asking us to come to Europe, and we're really excited to finally come over. What is the best thing that ever happened on tour? In California we met Buster from "Arrested Development," pretty much don't expect things to get better than that. Do you ever argue on tour? If so, about what? Well, at some point or currently we've all lived with each other, and when we haven't we've lived with in a couple blocks away from each other. Andy, Greg and I have known each other since we were children, so there's a lot of history between us all. At this point it's like a marriage, so we definitely argue. I think it's healthy. We aren't people to avoid calling out each other's bullshit. What would your dream gig look like? Personally, I've been geeking out to the thought of a Guided By Voices / Torche/ Luther tour. Anything to add? Thanks for talking to us! And we'd like to thank Luther for doing this interview. We can't wait to see the band perform at De Groote Weiver, Krommenie on Saturday March 30th 2013 alongside Sweet Empire and The Minority. Doors are at 20:00h and it's €6 to get in. Hope to see plenty of you there. 56 Sat, 23 Mar 2013 13:40:11 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/55/new-show-june-18th On Tuesday June 18th we'll be welcoming back UK punk band Leagues Apart to Cafe Lokaal, for the 100th time. This time they will be joined by Great Lakes from the US. In case you don't know, this means: PARTY, guaranteed! 20:00h, free entry, local support TBA. 55 Tue, 19 Mar 2013 16:35:05 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/54/next-show-march-22nd On Friday March 22nd we will be hosting quite an internationally divers night. Cafe Asgard, Beverwijk (NL) will be the scene for shows by Society Off from Germany, Kill The Rooster from Denmark, and The Road Home from Holland. Doors are at 8pm and it's free to get in. 54 Fri, 15 Mar 2013 12:50:50 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/53/next-show-march-14th Coming Thursday we're co-hosting (with LUA and Rock De IJmond) a great show featuring local punk bands! We're hoping to see the support of the locals. 53 Tue, 12 Mar 2013 21:43:12 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/52/next-show-march-2nd Coming Saturday we've got an acoustic show lined up. Aldemar, Florian Krijt, and Bouke Winters will play De Bakkerij, Castricum. Doors are at 9pm and it's €3 in. 52 Tue, 26 Feb 2013 23:41:56 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/51/new-show-may-30th On May 30th we'll be hosting a show featuring Jimmy Islip and Sam Russo from the UK. Both men have shared the stage at The Revival Tour (Chuck Ragan of Hot Water Music's acoustic tour) and have released a split with Chuck Ragan and Helen Chambers. Jimmy also plays in The Magnificent and Sam has just released his amazing record 'Storm'. May 30th 2013 - 21:00 - €3 - De Bakkerij, Castricum, NL More shows TBA soon! 51 Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:59:04 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/50/next-show-february-15th The next North Empire show will take place at De Groote Weiver in Wormerveer. This show will feature two of the best current punk acts the UK has to offer: Fighting Fiction and Bad Ideas. Both bringing a variety of punk sounds, ragingly load to folky acoustic. Bad Ideas will do an acoustic set btw. Holland's own melodic punk rockers of Sparky's Revenge will be the opener of the night. Doors are at 8 and it costs €5 to get in. De Groote Weiver is located at Industrieweg 1a, Wormerveer. 50 Wed, 06 Feb 2013 17:05:46 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/49/next-show-january-22nd On Tuesday 22nd we'll welcome Kepi Ghoulie Electric (US), Sons Of Buddha (FR), and Sweet Empire to Cafe Lokaal, Heemskerk, NL. Doors are at 8 and it's free to get in. Come by and enjoy some live Ramonesesque punk rock! 49 Sun, 13 Jan 2013 15:35:26 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/48/additions-march-22th-and-30th We're happy to announce Kill The Rooster (DK) and the Road Home will be playing the show with Society Off at Asgard, Beverwijk on March 22nd! (20:00h, free entry). Check FB event. The Minority have been added to the line up for March 30th. The line up is now complete, Luther (US) and Sweet Empire were already on it. The show will be held at the Groote Weiver, Wormerveer, NL. Starts 20:00, entry €6. The venue is located at Industrieweg 1a and you can find the Facebook event with some