“We’re Here With You” – Preorder & Snippets

Black Friday is not over yet, but the news still keep coming. From now on, you are able to preorder the new album at Amazon or iTunes. The band is currently working on making the album internationally available on Amazon, in case you do not want to preorder at the German store. On iTunes, you can listen to 1:30 min snippets of all songs of We’re Here With You, so you have something to hold on to until January!

“We’re Here With You” Cover Artwork

After a while of teasing by the band and Daniel from Tiefdruck Musik, the reason behind it was revealed today. In the latest Systeme de Street Mail, the band presented the artwork for their new album We’re Here With You, to be released on January 23, 2012. Feel free to leave your thoughts on the artwork in the comments!

EDIT: HERE at iTunes you can listen to 1:30 min. samples of all album songs – and of course we can warmly recommend doing this. Whoever wants to have a physical copy of the album, can preorder it at Amazon for only 13,99 €. Right now, the preorder is only possible in Germany, but Amazon USA and Amazon UK will follow and we will keep you up-to-date in that issue. Go preorder – you won’t regret it! ;)

JULIEN-K Tour Recap Video!

The previous tours in Europe have always been great experiences both for the JULIEN-K band members and the entire crew, and of course for the fans as well. In order to revive these beautiful memories in a visual way, the band made a new video including some of the best scenes of past tours – accompanied by the “Fail With Grace” version of the upcoming Systeme de Street Sessions V.1 Vinyl EP that you can still preorder HERE.

Have fun with the video – and please share it with all friends!

Julien-K Germany & the Chapter ORGY

Hey folks!

In the past (click HERE for the post) we had already reported that Jay Gordon plans on reviving the project ORGY with the original name – however WITHOUT Ryan and Amir or any other original member. In this context, we had also stated that we from JULIEN-K GERMANY do not support this decision as we cannot consider the band to be ORGY without any of the other founding members. For us – as well as for the remaining ex-members – ORGY had always been a creative union of FIVE persons that collectively put a lot of blood, ambition, valuable input, and a lot of time and effort into the band. We don’t see how Jay Gordon could reinflame this creative spark in the context of a whole new line-up. We also can’t come up with any reasons of non-commercial nature that could have made Jay Gordon think of reviving the project under the commonly known name ORGY because – hands down – this doesn’t have to do anything with the original ORGY anymore.

We therefore clearly want to disassociate from any future activities that Jay Gordon does under the name ORGY. Any posts about ORGY will only be limited to the time spent with the original line-up – you will not read anything about the “new” ORGY on this site!

And yes: You can imagine how painful it is to follow suit and decide for one side – especially if we don’t know all details. We also don’t want to dig deeper but we’re just staying true to the fact that we, the team in and around JULIEN-K GERMANY, all share the view that ORGY is just not ORGY anymore without the participation of four (!) of five original members. Thus, any post about the new project would not feel right at all.

This is also the view of the JULIEN-K members who are currently struggling with this situation and their disappointment about it. Whoever wants to read Ryan’s and Amir’s views to the whole issue (and maybe wants to share some motivating words with them), can do it HERE (Ryan #1), HERE (Ryan #2), and HERE (Amir) tun.

Cheers!
Your JULIEN-K GERMANY Team

SDS Sessions v.1

SDS Members

Tuesday, August 9, somewhere at a studio in rainy Hamburg. A group of fans from all over Germany and even Europe has met up to be part of a small exclusive event: Julien-K is recording a new EP and we were allowed to watch and listen.

Daniel from Tiefdruck Musik was already expecting us at the entrance to accompany us into one of the upper floors where the studio was located. In the elevator which faintly smelled like wet dog, we were handed passes and lanyards specifically designed for this session. Those would be a nice collector’s item for sure! Additionally, we received an introduction to the schedule, what we had to look out for and that we should avoid turning the million dollar equipment into a pile of dust.

In the tremendously equipped studio, in which you could find devices that The Beatles already used for recording, we were awaited by the band and the rest of the Tiefdruck crew. Daniel gave us a short tour around the studio. Supreme Commander Ryan Shuck meanwhile, armed with a rifle guitar, risked his own life to keep the fans safe from possible mass murderers in the studio by bravely walking ahead with his “weapon,“ securing our path.

