The Drowning Trout

A Sixpack of Frisbeer!

2011-04-01T15:01:00.013+02:00

During soundcheck!

Surprised we haven't used that particular pun before... don't know how that has happened. An apology is in order!

Anyway, we were invited to the bandfeast of Catena in Leiden yesterday-evening, where we, thanks to the cancellation of the opening band, would not be second on the bill but the band to get the party going. Sounded like the perfect job for us, then!

As it was the perfect opportunity to celebrate our six year anniversary as well, we chose to do a classic set this time - no fancy stuff, just rock 'n roll. And in the end, all was well... all frisbees had disappeared, and we even found the time to mess about with some Slayer at the very end of our set. We enjoyed ourselves, and would like to thank Catena for having us!

Extra special thanks go out to soundengineer Michiel, lightengineer Desiré, driver Rik and everyone behind the event - your beer was delicious!

Of Mindcontrolled and Sam videos were shot - links towards them are below.

Setlist:
Off To Rome
Thank God...
Need Shit
Gorillawrath
Mindcontrolled
Backwards...
Sam
Raining Blood

Here we are, at home again!

2010-11-21T10:59:00.004+01:00

Album re-recording is well under way! We're trying new things as well, giving the Trout debut album a fresh new touch to go into the new year with. We're doing everything from scratch, laying down new drumtracks, basslines, guitarriffs and even a slightly tweaked style of vocals. Also, the production has been improved alot, making our old and dusty songs sound better than ever before.

Furthermore, we've found ways to speed up the recording process significantly, making the entire process alot more efficient. Yay!

Also, the Myspace has been overhauled. Expect some of the new recordings on there soon!

Freebees!

2010-06-19T16:36:00.005+02:00

Yesterday we supported the CD release of an affiliated oneman-project, down in de Gonz in Gouda. We were invited to the party, and so, as always, we chose to make the party ours! This, as we were told afterwards, much to the enjoyment of everyone present. Supposedly we should organize our own release party some time soon ;)

We did a 30 minute set which included both classic and new stuff, and we must say that we highly enjoyed ourselves in the process. Enk, the Master of Ceremonies for the night, was asked to come on stage prior to Gorillawrath, to receive both one of the traditional limited edition frisbees, and the customary banana. Afterwards, we were all sweaty, all frisbees were gone, and praise (much like the alcohol) was abundant - all in all, a very good night!

Thanks go out to Enk for having us, and Bert Boom for being our photographer for the night. We appreciate it!

Check our Youtube channel for the videos, or click on some of the songs below to go directly to them.

Setlist:
Off to Rome
Thank God for God
Need Shit
Mindcontrolled
Waiting
Gorillawrath
Backwards on a Bicycle

Album & Video!

2010-03-22T14:40:00.007+01:00

Yes yes, we know. What's taking us so long? Well, we're using the extra time we got from the computer crash to cross the t's and dot the i's. You know, spending the extra time wisely, that sort of thing. Going over it all with a finetooth comb. Be it as it may, we still can't really say for sure when the first copies will be available for purchase. Yes, we're perfectionists, so it seems... it'll still be this year though, you can be sure of that ;)

As a gift for your patience, we've placed a video of a brand new (instrumental) song online! We played it in Helmond last month, and we thought it was that good that it deserved it's own title and place in our repertoire. Get yourself on Youtube to see it!

Fifthbees!

2010-02-06T16:27:00.015+01:00

No, that's not a lisp ;)

Last night was the opening to our 5th anniversary, down in Muziekcafe Helmond. It was the biggest set we've done up till now, and it proved to be a highly enjoyable evening for everyone involved; we, for one, are very pleased with the way everything went down. We had room for some interesting new additions to our setlist, be it the new epic Waiting or the two intermezzo's...so we went with it, and it all came out perfectly. In the end, the beer was cold, the atmosphere brilliant and all of the frisbees had yet again found a proud new owner. Perfect!

A big thanks go out to the crew of the cafe - Geert in particular - who were very hospitable and attended to all our needs (and then some!). Also the cafe's soundengineer deserves praise - he did a commendable job of getting us mixed out perfectly, enabling us to deliver one of the best sets we've done over the past years. Thanks a bunch!

Most of all though, we like to thank everyone who came down to support us - we highly appreciate it!

Thanks to Con Cathalina and Angeline Schoor for being our photographers for the night - more of their pictures can be found on the Myspace and the Hyves.

Setlist:
Off to Rome
Thank God for God
Need Shit
Mindcontrolled
-blues intermezzo-
Waiting
Journey from the Underworld
Gorillawrath
-instrumental intermezzo-
Sam
Backwards on a Bicycle
Going to Brazil (Motorhead cover)

Album news!

2010-01-22T15:38:00.001+01:00

It seems, in true rock 'n roll fashion, we're delaying it...

Due to a computercrash, some of the recordings were lost and have to be redone. Thankfully it just concerns two songs so the damage isn't all too great, but unfortunately enough this still means we can't get the album ready anymore for the 5th of February. A terrible shame ofcourse, since we were really hoping to add some further gladness to the madness by turning the extravaganza into a rocking releaseparty. We really regret this to happen, but we certainly hope to still see all you guys in Helmond nonetheless and turn the place upside down!

When the album's released instead we can't really tell, but since March is the month of the 5 year anniversary, chances are likely it'll come out around that time. If we find a way of releasing it any sooner, we'll ofcourse let you know about it!

The Album!

2009-12-22T12:41:00.004+01:00

Finally we're able to let you guys know more about the upcoming CD! It's still scheduled for a January 2010 release, and the first copies will be on sale at the gig in Helmond the 5th of February. And now, without further ado:

The Drowning Trout - The Drowning Trout

Tracklist:
1. Off to Rome
2. Gorillawrath
3. Mindcontrolled
4. Waiting
5. Plataea
6. Sam
7. Journey from the Underworld
8. Thank God for God
9. Neat Shit
10. Backwards on a Bicycle

The album is entirely selfproduced, and we're very excited that it's almost done. It'll come with a 12-page booklet and in a black slipcase, and the music is basically blues, hard rock and everything inbetween. The recordings of "Off to Rome" and "Thank God for God" you know from the Myspace have been entirely redone, and we can't wait to let you guys give a taste of it next year!

You've also probably noticed by now that we have some new footage on our Youtube channel - we used one of our rehearsals for some good ol' clandestine movie making. We hope you like what we've done with it!

Lotsa brews, lotsa news!

2009-10-18T11:46:00.001+02:00

Another update from Trout HQ!

You've surely noticed by now that we've placed a new song on our Myspace - it's our own homegrown blues extravaganza Neat Shit! It's about the renowned German philosopher Friederich Nietzsche, and the song will, ofcourse, be featured on the upcoming album.

Speaking of which - we're right on schedule! Recordings are drawing to a close, and in probably a month or so when everything will be on tape we'll let you know more about the title, cover and tracklisting. We're discovering new cool things along the way too, so despite the recording process being a drag from time to time (as you're doing everything alone with headphones on) it's proven to be exciting as well.

Furthermore, the first frisbee frenzy for our 5 year anniversary is on the board - we're coming to Muziekcafe Helmond for a big 90 minute set! It'll be on the 5th of February next year, and we're very much looking forward to meeting you all there!

Oh, and there's lots of new pictures added to the Baroeg album on our Myspace. Be sure to check them out too!

Alternative Frisbees

2009-10-09T14:27:00.013+02:00

Last night we visited the Baroeg in Rotterdam. We’ve often visited the place as spectators to the bands we adore ourselves, but this time, we’d be at the other side of the stage. We were invited to a band contest / showcase under the name of Alternative Route, and so we made sure we were there to let everybody get their grooves on. Other bands on the bill were the metal band Apokalypsis, and surfrock band El Chupacabra.

After a thorough soundcheck (during which it sadly became apparent that there was no vox monitor) and having a bite to eat, we entered the stage and (after being introduced by the night’s host – a first for us) fired it up. It was Milan’s first gig with the Trout, but he pulled it off more than nicely, lining up one blistering solo after the other and eating himself through the rest of the material with ease. At the end, with an applauding gathering of enthusiastic onlookers hungry for more, we did Paranoid for the encore and distributed our famous frisbees towards their new owners.

We like to thank everyone who came to support us – we highly appreciate it! We were pleased with how everything turned out, and as far as we're concerned it won’t take very long for us to return there. Hail!

Many more pictures can be found on the Myspace.

Setlist:
Off to Rome
Thank God for God
Gorillawrath
Neat Shit
Mindcontrolled
Backwards on a Bicycle
Encore:
Paranoid (Black Sabbath cover)

Who's afraid of Gorillawrath

2009-09-30T18:24:00.004+02:00

I'm gonna pay someday for those puns...

We've now replaced the last of the demotracks on the Myspace with a better recording; Gorillawrath! This is actually the first track we've posted online which will probably be on the oncoming album with the same sound and production as it has now - Off to Rome and Thank God for God will be adjusted slightly for the CD.