additional info here. 48 Sat, 05 Jan 2013 16:10:49 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/47/thanks-north-empire-fest (accidently deleted this post, so had to post it again, silly!) We're extremely proud to say the first edition of North Empire Fest has been a great success. We'd like to thank De Bakkerij and all the volunteers, the bands, and all the visistors for their massive contribution to making this event one to remember. There are no words to say how beautiful it is to have such a day run so smooth and to see so many happy faces troughout the entire day. We couldn't have hoped for it to go any better. So once again, a big THANK YOU to all of you who helped out in any way! See you at other North Empire shows, or at least at North Empire Fest 2! For an insane amount of pictures click here. 47 Fri, 14 Dec 2012 14:59:05 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/46/new-show-march-30th And yet we can announce another NE show. This time it will feature Luther from the US. After their UK tour with the Bouncing Souls and Cheap Girls they'll head out to the mainland to do some headlining shows. We'll be hosting one on Saturday March 30th (20:00h, €6) at De Groote Weiver in Wormerveer. Support will come from Sweet Empire, and one more band tba. You can't miss out on this one! Check out all of the shows under the 'shows' section. Recently we've added Sparky's Revenge to the line up of the February 22nd show. 46 Sat, 08 Dec 2012 18:44:46 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/44/today-north-empire-fest-1 We're proud to say we're doing our first all-dayer in today. Here's some info: Saturday November 17th - 14:00 tot 03:00 - 6 euros Time schedule: 15:00 - 15:30 - Mantis 15:45 - 16:15 - Winston 16:30 - 17:00 - Coral Springs 17:15 - 17:45 - Harsh Realms 18:30 - 19:00 - Translated 19:15 - 19:45 - Twice The Same 20:00 - 20:30 - Drunktank 20:45 - 21:15 - Fair Do's (UK) 21:30 - 22:00 - Almeida (UK) 22:15 - 22:45 - Apologies, I Have None (UK) 23:00 - 23:45 - Crazy Arm (UK) Address: De Bakkerij Dorpsstraat 30 1901 EL Castricum http://www.vriendenvandebakkerij.nl/ Facebook event - Link to digital flyer Last trains: towards Amsterdam / Haarlem - 00:43h, (1:13 at H'lem, 1:29 at CS) towards Alkmaar - 2:20h, (2:31 at Alkmaar) De Bakkerij is about a 5 min. walk from the station. There is plenty of parking opportunities in the area. NB. Sweet Empire cancelled, being replaced by Fair Do's en Almeida (both UK) 44 Sat, 17 Nov 2012 11:15:15 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/43/north-empire-fest-the-bands Sorry, but after this sentence the language will change to Dutch, for this one post only. Vanaf vandaag zullen we hier elke dag een band uitlichten die op zaterdag 17 november zal spelen op North Empire Fest 1. In totaal 10 bands, dus 10 dagen een update. Voor praktische info over North Empire Fest kun je terecht bij de vorige post (hieronder). - laatste update: 16 november - Morgen is het zover! North Empire Fest 1. Daarbij hebben we nog één band om uit te lichten: Crazy Arm, afsluiter morgen. Deze met folk doorspekte punk rock band uit Plymouth, UK heeft al menig muziekliefhebbers hart sneller doen laten kloppen. Het is werkelijk een wonder dat deze band nog niet in een uitverkochte Melkweg staat, en voordat dit gaat gebeuren kunnen we er dus nog even van genieten in een wat kleinere setting. Deze band staat garant voor een wervelende live show. Vul hier verder nog maar 100 zinnen vol lovende woorden in over geniale muziek, shows, tours en teksten, maar luister maar naar hun laatste single “Bandalito”en je weet waarom je North Empire Fest absoluut niet mag missen*.* Facebook Crazy Arm De Londense band Apologies, I Have None is een Europees punk rock pareltje. Dit jaar kwam het debuutalbum “London” uit met daarop een en al kwaliteitsnummers. Het album heeft uitsluitend lovende kritieken ontvangen. Dat komt omdat deze band het voor elkaar heeft gekregen om een geheel eigen sound te creëren, welke misschien het best valt te omschrijven als door punk beïnvloede rock. Engeland is al helemaal om en Europa is als volgende aan de beurt. Dat de Bakkerij overmorgen om gaat is alleen een kwestie van tijd. Zie en luister hier het prachtige “Clapton Pond”. Website Apologies, I Have None Omdat Sweet Empire heeft afgezegd en om toch nog goed uit te komen met bands uitlichten, hebben we het vandaag over de vervangende 2 bands. Het maakt het enigszins makkelijk omdat