Ryan

Once it became clear that neither maniacs nor terrorists were hiding inbetween the amps, the session could start. We had the opportunity to stay in the room with the band, plugging into the band member’s individual monitoring via headphones and hear what they hear while recording. It was very different at each station and every time interesting to hear. The other possibility was to retreat to the mixing room and hear live how the end results would probably sound on the vinyl. You have to note that the special feature of this session was Julien-k deciding to go “old-school” for the recording process of the vinyl EP, i.e. the band was playing in a room together and the track was recorded straight on tape. Nowadays it’s common for every band member to record his own track seperately and the best ones being digitally fused into one song. If there is still a mistake in the fourth take or if one of the people cough on the best recording, it is recorded on tape and might even end up on the final product. Because of that, it was suggested that we keep the level of noise to a minimum while the band was playing, and also turn off our cellphones. You may now guess whose went off anyway – exactly, the band’s. Conveniently enough only when a track was just finished.

Ryan with his guitar

By means of showing up, the Systeme de Street members could decide the first song to be recorded and the majority wanted to start with “Dregs Of The World”, which will not be included on the new album We’re Here With You, by the way. With our analogue disposable cameras ready to go, we were set on our task – take a pile of pictures to comemorate the day, and the best ones might even end up in the artwork of the release. A professional photographer was present as well to support us enthusiastic laymen, capturing the spectacle with a DSLR and a polaroid camera. After the first take we played a game of swap-the-headphones so that everybody would get a chance to listen to as many different settings as possible during the session. “Dregs Of The World” was followed up by the Vandal cover of “Fail With Grace”, which was already well-known from the tour. After playing and recording the song a few times, it was time for a break. We drank, chatted, joked, and ordered Pizza when the majority turned out to be starving. To pass the time until delivery, the band dedicated themselves to recording the Headcleanr remix of “Someday Soon”, delayed by Ryan unable to remember the actual lyrics to the song. Funny enough, everybody had a temporary blackout so that Ryan had to look up the text on the laptop before things could get started. The following recording went smoothly; watching the band interacting with each other and the producer handling the knobs was truly fascinating for us being a bunch of laymen. You don’t see professional recording processes every day.

The delivery of real food imposed another break and the people present devoured the delivered goods like a pack of starving wolves. We enjoyed our late lunch (or early dinner?) and had a lot of fun – hijinks included, of course with Elias as one of the main initiators. The recording of the “Maestro” Koma + Bones Remix filled in the last part of the session, during which Fu managed to play wrong notes so often that he had to be put on the “box of shame” in order to finish his part! ;)

Fu & Elias

“Maestro” might have been the last recording, but the band was not finished with us yet and spontaneously decided that we should hear a few new songs from the new album that no fan had heard before, among which were “Flashpoint Riot” and “Close Continuance.” The hunt for the correct cable, input and sound system prolonged the beginning of the listening experience but definitely managed to build up the excitement so that the whole team reverently listened to the new material. The only disturbances were caused by Ryan who – in an onslaught of perfectionism – profusely apologized several times for the sound and the unfinished state of the songs. Not that anybody would have thought of complaining in the first place…

After this special listening session, the event was slowly coming to an end with everybody engaging in conversation before Daniel gently, but firmly dismissed everybody from the studio, as the band still had a lot of work to do. This was the end to an exceptional day that everybody will surely remember for a long time.

SDS Members

Last but not least a few words from some of the Systeme de Street members on how they experienced the session:

Tanja Dombrowski: “It was so interesting to experience the work in a studio. I’ve never been to one before, and witnessing a real recording at the same time was incomparable. Also, the band and Tiefdruck Musik gave us such a warm welcome and took great care of us. We could always ask questions and move around freely. The idea to hand out disposable cameras was ingenious; I’m so excited for the pictures and the ones that will make it onto the artwork of the vinyl. Maybe there’s even one of mine among them? It was a wonderful day that showed once again that Julien-K and Tiefdruck are different from others and really live up to #being connected with their fans.’”

Stefano Carlino: “It was great to see how a recording can go; that everybody experiences it differently and constant interaction takes place if something goes wrong. Even more, talking to the band, asking them nearly everything, eating pizza with them and raising our glasses together – that alone was worth the money and I’m very curious how the pictures will turn out and how the EP as a whole will be in the end.”

Jonas Breunig: “At first, I thought four songs would not be a lot but the time just flew by. It was very interesting to see the band in a studio setting; how they record, how much effort went into into it and all that in a relaxed atmosphere among friends! We were able to move around freely in the studio, experience everything first-hand and even tune in into what the band was hearing during the recording via headphones. All in all, it was a wonderful afternoon in a studio with an amazing band – you couldn’t ask for more. A unique experience! I’m excited about the pictures and the finished product. A big thank-you goes to Daniel who made all of this possible: You’re the best!”

Lukasz: “I had a wonderful time. I didn’t expect that the band and the Julien-K crew would treat me like a VIP. Chats about ordinary stuff, meals, having fun – it was unbelievable for me. Everyone had a big opportunity to see ‘how it works’ in a studio…and I’m not only talking about the methods of recording but also about the atmosphere, interaction between the band, the producer, and the fans. This was one of the best events in my life!”

