Belgian noise junks PINK ROOM will catapult their debut album ZUM KOTZEN in your
face next week. But before doing so they want to damage your ears with one more single from that LP. ‘???‘ is 2 minutes and eighteen seconds of punk schizophrenia, messed-up havoc, sonic paranoia and hysterical racket. Probably inspired by the Tom Waits video for
‘I Don’t Wanna To Grow Up’ the threesome fabricated a cool, claustrophobic clip. Get out of your straight jacket, folks, and join the clattering party right here…
Who: Three derailed noiseniks from Ghent, Belgium – if you never heard of this
gang check their last December interview with Turn Up The Volume! right here
Track: WASTED – first single from the band’s upcoming debut LP, tastefully titled
‘Zum Kotzen‘ (English for: ‘disgusting’)
Score: This how noise hooligans Pink Room sound like when they’re totally wasted. Paranoid. Sickening. Ear-piercing. Horror-ific. Wrecked. Zonked. Verrückt. Deranged.
Flipped. Uproarious. Disorderly. Messy. Vomiting. Hellish. Loudmouthed & Kooky!
Time to test your speakers’ flexibility. Here’s the accompanying David Lynch video…
Turn Up The Volume saw about 150 acts playing live this past year. Here are the 15 Knockout Performances that made his body temperature going way up, made his adrenalin stream faster and had a lasting impact on his greedy ears & impressed eyes.
1. THE FLAMING LIPS – Melkweg, Amsterdam – 11 November – Review here
2. SLOWDIVE – Cactus Brugge Festival – 15 July – Review here
3. IDLES – De Zwerver, Leffinge, Belgium – 2 November – Review here
4. JOHNNY MARR – Trix Club, Antwerp – 7 December – Review here
5. FONTAINES D.C. – Botanique, Brussels – 4 May – Review here
6. NOEL GALLAGHER – Vorst National, Brussels – 6 April
7. THE GLÜCKS – Ghent Fest – 19 July – Review here
8. RUMOURS – Cosa Nostra, Aalst – 21 April – Review here
9. JUJU – Kinky Star, Ghent – 18 February – Review here
10. PEUK – De Kleine Kunst, Ghent – 8 September – Review here
11. AUTOBAHN – Kinky Star, Ghent – 11 February – Review here
12. FALLING MAN – Ghent Fest – 14 July – Interview here
13. PERE UBU – 4 AD, Diksmuide – 1 June – Review here
14. TUBELIGHT – Charlatan, Ghent – 23 March – Review here
15. PINK ROOM – Kinky Star, Ghent – 3 March – Review here
The most schizophrenic band you heard all year, I hear you ask. Must be Belgian three-headed bolide called PINK ROOM, because every time you hear or see this crushing trio you think that the singer’s head will explode with a big bang. His voice’s range is beyond human normality. Add his bouncing bass, and two other ear-crashing noisemakers, one torturing his guitar and one smashing his drums and what you get is something you can electrocute your brains with. Something very LOUD ranging between Future Of The Left‘s blazing insanity and Nirvana‘s tortured soul. They’re totally into punk’s 70s credo doing-it-yourself-is-better and are planning to mess up 2019 with some new sonic shit and tons-of-decibels gigs. You wanna know more? Read on, after this loud and clear introduction…
Hello Bart (Vocals/Bass), Jelle (Drums) and Glenn (Guitar)
Let’s roll…
1. What sparked all of you, guys, to start a band? Bart: “I published an advertisement with like a 100 band names in July 2016.
The first two persons who reacted where Glenn and Jonas. They stayed. Well,
actually, Jonas left for a trip around the world a year and a half later, but that’s
just something that drummers do.” Glenn: “I was looking for a band, just started living in Ghent. Had no other options.” Jelle: “Their previous drummer left to make a world trip. Now I’m their drummer.”
2. What’s the story behind the group’s name? Bart: “I was listening a lot to the cover album of the Twin Peaks soundtrack by Xiu Xiu.
We were looking for a band name and Pink Room is the soundtrack for the Red Room in Twin Peaks. Also: Pink Moon is the best album by Nick Drake. Also: you can interpret it as
a pseudonym for vagina.”
Twin Peaks’ red room had a pink soundtrack…
3. Bart, is the clamorous intensity of your voice entirely natural, or do
you use some sort of chemicals to make it sound like a war siren? Bart: “Camel Blue cigarettes + cheap beer.”
Pink Room’s smoking secret revealed…
4. ‘LOVE’, one of two singles you released this year sounds actually like a total nervous breakdown. Is this PINK ROOM’s way of writing a love song? Glenn: “I think it’s Bart’s interpretation of love: work sucks, but the girl makes it better?