The recordings themselves are moving at a steady pace, with half of the album being close to completion. We've really amazed ourselves thus far. There's still alot of work to be done, but fortunately enough there's also plenty of time to do it in. We just want to make sure we're not rushing this, that's all.

In the coming months leading up to the new year, you can expect one more (fresh) addition to the Myspace in the form of a new song, and the albumtitle, cover and tracklisting. So watch this space!

Thank God for Coffee!

2009-08-28T10:27:00.005+02:00

The product of further studio rehearsing has presented itself! Thank God For God is the next song to find itself revamped, and is available on our Myspace. Now we've more or less decided on the sound we want to have, it is up to us to complete the huge task ahead of us of getting the entire (as of yet unnamed) debut album on tape, which will take place during the following months.

When the album will be completely finished is anybody's guess (we're aiming for next year though), but we can tell you already that most of the songs listed for the CD you'll already know. There'll be new stuff too, but you'll just have to wait and see!

So watch this space!

Hold on to your horses!

2009-08-19T23:16:00.006+02:00

We're off to a good start with our fresh new fisherman Milan; we've done some more studio-rehearsing to find the particular sound we like, working on a recording of Thank God for God the past week. Once we've set the bar and established the sound we want to work with, we're going to get ourselves into gear to fully record the 11-track (we even had to narrow it down) album that'll be coming up. Oh yeah!

Furthermore - you'd better jot down the 8th of October in your agendas, as some more frisbees will be heading your way! The Baroeg in Rotterdam will be the place, and 8 o'clock will be the time. We will be one of the bands attending - and we surely hope you will, too!

Fristerbeens and smokemachines!

2009-08-16T16:05:00.014+02:00

Last night, after 5 years of absence, we returned to the Bomvrij Hospitaal - a venue we've often visited ourselves in the good ol' days. This time however, we would be standing at the other side of the stage. We would be opening the night, but upon arrival, it became apparent that pretty much the entire PA and lighting system still had to arrive and get hooked up before we actually got a chance to check our stuff. No problem there - we just spent the time drinking a few beers and taking some bandpictures with our new fisherman Milan, who kindly helped us with balancing out the sound before and during the gig itself.

The hot day had made for a hot evening as well, which caused for the majority of the onlookers to set themselves down in the enbalming outdoors, listening to what we had to offer. Despite the lack of monitorspeakers (and an overactive smokemachine, heehee) we just performed to the best of our ability, opening with 'Off to Rome' and working ourselves through most of the classics, including our new blues extravaganza 'Neat Shit' (which has been added to the lyricspage, ofcourse). Afterwards, we were complimented on our show and (by the ones previously unfamiliar to our fishy musical conconction) overall sound.

Props go out to our session guitarist Wessel for managing to get it all together so well in such a short period of time. Further thanks go out to the Bomvrij Crew that still tried to accommodate us despite various valuable equipment being stolen weeks before the show, everyone who was there to support us (hail!) and to Jolande Harteveld, Con Cathalina and the Uwland family for being our army of paparazzi for the night. Watch this space for their pictures!

Setlist:
Off to Rome
Gorillawrath
Sam
Mindcontrolled
The Praetorians
Neat Shit
Thank God for God
Journey from the Underworld
Backwards on a Bicycle
Paranoid (Black Sabbath cover)

Busy bees!

2009-07-06T23:02:00.013+02:00

No, I wasn't thinking of making a frisbee pun there. Honestly.

We've officially started work on our debut album! Though it'll take some time for us to finish it since Milan is on vacation this summer (and well, there's alot of songs queued up...heehee), we've used the past week for some studio rehearsing.

And we've actually got something to show for it! Drums, bass, guitar and vocals were all recorded independently, and then mixed & mastered by Milan himself with the rest of us breathing down his neck. And now, on our Myspace, there's a brand-spanking new recording of Off to Rome waiting for you guys to give it a listen. You can even download it if you want to, how cool is that?

Just see it as a holiday gift from us. We'll see you guys the 15th of August!

Fresh meat!

2009-06-06T00:19:00.005+02:00

Only just over a week after we'd posted about our dire need for a new permanent guitarist, we're proud to say that we've found him. His name's Milan Boom, and after auditioning with us yesterday, there is no doubt within our minds that he's the right man for the job. We're very much looking forward to see more of him and his creativity in the future, so welcome to the Trout Milan!

But because he'll be going on a holiday this summer, our temp-guitarist Wessel will still be playing with us at the Bomvrij gig. Rest assured that afterwards, we're going in for some serious fishin' with our new axeman!

That'll be all for now. All hail!

Backwards on a Guitar replacement!

2009-05-26T16:11:00.011+02:00

Still alive and kicking!

After 3 months of service, we unfortunately had to say goodbye to Jon. Even though we respected him greatly for the skilled musician that he is and he enjoyed the time he spent beside us on stage, he felt too insecure about his position within the Trout, and therefore chose to resign. We're sorry to see him go, and wish him the best of luck in the future.

However, up until August (when we'll be playing the Bomvrij Hospitaal) his position will be fulfilled by axeman Wessel Woldman. He'll only be joining us temporarily (so you guys won't miss out on our summer performance - ain't that nice!), so if you think you got what it takes to be the fourth fisherman on a permanent basis, don't hesitate to drop us a line! Just tell us something about you, your influences, and if possible, add a recording of your work.

We look forward to hearing from you...and we'll see ya this summer!

Frisbee Insanity

2009-03-22T09:28:00.027+01:00

Oh yes...yesterday evening we made our return to the public! This time, we visited Hengelo. On an evening packed with 5 bands we took 'the middle spot', to show our frantic frisbee funhouse to the world yet again. It was going to be Jon's first gig with the Trout, and despite Greg being a bit under the weather, we just went out there to spread the love (but without the germs, ofcourse). Rock 'n roll!

Right from the start it was clear that many people couldn't resist moving their feet to our music, as we worked ourselves through classics like 'Off to Rome' and 'Gorillawrath'. The second half of our set more and more people started dancing, leaving no space in front of the stage unoccupied.

We played two fresh new songs; the epic ballad 'Journey from the Underworld' and the instant crowd pleaser 'Backwards on a Bicycle' (both of the song's lyrics are now online for you to read, by the way). During Backwards on a Bicycle, we got some people on the stage to sing along with the chorus. Everyone in front of the stage pitched in as well, eventually resulting in us repaying them by finishing off our set with Black Sabbath's Paranoid. This proved to be the icing on the cake; the onlookers chanted along with every word, and when we played the final note, all applauded us for our work. The frisbees were thrown, the lights dimmed, and all was well.

All of you who came down to support us, we thank you! As far as we're concerned, it was a very succesful evening, and we hope to return to the East again, someday in the near future. Furthermore, we'd like to thank Harmjan Molkenboer for making it all happen, Daan Klieverik from Dead Beat for helping out Quint with a twin pedal and snaredrum, and Albert van den Broeke, for being our photographer for the night. Cheers guys!

Videos of the night can be found on the newly created Youtube channel, and more pictures at our Myspace.

Setlist:
Off To Rome
Gorillawrath
Sam
Thank God For God
Mindcontrolled
Journey from the Underworld
Backwards on a Bicycle
Encore:
Paranoid (Black Sabbath cover)

Frisbee Fanatics

2009-03-09T21:29:00.003+01:00

Look to the right of your screen, and behold!

Yes, the Trout goes public again! Saturday next week, we will be playing at a local feast of beer and wine in Hengelo (sided by three other bands), and this summer we finally return home; Bomvrij Hospitaal, the place where we used to go as visitors in the good ol' days (you know, when we were young, sweet and innocent), has picked up a pulse again, and we thought to mark the occasion properly.

So mark these dates in your agenda: the 21st of March, and the 15th of August. Check the menu to the right for details. We will be there, and we surely hope you will be there to support us!

Alea Iacta Est!

2009-02-28T12:19:00.008+01:00

So much for classical schooling, huhuhuhu...

We are finally able to welcome a new guitarist in our midst; his name is Jon Boontjes, and is as of now fulfilling the axeman position of The Drowning Trout. During the past rehearsals he's proven to be more than worthy of the job at hand, and we surely look forward to continue working with him in the coming future. Last night, we tied the knot, bringing the madness back to full foursome fury once more. Welcome to the Trout Jon!

And there's even more good news looming at the horizon, but until anything's completely confirmed, I'll leave you with a hint:

There's more frisbees coming your way this year. Oh yes.

Here's some pictures from last night (thanks go out to Dalphy Harteveld for helping us out):

Quint practices his famed 'Look of Contempt v2.0'

Here's Greg unable to grasp Jon's abnormal skills.

Some local fishermen got lost...

Jon in all his concentrated glory.

It's drowning to a close!

2009-01-31T15:16:00.010+01:00

Forgive us for that obvious, and lame pun. The temptation just was too high to resist...

The hunt for our new guitarist is drawing to a close. Oh yes. Last rehearsal, we had Jon over and we enjoyed working with him that much we invited him over again. So yesterday, he paid us another visit. And it was yet another productive evening.

