PESTILENCE’s Joost van der Graaf Explores Medieval Dancing Plagues w/ Experimental Prog/Funk ProjectCHOREOMANIC
Streaming First Single “Time To Let It Out”
Self-Titled Debut Out February 18, 2022
CHOREOMANIC saw the light when the world came to a halt in spring 2020 due to the Covid pandemic. With canceled tours and no local gigs, musician Joost van der Graaf (Pestilence, Dew-Scented, I CHAOS) started writing music in which different influences from his past came together.
“I had just joined Pestilence and was busy with the material, preparing for a beautiful US tour with Possessed. Then the pandemic struck. Tour canceled everything on hold. I suddenly had a lot of time on my hands with all the other work canceled as well (music school closed, no more local gigs) so I decided to record a punk album to get rid of some of the frustration and anger that had built up inside. What I started writing had little to do with punk though… It was pretty spontaneous from the start and all I knew was that I wanted to create heaviness without any guitars.” says Graaf.
Somewhere halfway through the material, Graaf got the crazy idea to incorporate horns. He had never written music for horns ever before so he started experimenting with that.
“That’s probably the greatest joy when creating music: having no idea what you’re doing! Being pleasantly surprised by the total sound, I decided to stay on this path. It resulted in something I never thought I would ever do, but apparently, I just did…. Why not go all the way then? Honestly? I’m not even sure there ARE any fans for this, but I do know that listeners of Pestilence for instance, or of one of the other death metal bands I was part of, will probably be a bit surprised at least. I like to think that crazy people (like myself) will appreciate this.” adds Graaf.As soon as the material was ready to record, Graaf reached out to some great musicians friends to help him complete the project. He recruited drummer Koen Herfst (VandenBerg, I CHAOS, Dew-Scented), keyboardist Thijs Ronteltap (Disuse, Epistulum), saxophonist Tommie Freke (Gallow Street), trombonist Jeroen Verberne (Sjef’s Special) along with trumpeter and bugler Gidon Nunes Vaz. Once the full-length was mixed and mastered at Nutsville Noiselab, The Hague, the self-titled debut “CHOREOMANIC” was a fact and ready to take on the world.The album features twelve bass-orientated tracks experimenting in realms of prog, funk, and everything else on the planet that has musically inspired Graaf over his thirty-plus year career. The full length’s lyrical concept explores Choreomania, an uncontrollable urge to dance, especially in a frenzied, convulsive manner also known as the Medieval Dancing plagues. Graaf explains in further detail:
“In 2019, I became pretty obsessed by the mysterious dancing plagues of the middle-ages. I started reading different studies, learning about the different theories about the cause. It’s still one of the biggest unsolved mysteries in history! One of the theories that made the most sense to me is that people had been suppressed by the ruling class (church, inquisition) for generations. There was collective fear of God and let’s not forget about the black plague! So there was this anxiety relief at a certain point that became infectious and caused convulsions and psychotic dancing, resulting in exhaustion, dehydration, and even death. It spread across Europe and there were large gatherings in towns and villages with frantically dancing people, accompanied by traveling musicians and all kinds of interested parties. These things sometimes became true festivals with people selling food, etc. With today’s reality, the phenomenon seems to have become relevant once again! This project is not only a musical statement, but also a call to action against (cultural) oppression. May everyone move and create in freedom!”
Recommended for fans of Mr. Bungle, Zappa, John Zorn, Infectious Grooves, and Brian Setzer Orchestra, CHOREOMANIC is due out February 18, 2022.
Digital pre-save is available at https://emubands.ffm.to/choreomanic and limited edition CD pre-order at https://choreomanic.bandcamp.com.
CHOREOMANIC‘s debut single “Time To Let It Out” can be heard and viewed via Graaf’s bass playthrough video at https://youtu.be/VZpFI2A9yoU
Track Listing:
1. This Is Not A Drill (3:50)
2. Spun Sugar (2:45)
3. What You Get (3:26)
4. Red Flags (2:26)
5. Choreomanic (2:17)
6. Walk With Urgency (2:33)
7. Off With The Figurehead (2:18)
8. Time To Let It Out (2:08)
9. Calling God (4:28)
10. Take The Money Give It To Me Now (2:31)
11. Story About The Moon (2:46)
12. Away From The Sun (5:52)
Album Length: 37:25
Album Recording Credits:
• All songs performed by: CHOREOMANIC
• All songs written by: Joost van der Graaf
• Produced by: Michiel Eilbracht & Joost van der Graaf
• Mixed by: Michiel Eilbracht
• Mastered by: Michiel Eilbracht
• Album Artwork by: Yvo Sprey Album Recording Band Line Up:
Thijs Ronteltap – Keys
Jeroen Verberne – Trombone
Tommie Freke – Saxophone
Gidon Nunes Vaz – Trumpet & Bugle
Koen Herfst – Drums
Joost van der Graaf – Bass, Sampling, Voice & Percussion
For more info:
Choreomanic.com
Facebook.com/choreomanic
Instagram.com/choreomanic
About:
Dutch bassist Joost van der Graaf (1973) has been active in music since he was fourteen years old. In the early 90’s he toured Europe for the first time, as a bass player/ vocalist in Creepmime (Mascot Records), to promote the album ‘Chiaroscuro’. After Creepmime he studied music in Amsterdam and became a working musician, performing and teaching.
In the new millennium, Joost co-formed I CHAOS (RITF records, Suburban distr.) The band released two albums: ‘The Human Repellent’ and ‘Masterbleeder’. In this period he was also a stand-in bassist for Sinister, touring Russia.
In 2012, he became a permanent member of GermanThrashers Dew-Scented (Metalblade), releasing three full-lengths with them up to 2018: ‘Icarus’, ‘Insurgent’ & ‘Intermination’. The band toured extensively through Europe but also in Japan, together with renowned bands from the international metal scene (Testament, Exodus, Death Angel, and others).
Joost teaches ‘Bass Skills’ and ‘Band Development’ at The Metal Factory in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. Since 2019 he proudly plays with Dutch iconic act Pestilence (Agonia Records) appearing on the album ‘Exitivm’.
In 2020, he started working on his own project CHOREOMANIC, in which different musical influences from his past come together. Obviously one of these influences is metal, but also other styles like funk & prog.
His self-titled debut album CHOREOMANIC will be out on February 18, 2022.
Joost van der Graaf’s Discography:
2022 – Choreomanic – Self-Titled (Self-Release)
2021 – Pestilence – Exitivm (Agonia Records)
2015 – Dew-Scented – Intermination (Metal Blade Records)
2015 – Dew-Scented – Immersed – 7#split EP (Metal Blade Records)
2015 – I Chaos – Masterbleeder (RITF Records/Suburban Distribution)
2013 – Dew-Scented – Insurgent (Metal Blade Records)
2012 – Dew-Scented – Icarus (Metal Blade Records)
2011 – I Chaos – The Human Repellent (RITF Records/Suburban Distribution)
2009 – I Chaos – Self-Titled – EP (Self-Release)
2008 – Cypher – MMVIII – EP (Self-Release)
1995 – Creepmime – Chiaroscuro (Mascot Records)
Endorsed by:
Ibanez , Peavey, Tech 21, DR Strings, Rock n Soul
