G.W. Sok (born 1957, real name Jos Kleij) is a Dutch singer, best known for his 30-year career as the frontman of
the Ex. G.W. Sok left the Ex in 2008 to focus on a solo career and collaboration projects with other musicians, participation in theatre performances and
spoken word
Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...
performances. Apart from his musical career he is also active as a writer and a graphic designer.
Biography
After leaving the Ex, Sok started to collaborate with several acts among which the French experimental free jazz band Cannibales & Vahinés and the Italian band Zu. In 2010 the single "2-2-3 Fridges/Rid" appeared on Sickroom Records. He joined the Dutch collective Beukorkest on their 2011 tour.
In 2011 Sok released the book ''A Mix of Bricks & Valentines'', a 400-page collection of the Ex lyrics and other lyrics he wrote. Also in 2011 ''De Eeuwige Optie'' (The Everlasting Option) was published, an experimental film by SpOp featuring Sok as an actor. He also wrote the words for the film's ending track "Illusies". This track was also released as the 7-inch "Illusies 1 & 2" under the bandname Zoikle, consisting of Sok, guitarist
Lukas Simonis
Lukas Simonis is a Dutch guitarist, mainly active in experimental music and sound art. Besides his career as a musician he's also involved with the Rotterdam-based avant garde venue WORM. and runs the music lab of the venue.
Simonis published a ...
, cellist Nina Hitz, drummer Cor Hoogerdijk and Maarten van Gent on metal percussion.
A new band
King Champion Sounds was also formed, from the ashes of The Bent Moustache, the musical act of Krommenie-based, Kenya-born, UK-raised Ajay Saggar. This incarnation sees Saggar teaming up with Sok and, amongst others, Oli Heffernan (Year of Birds,
Shrug
A shrug is a gesture performed by raising both shoulders, and is a representation of an individual either being indifferent about something or not knowing an answer to a question. The shoulder-raising action may be accompanied by rotating the pa ...
) and has released four albums since 2013. In 2014 Sok published a double 10" with the UK noise act Action Beat.
Since 2015 Sok is member of the free-rock group Oiseaux-Tempête and is regularly joining live the collective founded by Frédéric D. Oberland & Stéphane Pigneul. Sok has contributed to the last four albums of the band.
Bibliography
* ''A Mix of Bricks & Valentines'' (2011, PM Press)
Discography
The Ex
*''
Disturbing Domestic Peace
''Disturbing Domestic Peace'' was the debut album from Dutch anarchist band The Ex.
Background
The Ex had formed and recorded their earliest material in 1979 during the heyday of the Dutch squatters movement. Following the band's release of t ...
'' (1980)
*''
History Is What's Happening
''History is What's Happening'' is the second album of songs by Dutch punk rock band The Ex, originally released in 1982.
Background
Released two year's after the band's first album, ''History is What's Happening'' comprises studio recording ...
'' (1982)
*''
Tumult'' (1983)
*''
Blueprints for a Blackout'' (1984)
*''
Pokkeherrie'' (1985)
*''
1936, The Spanish Revolution'' (1986)
*''
Too Many Cowboys
''Too Many Cowboys'' is the second double-album Dutch anarchist punk band The Ex. Released in 1987, it mixes live and studio recordings and marks the band's beginning of a collaboration with British anarchist group Chumbawamba.
Background
In ...
'' (1987)
*''
Hands Up! You're Free'' (1988)
*''
Aural Guerrilla'' (1988)
*''
Joggers and Smoggers'' (1989)
*''
6'' (1991)
*''
Scrabbling at the Lock'' (1991)
*''
And the Weathermen Shrug Their Shoulders
''And the Weathermen Shrug Their Shoulders'' is the second of two albums by Dutch punk band The Ex in collaboration with avant-garde cellist Tom Cora. Cora was acknowledged in the credits of earlier album '' Joggers and Smoggers'' but didn't ac ...
'' (1993)
*''
Instant
In physics and the philosophy of science, instant refers to an infinitesimal interval in time, whose passage is instantaneous. In ordinary speech, an instant has been defined as "a point or very short space of time," a notion deriving from its ety ...
'' (1995)
*''
Mudbird Shivers'' (1995)
*''
Starters Alternators'' (1998)
*''
Dizzy Spells'' (2001)
*''
Een Rondje Holland
''Een Rondje Holland'' is a live album by Ex Orkest, an orchestra made up of the Dutch post-punk band The Ex accompanied by 20 other musicians. The album features orchestral arrangements of previously released Ex songs (often with the band's stan ...
'' (2001)
*''
Turn'' (2004)
*''
Moa Anbessa
''Moa Anbessa'' is an album by Ethiopian saxophonist Getatchew Mekuria with Dutch post-punk band The Ex and guests, released in 2006 on The Ex's subsidiary label Terp.
Background
The project came together on the heels of The Ex's previous studi ...
'' (2006)
*''
30 Years of The Ex'' (2009)
King Champion Sounds
*''Different Drummer'' (2013, LP)
*''Songs for the Golden Hour'' (2014, 10"/CD)
*''To Awake in That Heaven of Freedom'' (2016, LP)
*''Fool Throttle/Debby'' (2017, 7", One Day)
*''For a Lark'' (2018, LP)
Oiseaux-Tempête
*''ÜTOPIYA?'' (2015, 2xLP)
*''Unworks & Rarities'' (2016, LP)
*''AL-'AN!'' (2017, 2xLP)
*''TARAB'' (2018, 2xLP)
Other collaborations
* ''2-2-3 Fridges/Rid'' (2010, with Oli Heffernan i.e. Detective Instinct)
* ''N.O.W.H.E.R.E'' (2012, with French group Cannibales & Vahinés)
* Action Beat & G.W. Sok – ''A Remarkable Machine'' (2014, Double 10, Ernest Jenning)
* Two Pin Din & G.W. Sok – ''Gifts, Milk And Things'' (2014, 2x7")
* ''Songs for a Free Body'' (2015, with Cannibales & Vahinés)
* Action Beat & G.W. Sok – ''The World Is Fucked But I Feel Fine'' (2017, MC, Econore)
* Zoikle – "Illusies 1 & 2" (2011, 7", with
Lukas Simonis
Lukas Simonis is a Dutch guitarist, mainly active in experimental music and sound art. Besides his career as a musician he's also involved with the Rotterdam-based avant garde venue WORM. and runs the music lab of the venue.
Simonis published a ...
)
* Surplus 1980 – "The World's Still Here" (featuring G.W. Sok) on the album ''Arterial Ends Here'' (2013)
* Detective Instinct – ''Black Floral'' (LP)
* Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp – ''Rotorotor'' (CD/LP)
References
External links
G.W. Sokat
Bandcamp
Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...
Oiseaux-Tempête bandcampKing Champion Sounds bandcamp
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sok, G.W.
1957 births
Living people
Dutch rock singers
Dutch male songwriters
Dutch songwriters
Dutch male poets
Musicians from Amsterdam
Punk rock musicians
People from Wormerland
The Ex (band) members