Additions to our full and ready repertoire include various own material (songtitles include 'Plataea', 'Journey from the Underworld' and 'Backwards on a Bicycle'), and a cover from Megadeth...all in all, along with the songs from the demo, it all adds up to just over an hour of playing time. Oh yeah!

Some recording was done for future reference, and some pictures were shot as well. Thanks go out to Chris Harteveld, for helping us out with both.

Greg and Jon - did someone stand on Greg's toes or something?

Quint busy behind the kit. Psychedelic!

Greg and Jon once again.

And last but not least the great, mystical fire orb that is Arnaud. Approach with caution!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T21:32:00.003+01:00

Hello guys and girls!

We wish you all the best for 2009! And with the change to a new year, we thought to do this properly and change to a new name as well. You know, just to fit the occasion. After two years, we experienced that the name 'Imperator' gave people the wrong impressions of our music, potentially scaring them off. Now, ofcourse we like to think we are an ominous bunch of scary individuals you'd rather avoid while going through a dark alley (*insert deep, echoing maniacal laughter here*), but in reality we approach levels of cuddliness many teddybears can only dream of.

So a new name was required. After a week of assembling a list of over 20 names, it was the last suggestion that surpassed all of them; The Drowning Trout. We could tell you where we got it from (or that we're caring environmentalists, deeply concerned with global warming and the like), but we suppose Google can tell better stories.

Also, the search for a new guitarist is narrowing down. There's been some auditioning, and hopefully we'll be welcoming our new axeman in the coming month.

So there's our start for 2009 for ya...all the best, and we'll see ya soon! Ahrrrr!

Absent With Official Leave

2008-08-16T13:41:00.006+02:00

It is with great regret we have to inform you Imperatör, in mutual agreement, has parted ways with guitarist Jurre van der Mije. He helped raise and form the fundations upon which we tread today, fought alongside with us in the direst of times, but now the legion has grown increasingly more powerful, it became apparent his services were no longer needed. It is now time for new blood to fill his shoes, to further the progress of the warmachine.

Even though he's now retired as an imperial legionnaire, he remains part of the brotherhood established over the past years. We wish him the best of fortune on his future musical endeavours, and thank him wholeheartedly for his tactical services to the imperial armies as without him, we would not be here today. All hail.

To frisbee or not to frisbee...

2008-08-03T11:01:00.019+02:00

Is that even a question? Oh, nevermind.

Last night, a big party was thrown to celebrate the homecoming of Quint's sister after spending 8 months 'down under' in Australia and the birthday of Quint's mother. Live music had been arranged, and guess who were on the bill! A few people shy of a hundred attended the event, so we had our work cut out for us.

First, the father did a welcoming song on an acoustic bass sided by his band's guitarist. Then, he announced we were up next. Oh yes.
We set up our gear and chose to take it as it came; even the weathergods seemed to pay close attention since the sky *finally* cleared once we started our set!

Arnaud started the intro of Black Sabbath's Black Sabbath, Off To Rome was introduced, and then, we were off. The setlist didn't really differ much from the one we did in Rotterdam (only exception being The Praetorians, which we omitted), and everyone seemed to enjoy the show we put on. People started moving, heads were bobbing and afterwards, everyone (even an older lady well in her 60's/70's) expressed their liking of our music and our performance. Some even confessed they originally thought of us as makers of excruciating noise, only to admit afterwards that they actually liked what we'd played.

Here's a clip of the final chorus and the last verses of Thank God For God.

After Thank God For God, it was frisbee time; Quint's mother and sister were called up on stage to receive the only two Imperator frisbees of the night, much to the entertainment of everyone present. We then did Mindcontrolled, and played our mischevious lovechild Baking Poets for an encore. A very nice gig, and a brilliant night.

Setlist was as follows:

Off To Rome
Seventy-Two Virgins
Gorillawrath
Thank God For God
Mindcontrolled
Encore:
Baking Poets

Finally, some pictures of the night:

Beforehand; Jurre tuning his guitar, Quint, Greg and Arnaud on the background

Quint behind his kit. The main volume indicator is behind him.

During 'Thank God For God'. The posing is obligatory, ofcourse.

Greg proving that constipation can be hard to deal with...

But nothing was quite as bad as when those pesky Huns came storming through the hedges again. Jurre is obviously beyond himself in shock, and Arnaud is looking for something heavy to throw...

Free drinks, wax earplugs...and frisbees

2008-06-13T00:14:00.027+02:00

In case you hadn't already noticed - we've done it again.

Thursday the 12th of June 2008 marks the day upon which we released our fresh frisbee (frisbee?) fury into the wild once again. The event itself sadly wasn't open to the public, but for us it was the first occasion to get our new set out in the open, and really show what we're on about. A half hour set.

The evening started with soundchecking; while I warmed up in the lavatory (rock 'n roll, fuck yeah) Jurre, Arnaud en Quint each gave the soundtechnician a run for his money. When I'd returned, we played Baking Poets to give the technician a chance to even us all out. Then we hung by the bar, saw that every visitor was handed a set of earplugs for (and I quote the label on the packages) 'the noise' and then waited for the 11th hour.

And before we knew it, it was time to get busy. The people already gathered were still cautious in approaching us closely, but we chose to let our music do the talking. Even though the overall soundmix and the venue's acoustics left alot to be desired, we just played to the best of our ability and, apparently, succeeded in doing so; the overall impression we got from people afterwards is that they liked the music, and especially the show we put on. Needless to say ofcourse that if you weren't there, you missed something.

The setlist was as follows:

Off To Rome
Seventy-Two Virgins
Gorillawrath
Thank God For God
The Praetorians
Mindcontrolled
Encore:
Baking Poets

Here's some pictures of the night:

Soundchecking, by doing 'Baking Poets' and an excerpt from 'Thank God For God' (the latter of which was enthusiastically received by the onlookers)

The obligatory bar shot, awaiting the start of our timeslot. F.l.t.r. Arnaud, Greg, Jurre and Quint

Then a huge horde of Huns came storming into the venue. Note Quint's hindu-like calmness...what is he upto?

During our opener 'Off To Rome', with Jurre on guitar to the left, Greg in the middle and Arnaud on the right

Firing up 'The Praetorians'. Quint put on his aviator glasses especially for this song, though you can't see it in this picture.

More gladness to the madness!

2008-05-25T12:36:00.009+02:00

Yes, we now have a myspace! We've found the time to get some tracks from the Rehearsal Demo online, and now they're out there for you to listen whenever you see fit!

The address is www.myspace.com/thedrowningtrout

All tracks have been recorded with a single ceiling microphone so bear with us on the production quality, but other than that, we hope you enjoy the three tracks on there!

Palpable proof of productivity

2008-05-11T13:54:00.012+02:00

Yes, this is it; The Imperatör demo. It was recorded at a rehearsal the 12th of April 2008, contains eight songs (for the words to the melodies, check our lyrics page), clocks in at half an hour (not counting the superlicious ninth bonustrack) and is the first real physical example as to what we are capable of.
Ofcourse its production isn't all that perfect (as it's just a rehearsal's demo) and it hasn't got all of the songs in the repertoire, but nonetheless it's a good start. After all, it's sole purpose is to get some gigs onto the board. So if you want to book us, we can now give you a taste!

You blink for a second...

2008-04-03T23:30:00.005+02:00

And before you know it, it's April! Time flies when you're having fun, I guess...

There's news from the imperial barracks, oh yes! We've come to a point with our material that, if we play everything back to back, it clocks in at about 45 minutes, and there's still some new stuff in the pipeline as well. Lyrical themes vary from society to ancient warfare, from the bible (oh yes) to the downright insane. As the music itself is concerned; it's as wide a variety as the themes suggest; some uptempo, midtempo, some bluesy...we can't really explain it 'till you hear it, hehe.

It now basically comes down to refining the songs as we progress, also leaving room for new additions to our repertoire. Hell, we might even reach a full hour set in a few months!

No surprise then that for this year we're looking for gigs! Click here to drop us a line.

Oh wait, the mic's still on?

2007-12-29T17:12:00.001+01:00

Yes, yes...we're still here! Still alive and kicking ass, as usual.

Rehearsals have come and gone in the mean time, during which we've refined our material. Some bits have been axed, some have been added, whilst others have just been modified slightly. Furthermore, the flow of new material finding its way in is still undeterred.

You can count on us to continue our rampage into the next year, which leaves me to wish you all the best for 2008.

See ya on the flipside! Ahrrr.

Just when I was getting a nice tan!

2007-08-25T17:14:00.000+02:00

Vacation time is over. How sad.

We've been busy though, I must say. That busy in fact, that we've breached the 10 songs mark, excluding the Black Sabbath cover and Baking Poets. A few of them are still in the rough though, and need some polishing and further rehearsing before calling them anything near 'finished'. Style? Oh, there's alot of variety to begin with, but mainly it's hovering around a blues-/hardrock flavor.

The process of getting our stuff there is going much faster than it used to though, mainly because we now know what we can do, and where we want to go. We've been recording some stuff as well, which works perfectly for future reference.