beide bands in hetzelfde genre vallen. Fair Do’s en Almeida spelen namelijk allebei snelle technische en melodieuze skate punk. Fair Do’s komen uit het noorden van Engeland en Almeida komt dan weer uit het absolute zuiden van het eiland. Samen zijn ze op tour door Europa en konden nog een show op 17 november gebruiken. We hoeven niet te melden dat deze bands weten hoe ze moeten KNALLEN, ja, met hoofdletters. Zie hier wat de jongens van Fair Do’s allemaal uithalen op tour en Almeida heeft wel eens in een keuken gespeeld. Facebook Fair Do's Facebook Almeida Wat moeten we nou nog schrijven over Drunktank? Deze Haagse band bestookt het punk rock publiek al sinds 2003 met hun skate punk. Snel, melodieus en met een hoog meezinggehalte staat deze band garant voor een denderende live set. Hier en daar is zelfs een vleugje 80’s metal te bespeuren. In 2010 kwam hun debuut album “The Infamous Four” uit, welke barst van de knallende hits. Deze ervaren mannen weten wat we willen en dat komen ze brengen! Beluister alhier “Last One Standing” (leuk spelletje voor in de pit misschien!?) Website Drunktank Twice The Same mixt funk met punk, noem het punkfunk, funkpunk, pfunk, of wat dan ook. Feit is dat het rockt als een malle molen! Begonnen als duo, tijden gespeeld als trio, is de band sinds kort een kwartet. Ronkende bas, gedreven drums, gierende gitaren en snerpende zang. Alle ingredienten om menig zaal op zijn kop te zetten. Dat gaan ze 17 november zeker ook in de Bakkerij doen. Bekijk hier een nieuw nummer. Website Twice The Same De mannen van Translated zijn al wereldberoemd in de regio van de IJmond. Menig zaal waar deze band is geweest is met de grond gelijk gemaakt. Hun optredens een feest noemen is een understatement. Ondertussen is heel Nederland en zelfs het buitenland ook al niet meer veilig, Schotland mag blij zijn dat het nog bestaat. Laten we hopen dat ze de Bakkerij in ieder geval niet afbreken totdat North Empire Fest afgelopen is. Hun muziek is recht-toe-recht-aan Epitaph-esque punk rock, zoals het hoort. Luister maar naar “Eyesight To Blind”. Facebook Translated Harsh Realms is een jonge band, dit jaar opgericht, maar hebben in korte tijd al laten zien dat deze band vol met talent zit. Dat was ook wel te verwachten met ruime ervaring in andere punk rock bands. Deze Roosendaalse jongens weten wel hoe een goed punk rock nummer moet klinken. Hun eerste release is ook al een feit, een 7” op White Russian Records. Op deze 7” staan 2 knallers van jewelste, welke niet onder doen voor het werk van Hot Water Music, Red City Radio en ander ‘gruff punk’ materiaal. Wij kijken ernaar uit deze band live te ervaren! Luister hier alvast naar “Chemistry” zodat je weet wat je kunt verwachten. website Harsh Realms Het Zuid-Hollandse Coral Springs breekt gelukkig met het verwijt dat punk rock voornamelijk een mannending is. Deze band heeft namelijk een zangeres, en wel eentje met een dijk van een stem. Met een voorliefde voor pop punk zoals we dat kennen van New Found Glory en No Trigger komt deze band naar de Bakkerij om te laten zien dat we rekening met ze moeten gaan houden. Een week na de show in de Bakkerij komt namelijk hun debuut EP “Greeting From…” uit. Wij verwachten een mooi voorproefje en misschien al wel een EPtje aan te kunnen schaffen. Beluister hier alvast “Bearing Expenses”, dat ook op de EP zal staan. website Coral Springs Winston is een band die in de regio al hoge ogen heeft gegooid. Met fenomenale optredens o.a. in de IJmond popprijs en op Beeckestijnpop heeft deze band bewezen bol te staan van het talent. Zelf omschrijven ze hun muziek als een combinatie van Red Hot Chili Peppers en Foo Fighters, met een focus op de lagere tonen. Deze Castricummers zullen dan ook het hele dorp op de grondvesten doen schudden. Zie hier “Don’t Throw Everything Away” op Beeckestijnpop. website Winston Mantis is een band uit de IJmond, opgericht in november 2009. Deze vijf mannen zijn geïnspireerd door bands als Avenged Sevenfold en Metallica, oftewel, ze spelen progressive hardrock. Ruig, hard, melodieus en vernieuwend zijn de kernwoorden. Dat ze North Empire Fest zullen openen met een knallende set is een feit. Check hier de promo voor ‘Find My Way’, welke binnenkort zal verschijnen. website Mantis 43 Wed, 07 Nov 2012 12:10:13 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/41/next-show-tuesday-october-16th The next NE show will be coming Tuesday at Cafe Lokaal, Heemskerk featuring Elway (US), All Aboard (DE), and Translated. Doors are at 8, and it's free to get in. See y'all Tuesday, right. 