Biography
"We were punks, but shy punks
– While every other average punk-idiot in the nation hurried to Amsterdam
to clash with police during the infamous squatter-riots of the early
80s, we just stayed at home sitting in front of the TV, quietly sympathizing
with our mates on the streets, while munching away on bags of crisps and
sucking on Heineken bottles. In spite of that; we sort of embraced
the squatter’s movement, as most of the scarce gigs we did
were played in squats all over the country. This always meant bad
transport, bad equipment and never making more than a couple of hundred
guilders. We always somehow ended up eating bad chilli con carne
while dirty stinking squatter dogs sniffed around the place. On top of
that, the spiky crowds kept on urging us to play “faster!”. When the 7 inch came out we were 17/18 years old and all still at the
same school, sometimes even in the same class. This was the Bonifatius College
in Utrecht, better known as the Boni, or rather the “stoney Boni”
as it is still called, because of its liberal stance towards smoking grass. Rock Against Records was a local p-rock label at the time and we didn’t
even know the guys who ran it. Instead we just cut out the logo from one of
their other releases and proudly glued it to our artwork, a cut-and-paste job
in itself. So much for our recording contract, haha! The Dead
Excitement EP was released in a limited edition of 500 so it quickly sold
out. A couple of months later we repressed another 500, with only a few
minor changes in the sleeve-design. We never liked doing gigs. Usually we
would get together in a pub before a gig and the more we drank the less the
appetite we had to perform. On those occasions we would
sometimes simply call up the venue and tell them that the goddamned
drummer broke his goddamned leg. Sorry guys! Within a year or so
Utrecht was loaded with punk bands, running up to at least 30 groups when
at its peak, and they all played in that very same ramshackle two-chord style
that quickly became a uniform, you know the story... So after the 7 inch we
quickly changed style. Yes, we were simply thrilled by playing real slow, heavy
bass-driven songs, and by the sheer suspense of doing so. In fact we just
continued playing in the vein of “I Shouldn’t Go.” After Dead Excitement we did three albums, all done on our own
nameless independent label, and that was it"-Jos de Groot, January 2011
– While every other average punk-idiot in the nation hurried to Amsterdam
to clash with police during the infamous squatter-riots of the early
80s, we just stayed at home sitting in front of the TV, quietly sympathizing
with our mates on the streets, while munching away on bags of crisps and
sucking on Heineken bottles. In spite of that; we sort of embraced
the squatter’s movement, as most of the scarce gigs we did
were played in squats all over the country. This always meant bad
transport, bad equipment and never making more than a couple of hundred
guilders. We always somehow ended up eating bad chilli con carne
while dirty stinking squatter dogs sniffed around the place. On top of
that, the spiky crowds kept on urging us to play “faster!”. When the 7 inch came out we were 17/18 years old and all still at the
same school, sometimes even in the same class. This was the Bonifatius College
in Utrecht, better known as the Boni, or rather the “stoney Boni”
as it is still called, because of its liberal stance towards smoking grass. Rock Against Records was a local p-rock label at the time and we didn’t
even know the guys who ran it. Instead we just cut out the logo from one of
their other releases and proudly glued it to our artwork, a cut-and-paste job
in itself. So much for our recording contract, haha! The Dead
Excitement EP was released in a limited edition of 500 so it quickly sold
out. A couple of months later we repressed another 500, with only a few
minor changes in the sleeve-design. We never liked doing gigs. Usually we
would get together in a pub before a gig and the more we drank the less the
appetite we had to perform. On those occasions we would
sometimes simply call up the venue and tell them that the goddamned
drummer broke his goddamned leg. Sorry guys! Within a year or so
Utrecht was loaded with punk bands, running up to at least 30 groups when
at its peak, and they all played in that very same ramshackle two-chord style
that quickly became a uniform, you know the story... So after the 7 inch we
quickly changed style. Yes, we were simply thrilled by playing real slow, heavy
bass-driven songs, and by the sheer suspense of doing so. In fact we just
continued playing in the vein of “I Shouldn’t Go.” After Dead Excitement we did three albums, all done on our own
nameless independent label, and that was it"-Jos de Groot, January 2011