Oh, and we're looking for gigs! Drop us a line with some info if you're interested.

Well, that was all. Ahrrr.

Is this thing on? HELLO?!

2007-06-09T17:36:00.001+02:00

Yes, I know. We were well due for another update. Please forgive us.

We're still rampaging onwards, and progressing in the mean time. Our fixed repertoire has grown, and much new material is finding its way in...all of which will be revealed once we've found another opportunity to get the war machine on stage again.

Lastly I will leave you with a little puzzle. Here's two pictures. Can you spot the differences?

I bet you can't.

Ahrrr...

A pack of tropical-fruit bubbalicious

2007-02-23T18:14:00.000+01:00

Some news then from the Imperatör-barracks!

First of all, we finally have a demo. Remember that jammingsession we had half a year ago? As you might or might not know, it was recorded. And recently we were *finally* able to lay our hands on the physical evidence. Oh yes. It will now be used to get some new gigs on the board, so beware!

Then we've pretty much engaged in a setlist-ravaging frenzy. It previously had 4 songs, and we've been busy lately with getting some new material on there. Two fresh songs have found their way onto the battlefield already, and more are sure to follow. What they're about or how they sound remains a secret though, because we love secrets. You know, they are very rich in vitamins. And other...stuff.

So all-in-all, watch this space. Ahrrr.

Do you want fries with that?

2007-01-21T14:09:00.000+01:00

A new year, oh goodie! A happy 2007 to you, too.

At yesterday's rehearsal, not only did we expand and renew our own setlist, we actually found the time to make some new pictures! You know, we thought you folks could be in the need some fresh ones. Along with some tissues.

Here's Jurre, restringing one of his E-strings. The old one finally gave up after years of loyal service.

Here's Animal hiding somewhere.

Where does Sesq stop and his bass begin? You send in the right answer, and you get a cookie.

That's all for now, folks. Yes, I'm sorry. Honestly. Ahrrr.

Lock up your daughters!

2006-12-24T13:51:00.000+01:00

Despite the aforementioned news, the army of Imperatör shall retain its current size. Somewhere along the line, a herald switched sides and took it upon himself to spawn the illusive message of extrapolation.

The defected messenger doused the imperial administration in betrayal and disbelief. But ofcourse, the culprit's been hunted down and currently awaits his execution deep within the darkest dungeons of the empire.

But all in all, a happy holidays and a rocking 2007!

Fresh meat! I could make so many improvements!

2006-11-27T19:00:00.000+01:00

My children.

I bear good news. The army of Imperatör is most likely to engage the process of extrapolation by adding another member. That's right, we'll probably be a five-man band in the near future.

Hell yeah. And I'm not even kidding. The fifth member-to-be (whose name shall not yet be disclosed by the Imperial administration) will reinforce Jurre's steady riffs by providing the occasional solo, effectively becoming our first guitarist.

Our own Animal introduced him first to myself, Sesq, and a jamming session took place. The sound was great, and both Animal and myself were impressed by his skills. The idea arose of him joining a rehearsal with the full band, and watching how it would work out. Great was our enthusiasm when, while playing Paranoid, the young adept seamlessly began playing the original guitar solo.

So there you have it. One solo guitarist coming up.

I'll leave you all to overcome this great shock. The dilemma of who of us to worship will get more difficult!

Cheerio

Hello you parmezan cheese lovers!

2006-09-29T18:31:00.000+02:00

Last saturday we had ourselves a jammingsession with our brothers in arms from Chrenbear and the Cellarzombies. All three bands took turns to play, and with the addition of beer, food and beer, hilarity was ensured. The battleground was the same as the one we previously annihilated with our very first performance, a little short of a year ago.

We replayed our set from our Tilburg gig and later on, a rough, new song was played as well (we'll remain mysterious about it until it's premiered in public, though). There were intermezzo's with the crowd, soon followed by lots of intoxicated banter and ghosts appearing in toiletwindows. If you're lucky, you might actually get to see some pictures of that particular night, so watch this space.

We're planning to do this on a regular basis, with the sole purpose of getting feedback so we can enhance our material. Sadly though, these events remain are restricted to the public, so if you re-heeeally want to see us live you'll just have to be patient. But don't worry, the event itself was recorded, so if we're lucky we've got a demo. And a demo means new gigs, hehe.

See ya on the flipside! Ahrrr.

A change of nomenclature

2006-08-13T15:10:00.000+02:00

Fellow rockers.
Fellow bloggers.
Satan.

I bring you news. After long consideration it was decreed that Emperör should have a new name, seeing as another band is already named as such, stealing our idea before we even come up with it. Deviants!

After some thought it was unanimously decided. Emperör will hereby be known as Imperatör.

Work is to be had to change the logo, several lyrics and ofcourse the webpage fittingly to the new name. For now, I greet you.

Cheerio

Fun With Frisbees

2006-08-06T01:43:00.003+02:00

Yesterday brought Emperör's debut to the public eye.

We all arrived on time for the soundcheck at 4pm, but upon arrival, news had it that the soundtechnician would arrive an hour later. We loaded things out, waited till the techie came around and then took a little revenge by going out for a bite to eat >:) But he had another trick up his sleeve though - we were asked if we'd brought any recording equipment. We didn't, as we thought this was all not to be a problem. But there was no recording equipment available in the Cul de Sac, either. No recording. No demo. Too bad.

Through (to them unknown) endorsement by Subway we managed to get hold of a few frisbees, and the idea arose to sign them, put the bandname and the date on them, to later 'hand' them out to the audience. We then soundchecked, first all individually and then altogether, and it all sounded tremendously well, with everyone sounding crystal.

Just around 9pm, as the café was getting packed, the night began, with a strangely poetic introduction by the night's host. After him, the army of Emperör was to arise.

We started off with our 30 second punkrockattack deviously christened 'Baking Poets', and right after, giving the audience no sufficient time to respond, the drumintro of 'Off To Rome' was set in and Hannibal's army of elephants (see the freshly new added lyricspage for that) came thundering down Tilburg. Afterwards there was a brief chat to the applauding onlookers, after which we nailed down the suicidal terror of 'Seventy-Two Virgins'. We eventually ended with our cover 'Paranoid' from Black Sabbath. The frisbees were then thrown into the amazed crowd and if you've managed to get one of them, make sure you hold on to it.

Afterwards we merely got positive reactions from members of the crowd, and in retrospect, many thought we were the highlight of the evening, being a band airing selfconfidence and enjoyment on stage. Seeing as this was our public debut, that's definitely good news. So if you weren't there, you missed something.

Here's an impression of the night. Find the frisbees, and you get a cookie.

Beforehand, at the bar. F.l.t.r. Jurre, Greg, a roadie, Sesq, Animal's girlfriend and Animal.

During Off To Rome; Greg with the mic, Jurre on guitar and behind Greg a small glimpse of Sesq thumping down on his bassguitar

Jurre with his guitar, Animal just emerging from the kit and an even bigger glimpse of Sesq on bass

A full shot of Animal behind the kit.

Shot from the side, with Greg, Sesq and Jurre.

That was it - hopefully further material will unveil itself in the coming weeks. Until then, rock 'n roll! Ahrrr...

How's it hanging?

2006-06-25T14:08:00.000+02:00

Short, shriveled and always to the right, I presume?

Alot's come around the past few weeks - two weeks ago we got temporarily evicted from one of our rehearsallocations because for the first time in 1 year a local complained about the noise. Just because of that, the president of the orchestra the premises belong to has decided that for now, we won't be rehearsing in there.

It couldn't have happened at a worse time really, with the 5 of August coming up. But shit happens, and it's most likely possible to rehearse elsewhere, so all should be fine.

Speaking of the 5th of August - the night in question starts at 8pm and lasts till midnight. We'll be able to deliver several sets that night, which is even more than we'd hoped for. We're looking into the possibility to record our demo that night as well, which will come in handy for further gigs. So get your ass to Tilburg! Ahrrr!

Lean Mean Rocking Machine

2006-05-28T20:30:00.000+02:00

Time for a little update...

We've been rehearsing a bit more often now, and yesterday's rehearsal, besides more promising new material, brought us a few photo's. Here's two of'em.

F.l.t.r. Sesq on bass, Greg with the mic and Jurre on guitar

Animal looking on from behind the kit.

Battlestations!

2006-04-01T23:33:00.000+02:00

Heads up, fellow soldiers. After countless attempts by politicians to reassess the ever-destabilizing situation, our commanders took matters into their own hands and had themselves a killingfrenzy in the parliament to proceed with immediate troopdeployment.

The army of Emperör will give away a small performance in Cul de Sac, a bar located in the city of Tilburg, Saturday the 5th of August. It follows the celebration of the 5th anniversary of the comicwebsite Probeersel.com and there will be several artists on stage that night. Details will follow. This is not a drill. Or a prank, for that matter. Ahrrrrr.

Long time, no smell

2006-03-02T22:50:00.000+01:00

Hullo, Sesq here.

