Boys That Sing - Press Release

To mark the posthumous release of indie group Viola Beach’s self-titled album an animated video for lead single "Boys That Sing" has been revealed today. The full album is now available via the band’s own label Fuller Beans Records.

With support from the band members’ families, UK and US based family and entertainment production company, Komixx Entertainment, have got together with their Warrington-based partner company Mackinnon & Saunders Digital Studios to create the video. Inspired by the song’s lyrics, the mixed-media animation video features an animated character interacting with live action footage shot on location in Warrington - Viola Beach’s hometown.

Andrew Cole-Bulgin, joint CEO and Head of Film & TV, Komixx Media Group, says, “We are delighted to be able to produce an animation that reflects their songs, creativity and their unique talent.”

Co-founder of Mackinnon & Saunders, Ian Mackinnon - says, “We were very moved by the band’s story, the album is a great legacy of the band’s musical talent and we felt very honoured to be approached by their families to help create the video for the new single”.

The band’s families said, "We are happy to reveal the music video for ‘Boys That Sing,’ which has been fantastically animated by local animators, MacKinnon and Saunders.  We think it's a perfect tribute to Jack, Kris, River, Tom and Craig and also to the town that they were so proud to call their home"

The talented four-man group from Warrington, who were widely tipped for success, recently received a moving tribute from Coldplay’s frontman Chris Martin at their Glastonbury 2016 Pyramid Stage headlining slot. Viola Beach’s debut album is out now.

UK and US based family and entertainment production company, Komixx Entertainment, together with their partner company Mackinnon & Saunders Digital Studios, produced the official music video of Viola Beach’s new self-titled album.

Get Viola Beach here

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VIET CONG ANNOUNCE NEW BAND NAME Preoccupations - Press Release

Photo Credit: Alessio Boni

The band formerly known as Viet Cong have today announced their new name, moving forward they will be called Preoccupations.

In a statement released today they said:

"After finishing our latest record and taking some time off, we are excited to announce that we will be performing and recording as "Preoccupations" going forward. We will be previewing new material from a forthcoming record in a series of festivals and shows in North America and Europe in the coming months. We apologize to those who were adversely affected by our former band name. This was never anticipated nor our intent. We are artists and not politicians, we understand that the name reflected pain to some individuals and we are happy to change it and move on and focus on our music. Thanks to all our friends and fans. See you all soon."

Matt Flegel also sat down with Pitchfork to discuss the events leading up to the change last year where he explains "We were pretty naive, and pretty ignorant on the subject. We know a lot more now. If we knew what we know now then we would definitely not call the band that."

Flegel goes further saying "I don't really keep track of what people are saying online or social media. Anything I learned was face to face from people at shows, and directly from protesters, and hearing stories about Vietnamese refugees. We've never really read about that side of things; we didn't know anything about that side of the war. But it was an eye-opener, and it was great talking to people about it, hearing things directly from people who have had the experience of the terrible things coming out of the war. It was always civil, and we met some great people because of it. We talked to fans of our band who are of a Vietnamese background. It's really helpful to have a face-to-face conversation with another human being that has family, or has been directly affected by something, rather than just hearsay on the internet. It's a different thing, going out and getting a group of people protesting a show. It was something I was fully in support of the entire time. I tried to talk to people as much as I could and learn as much as I could. I was impressed that people were getting together in real life to do something about it."

Preoccupations have been hard at work recording their new album which will be released this fall on Jagjaguwar / Flemish Eye.

"We've learned a lot for sure. It was never our intention to hurt anyone, and it puts you in your place a little bit. It's embarrassing, but it's nice that we can continue on and change things and change mistakes. In a way, it's a nice way for us to come into making a new record-having a clean slate with a new band name. I think it's a little bit less pressure to make something that sounded like the last couple of records. You're less attached to certain sounds and certain ideas you might have gone with."

The band will be playing a series of summer festivals including FYF and Sasquatch and are expected to debut some of the new material at these shows. All tour dates are listed below.

5.28.16 - Sasquatch Festival - George, WA
6.13.16 - Baby's All Right - Brooklyn, NY
6.17.16 - Best Kept Secret Festival - Hilvarenbeek, NL
6.18.16 - Out Loud, Beursschouwburg - Brussels, BE
6.22.16 - Shacklewell Arms - London, UK
6.23.16 - Old Blue Last - London, UK
6.28.16 - Olympic Cafe - Paris, FR
6.30.16 - Urban Spree - Berlin, GER
7.2.16 - Castle Palooza - Tullamore, IE
7.9.16 - Ottawa Blues Festival - Ottawa, ONT
8.27.16 - FYF Fest - Los Angeles, CA
10.8.16 - Danforth Music Hall - Toronto, ON

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Statement from A Tribe Called Quest on the death of Malik I. Taylor - Press Release

Statement from A Tribe Called Quest on the death of Malik I. Taylor p.k.a Phife Dawg The 5 ft. Assassin:

Our hearts are heavy. We are devastated. This is something we weren't prepared for although we all know that life is fleeting. It was no secret about his health and his fight. But the fight for his joy and happiness gave him everything he needed. The fight to keep his family happy, his soul happy and those around him happy, gave him complete and unadulterated joy... until he heeded his fathers call.

We love his family his mother, his father, his son, his wife, his nieces, his family here in New York, Atlanta, California and Trinidad.

Thank you for the outpouring of prayers and support from the fans, fellow artists, music outlets, blogs, radio stations, DJ's, social media and the music community at large. This too is part of his joy and means a lot to him. His family is overwhelmed by the support, well wishes and are thankful. His music and what he's contributed is seismic and hard to measure. He's affected us as much as he's affected all of you. We're inspired by his daily joy and courage. He wasn't in pain. He was happy.

We take comfort in knowing he will be beside his grandmother. 

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