Smile - Support: Plainhead

In the organizer's words:

CoreChaos presents Smile

In 2015, 19-year-old Rubee True Fegan from Albuquerque (New Mexico) turned her back on the USA for the time being. She has a scholarship in her luggage. Instead of Prague, Paris or London, her decision fell on Bonn-Alfter of all places, a rural region in the far west of the former capital. A momentous decision: the planned six-month stay has so far turned into eight.
Rubee, who works as an illustrator, develops video performances and has always written between the disciplines, has been a music enthusiast since childhood. In her hometown, she spends most of her time in a D.I.Y. store, The Gasworks, where she gets infected with punk, often opens the door and meets bands from all over the world. She also keeps her eyes and ears open in Bonn. She met drummer Marius Szarnych, who knew his way around the musical underground. The two start playing, Rubee initially on bass. They soon recruit guitarist Lars Fritzsche, who has just moved to Bonn from the Ruhr area and is looking for musicians to form a band. The Bonn concert scene pricks up its ears and recruits Max Schmidt (bass) and Sebastian Lessel (guitar), who writes sporadically as a music journalist and studies sound studies together with Schmidt in Bonn.

The group is complete and moves into an old haunted train station building, starts writing songs that are well-informed about the history of post-punk and find inspiration wherever experimentation and catchiness meet: B52's, Talking Heads, Life Without Buildings, ESG, Sonic Youth, Talk Talk. The list is open, always remains open. The quintet is also enthusiastic about contemporary bands. Protomartyr, Interpol, Drahla, Fontaines D.C. (for whom SMILE played support in 2022) ... Gorillaz!

When the pandemic takes control, Rubee is suddenly stuck in Albuquerque for a year. The rest of the band meet up at the train station in Bonn. These days, it's not uncommon for a conversation with Rubee to precede plugging in the instruments. And on the other side of the world, the SMILE singer then writes about what happens to her, what she observes, what she feels. In this mode, she sometimes adopts a solitary introspective, which may ensure the extraordinary precision and intensity of her lyrics, which have a great narrative quality. Thus, between the continents, between Albuquerque and Bonn, between shoegazy guitars and artful poetry, a common echo chamber is created, in which initially - the singer is still stuck in exile - about half of the songs are written, which are now available here.

When Rubee returned, the songwriting intensified. A first EP is recorded. Concerts are played. Things are going well. They call themselves SMILE!
Olaf Opal becomes aware of SMILE and soon visits the group more and more often. A collaboration is decided upon, and the legendary Cologne producer inspires the five friends with his idea of not recording in the studio, but rather going to different locations that are as far-flung as possible in order to capture the intensity in the playing that defines SMILE. Several sessions followed in Cologne, for example at the KHM, where Rubee is now studying, and with these first live takes, the group and producer created the basis for an album. Long sessions with overdubs in Cologne's Bear Cave Studio followed, then the intensive mixing process began. The band gradually moved to Cologne, where the members met like-minded people: Infant Finches and Liza Dries, with whom they also collaborate. History is being made (and progress is being made)! Price of Progress, the debut of the group SMILE, takes shape...

Support: Plainhead

The goal is to become the loudest band in town!" Well, that's not (entirely) true. "Mom! The music isn't even that loud!" But they will definitely resonate with your inner windows and shake them until they break apart.
Besides their teenage dream of becoming the Sunn O))) of Bavaria, experimenting with songwriting will forever be the main goal within their bedroom walls. The group of friends Chris, Lorenz, Alma, Jan, Kai & Don (aka the band) give it their all on stage - infectious fun mixed with crushing sadness amongst the noise. A bit like a synthesis of Alex G and bands like Duster and the former Animal Collective.
Heavily influenced by modern Philadelphia noise-crushers and more, they're like dogs trained to stay true to the mission (to bring the GAZE to the city).

At the box office, ticket prices will be variable on a pay-what-you-want basis.

0.00 Euro - 8.00 Euro - 16.00 Euro

Why? We want everyone to have access to the concert. Anyone who can't currently afford concerts doesn't have to pay anything. If you earn a regular income, you can contribute 16.00 euros to ensure that the bands receive an appropriate fee in the end. And anyone who doesn't have much money to spare can contribute 8.00 euros to cover the costs.

Price information:

16,00 €