You'll be happy to know Emperör had another rehearsal last saturday, yes. As I myself was not able to join the fellers at the rehearsal before that, I was in for some surprises.

Surprises there were! Many changes and improvements were made to songs which were once so familiar to me. Luckily I was able to overcome this surprise quite instantly.

And so Emperör killed more braincells. Plenty more where they came from.

All in all, we were all quite happy about what was going on. Still more songs take shape, are filed down, sharpened up, elongated, roughened up, softened down and then roughened up again!

We need only wait for reinforcements (manifested as more amps) should we want to rehearse more frequently. Should the time come (and, oh yes, it will!) the armies of Emperör will be nigh on unstoppable.

For now, I will leave you waiting for more of our divine words.

Cheerio

Pfew, I'm back

2006-02-05T17:03:00.000+01:00

Well well that was another maximum power day for the three of us, wasn't it Greg ?
Grr grumble humble........ hmm......
Allright so what's new, well two more songs one called Lambs to the Slaughter and the other...... hmm damn I can't recall, hmm sorry

As a drummer you should be sweating all the time but today I had the feeling that my toes froze off. Hmm very weird, weird indeed.
Maybe I'll have to buy a double bass-drum pedal, however money isn't kind to me the last few months and so for now there won't be a double pedal around.

Sesq has been away a bit too long butt well he can't help it so we won't get mad or.. eat him.
Furthermore I think the band is making progress we allready have about 8 songs so we're heading in the right direction.

This was it from me, a bit short off butt, I am hungry, so eating is what I'm going to do and after that, a beer is always welcome.............. hoho..

I

Bring on ze future!

2006-01-15T21:48:00.000+01:00

Those pesky Germans have been fooling around with my articles again.

Well, 2006 has dawned on us and already we've been by the shed (okay, apart from Sesq, who was busy fighting dragons and ogres for his morning workout) to do some necessary work. Jurre had much new material to get going with, which was rehearsed, shaped and smoothened out.
We're now entering the stage of molding so that all proportions are satisfied our needs. This includes buttoning down the intro/outro's, instrumental parts and doing some adjustments on the lyrics. 5 songs are now in the progress of being completed, 1 is already done and judging by Jurre's hunger for new material there's much more coming up.

Plans on recording some of our work are getting more concrete by the day...the overall style is growing into rock 'n roll further and further, though word has it that a few rougher edges will be added in the near future. You'll just have to wait and see.

You'll hear from us again, you can count on that. Ahrrr.

Season's Greetings!

2005-12-31T17:02:00.000+01:00

No, we're not late. We're just...delayed. Yeah, delayed. That's it.

2005 saw the dawn of the imperial armies upon the lands of rock 'n roll. The legion was formed and as of yet, we're still in bootcamp getting our asses ready. Seven times we had to exercise our battletactics and we even needed to repel the troops of an old crusty veteran once. As we remain at our battlestations we glance over the horizon and we won't dare to guess what lies ahead. We're stoked and craving for some fresh meat. Others may fear their glooming future, hidden among a treacherous mist, but for us, the unknown just means opportunity. Gladness will furfill us when more rebels will gallop over the hills, but if that's not the case, we'll just drink some beer and wait some more.

Have yourself a nice 2006. And don't do any things we wouldn't do. Ahrrr.

I lost count. Like, six? Ish?

2005-11-26T20:54:00.000+01:00

Mweh, must be six.

As the weathergods were having their period (it took a few thousand years for them to reach puberty), Sesq was the only absent bandmember at today's rehearsal. He was snowed in in the far East and had to kill some of his neighbours to survive the ever present danger of frostbite. Sadly, one of those neighbours was the sorcerer of his only source of transport and thus, Sesq found himself stuck in the far East, unable to reach the badlands in the West until thaw would set in.

Sadly, the messengers between the East and West apparently found themselves unable to beat their alcoholism and therefor there was some misunderstanding between the North-West and the South-West devisions - the North-west devision apparently was under the understanding that today's preparation for war was to be initiated after sundown, whilst it was planned after sunup. Surely, those drunk messengers whose sole interest apparently lays at the next bottle of gin other than to transfer a message correctly won't see the light of day, tomorrow. Pity for them.

The rehearsal then. The songs Baking Poets, Off To Rome and Seventyone Virgins were done, each a few times to add the ideas we'd been breeding on. Off To Rome is now twice as long and variates its pace as it goes along, whilst it used to be more one sided previously. Seventyone Virgins was enlengthened as well, though a bit more subtile than the song previously mentioned.
The Black Sabbath cover Paranoid was practiced a few times for good measure and during jamming, the foundation for some depressing ballad thingy-sorta-thing was laid. All in all, although we were a bit short of time, it's been quite a productive day yet again.

See ya next time around. Ahrrr.

The Thirst Quenching of Rage

2005-10-22T19:11:00.000+02:00

How about that for a creative title.

Today we had our first rehearsal in around 2 months and right from the get-go it was obvious pretty much no-one hadn't done anything during the absence of any playing time. Upon entrance of the shack it was obvious that Animal had been (and is still) working on his doublebass technique, as a second bassdrum was present. Jurrë had done alot of work on completing melodies for various songs, Sesq had written a fair amount of tunes as well and Greg hadn't stood still either when it came to songwriting.

A few new songs were added to the playable repetoire. During jamming, various ideas were singled out and put into already-composed songs. Various songs gained a rougher, more thrashy edge and foundations for new songs were laid as well. As a whole, it was a rather productive day today.

Hopefully our next rehearsal will be as soon as possible. See ya then. Ahrrr.

Animal has arrived

2005-09-27T20:58:00.000+02:00

Hello fellow rockers, am the the drummer of this bunch of heretics.
Without me they would have turned on each other before even the 1e stage, hahaha. Well, I have to say something, I think, so lets talk about my the weekend my brothers and I had, two weeks ago.
It all started well on friday, drinking beer, watching films, talking ,talking and talking. Next day we all crawled downstairs and went for a happy summerday walk, hunting for food. However there weren't any wild animals so we just took it easy and went to the supermarket, even better it started to rain so it was good morning to all of us.
The sun or what was left of it sunk in the clouds, and the time to drink beer and stuff was there again! First we had to eat but sesq just didn't know how his oven worked, later with burning hands and molted eyes the damned thing went on. Watching 2 horrors with chainsawers and zombies went good and later a dvd of metallica and then motorhead finished things of all good and gloriously. The next morning we were all half-dead, looking like the zombies we saw the night before and with some handshakes and headbutts we all went off home.

So, that was me for tonight, thanks for reading,thanks to greg for placing me in his commandcentre, you will hear from me later.Adios

The First Sighting On Stage

2005-09-10T23:07:00.000+02:00

Tonight Emperör debuted on stage, at the birthdayparty of a now-50 year old.

Greg had gone to a metalfestival prior to the event, but still managed to save his voice. He met up with Sesq and Animal and Animal's place and later they all went to the venue, where Jurrë was already awaiting their arrival.

After 10 minutes of socializing, the 4 of us went to the stage and locked and loaded our weaponry. When everything was eventually at the ready, Emperör began its first battle.

The overall mentality of us prior to the event was to take it mellow, no setlist and just make it up as we went along. And so we did. We eventually played 6 songs, 2 from our own material (the punkpersiflage 'Baking Poets' and the bluesintermezzo 'Off To Rome') and 4 covers that were mainly improvized (War Is My Sheppard from Exodus, Whiplash from Metallica, Paranoid from Black Sabbath and Milk from SOD)

Despite a few hick-ups here and there, all normal for a band this young, it has been truly stunning. Jurrë was steaming along nicely with his new amps, Sesq laid down the tracks flawlessly, Animal did his artilleryracket on the drums with a nice drumsolo at the end of it and Greg did some long, highpitched screams when he had the chance. Main highlights of our performance were mainly our damn-near-perfect cover of Paranoid and that Greg, when he had to come up with a song to sing under a basic midtempo rhythm, came up with Milk from SOD. And there's lots more, ofcourse.

Here's an impression of the night.

On stage - f.l.t.r. Sesq on bass, Greg behind the mic, Animal on drums and Jurrë on guitar.

Hanging back in the seats with a drink. F.l.t.r. Jurrë, Animal (behind Sesq) and Greg

All the best and see you soon. Ahrrr.

Hihaha!

2005-08-27T13:52:00.000+02:00

We had another get-together last night, to determine the direction Emperör will be heading. Out came the conclusion we're probably going to play one specific style, with some sidesteps to other styles every now and then.

Furthermore it was deemed compulsory that we practice more times per week; we've been doing weekly rehearsals the past two months, but in order to get the ball rolling at the speed we want it to, we need to kick the ball a bit harder. Thing is though that the four of us are all on a tight agenda, making multiple rehearsals in a week difficult to realise. But we'll see how it'll work out.

Jurrë and Sesq are off on a crusade to the Northern Regions the coming week, so if you are heading North as well, make sure you bring your kneepads. Mhahahaha.

Catcha later. Ahrrr.

