3 bands on a thursday presents:
TOP DOWN - Born in Portland, raised in Berlin. Lo-fi garage punk. Powerful guitar riffs. Catchy melodies.
NUNOFYRBEESWAX from Berlin write and play a bunch of pop songs as raw as their hearts in a minimal set up.
TWISK, the trio from Hamburg: An alternative draft of musical compositions, moving between Refusal Pop in the spirit of groups like Deerhoof and virtuoso Minimal Rock of Young Marble Giants' school.
Gefördert von der Beauftragten der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien („BKM“) und der Initiative Musik.
TOP DOWN:
It was a hot summer day in June 2015 when TOP DOWN first got together in North Portland. Rooted in the Rocknroll / Punk scene the trio crossed paths somewhere down the road years before.
Chuck Struggler had just moved back from Nevada City to his home town Portland, New Zealander Fiona Cambell (Chain & The Gang, Vivian Girls, The Collies etc.) happened to drop her anchor in Portland for a few years and graphic artist Szim stayed for an extended visit from Germany.
The outcome of that summer were a handful of songs and a basement show. Fred Cole from DEAD MOON generously offered to record them reel-to-reel. Then it was quiet for almost a year until Szim returned to Portland in 2016.
More songs and another recording session with Fred led to TOP DOWN’s first 7” Silver Ashes on the Portland based label Voodoo Doughnut Records. In March 2016 Berlin based artist Jay Gard joined the band for a couple of live shows in Berlin & Leipzig and the band’s first US tour in the Pacific Northwest in summer 2016.
Throughout February 2017 TOP DOWN was honored to be the support act for Fred & Toody Cole on their last European Tour. In March 2017 Voodoo Doughnut Recordings released TOP DOWN’s debut album ROUGH ROADS. Only a year later Chuck finds himself living in Berlin.
In summer 2019 TOP DOWN released their 2nd album HARD FEELINGS on their own label No Chance Berlin followed by album no. 3 BACKYARD THUNDER in 2021. After a few line-up changes on drums, Jay Gard rejoined the band in 2023.
Szim (git / voc), Chuck Struggler (bass / voc), Jay Gard (drums),
TOP DOWN - Links:
NUNOFYRBEESWAX write and play a bunch of pop songs as raw as their hearts in a minimal set up. Their music escapes easy associations, however their sound has been described as an idiosyncratic blend of garage rock, post punk and proto-indie -for whatever that means.
Formed in 2016 in Berlin as a duo with common love for Beat Happening, Minimalism, and Rock and Roll, Nunofyrbeeswax started composing and performing restlessly. Since then the band has toured Europa various times and the U.S. They supported acts such as, Chain and the Gang, Shopping, Nobunny, Martin Bisi Band, John Davies and The Cicadas, The World, Paws and Cocaine Piss, as well as played at national and international festivals like Down By The River in Berlin, Millionaire's Club (DE), Double Jeu Festival, Marseille (FR), Festival de La Cour Denis (FR).
Since their formation the band has released two full albums and an EP, plus singles and live albums. "Stratotoaster", their most recent studio effort, was released on vi nyl in 2021 via Et Mon Cul C' est du Tofu, Twintoe Records, S.F.S, Pied de Bieche in Europe, and Youth Riot Records in the U.S. Composed of 10 new songs, the album captures the essence of their sound by channelling in creative ways raw energy, melody, charming amateurism and naive minimalism. "Stratotoaster" melts seamlessly into one greater musical entity without holding back on arrangements and experiments. The album's backbone is constituted by rhythms driven by pounding percussions and coloured with primitive guitars, unexpected collaborations and vocal harmonies.
nunofyrbeeswax - Links:
TWISK is a band: Jonas + Lennart + Luka + Drums + Guitar + Bass + Singing + Attitude. The personal is political. And then there's this old tale: An elephant was brought to be exhibited in a dark room. A number of folks touch and feel the elephant in the dark and, depending upon where they touch it, they believe the elephant to be a water spout, a fan, a pillar and a throne. For, quarreling, each to their view they cling. Such folk see only one side of a thing. They really do. Anyway, the sensual ear is just like the palm of the hand. The palm has not the means of covering the whole of the beast. As for TWISK, the trio from Hamburg: They offer an alternative draft of musical compositions. Their music moving between Refusal Pop in the spirit of groups like Deerhoof and virtuoso Minimal Rock of Young Marble Giants' school.
TWISK - Links:
* Ermäßigter Eintritt an der Abendkasse für Schüler*innen, Student*innen, Sozialhilfeempfänger*innen.
* Reduced admission at the box office for students and welfare recipients.