41 Fri, 12 Oct 2012 01:53:18 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/40/interview-all-aboard-de 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. 40 Tue, 02 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/39/north-empire-fest-1 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. 39 Mon, 01 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/38/next-show-september-29th 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! 38 Wed, 26 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/37/new-next-show-september-24th 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. 37 Tue, 18 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/36/new-show-january-22nd 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. 36 Sat, 08 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/35/new-show-october-16th 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). 35 Thu, 16 Aug 2012 00:00:00 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/34/next-show-august-11th Jort is celebrating his birthday in Cafe Lokaal, Heemskerk this Saturday. Of course there are some great bands playing: 34 Tue, 07 Aug 2012 00:00:00 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/33/out-now-say-cheese ‘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. 33 Mon, 09 Jul 2012 01:00:00 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/32/next-show-july-14th This Saturday Andrew Cream, Tes, and Frank Doesburg will be playing De Bakkerij, Castricum. 21:00h, €3. (Shankland had to cancel unfortunately) 32 Mon, 09 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/31/new-show-september-3rd 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. 31 Wed, 04 Jul 2012 00:00:00 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/30/new-show-september-29th 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. 30 Thu, 17 May 2012 01:00:00 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/29/groezrock-acoustic-punk-meeting-ii-some-pics 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. 29 Thu, 17 May 2012 00:00:00 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/28/recordings-of-groezrock-acoustic-punk-meeting-ii 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. 28 Mon, 07 May 2012 00:00:00 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/27/next-show-may-11th 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) 27 Sun, 06 May 2012 00:00:00 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/26/that-was-groezrock 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! 26 Mon, 30 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/25/it-s-groezrock-time 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/ 25 Thu, 26 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/24/new-show-june-2nd 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! 24 Sun, 22 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/23/next-show-s-april-22nd-24th Two of the (probably) most fun shows ever are coming up real soon. You definitely can’t miss out on these: 23 Tue, 17 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/22/interview-trails-uk The next N.E. show on April 22nd 2012 will feature Trails, amongst others. Trails are a UK band who have managed to create a unique sound, blending punk, pop, indie, and everything a normal person should like. They combine this all with a fresh sort of mental illness. We had the honor to ask them a few things. Could you please introduce yourselves? Trails consists of 4 derranged mentalists on a mission to destroy minds and melt faces wherever we go. What/who inspires you music-wise? We have an endless list of influences but to name a few - RX Bandits, Mars Volta and Propagandhi. How would you describe your music and what is your music about? Lyrically we discuss everything from personal experience to political and environmental issues that we feel strongly about. Musically we try to combine originality and accessability to the best of our abilities. We think you are a great mix between punk and indie. Do you think you’re more punk or more indie? PUNK! What have you done so far and what will you be doing in the near future? We’ve played with the likes of Arcane Roots, Tellison, The Computers and Gay For Johnny Depp. We’ve just recorded two singles of which one, A Turn Of Phrase, is already released. We’re planning to get an album ready either