Arr Arr, I'm Back!!!

2005-08-21T17:52:00.000+02:00

Damn Right I Am Back!!!

I got this test to show if I'm ready for Emperör, I had to survive for three Fucking weeks in SPAIN. I mean Spain, it's hotter than hell and everywere is Sand, Sand and Sand. The Sand even came in spots I didn't know, and I didn't want to know.

Then you have these Spanish chicks, They're hot and by hot I mean really sweet. They want to have sex with you all the time! I was one time at the beach and a group of lesbiane, horny, spanish chicks came to me and asked: "We need a handsome dude to give us the pleasure we can't get from eachother" So I replyed: "I'm listening to Motörhead now, Fuck off" Now the evil bitches couldn't take me to their Secret Sexcave for Talented Guitarplayers. Inside, I would have been trapped for the rest of my life and getting loads of sex. Not able to play with Emperör (Story doesn't count for bass-players, sorry. Wait I don't care!) - true story

And now I'm back in Holland! Ready to Rock!!!

Take 4! Get it together!

2005-08-20T13:26:00.000+02:00

Well, this thursday we had our first rehearsal in full line-up. Some songs went perfectly, others didn't. But we're off to a good start. Up until this point it's not that sure what kind of style of a band we'll be; We've written over 40 songs now and there's blues, rock, punk, thrashmetal...so who knows. One thing you can be sure of is that there'll be alot of variety going on.

Jurrë's guitar was apparently that far exhilirated that one string couldn't handle it and snapped, leaving the Spaniard with 5 strings and a gap inbetween. But that didn't keep him for going on with the show, harharhar!

From the get-go it could be seen Sesq and Jurrë had a good feel for eachothers instruments, Greg kept on amazing himself on the vocals and Animal was as adrenalinepumped as ever. To top it off there was some headbanging on Dimmu Borgir and some further conversation going on outside in the fresh air.

Pictures will be in as soon as possible. Ahrrr.

Take 3

2005-08-04T19:19:00.000+02:00

Another rehearsal, another 666,000,000,000 dead brain cells.

The room used last week was in for another quaking today, as 3 noise-hungry esquires came walking in.

These men were Greg, Animal and Sesq. Three quarters of Emperör.

Yet again this room had to be redecorated to our liking, seeing the good ladies can't seem to get enough of playing bingo.

Eat your heart out, Jan des Bouvrie!

Again a lot of jamming took place, but also the dotting of several lower case of j's.

As we were jamming Quint's inner daemon showed itself once more. We were (and are still) glad the camera was running at the very moment. Now we finally have solid proof for his trial.

Shot of Quint's Unveiling

We're still waiting for Jurrë to rejoin us from his holidays. Next week our full combined power shall be unleashed...
Beware

Repeat! Repeat!

2005-07-27T19:41:00.000+02:00

The second rehearsal has taken place this afternoon. When we entered the premises (we aren't allowed to go into the shed we used earlier until our guitarist has returned) we found alot of tables...apparently the room was to be used for a Bingo-event later on the day. So we redecorated the place and ended up with this:

At the top Sesq's spot for the bass, in the middle the mic, the lower left the drums.

Our drummer swapped identities and has taken on the identity of Animal. Why? He quite literally became one behind his kit this afternoon, thumping down rhythms whilst tearing up his drums. The three songs that were rehearsed a week ago were now rehearsed as well, with some various punk and blues intermezzo's dotted around.

Here's a shot of us doing the business...we recorded movies to tell which parts are to be changed or left in.

Sesq to the left, myself in the middle, Animal to the right.

Some other news comes from Hispaniolia were currently our guitarist resides; he's completed the guitarparts for one song and is busy with another.

Personally I can't wait to get going again. Ahrrr.

Lookie lookie!

2005-07-22T18:29:00.000+02:00

Emperör's scientists have been busy. The result:

An acceptable logo

Yeah

2005-07-21T13:13:00.000+02:00

What he said.

-Arnäud

Ooooh dear.

2005-07-21T12:44:00.000+02:00

We had our first rehearsal last night. During 6.5 hours (we had to stop eventually - the neighbours were not too happy with us playing at 2 am. Heathens!) the 3 songs of which the basslines had already been perfected were played to give the drummer an idea of what he can come up with. The three of Emperör present (Sesq, Quint and myself - Jurre is on holiday) evolved a particular liking for one song that it was played for over 6 to 7 times, each time smoother and with more finesse than the last. Quint will now unleash his share of creativity on the songs and Jurre recieved the songs that still need music over the internet so he won't have to bore himself to death completely. We're all curious about what they're going to come up with.

Time'll tell. Ahrrr.

Whoooo!

2005-07-18T13:32:00.000+02:00

The past 7 days were quiet as a whole, but still productive. The Great Bassline of Keggobir was perfected on the first three songs and The Recalcitrant Chantings of Pientobir are taking shape as the songs are progressing. Unfortunately, as one of The Knights of The Round Beeropener returned from the Crusades, he spawned a message to one of the Knights at home that his presence was needed in The Remote Lands of Wet Yeast and Baked Bread. Still, the Knights proceed in their struggle of getting as much material done as they can manage.

We'll keep you informed. Ahrrr.

The Progress of... Some More Days

2005-07-11T14:02:00.000+02:00

The basslines of 2 songs are by now perfected.
More songs will follow soon.
Cheers
Arnäud

Rawrrr!

2005-07-08T23:02:00.000+02:00

The Great Bassline of Keggobir was finished on the first song today. The Composed Melody of Wanakulbir returned beheaded to it's black lair, shortened by several lengths. Now it's waiting for The Other Two Knights of the Round Beeropener (who either need to return from the Quest for the Holy Barstool or get patched up from battle) to get towards the Lair and get their All Seeing Eye onto The Newly Composed Melody of Wanakulbir.

Needless to say, The Knights of the Round Beeropener keep writing new texts that either will make any holy book feel ashamed or take a dump in its pants to get two warm feelings at once.

Good night. Ahrrr.

Cheese louise!

2005-07-06T16:48:00.000+02:00

Some more days have passed and yet again, The Might of the Telepathical Forces was proved during a frenzy on composing melodies for The Chantings in the Nude. Hell froze over, which provided the unique opportunity for the devil to get nice cold beer for a change instead of enduring The Torture of the Warm Alcoholic Beverages. Whether the new melodies are also up to the liking of the rest of The Knights of The Round Beeropener remains to be seen, but the courage of emerging from the day among The Troops of Wanakulbir is strong as ever.

Good day. Ahrr.

The Progress of 4 Days (the 3rd day was our sabbath)

2005-07-04T13:30:00.001+02:00

Melodies have been composed, up to a total of 10 numbers. Not bad eh?
Cheers all,
Arnaüd

Dum-dumDAdummmmmmmm!

2005-07-03T11:34:00.000+02:00

The four of us had another meeting thingy last night. Ofcourse, The Mighty Power of the Pen and Paper was once again revealed, leaving people maimed and dismembered on our path to our secret Conclave.

Ooooh is that the voice of my writing feeding into the distance?

Yes it is!

Talk to you's later. Ahrrr.

The Progress of 2 Days

2005-07-02T18:39:00.000+02:00

More lyrics have been written, the music on MTI is near well finished, which is good.
Cheers all.
Arnäud

Puzzaw!

2005-07-02T01:38:00.000+02:00

Emperör had its first altogether meeting as a band last night. Apart from drinking beer (cola!), having laughs and listening to good music that scared other people away, the lyrics for various songs were discussed and plans for repetitions were made. Melodies for four songs are now settled more or less. Ahrrr.

The Progress of 1 Day

2005-06-30T23:18:00.000+02:00

As lyrics are being written and music's being composed, one can but guess at the answer of the Secret Question Which Will Remain. The question is so secret I don't even know it. Yes I was bored when I wrote this. Leave me the fuck alone. Go read some other post you fuckers.

Also I Found Out How This... er... Thingy Works

2005-06-30T21:45:00.000+02:00

Yep, we're on our way now. To become the most powerfull band in the Universe... First Hellevoetsluis...

Is it safe?

2005-06-30T14:08:00.000+02:00

As someone not familiar with posting digital messages in any sense, I find myself obliged to ask WHAT DOES THIS BUTTON D-

Hello world!

2005-06-30T14:01:00.000+02:00

We got a blog up! Great Scott!

Now it´s just hoping I don´t jack this up. Ahrrr.

Pictures & Videos

2004-07-16T00:23:00.025+02:00

2011
31st of March - The Leiden Gig (+videos!)