I don’t really know.” Bart: “I met this girl last year and she fucked pretty much my whole life up. For the better.” Jelle: “I didn’t write the song.”
. 5. When punk started in the mid-70s it was all about DIY, including organizing your own gigs. That is what PINK ROOM lately did: staging their own gigs. How and why? Bart: “We just started playing and had some offers, but not that much. I noticed a lot of great bands didn’t get enough gigs so we started to organize them ourselves. I believe highly in the ‘support your local scene’ idea. We’re already working on some shows with even more bands for 2019.” Glenn: “It was a pure necessity. We wanted to keep going forward. And most of all, we wanted to play some shows with our friends. It’s very comfortable to see how Bart is a genius in social networking; after a week or two of going to gigs of local bands he usually scores some gigs for ourselves.”
6. Which movie would you pick to visualize your
music on a big screen while playing a gig? Jelle: “Fargo.” Glenn: “Jaws or C’est arrivé près de chez vous.” Bart: “Evil Dead 2. Or just a loop of the scene in Ace Ventura where he gets out of the rhino’s ass.”
Think twice before going to a Pink Room gig, folks…
7. Number one band/artist on PINK ROOM’ list to go on tour with? Bart: “Future Of The Left or Mclusky: huge influence and they look like
they would be fun to hang around with.” Jelle: “Ty Segall or Fuzz!.” Glenn: “Metz, Acid Mothers Temple, Fatso Jetson or Girl Band.”
It’s quite clear why Pink Room wants to tour with Welsh noiseniks Future Of The Left…
8. If you could go back into the past on whose famous door
would you knock and ask to have a selfie together? Glenn: “Cleopatra VII” Bart: “I would like to hang out with Frank Black before he formed Pixies. Just to see what kinda guy he was. Wouldn’t ask for a selfie though, but I would show him a picture of himself in 2018. Love to see that reaction.” Jelle: “John Bonham, just to brag about meeting him. Wouldn’t even talk about drumming.”
9. 2018 is almost over. Which LP and track will top your end-of-the-year lists? Bart: “Killing Time by the GØGGS. Great album opener, great album. There’s also this
great Mama Mia cover by this guy on YouTube standing in a river in Japan. I also like the song ‘You’ by Muscle Barbie. The EP ‘Really Nice Guys’ by Ron Gallo is really nice! Oh, and ‘Coolness of a fool’ by Bront. Great fucking guy!” Jelle: “The Now Now by Gorillaz. I was in dire need of some Damon Albarn vocals since Humanz, big disappointment. Closer to home, the album by Dirk., pop songs disguised
as no-nonsense rock.” Glenn: “The Other by King Tuff.”
Big in Japan…
10. Plans and wishes for 2019? Bart: “More touring! We will release our new album ‘Zum Kotzen’ on 22nd of March with a show in Ghent, so we’re putting a lot energy and time in video clips and vinyl and planning the tour and stuff! And hopefully at the end of the year a new album. Anyway, I wish that everybody reading this has a nice time. Don’t go out if you don’t want to, don’t stay in if you don’t want to, be where you wanna be! I don’t know, just do your thing.”
Thanks for the chat. May the road rise with Pink Room!
Let’s end this Q &A with some merry Xmas carols
that will scare the shit out of all drunk Santa’s…
PINK ROOM – De Centrale – Ghent, Belgium – 17 October 2018
You want it loud, deafeningly loud. I mean DEAFENINGLY & EAR-SPLITTINGLY LOUD!
Than clamorous motherrockers PINK ROOM are the merciless canons that can fulfill
all of your deranged wishes. I wrote about these mind-crashing outcasts before and I
will do so in the future. The key man of this volcanic trio is that devilish frontman and bassist BART COQUYT. A loudmouthed primal screamer producing the blustering sound of a supersonic starfighter on its way to crash. His far-out demonic vox is beyond normal and I’m sure one day his head will literally explode on stage. Compared to this madman’s decibels level the late, great Kurt Cobain sounds like a smooth folk singer. Maestro Coquyt is assisted by a thunderous drummer and a rip-roaring guitarist turning this three-headed noise beast into a giant force able to blow all fucking Trumps of this troubled world into space… forever. Hallelujah. Hail hail Pink Room!
Legendary Seattle label Sub Pop, the home of many badass noisemakers should give
this tumultuous Belgian trio PINK ROOM a record deal. This ear-piercing three-piece
has enough noisy ingredients to match the label’s high volume demands. First of all
there’s frontman, bassist and diabolic loudmouth Bart Coquyt‘s voice producing the deafening sound of a supersonic starfighter on its way to crash. BLOODY HELL YEAH!