Janek Zech: “Being in the studio with Julien-K to record a new EP was awesome! First off, I really liked the remixes and ‘Fail With Grace’ a lot when I heard them on the tour and I would have been excited to hear they were being recorded professionally. It came true and I was even able to be there! The atmosphere in the studio was great. It was a lot of fun to hang out with my friends, the band, and the people from Tiefdruck Musik. And there were the actual recordings, too! Standing right next to Ryan, Amir, Fu, and Elias while they were playing their parts was so cool! Taking pictures with the disposable cameras was great as well; I hope some of mine will find their way into the artwork. Thanks a lot to the band and Daniel for this amazing experience!”

SDS Sessions v.1

The vinyl EP SDS Sessions v.1 is strictly limited and only available for fans through the official merch store. That already makes it a collector’s item! As a contrast to the analogously recorded songs and the retro pictures taken by the fans we got a very futuristic cover artwork by Berlin artist Amrei Hofstätter whose art already found its way into the renowned Vogue magazine.

The tracklist contains “Dregs Of The World”, “Fail With Grace”, “Someday Soon” (Headcleanr Remix), and “Maestro” (Koma + Bones Remix). Along with the EP, you’ll receive a digital download code so that the fans without a record player can enjoy the songs, too!

Tracklist for WHWY // SDS Message Board // Merch

Biggest news first: The track for the new Julien-K album We’re Here With You, to be released on January 23, 2012, has now arrived. The album will contain the following ten songs:

01. We’re Here With You
02. Surrounded By Cowards
03. Cruel Daze Of Summer
04. Breakfast In Berlin
05. Palm Springs Reset
06. Colorcast
07. Close Continuance
08. Nights Of Future Past
09. Flashpoint Riot
10. I’ll Try Not To Destroy You

Some tracks might sound familiar to some fans because they have already been played at shows. And whoever noticed with sad eyes that the great song “Dregs Of The World” will not appear on We’re Here With You should stop being sad and rather place an order for the EP SDS Sessions v.1 as the song will be included in it. The EP is not only for those who own record players, by the way – it comes with a digital download code!

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We also want to point out that the official Systeme de Street message board is now only, replacing the old official Julien-K message board that literally got killed with all the spam. So if you feel like communicating with fans from all corners of the world and also the band and the crew members, you should go and take a look at it!

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For all Amazon orderers, there is an additional option to purchase JK merch because HERE you can also get band shirts now! Right now this can only be done in the German store, but stores of other countries will follow soon! If you have an own homepage, you can also use the Amazon affiliate program in order to promote the merchandise!

Release Date for “We’re Here With You” Has Been Revealed!

The date that everybody had been waiting for impatiently has finally come in: The release date of the second Julien-K album We’re Here With You will be January 23, 2012!

“The release of these news had been put on hold until we could be absolutely sure that we can adhere to the date!

So now we will start with the PR activities for the new album. Within the next days, weeks and months until the release, we will give out a lot of information – and of course a lot more stuff. Doing so, we need your support in order to spread the news about the new album. Soon we will share news about the cover artwork and the first single with you. We are working on the final tracklist as we speak, and can’t wait for you to listen to the new songs for the first time! And of course we’re also working on new shows!!”

Until the album comes out, you can get an appetizer with the soon-to-be-released vinyl EP Systeme de Street Sessions v.1 that you can already preorder HERE!

(Deutsch) Cover der SDS Session EP enthüllt // Interview mit Elias // Heaven Below-Video

Sorry, this entry is only available in Deutsch.

UK Leg of the European Tour cancelled!

Due to unforeseeable circumstances, that are out of the responsability of the promoters and Julien-K, we are forced to reschedule i.e. cancel our final leg of our European tour in the United Kingdom.

We feel very sorry that we had to make this decision but we only heard about this on the weekend. We tried hard over the last two days to find a way to make this still possible, but we did not find a solution for the circumstances.

We sincerly believe that our fans will understand and we promise to make up for our UK fans as soon as possible.

We will be back – very soon.

Julien-K
Ryan, Amir, Fu & Elias

The show for London will be rescheduled, with a new date to be announced. Tickets will stay valid for that new show, and we hope to give you more information soon.
The Infest festival promoter and Julien-K are looking into the possibility to get Julien-K onto the Infest bill for 2012.
The Glasgow concert will be cancelled without replacement at this point. Tickets can be returned to your local ticket shops.

(Deutsch) Weitere Show in Schottland bestätigt!

Sorry, this entry is only available in Deutsch.