Ugly Kid Joe (US)
Rock / Hard Rock / Garage

21h00 - UGLY KID JOE: is a rock band that formed in Isla Vista, California in 1990. The band’s name is a pun on the glam hair band PRETTY BOY FLOYD. Unlike other garage bands, UKJ’s sound touches on a range of styles, including: hard rock, southern, funk, rap and thrash. In conclusion to the band’s overall sound and vision, the members of the band have cited many times, that they are simply a manifestation of their environment and lifestyles — mounting from their geographic location of Southern California. UKJ enjoyed popularity in the early to mid 1990s with their mix of sarcastic humor and metal sound. Their logo is a cartoon embodiment of an “ugly kid” wearing a backward baseball hat and giving the finger. UGLY KID JOE first gained success with “..Everything About You..,” which peaked at number three on the Billboard Top 100 Singles chart [enjoying 20 weeks on the charts] and was later used in the movie ..Wayne’s World. The debut E.P. “As Ugly As They Wanna Be” sold two million copies making it the highest selling debut E.P. of all time. The positive response to the band’s live performance of HARRY CHAPIN’s “..Cat’s in the Cradle..” prompted a studio version and was subsequently released as a well-received single that sold over 500,000 copies in the United States alone and spent 20 weeks (peaking at number six) on the BB Top 100 Singles chart.

Stefke van Namen (BE)
Rock / Indie / Pop

By the end of the eighties, New Beat was born as a real new musical style here in Belgium and in the rest of Europe. At this time, I felt a real passion for these underground parties with few lights, huge sound systems (SARTEC woofers were on top those days) which would always take place in parking lots or old empty factories...  

 

I met in the summer of 1992 David Dantinne (r.i.p mate) who had begun to animate some parties in the Namur suburbs and he showed me the way. One year later, with the help of Dimitri Brandt, Dominique Henrion (both were schoolmates) and Axel Van Weynendaele, we built "Carpe Noctem" and for 2 years we made our first steps in djing.... Due to life events, we split up.  

 

I was the only one who continued and after a short break, I have been contacted in 1996 by Thomas Pierson from at the time best "mobile" in our region, the legendary "Zéro de Conduite". We were a group of 5 (Javier Gonzalez, Nicolas & Thomas Pierson, Nicolas Hughes Dessambre) and I can say that it's to the contact of these party boys that I really progressed, technically as well as humanly.  

 

Since 2001, more and more friends from the north part of Belgium (for the ones who don't know, there are 3 communities in Belgium who respectively speak Dutch, French and German) called me "Stefke van Namen" (In Dutch, it means: Stefke from Namur), and after a short reflection I thought why not ? There is already a "Jack de Marseille" and "Dimitri from Paris" ;-)

 

Influences, mainly : The Specials, The Cure, Pixies, Front 242, Radio 4, Placebo, Blur, My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Depeche Mode, Joshua, The Vaccines, Champion, Parade Ground, The Cranes, Garbage, Muse, Iggy Pop, Franz Ferdinand, The Human League, Martha & the Muffins, Madness, dEUS, The Clash, Balkan Beat Box, Arid, Sex Pistols, Kaiser Chiefs, Bran van 3000, Etienne Daho, Organic, The Smiths, UB40, Arctic Monkeys, Lily Allen, The Jam, Kasabian, The Streets, Happy Mondays, ...