Jan - guitars/backing vox Christoph - guitars Jan - bass Pascal - vox Jan - drums
Influences
Everything. We come from different backgrounds, so we are influenced by lots of different things. All of us listen to various types of music, so you might find a little bit of everything in our songs...
Sounds Like
A Modest Proposal would fit on a mixtape with bands like The Weakerthans, Hot Water Music, Jawbreaker, Samiam or Fine Before You Came
And this is what it looks like when we play on stage. Filmed during various gigs over a couple of years.
"No Action Left In This"
Let's see, where do we start this off? Well, back in the days Cologne was bustling with activity in the punk and hardcore scene and there were bands popping up, playing shows and disbandening again in only a short amount of time. When one band ended the members had another project immediately. And although the big punkrock institution known as the Rhenania was closed in 1995 there were a decent number of places where shows took place, most memorable the rehearsal room of Cologne's finest YAGE, where small gigs were set up for small bands. Quite a few people showed up there to see bands who now make it to the charts.
Out of this scene AMODESTPROPOSAL emerged in 1998. Originally rehearsing at a market place in the south of Cologne we found together while attending lots of shows. This is where we got the idea to start our own band. We rehearsed quite a bit, you could say. It almost took us two years to play our first set but that was also due to some line up changes before we actually hit the big stage.
Originally we were known as THE S*T*A*R*S ON 45, a name we stole from some dutch disco project who had some chart success in the 1980s. We even recorded a demo CD under that name entitled „For Friends And Collectors“ in 2000. But we soon got fed up with stealing a name and wanted to come up with something more original. So now we are AMODESTPROPOSAL, a name we took from english literature and not from a YOUTH BRIGADE song. Now go figure...
Since then we recorded a CD in 2001 entitled „...Of Memories And Dreams“ (Strange Fruit Records) and played some shows here and there alongside some friends of ours. For example we were really thankful when FREE YOURSELF asked us to join in on a 4 day trip to the south of Germany. Or we were thrilled when we got to share the stage with the wonderful WEAKERTHANS in Aachen. We really loved to play at the KTS in Freiburg, and we still do. We even managed to book a one week tour with ZEIDUN from Barcelona, a very memorable experience.
In 2004 we figured that it was time to record another CD but it took us a long time to get the whole thing done. But, as they say, good things come to those who wait (and work, obviously), we finally have the finished product waiting for us. „Direct Action Beats Legislation“ (Endless Grind Records) is something we are very proud of since it's something we did completely by ourselves. With a little help from some of our friends, of course, since we are not that good at painting, drawing or turning knobs and pushing buttons in a studio. The songs, the artwork, the producing, the recording, the manufacturing, the label, the distribution, it's all in our hands. It's not like we planned it to turn out this way, but then again, when in need you still go back to your old punk ethics and really do it yourself, don't you. So there we have a circle to the beginning of our story. Right from where we started we still do things in the way we liked it back then. And believe us, we still like it that way.
Thanks for listening
-AMODESTPROPOSAL
PS Oh, and there are three Jans in the band, it's true!
Discography
"Songs on 33" 7" EP
(released on LoLiLa in 2009, limited to 500 copies)
"Direct Action Beats Legislation" full length CD
(released on Endless Grind Records in 2007)
"...Of Memories And Dreams" full length CD
(released on Strange Fruit Records in 2001)
"For Friends And Collectors" Mini-CD
(self-released Demo CD. First edition limited to 100 copies)
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