late this year or some time next year. Other than that we’re just touring as much as possible. How did you get the ideas for your crazy videos (links: 1 , 2 , 3 )? The dangerous depths of our deranged minds. We’re masters of delicatable brain farts. Old school question: Do you prefer CD or vinyl? Vinyls win for artwork and collectability whereas more people have a CD player and this makes copying the content onto your compueter way easier. New school question: Do you think the Internet has been a positive for the music industry? Yes and no. Yes - the ability to digitally distribute your music to the entire world as well connecting with fans, labels and booking agents. No - the abudance of bands has caused a vast saturation of the music community making it harder to stand out from the crowd. What do you expect from your upcoming mainland tour? Any special things you’d like to do / see? We’re just really keen to visit some new places and play to some new people. Anything on top of that is a bonus. We’ve heard some great things about shows in mainland Europe so we’re really looking forward to them. What can we expect of your show at De Groote Weiver, Wormerveer? 110% pure rock energy with crowd interaction, some good old rowdines; and whole lot of fun Anything you’d like to add? Check out the video for our new single “A Turn Of Phrase” at www.wearetrails.com. We’ll have this available to buy on CD at the gig along with our EP and vinyl copies of our first ever single “All The Other Humans” We can’t wait to see Trails live set. Hope to see all of you reading this there too. April 22nd 2012 @ De Groote Weiver, Wormerveer, NL (15:00h, 5€). Be sure to check Trails out via the link above and be even more sure to check out their videos! 22 Fri, 06 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/21/new-show-additions Local heroes Against All Odds will be playing the already awesome show, but now even more awesome, on May 11th in Rockcafé Asgard, Beverwijk, NL (20:00h, free) with Crazy Arm (UK) and The 20 Belows (DK). This makes the line up complete. Can we say ‘show of the year’? This might be it! Besides that we can confirm that acoustic wonder Jeff Rowe (US) will be playing somewhere cool in our area on Tuesday September 4th 2012. More on this soon! 21 Mon, 02 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/20/next-show-s-march-31st-april-3rd Coming Saturday, March 31st, PJ Bond (US) and Mark McCabe (UK) will play their lovely acoustic sets in the back room at Cafe Lokaal, Heemskerk, NL (20:00h, free). A few days later, Tuesday April 3rd, we’ve got a huge line up ready to play Cafe Lokaal as well (20:00h, free). That night Bangers (UK), The Revenge Of The Psychotronic Man (UK), The Respirators (DK), and Sam Russo (UK) will give it their best. (for links to the aforementioned bands check out the ‘shows’ section) See you at the show! 20 Mon, 26 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0200 https://northempire.nl/blog/19/the-20-belows-added-to-may-11th-show We’re pleased to announce Danish punk rockers The 20 Belows will be playing Rock Café Asgard, Beverwijk on May 11th alongside Crazy Arm (UK). This is surely going to be a night to remember. 19 Tue, 20 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/18/next-show-march-17th-18th The next North Empire show is coming Saturday at Rockcafé Asgard, Beverwijk, NL (20:00h, free entry). This time we will be partying to French acts Wank For Peace and One Thousand Directions as well as local heroes De Aanslag. (for links to the bands, check the ‘shows’ section) Also, on Sunday March 18th there will be a ‘secret’ show with The Heat Tape (US) and Sweet Empire (20:00h - 23:00h, BYOB/donation). If you’d like to know where: info@northempire.nl is the answer! 18 Thu, 15 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/17/new-show-may-11th We’re proud to announce the mighty Crazy Arm (UK) will be playing Rockcafé Asgard, Beverwijk, NL on Friday May 11th (20:00h, free). More bands tba. We’re stoked! 