LINE UP
EARTHLESS
Earthless is the brainchild of Mario Rubalcaba, Mike Eginton and Isaiah Mitchell. Rubalcaba, a prolific drummer, has worn the alias of Ruby Mars during his stint with Rocket from the Crypt, went on to bang away for the Hot Snakes, was the drummer for hardcore art-punks Clikatat Ikatowi and previously was in the The Black Heart Procession… and prior to that? Mario was a member of Tony Alva’s Alva Team skateboarding crew. He now finds himself, along with bassist Mike Eginton and guitarist Isaiah Mitchell, knee deep in the near opposite direction of all things punk rock, ensconced in the world of jam, space and “cosmic nodding” a.k.a. Earthless.
The trio, based out of San Diego, met through mutual friends and a fondness for under the radar record collections. Mario explains how the band connected, “We discovered a mutual admiration for a lot of Japanese psychedelic hard rock bands, as well as primitive ‘60s garage music. After combing over each other’s record collections and lending out records, we came upon the idea of, ‘Let’s specifically start a Japanese-psychedelic-heavy-Kraut-rock-band.’ With the Japanese bands, it was always a really kind of heavy, blues, twisted take on Black Sabbath or Led Zeppelin. Isaiah is an awesome guitar player; Mike is an amazing bassist, and playing with the both of them really sealed the deal. Magic happened in the room. Since then, we’ve followed that formula.”
SULA BASSANA
Berlin born (in 1968) multiinstrumentalist Dave Schmidt, aka Sula Bassana, became a leading person in the european psychedelic-, spacerock- and neo-krautrock-scene over last decades. Due to his unstoppable, but very well reviewed output with his bands and projects.
He released several albums under his moniker Sula Bassana, plus a lot of records with his ex band Electric Moon, as well as his other projects Zone Six, Interkosmos and Krautzone. And don’t forget all his ex-bands from the 90’s and later: Liquid Visions, Growing Seeds, Weltraumstaunen, Psychedelic Monsterjam, Südstern 44, Krautzone...
He is also founder of one of the most important psychedelicrock-labels of Europe: Sulatron-Records.
MARS RED SKY
Beyond a highly recognizable sound imprint, Mars Red Sky craft their own otherworldly atmospheres.
Whether you experience their records or live performances, their hulking yet trippy brand of heavy psych rock takes you onto an infinite journey.
From the early days, the Bordeaux trio has established themselves as an essential live act.
Their latest album "The Task Eternal" came on through Listenable Records and Mrs Red Sound.
RADAR MEN FROM THE MOON
Eindhoven based cosmonauts Radar Men From The Moon (RMFTM) have constantly evolved throughout the twelve years of their existence as a band. Their back-catalogue ranges from Space Rock to Dissonant Psych Rock and from Drone Techno to industrial Post-Punk. Nothing is fixed and everything in the group’s music is in constant flux. With their latest album ‘The Bestial Light,’ released April 2020 via Fuzz Club Records & Tartarus Records, the band once again takes a different approach, entering darker and heavier territory than with anything they have done before. With the addition of a second drummer and vocalist, the music has evolved into something they refer to as Acid Metal; a blend of heavy rhythms and post-punk sharpness.
The group has done multiple tours throughout Europe and have performed at festivals such as Roadburn, Liverpool Psych Fest, Levitation France, Duna Jam, Freak Valley, Desertfest Berlin and Reverence Festival Valada. In addition to having eight albums released on Fuzz Club Records, the collective is well-known for their collaborations with other bands such as GNOD, The Cosmic Dead, and 10.000 Russos.
Since forming in 2010, the collective has maintained an ever-shifting line-up of people, but the group’s core members have been Glenn Peeters, Tony Lathouwers & Bram van Zuijlen. The current line-up includes the addition of Joep Schmitz on drums, Niels Koster on vocals and Niek Manders returns to join the band on Bass duties. They played their first shows in 2022 with this new iteration of RMFTM at Roadburn Festival 2022, where they showcased multiple sets during the festival; including a commissioned piece with Twin Sister titled ‘Mirros for Discharge’ (Dead Neanderthals, Sex Swing), and an electronic set appropriately dubbed ‘Acid Metal’.
HYPNOS 69
Hypnos 69 is a space rock/psychedelic rock quartet based out of Belgium. Forming in 1994, this band would draw heavily from 1960s and 1970s psychedelic and space rock. In a career spanning nearly twenty years the band would release five studio albums all the while performing all over Europe as a marquee act.
