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 PREVIEW Ex But Not Former The legendary Amsterdam band may be called the Ex,but its brand of avant-political chaos is as punk as it was 20 years ago. BY ALYSSA ISENSTEIN |
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Fugazi, The Ex, The Need Crystal Ballroom 1332 W Burnside St., 778-5625 9 pm Friday, Feb. 26 Sold out In 1979 bands like Minor Threat and Black Flag were rabble rousing in the United States, and Crass and Chumbawamba were raising the litany of anarchy to a high-pitched screech in England. Singing in English on topics related to the "fuck fascism" theme, a Dutch band called the Ex was right in line with the times. Two decades later, Minor Threat has metamorphosed into Fugazi, ex-Black Flag frontman Henry Rollins models for the Gap, and Chumbawamba is reeling from the commercial success of "Tubthumping." Meanwhile, back in Holland, the Ex continues to create music that challenges, both on aesthetic and political levels, for a modest but passionate patronage. In early '80s Amsterdam, the big issue for leftist punk-rocker types was the squatters' movement. Today Holland's squatters have won their rights, and the Ex has gone on to speak out against injustices and infringements on human rights worldwide. The band uses album packaging to educate fans about everything from factory-worker rights to Nicaraguan arms deals to the Animal Liberation Front. But that doesn't mean the Ex is always on the lookout for the next cause, explains 35-year-old guitarist Andy (the band members use no last names). "We just respond to what is happening around us and listen, and then things appear and we react to them," he says. "[Music and politics] are so tied up with each other. We see ourselves as musicians first, not politicians. We see ourselves as people that love to play music, and we do it in a very specific way--and that's where the politics come in." Like current tour-mate Fugazi, the Ex does business on its own terms. Releasing its own records, booking its own tours and avoiding the corporate music world altogether, the Ex remains true to its original ideals and has continued to expand into an octopus of musical ideas and forces. Over the course of 16 albums and numerous singles, the Ex has worked with Hungarian folk music, interpreted songs from Zimbabwe and channeled traditional American folk/roots music, forever reinventing what it is it does. For three records the Ex hooked up with the late avant-garde cellist Tom Cora. The music produced from this partnership is a stunning and startling blend of free jazz, classical, ethnic folk and rock. The band's latest love is African ethnic music, which isn't such a stretch from its punk roots, according to Andy, who joined the Ex 10 years ago. "That's the way the Ex has always worked," he says. "Whatever people have been listening to ends up inspiring the next [project]. It began with that punk energy, but there have been so many other kinds of music that have inspired everyone since then." The frequently rotating membership--which currently includes two original members, vocalist G.W. Sok and guitarist Terrie--has kept the influences fresh. "Everybody has stayed open, and nobody is totally in love with their own idea of what the band should be," Andy adds. "I think that is what has allowed the band to exist for so long." The Ex's sound is about being caught up in the moment; incessant layers of rhythms and textures produce wholly unique slices of music. Sometimes the resulting songs are in an avant-garde jazz vein; sometimes they follow an angular rock format. The Ex has never adhered to one style, resulting in a viscerally engaging body of work. The band's last record, Starters Alternators, was recorded by Steve Albini at his Chicago studio. Albini's purist recording methods were the perfect complement to the Ex's purist music. In recording the album, Albini worked more with microphones than knobs, turning the project into something of a modern-day field recording. There is a frenetic energy in the music that, even after 20 years, has yet to be tamed or toned down. Albini's recording catches that energy and explodes it like light caught in a prism. The next Ex project is a compilation of traditional songs from all
over the world, as interpreted by the band. Having culled the songs
they want to play from library collections, eclectic radio programming
and their own record collections, the members of the Ex are now in the
process of finding out what the songs' lyrics mean. "It's actually quite
difficult," Andy says. "There is this strange Kenyan song, but we don't
know any Kenyans in Amsterdam, so it's been difficult to track it down."
Considering the ingenuity that has kept the Ex sharp for 20 years, finding
a Kenyan in Amsterdam should be a minor challenge. - - - - - - - - - - - -
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