17 Fri, 02 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/16/interview-wank-for-peace-fr It’s time for another interview! This time it’s Wank For Peace from France. These guys do quite some touring so if you don’t know them yet, you should definitely check them out. Go on and read about their name choice, Horsebites, etc. Could you please introduce yourselves? So we are Wank For Peace, from Angers, France. We’ve been a band since 2008. Laurent plays guitare, David Bass, Flo sings, and Antoine plays Drum. Antoine is the new one! The show with you guys will actually be his second show. We all have shitty studies and shitty jobs. Your bandname is rather ridiculous, what’s the story behind it? If wanking wasn’t allowed for worldpeace, what other activity/ways would you choose to gain this goal? That’s nice to answer such a question! Nobody ever asks us that in France, because people don’t get how shitty this name is! So there is no real story… We started playing together in April, in June a friend asked us to play a show, we had no name, one of us said “Wank For Peace”, we play the show under that name, and now we’re stuck with it. We know it’s ridiculous but we don’t really care. I mean that’s just a name! If people aren’t smart enough to go beyond the name… whatever… We don’t want to get famous, we don’t want to a “hardcore credibility” name. So we’ll keep this one until the end! And world peace isn’t something we believe in. It takes a lot of faith in mankind to believe something like this. How has music influenced your lives? And what artists have influenced you the most? We’ve been into music since we’re teenagers, it has always been quite important, but those last 3 years, since the beggining of Wank For Peace, pretty much changed our lives. All those places we’ve been, all those people we’ve met influenced our lives in many ways. Politicaly, Ethicaly for example. They way we live our lives back home, the choices we make, all that has been completly changed by the band! And now our girlfriends hates us. And if we should pick artists I guess we would chose Kid Dynamite (obviously), Blink-182, NoFX, Guerilla Poubelle. ‘What Will Remain’ (link) is your first LP, can you tell us something about it? Does it have a general theme? It is! This is a very urgent LP, we wrote the songs pretty fast, recorded the LP right after. If feel like it’s really spontaneous. I don’t know if there is really one general theme, but there is definitely some general directions. Time is one of those, the way we use it mainly. Choices is another one. How much we hate any kind of pride. I guess that this Lp is mainly influenced by our discovering of that music scene, of touring, etc. We’re still newcomers so may be it’s also a bit naive… The artwork for your LP has been done by ‘Horsebites’ (link), one of the most popular for punk bands at the moment. What made you choose to ask him? That was kind of a child dream. We have been listening to so many band who had a cover by him that we said “who knows may be it will be our only LP, let’s ask him”. He said yes! He is actually a very nice dude! We met him when we played with No Friends on their European tour. He drew the cover right after their tour! Richard is really amazing, he worked with so many awesome huge bands, but he cares about what he does, the fact that we met him on tour probably helped but he did it quickly and he listened every single details we had to say about the cover! I would want to say “give him some work to do” but he really is busy enough with kiss and beyonce designs. You’re from France, unfortunately we don’t know that many good French bands in Holland. What bands from France are really worth checking out? There are a lot of amazing bands in France, but quite often they hide in their green countryside and don’t tour that much. You should check No Guts no Glory, Birds in Row, The Traders, Zombies Are Pissed, Justin(e), The Helltons, Nina’school, Nine eleven, Can’t Bear this Party, Maladroit, Daria, One Thousand Directions, The attendants, As We Draw, Charly Fiasco, Guerilla Poubelle, Mon Autre Groupe, Pink Flamingos…. Okay this list might no be objective because lots of them friends… but still. You toured like 10 countries, what’s the best one to play? Which one has the best drinks/food? And which one has the nicest girls (or boys, whatever you fancy)? What place do you really recommend to other touring bands? We all had a major crush on Slovenia. The landscape and the people are so nice! We also had the best afterparty food there! The guys from In-Sane took us a place that made Cheese Bureks, amazing unclear memories about that! We also loved Hungary! I guess the more east you go, the better this is, people in France for example don’t really give a shit about punk shows anymore. And we don’t do girls, or boys. On tour we only do each other. You have been to Holland before. What