Exile On Mainstream's 20th Anniversary at Roadburn 2019

November 15, 2018

Exile on Mainstream Records is celebrating twenty years of existence with us at Roadburn 2019. The iconic label has released almost 90 records over the past two decades after starting out with modest plans to release friends’ music and see where it went. Well, it went well!

The label’s history is somewhat entwined with our own; in fact they celebrated their 15th birthday with us too! We guess we make good cake! Long term Roadburners will no doubt have rattled a few crates alongside label head honcho, Andreas Kohl, who is a regular face in the merch area of Roadburn.

Exile on Mainstream will commandeer the Hall of Fame on Saturday, April 13, and the following bands will perform:

OSTINATO

Andreas: “If someone would have told me when we registered Exile On Mainstream on April 1st 1999 as company that I will be writing this almost 20 years later I honestly wouldn’t have believed it. How time flies! So let’s celebrate! Like… MASSIVE – on the menu will be six acts illustrating the history of the label as well as its attitude and eclectic approach. We’ve never felt a limitation for a musical style nor scene, although we feel bound to a strong D.I.Y. ethos and focus on true art. Something that Exile On Mainstream always shared with Roadburn.”

“The line up will reflect this: I met Walter for the first time in 2004, precisely on June 26th when I was touring with The Hidden Hand and Ostinato at the Sojo Club in Leuven, Belgium. We had just released Ostinato’s first album and the band was on the brink of becoming one of the leading forces in the instrumental post-rock wave that also brought us bands like ISIS and Red Sparowes. The band called it quits in 2009 and will now return, almost exactly 10 years later for some special one-off shows celebrating the anniversary with us.”

NOISEPICKER

“Since 2004 I have never lost touch with Walter and Exile On Mainstream became one of the early partners of Roadburn, providing gear and love ever since. The first Roadburn Festival I attended was the 2006 edition with the band End Of Level Boss, whose guitar player Harry Armstrong, also of Hangnail-, Decomposed- and Earls Of Mars fame will bless Roadburn with his new outfit Noisepicker, remarking a surely triumphant return to our beloved festival.”

CONNY OCHS

 “Also on the bill will be Conny Ochs, who has been playing Roadburn already four times, solo and with Scott “Wino” Weinrich and as part of our 15 years anniversary show on Roadburn 2014.”

TREEDEON

Andreas: “The history of Exile On Mainstream is strongly intervowen with Roadburn Festival and I am happy and thrilled to be able to celebrate our 20th birthday at the one festival that I still consider the best on the planet.

The 2014 showcase also introduced the mighty Treedeon, who left a fully packed Cul de Sac in awe, wanting more. Well, folks, here they are.”

 

BELLROPE

“Bellrope are also no unkowns to the Roadburn punters – the band’s predecessor Black Shape Of Nexus played Roadburn in 2008 and this particular set still ranges among the most intense performances I’ve seen in Tilburg.”

CONFUSION MASTER

“Completing the bill will be Confusion Master, one of Exile On Mainstream’s recent signings, delivering a whirlwind of psychedelic heavyness with attitude. We are pumped beyond belief for this show and are counting the days.”