2010
18th of June - The Gouda Gig (videos only)
5th of February - The Helmond Gig

2009
22nd of December - The cover of the debutalbum
8th of October - The Baroeg Gig
19th of August - Band
15th of August - The Bomvrij Gig
6th of July - Studio rehearsals
21st of March - The Hengelo Gig (+videos!)
27th of February - Rehearsal
30th of January - Rehearsal

2008
2nd of August - The Dalphy Back Up Gig (+ video!)
12th of June - The Rotterdam Gig

2007
20th of January - Rehearsal

2006
5th of August - The Tilburg Gig
27th of May - Rehearsal

2005
16th of October - First Gig
4th of August - Rehearsal
27th of July - Rehearsal

Members

2004-07-14T00:06:00.077+02:00

Name: Arnaud Uwland
Position: Bass & backing vocals
Born: 18th of March 1988
Resides: Enschede, The Netherlands
First album I bought: Inferno, Motörhead
Equipment: Yamaha BB 615 Bass, Behringer BX3000T Amp with BA210 Cab, Exar BD-04 Bass Distortion, Dunlop GCB95 Wah
Influences: Cliff Burton (ex-Metallica)

Favorite bands: Motörhead, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, Metallica, AC/DC, Meshuggah, Megadeth, Slayer, Guns 'n' Roses, CCR, Tool

Name: Greg Cathalina
Position: Lead vocals
Born: 8th of May 1986 (Old fart!)
Resides: Rotterdam, The Netherlands
First album I bought: Mutter, Rammstein
Equipment: AKG WMS40 PRO Wireless Mic / Shure PG58 Cable Mic, pen 'n paper and my voice
Influences: Joey Belladonna (Anthrax), Gavin Hayes (Dredg), Devin Townsend
Favorite bands: Anthrax, Behemoth, Death Angel, Dredg, Gojira, Hypocrisy, Mercenary, REM, Riverside, Satyricon, Sepultura, Skindred, Skunk Anansie, Strapping Young Lad, The Arcane Order, Vader

Name: Quint Harteveld
Position: Drums
Born: 18th of March 1989
Resides: Rotterdam, The Netherlands
First album I bought: Pump Up The Valuum, NOFX
Equipment: Yamaha toms, tenor, bass and snare drum, Zildijan crashes & hi-hat
Influences: Lars Ulrich (Metallica), Mike Portnoy (ex-Dream Theater)
Favorite bands: System of a Down, Metallica, Black Sabbath, NOFX, Green Jelly, Dream Theater, Death Angel, Tool, Soulfly, DevilDriver, Lamb of God

Name: Milan Boom
Position: Guitar
Born: 8th of July 1992 (Young fart!)
Resides: Hellevoetsluis, The Netherlands
First album I bought: In Absentia, Porcupine Tree
Equipment: Epiphone sc-450 or Epiphone EM-1b Roland cube 30 amp w/ Ibanez WD-7 Wah, Boss DO-2 Dual Overdrive, Digitech Digidelay
Influences: Steve Vai, Paul Gilbert
Favorite bands: Gojira, Meshuggah, Gorod, Porcupine Tree, Amon Amarth, Buckethead, Ronnie James Dio, Killswitch Engage, Metallica, Steve Vai, Symphony X, In Flames, AC/DC, Slayer, System of a Down

Lyrics

2004-07-06T02:24:00.056+02:00

These are the songs we've played live thus far, listed in alphabetical order.

List:

1. Backwards on a Bicycle
2. Baking Poets
3. Gorillawrath
4. Journey from the Underworld
5. Mindcontrolled
6. Need Shit
7. Off To Rome
8. The Praetorians
9. Sam
10. Seventy-Two Virgins
11. Thank God For God
12. Waiting

============================================

Baking Poets

I want to bake some poets
For my final meal tonight
Most of them do not know it
And will clearly be surprised

[CHORUS]
Seasoning, salt
BAKING POETS!
Cooking, waltz!
BAKING POETS!
[repeat chorus]

Sorry folks I'm not joking
They won't live to see the day
All you'll hear is some choking
And the sizzling of their play

[CHORUS 2x]

I like mine nice and crisp!

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============================================

Off To Rome

Punic war spawned evil into Hamilcar's eyes
The Romans were the prey for spilling blood & spreading lies
He gave his son tusked beasts and sent him off to Rome
Surprise them through the Alps, Rome'll die, Revenge shall roam

The beasts made too much noise so the Romans could prepare
Han was no surprise no more, still into battle he dared
He won battles and all went well, but Rome was too far away
Returned to Africa a beaten man, regretted the men he didn't save

Then Hannibal met Scipio
To gain the prospect of peace
But Hannibal refused it all
He'd never succumb to his knees
Then the Romans sought vengeance and sailed to Carthagian shores
There Scipio reigned it all like he never did before

Hannibal and his elephants
The greatest army you've ever known
Roman reign makes a final stand
As they're marching off to rome

The beasts Han loved went up above 'cos Scipio knew what to do
Men he confided just stepped aside so the beasts could walk through
The Italians asked Hannibal to surrender or they'd hunt his head
But Hannibal thought 'Fuck it all' and chose to be exiled instead

Pride was something too dear to him to hand over to his eternal foe
He held his chin and banners up high and never took that final bow
His legacy will still remain for many years still to come
To honour him just remember: it won't be over till it's done

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============================================

Seventy-Two Virgins

Up above in Heaven a feast is going on
Women by the millions, nothing can go wrong
Celibacy ain't a virtue, up there it's just a sin
So get yourself some dynamite and strap yourself in

To me it just sounds crazy, it doesn't seem too nice
But I guess it's just a nuisance to get to paradise
The prospect of those women, it sure sounds good to me
I'll get myself some poontang and wreak my family

[CHORUS]
Seventy-two virgins, await me when I die
Seventy-two virgins, forever they'll be mine

But what about menstruation, what about the blood
Will they get too whiney if they reach their periods
Will they get more powerful and claim my destiny
It just leaves me worried here; there's more than seventy

[CHORUS]

I can't foresee the truth as I'm blinded by lies
My family was murdered and left without goodbyes
I may rest all eternity in pieces without head
But I'll be feeling happy now my enemies are dead

Now I spend all day with these women by my side
They just whine and bitch so something can't be right
Can I get a refund, another chance maybe?
Because all these women are fucking killing me

[CHORUS]

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============================================

Gorillawrath

Just in case you hated
someone more than you can take
His life to be raided
and sacrificed for mankind's sake
Just in case you wanted
that guy vanished without trace
His soul to be haunted
and banished to a hellish place

Is it a face that you detest
They'll put his eyelids to the test
Is it a smell that you resent
Fear no more, 'cos we present

[CHORUS]
Two guys with a briefcase
Doorhandles will mark his fate
Two guys with a briefcase
There's no hope, he'll be too late
Two guys with a briefcase
The doorbell will mark his doom
Two guys with a briefcase
And a monster in his room

When the case is opened their beast will be unleashed
The gorilla's hungry, he's in for a feast
When the beast is loose the two men will run away
'Cos the ones that didn't flee are still missing today

So if you are in peril and can't live without his death
Two men will then assist you and take his final breath
Many will dare to wonder what it is that binds the team
It's how they make a living by making people scream

[CHORUS]

You might think that we're joking, that we're having a laugh
But I bet you won't be laughing, when those two will cross your path
Just never disappoint us and we always got your back
But if you turn against us the gorilla will attack

[CHORUS]

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth
The earth a void, undebated, darkness on deep's obverse
The Spirit of God moved upon the waters' face.
The lights he wombed, freed from the darkened race

He then went on the next few days, made up a heaven's place
Grew some crops, and some fruit, And he saw that it was good
God then thought what he could make, so came man, a crude mistake
He found a mirror, told his breed, Let's make some guys to worship me!

First came the man, in Eden he was placed
Adam was his name, with Eden he was graced
God grew a garden with rivers and trees
To give in to Adam's needs
But God told Adam, to follow his lead
From every tree he could freely eat
But the tree of knowledge he forbade
its fruit would start his final day

[CHORUS]
Thank God, for God, His rules we shall abide
Thank God, for God, and His all seeing eye
Thank God, for God, the creator to whom we pray
Thank God, for God, the almighty that we made

God then thought, once again: Why should he be a lonely man?
It's not right he wanders and just dwells, I'll get to work and make some help
So when Adam was fast asleep, God snuck over, a silent creep
From Adam's chest, a rib He stole, And spawned Eve from the bone

[CHORUS]

Among the beasts a serpent came
Adam's needs shan't be the same
About the tree the serpent heard
And seduced both, fruit they deserved
They took a bite, short and sweet
A brief delight, a thrill to eat
Eyes were opened, they both could see
Bare they were, ashamed to be

Then God appeared, he shed a sigh
disappointed he asked them why
Adam blamed Eve, she gave him fruit
he didn't know what else to do
But God was stern, and punished both
they hadn't done as they were told
No more fruit for Adam's mouth
and Eve would scream with every sprout

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============================================

Sam

There is a building not too far from here
inside creatures try to persevere
One among them has embraced his fate
and found his heaven in a mellow state
All his neighbors panic in despair
but the more they screamed the less he cared
He knows 'bout the pity people feel
but is convinced he's got the better deal

His name is Sam and he's from down South
he'll eat all things that come near his mouth
Throw him a cracker, give him shampoo
(or hand him bananas, he likes those too!)

Send him some morphine, send him some love
He won't be needing it, but that's too tough
The plot's not lost, he knows his plan
And I'm sure someday, you'll understand!