do you hate about it? When we went to holland with the band, we arrived at 11pm, we played at midnight and we left town at noon the day after , so all we did is party at steenjwijck. So we’ve got nothing to hate about Holland except Laurent who eems to have been thromatized by all thos bikes “horning” all around when he came to Amsterdam when was 17. But what we can hate is the way french people see holland. Drugs and hookers. Shame on them! Anything else you would like to add? Thanks for asking, and thanks for reading, all this cool adventure really means the world to us! Wank For Peace will be on tour in March. Come and check them out on Saturday March 17th at Cafe Asgard, Beverwijk, NL with A Thousand Directions (FR) and De Aanslag. 16 Mon, 27 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/15/de-aanslag-added-to-the-show-on-march-17th Besides the French bands Wank For Peace and One Thousand Directions we have Haarlem’s finest De Aanslag playing on Saturday March 17th at Rockcafé Asgard, Beverwijk (20:00h, free). 15 Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/14/new-show-july-14th Like we have nothing better to do, time for a new show: Andrew Cream (UK) and Shankland (UK) will be playing at De Bakkerij, Castricum on Saturday July 14th 2012. Can we get a ‘hell yeah’!? 14 Mon, 13 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/13/new-show-march-31st On Saturday March 31st we will be welcoming back the great and lovely PJ Bond(US) and Mark McCabe (UK). 20:00h @ Cafe Lokaal, Heemskerk. You can get in for free, yes! 13 Sat, 11 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/12/new-show-may-26th On Saturday May 26th Social Distrust (DE) and Sweet Empire will play Rockcafé Asgard, Beverwijk, NL. Come see this punk rocking lot, starts at 8pm. Of course it’s free to get in. 12 Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/11/flyers-april-3rd-and-22nd Some new flyers for some of the upcoming shows. Thanks to Ricky D for making these great ones. 11 Wed, 08 Feb 2012 02:00:00 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/10/www-northempire-nl We’ve got a really nice address for this website now. Next time you check this just type in http://www.northempire.nl and you’re there. Great stuff. 10 Wed, 08 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/9/line-up-update-groezrock-acoustic-punk-meeting-ii Friday April 27th - 22:00h @ BBQ area at the campsite of Groezrock. Line up so far: Versus The World (US) - http://www.facebook.com/vstheworldmusic Leagues Apart (UK) - http://leaguesapart.bandcamp.com/ Sweet Empire (NL) - http://sweetempire.bandcamp.com/ Ducking Punches (UK) - http://duckingpunches.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://soundcloud.com/ScrXtch 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.myspace.com/kingluirocknroll 9 Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/8/new-show-april-22nd Yeah! It’s time to announce a new show, and this is going to be damn good. Matinee on Sunday April 22nd - 15:00h - 5 euros in @ De Groote Weiver, Wormerveer, NL. With: Spraynard (US), Caves (UK), Trails (UK), Translated, and Crack David 8 Thu, 02 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/7/made-it-onto-the-groezrock-website Looks like our little initiative of the Acoustic Punk Meeting is going to get quite some attention and people attending/playing, as it has been posted as a news feature, and on the events page, of the official Groezrock website. People who want to play can still send us an e-mail to: northempirebookings@gmail.com Keep checking the Facebook event for updates on everything. 7 Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/6/groezrock-acoustic-punk-meeting-ii Last year we organized an acoustic show at the Groezrock campsite. The organization of the festival stole our idea and set up an actual acoustic stage but we won’t let them drag us down so we’re going to have edition II this year! This is mainly organized and promoted via Facebook, so please check it all here. We can say it will be on the Friday night (the night before the festival starts), 22:00h, BBQ area. Lots of bands will be playing. BYOB and have a party! The give you an idea; it’s bands/people from all over Europe who play guitar and sing a few songs. 