The name was taken from the ancient Greek god of Sleep and Subconsciousness. The number 69 stands for equilibrium and stability; properties that can be retrieved in the marked sound of the band.
KANAAN
"Kanaan is a Norwegian power trio that has been playing
their own form of free-flowing psychedelia, heavy stoner-rock and jazz-influenced krautrock for the last few years.
They´ve released six albums since 2019 and have played
over 100 concerts in ten different countries since they emerged as a powerful live act on the European music scene
in 2019. This spring they won the Norwegian grammy awards
for their heavy stoner-rock album "Earthbound" and recently
released the experimental album Diversions vol 1: Softly Through Sunshine. The latter features the talented Norwegian
jazz keyboardist Håvard Ersland and is a document of a fruitful
musical collaboration.
As a live act Kanaan are known for their fiery, intense and loud
performances, and their gig at Down The Hill will not be an
exception.
GNOME
Belgium's hardest rocking creatures, GNOME, are back with their majestic second outing, King. After the succes of 2018 debut Father of Time, demonstrating their talent stacking riffs like lego blocks, and conquering stages across Europe with their shin-kicking live sets, the power trio from Antwerp raise the bar for their second album, sounding bigger, catchier and heavier, with more room for vocals (including special guest Oskar Logi from The Vintage Caravan) but never losing sight of the quest for the golden riff.
This silly looking, greasy smelling, small but heavy three-headed being packs a bigger punch then their name suggests: combining sing-along hooks,
wall-of-sounds guitars, booming drums and thundering bass with adventures rhythmic twists they brew their unque and ultimately satisfying potion of sludge and stonerrock.
CONDOR GRUPPE
‘Gulliver’, the latest Condor Gruppe album, is a nod to yet another spiritual journey in the band’s ever-evolving saga. Released 23rd September via the groove-obsessed Sdban Ultra, the Antwerp-based nine-piece ensemble take you on a hypnotic trip, paying tribute to obscure Italian 70s film soundtracks, krautrock and psychedelic grooves. Fuse the melancholy of Pink Floyd, the heroism of Ennio Morricone and the world grooves of GOAT and you get an idea of what Condor Gruppe is.
Always looking to push musical boundaries, Condor Gruppe rely on the adventurous use of their instruments and their intriguing musical patter. Melancholic, exotic, surreal, the band’s sound is enriched by instruments including the handpan, Jew’s harp, darbouka and tanpura. Diverse sounds, rhythms and melodies build, exciting the listener whilst always remaining familiar. From the thunderous, spacious prog rock sounds of ‘What Could Have Been’, to the loose, laidback grooves of the mystical ‘Farid’ and groovy ‘Rhymes On Our Mind’, ‘Gulliver’ is a soundtrack for visits to far-flung places and a mesmerizing trip through the band’s own record shelves.
Condor Gruppe released their debut album ‘Latituds del Cavall’ in 2014 with nine exotica fuelled songs that echo the sound of an intoxicated ride through the desert. This was followed up in 2016 with ‘FROG BOG - A Tribute to Moondog’ – an adaptation of the work of the legendary composer and outsider. Containing six Moondog interpertations, trumpet player Dirk Timmermans, saxophonist Matti Willems and baritone saxophonist Hanne De Backer joined the five original members of Condor Gruppe, with the results a spectacular mix between Moondog’s jazzy compositions and Condor Gruppe’s dreamy instrumental sound.
Second album proper ‘Interplanetary Travels’ (2018) – a nostalgic, melancholic soundtrack – saw the introduction of the Anoushka Shankar-trained Nicolas Mortelmans on sitar. The title hinting at Sun Ra is no coincidence. Condor Gruppe recorded 8 songs that give you the creepy feel of a horror scene, the heroism of the best film scores and the hypnotizing grooves of jungle tribes.
At this year’s Ghent Film Festival, Condor Gruppe performed a live version of the score for the dark, hypnotic, surreal, erotic vampire film ‘Daughters of Darkness’ (1971), directed by Belgian cult director Harry Kümel. The score was originally recorded by François de Roubaix, a self-taught musician and jazz enthusiast, and he composed almost a hundred soundtracks, mostly for French films. In 1976, he won a César for best soundtrack with his work on 'Le Vieux Fusil’ – awarded posthumously as de Roubaix had passed away just the year before. De Roubaix has always been a great source of inspiration for Condor Gruppe, so they were only too happy to sink their teeth into his scintillating score.