He's lying down, his eyes half closed
And soon enough comes a new dose
He looks outside, dreams away
This simian is here to stay

I bet you wonder why he's this cool
With death around him, what could he do
His cage a palace, his food a drug
His only answer, a content shrug

[CHORUS]
Sam, Sam, he's the man!
He's too cool to have any friends
Sam, Sam, the monkey wrench
He won't like you, please understand

It's a shame for his companions
Their world's worse in every way
They scream it out, out of rage
As they suffer within a cage

But Sam don't care, he likes his home
His king of fear is overthrown
No way he'll listen, no way he'll scream
No way you'll wake him from his dream

[CHORUS]

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============================================

The Praetorians

They originate as servants for warlords long ago
The highest skill in battle, they didn't fear a foe
The Roman leader noticed, he could use a hand
He wanted some protection, he was a frightened man

To protect the Caesar, to obey his will
To slay all his enemies and go in for the kill
Beside his throne of power his guardians reside
Useless all his power, worthless all his might

[CHORUS]
Intrigue and conspiracies, your power is out of sight
Murder and disloyalty, the Praetorians command your might
Fear and trepidation, their hearts are all stone cold
Strength through strangulation, you'll do just as you're told!

These weren't normal soldiers, they didn't go for clean
'Cos these were the most fearless,the world had ever seen
The Emperor used them mainly to enforce his might
But his laws weren't the only that these men would abide
They forced him into corners, then pushed him through the wall
These soldiers weren't guardians; they came and wrote the law
They didn't want to lighten the loads their leaders burdened
The Caesars were too frightened and eventually got murdered

[CHORUS]

Looking left, looking right, unable to escape
Sudden death by his side, their verdict awaits
Caesar sits, Caesar sweats, the spears forever shine
Razorsharp by his head...his hope leaves him behind

[CHORUS]

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============================================

Mindcontrolled

I'm feeling curious today
Pretty curious I must say
Curious to how far you will go
To what you have, and what you know
So when did white stop being white?
Or a car stop being a car?
Are our lives too boring?
Are we taking it too far?

When people lead a simple life
Do you think they can't be glad
Do you think their lives are worse
When they don't own what you can have

[CHORUS]
Mindcontrolled, you know it best
Mindcontrolled, consume ourselves
Mindcontrolled, we 're all possessed
Mindcontrolled, by ourselves
Mindcontrolled, we've all been blessed
Mindcontrolled, with this spell
Mindcontrolled, we'll never rest
Mindcontrolled, in this hell

Minor details became vital
We went beyond necessities
Looking hard to find a flaw
Then it's all you'll ever see
So when did kids start being projects
When did careers fill us with greed
Ever harassed someone on details
Ever bought things you don't need?

If we see a man for what he has
We won't hear what he will say
Think this through, it's in your past
Almost seems we're raised this way

[CHORUS]

NO! It's not too late.

I know not everyone is this crazy, thank god that ain't the truth
For the others, don't despair! There's still hope for all of you
Mem'ries are all you'll ever have when death shall come and visit you
So live lives worth foretelling, no matter what's been said to you

[CHORUS]

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============================================

Journey from the Underworld

Hear a voice doubtless, from wounds bled dry
A voice which wonders, too soon it turned but why
A voice in hate of silence, its whisper our demise
Words spoke of security but schemed within disguise

Hear a voice ashamed, humility its vow
For it wonders loudly to go back but how
Hear a voice decrepit, surrendered to its knees
For it knows by truth, you won't return to me

Woe to me Eurydice
Woe to these qualms within
Is there any world
Which we're allowed to live within

Hear my voice, alone it's left you
Hear my voice, alone it's left

I'd wish for better endings, I'd wish we'd both live on
Together in a second chance is where we both belong
I'd pray for sudden miracles, I'd pray for your return
But Hades' voice has spoken, in conviction I'm deterred

Forgive me, my fairest love, impatient as I was
Aristaean vanity, the means outdid the cause
Curse this world around me, it forsook my only need
The gates will not reopen, words fail within their greed

Hear a voice upon an Earth where beauty is no more
No more amongst living now it's lost what I adored
No matter how love beckons, what lovely heralds she may send
Loyal I remain to you, I'll stay until the end

Hear a voice that's empty, deprived of loving will
Awaiting Moirae judgment to claim a final kill
Hear a voice regretful in kingdoms overthrown
Hear this voice, I beg on you, and don't leave me alone

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============================================

Backwards on a Bicycle

Hammered down, got from the pub
Pints of ale feed my blood
Found my way, got through the door
Glass of whiskey, give me more!

Picking up myself again
Don't you move, I cannot stand
Climb aboard, we're setting off
from left to right, try hanging on

Something's fishy in the streets
Calling names, you shout at me
On the steel I'm looking back
I cannot steer, or look ahead

I'm being told to sit still
I'm being held against my will
Searching answers that seem fitting
I don't know, 'cos I'm still sitting

[CHORUS]
Backwards, on a Bicycle!
Backwards, on a Bicycle!
[repeat]

Here we are, at home again
Still banged up, still can't stand
We move on, we're not home yet
I wish I'd had some juice instead

Fallen off, the bike again
Juice for whimps, oh I'm a man!
All bruised up and aching to go
When I am home, I don't know

We gallop home, we charge ahead
We know no fear, our fates are met
Until it's time, to step off
I can't walk so times are rough

My end is near, of this I'm sure
One more beer, it won't hurt
Open up, the bricks are shat
I forgot that I just sat...

[CHORUS]

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===========================================

Need Shit
(written by Arnaud Uwland)

The new machine
Don't know what to do
The new machine
Don't know what to do
It's gonna pull me under
It's gonna pull you down too

The voice of the people
Let your voice be heard
The voice of the people
Let your voice be heard
Don't wanna hear you no more
Not another word

The slave and the master
Quite befitting roles
The slave and the master
Quite befitting roles
The slave pulled us down
We ain't the master no more

The strength of the last man
Is no strength at all
The strength of the last man
Is no strength at all
Their strength is in numbers
It's by numbers we fall

He came from the mountain
And yelled "God is dead!"
He came from the mountain
And yelled "God is dead!"
Thus spoke Zarathusthra
But they're too strong in the end

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===========================================

Waiting

Hello father, you're out there somewhere
you wanted to stay, but fate didn't care
I want see you, but it can't be so
but my thoughts are with you, wherever I go

into the fire, into the sea
your valour admired, come back to me
into the fire, to unknown lands
your valour admired, oh when will it end?

then there's mother, she's waited too
she's made up her mind, we're making it through
though men have wooed her, and said you'd been killed
mother refused, and followed her will

they told us after, they've said before
we refuse to believe, that you are no more
we don't know, we're guessing when
when fate is at peace, and you're a free man

it'll be through the fire, it'll be through the sea
your struggles admired and for all to see
it'll be through the fire, you'll be making it through
and though needs are dire, we'll be waiting for you

I just hope it's not too late
Please just come back,
don't want to wait
I know, you'll bid me goodnight
I know, you'll be alright

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===========================================
All lyrics by Greg Cathalina (unless stated otherwise), music by The Drowning Trout. All lyrics subject to change.

Our history...

2004-07-05T22:43:00.030+02:00

The time of The Drowning Trout begins in the city of Hellevoetsluis in early 2005, as Arnaud Uwland and Jurre van der Mije, both friends from a local orchestra, want to start their own rock 'n roll band.

Jurre had been playing the guitar for quite some time, and Arnaud began playing bass. Another friend from the orchestra, Quint Harteveld, signs up to do the drums shortly after, only to be followed by potential singer Greg Cathalina - a high school classmate of Arnaud at the time. The band plays under the name of Emperör, and in August 2006, the band has their first public outing in the Cul de Sac bar in Tilburg; the gig which also marks the start of the frisbee tradition.

It is shortly after that the band changes their name to Imperatör, in order to avoid confusion with the renowned metalband 'Emperor'. The band then evolves from a punkish hardrock sound to a more defined bluesrock taste, brings out a small rehearsal demo in the spring of 2008 and positively surprises nay-sayers at several more outings that same year.

It is then that the band, in mutual agreement, parts ways with its original guitarist Jurre van der Mije, and chooses to change the band name into a more fitting one to the hardened bluesrock sound; the band names itself after the infamous pub from the movie Snatch, called The Drowning Trout.

After working a few months with guitarist Jon Boontjes, the band eventually finds its new permanent guitarist in the form of Milan Boom, and, with his help, sets out to progress its sound even further. In 2009, the band starts working on their debut album, which is to include the best songs from the repertoire built up over the years. The album will be selftitled, and most likely be released in the year 2011.

What the rest of the future has in store? Only time will tell...

The Drowning Trout

From left to right, Greg Cathalina, Milan Boom, Arnaud Uwland and Quint Harteveld.

Contact

2004-03-12T16:50:00.004+01:00

To contact us, write an email to the following address:

thedrowningtrout@gmail.com

We will answer all Emails as soon as possible.