The Ex

It made sense that in the summer of 1999, the 10th anniversary show of the current line-up of The Ex took place in Amsterdam and included Shellac as well as a host of great experimental Dutch bands and performers. Shellac's Steve Albini [Tape Op #87] has been a loyal fan of The Ex for years. Why? Because The Ex have developed their sound so meticulously over the years, through rigorous touring and recording and maintaining their steadfast politic, that it is hard to liken The Ex to any other band ever.

The Ex solder political poetry to searing guitars, driving bass and mesmerizing, tribal drums. Since 1979, they have changed members and adapted their sound over and over again, but somehow the band has steered a rock-solid-punk political course supporting freethinking and social critique. They have always toured with and supported dissident underground, punk, and avant-garde musicians, as well as with politically outspoken bands and artists over the years, to name a few: Dog Faced Hermans, God is my Co Pilot, Tom Cora, Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo, Ab Baars, most recently with Chicago post-rockers Tortoise. The Ex have toured in Europe and in the US regularly, and have released countless numbers of recordings. The Ex's popularity in the USA led to an offer from independent label Touch & Go in Chicago, to record with Steve Albini for 1998 releaseStarters Alternators. The Ex's live shows — visceral sonic attacks of part-improv-part-scored music, to the ecstatic energy proportions of Zorn's Painkillers — lead one to wonder, how on earth does such a band approach recording?

I had the chance recently to sit down for an interview with Andy Moor, one of The Ex's two guitarists. Originally from the UK, Andy was the guitarist in Dog Faced Hermans and joined The Ex in the early '90s. He became a full-time member in '95 (when Dog Faced Hermans unfortunately split up). Andy's highly-creative style of playing guitar uniquely combines avant-garde techniques with punk rock. By adding pieces of metal to contort his old Fender guitar (a la Fred Frith), and by using unusual tunings and volume control, Andy avoids using affects pedals or other devices to achieve wide ranges of incredible guitar sounds (a la Steve Albini). On a typical sunny/rainy February day in Amsterdam, I biked over to meet with Andy. We spoke for two hours, surrounded by tea pots, a wilily rigged archaic 4-track, an old stereo, piles of cassettes and CDs and Andy's two guitars.