This frenzied guy’s vox freaks me out. Devilish, destructive and merciless. Compared to
this madman’s decibels level Kurt Cobain sounded like a smooth folk singer. I really can’t understand how Coquyt is able to hit the right chords on his thunderous bass as I assume his own hearing must be in critical condition after screaming himself into a coma. Anyhow to raise the racket to an even nastier degree he’s assisted by a blustering guitarist and a fresh new battering drummer. Check your speakers, folks! Here comes the mean mayhem machine with two new, hot-blooded headbutts. The nice words LOVE and FITNESS will never have the same meaning again after experiencing these earth-shaking eruptions…
PINK ROOM – Luminous Dash Festival at Kinky Star, Ghent (Belgium) – 3 March 2018
Luminous Dash is a highly popular Belgian website with a massive heart for Belgian musicians. The passionate people (all volunteers) behind the site have Belgian music
in their sonic DNA, and they do not restrict themselves to inform everybody daily
about what is going on in our little country by writing until their fingers turn blue.
Oh no, last year these dashing music junkies started a monthly showcase festival, organized in various small clubs, for flamboyant bands with a Belgian passport.
Yesterday Luminous Dash already staged their fourth edition and it was noise trinity
PINK ROOM that made my day last night in a packed Kinky Star in my hometown Ghent. A furious 3-headed garage grunge monster, led by demonic loudmouth Bart Cocquyt. A magnetizing primal screamer who makes me think of Kurt Cobain on a high dose of amphetamines instead of brain-damaging heroin. At one point I really thought
his heated head would explode as the forcible energy this frontman/bassist developed was truly smashing. Assisted by battering drummer Jonas Calu and devilish guitarist Glenn Janssens (the one who forgot to wear his Hawaii shirt), Cocquyt turns this diabolic
trio into a trashing MC5 powerhouse. Hell yeah, kicking out the jams was what Pink Room did ferociously. Merciless riffs, clamorous tantrums and tons of decibels is what this punk combo produced non-stop. And as these crazed guys just released their first EP I’m sure we’ll hear more from these colorful gang in the near future…
Move your furniture, clear the room, open windows and doors – so your neighbors can enjoy too – and listen here to Pink Room‘s red-hot, 4-track debut, titled RELATIONSHIT
and find out why I’m in a euphoric state…
A brand new SEVEN IN THE MIX for a brand new week!
Seven striking strokes I played on repeat these past days
Seven towering tracks to feed body & soul all week long
Turn up the volume! Music is the dope! Here’s the stuff!
. 1/ ‘Fake It’ by CHASE CITY (Hobart, Tasmania, AUS)
Here’s a terrific power slam with a wicked dance twist while agitated vocals poke the
pace mercilessly. A dazzling sledgehammer by a dashing turbine! They are for REAL!
2/ ‘Liar’ by PINK ROOM (Ghent, Belgium)
This Belgian’s three-headed punk trash trio will push your speakers to the fucking limit with a d-y-n-a-m-i-t-e outburst from fresh, n-a-s-t-y 4-track EP ‘Relationshit‘ – listen here.
3/ ‘Still Remember’ by ALCABEAN (Copenhagen, Denmark)
Fully guitars charged score driven by a staggering and relentless drum/bass tandem while harmonious vocals glide all over it. A multi-layered effort performed with lots of bravado.
4/ ‘Is This Man Bothering You?’ by THE FERNWEH (Liverpool, UK)
A heavenly psychedelic pop rainbow floating eight miles high. A sweet, colorful pearl, with spot-on orchestration transferring you to the best moments of 60s sonic splendour. Bingo!
THE FERNWEH: Twitter – Label: Skeleton Key Records
5/ ‘Hetty Merton’ by SKY BETWEEN LEAVES (London, UK)
Psychedelic galvanism taking you way up there in the blissful sky. Touching, moony and remembering me of the best moments of Dinosaur JR. Yes, that entrancing good! Top!
6/ ‘I Get No Rest’ by INDIAN QUEENS (London, UK)
Captivating reflection of big city alienation. ‘London at night, nowhere to hide’. Restless loneliness translated into a gripping sonic contemplation. Only questions, no answers.
7/ ‘Hot Tears’ by PINKY PINKY (Los Angeles, California, US)
Young, vibrant L.A. trio sounds here like an electrical reincarnation of 60s legends The Ronettes with this amplified tearjerker, this teenage love-sick reflection in slo-mo!