6 Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/5/next-show-march-17th On Saturday March 17th the French bands Wank For Peace and One Thousand Directions will rock your socks off at Rockcafe Asgard, Beverwijk. Check out the show section for more info. 5 Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/4/next-show-january-25th The next North Empire hosted show is coming up this Wednesday January 25th. We hope to see you all at Cafe Asgard, Beverwijk (20:00h, free). 4 Sun, 22 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/3/new-show-april-24th-2012-and-additional-bands-april-3rd We’ve got a new show. April 24th we’ll be welcoming back the lovely fellows inLeagues Apart (UK) and Dear Hearts (BE). Also, Facepalm (NL) is now playing this instead of the 3rd. And for our show on April 3rd we have added Bangers (UK) and Sam Russo (UK) along with the already confirmed The Revenge Of The Psychotronic Man (UK), The Respirators (DK). 3 Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/2/interview-as-we-sink-uk Our first show of 2012 is coming up. It will be an all UK band night. One of those bands is As We Sink! This three piece play fast, nice, sing a long punk rock. Joe took some time to answer some questions. Could you please introduce yourself? I’m Joe and I play the drums, Sam is our Guitarist and vocalist and Chris is the bassist. We play punk rock music in As We Sink. Where are you from, what have you done so far, and what are your future plans? We are from South West of England, and we have played lots of shows around the UK, and have done a few tours and weekenders. We have a split 7” with our friends Donnie Brasco. We are coming to mainland Europe this month and we are hoping to do as many tours and shows as possible this year. Over the last few months have recorded an EP which is going to be coming out very soon, which we are all really excited about. What are your songs generally about? Our latest EP is about our lives. Things like making big decisions to push yourself forward, working shit jobs and earning no money while trying to make the band work. Just stuff we can relate to really. Last November all your gear got stolen, which must have been devastating. Could you explain your feelings on this? Have you found any of the gear back? It’s every bands worst nightmare to have their gear stolen, but we found it hard to dwell on it as we had so much support from friends, bands and promoters. There were people lending us gear, buying our merch and collecting at shows to help us out. The amount of support was overwhelming, and just shows how the scene can pull together when things go really wrong. Some of the stolen equipment turned up in a pawn shop in the city where we live, and the investigation is still going on. Have you been to the mainland before? What do you expect from touring over there? We haven’t been to the mainland before, but everything we have been told from other bands has been amazing and we are very excited to be playing in new places and meeting lots of new people, in lots of new places. What is the UK ‘scene’ like? In addition to the last question; do you think it’s different to the mainland? The UK scene is definitely getting stronger, and as I explained earlier, everyone is really supportive of each other and help out whenever people need it. I think it’s a great scene to be involved with, and can’t wait to get touring again in 2012. As 2011 is almost over, could you do a top 10 of your 2011 albums? In no particular order: Bangers – Small Pleasures Great Cynics – Don’t Need Much Crazy Arm – Union City Breath Goodtime Boys – Are We Now, Or Have We Ever Been Seahaven – Winter Forever Horrible Crowes – Elsie Polar Bear Club – Clash, Battle, Guilt, Pride Defeater –Empty Days and Sleepless Nights The Wonder Years – Suburbia I’ve Given You All and Now I’m Nothing Basement – I Wish I Could Stay Here Anything you’d like to add? Thank you to everyone who has shown support to us, and especially when we were going through hard times last year. It’s a new year now, and we are going to play as much as possible to new people, in new places. We’d like to thank Joe for his answers. Please be sure to check their new EP out, we’ll let you know when it’s out. Also come down to check them out live on Wednesday January 25th in Cafe Asgard, Beverwijk (20:00h, free entry) with Fights & Fires, The Shuffle, and Truro. 2 Mon, 02 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100 https://northempire.nl/blog/1/go-to-our-tumblr-page-for-older-news Go to our tumblr page for news older than 2012. 1 Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0100