KAMEEL
Musical hurricane KAMEEL is the energetic trio Patrick Steenaerts (guitar), Hans Mullens (bass) and Geert Roelofs (drums).
Their debut album 'Barkas' was released in February 2020. A very idiosyncratic and very dynamic record with instrumental compositions full of experiment and juicy melodies. Sometimes danceable, at other times capricious, crooked or angular, but always without compromise.
KAMEEL sounds dark, strange, threatening, mysterious, cinematic, but also in your face, sometimes groovy, sometimes free ... Jazz for punks!
The second album 'Trugschluss' will be released early 2023.
FIRE DOWN BELOW
The Belgian stoner rock quartet Fire Down Below mixes fuzzy desert riffs with 90's grunge and heavy psych to create a unique sound, in which stoner/doom heaviness is coupled with a sense of melody and a powerful voice.
Formed in Ghent in 2015, Fire Down Below first came into the spotlight when they self-released their debut album Viper Vixen Goddess Saint in September 2016. The album received
positive reviews around the world and quickly attracted attention from the Californian label Ripple Music, where bands like Wo Fat and Mothership are at home. Ripple Music re-released VVGS worldwide in 2017 and did the same for follow-up Hymn of the Cosmic Man.
DORRE
Formed in 2008 by Adriaan De Raymaeker and Wolf Overloop, Dorre has gone through a slew of transformations while maintaining their core. Shifting from a duo blasting out hours of improvised stoner doom to a full-on five piece post-metal band with psychedelic and jazzy undertones. The band has gigged throughout Europe, playing clubs and stages from Praag to Denmark to London to Edinburgh. Over the last year, Dorre has focused on building a studio, working on a new album and adding vocals to the roster.
GRANDMA'S ASHES
Grandma's Ashes is a female power trio of alternative / progressive rock. For almost 5 years, the band has been inviting people to an introspective and transcendent
musical journey on the roads of France. Their first EP,
"The Fates", released in January 2021 has shown a
singular vision of a modern and narrative rock.
On the dark, sometimes sarcastic texts, the voices of
the three musicians intermingle. The clear and melodic
lead vocals are sublime in contact with a heavy and
meticulous instrumentation. If it constitutes a first
piece to the edifice or rather, to the gothic cathedral
that Grandma's Ashes is building, the Grandma's Ashes,
the group has not however finished to enchant you.
MOJO & THE KITCHEN BROTHERS
We are Mojo and the Kitchen Brothers. A 5-headed omnium gatherum of eclectically inspired music freaks from Belgium cooking up a late 60's early 70's minded mix of heavy progrock soaked in psychedelia. The smells emanating from our kitchen recall bands like Black Sabbath, Wishbone Ash and Pink Floyd. However, M&TKB is more than a nostalgia trip. Firmly tuned into the spring of our contemporary psych rockers, Mojo & the Kitchen Brothers' catchy tunes, proggy riffs, deafening drums, roaring basslines and spacy, triple-guitar jams take the listener on a Janus-faced journey through the limbo between past and present.
7 INCHES OF RIFFS
BY MOOS (BE)
Heavy-Psych-Stoner-Blues-Doom-Space-Kraut-Funk-Soul-Afro-Garage-Jazz-Erotic-Horror Grooves by Moos
You also might have heard him at Roadburn festival, Desertfest Belgium, and our previous editions.
Host of Volksradio Moos at Radio Scorpio
Mailman by day!
Check him out on between and after the bands on Friday & Saturday!
COSMICMASSEUR (BE)
DJ cosmicmasseur spinning tunes at Orange Factory Belgium concerts since 1997. You also might have heard him at Roadburn festival, Desertfest Belgium, Our previous editions and at Rock/metal café HELL and more, and of course as one of the crew of wake up at the other end of the universe by Orange Factory at Radio Scorpio.
Check him out between and after the bands on Friday & Saturday!
COCONAUT (NL)
DJ Coconaut is mixing psychdoomstonerfuzznoisetripwavepunkheavygazerock,... yes indeed!
You also might have heard him at Plufest, Doornroosje Nijmegen, Roadburn, Sonic Whip, Into The Void, Zwarte Cross Baterbar,...
Check him out between the bands on Friday & Saturday!