Eruption Artistique links with The Smackbar

Coming out of Rotterdam, Eruption Artistique is a collective that shakes with energy, colour and collaboration. Formed during the isolating days of the pandemic, the group began as a convergence of musicians, filmmakers and actors drawn together by a shared passion for rock music and a desire to create something engaging, strange and uncompromisingly original. Musicians Bas and Sara, alongside filmmakers Jean Paul Gummo, Mike and Vinnie forged a space where sound and vision collide into something at once nostalgic and forward-thinking.

Their influences such as The Doors, The Velvet Underground, The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dandy Warhols serve fuel for their own surrealist brand of rock n’ roll expression. Their 2020 debut release, For the Twisted, by the Twisted, introduced the collective’s peculiar and politically charged world via a three-track outing that paired biting indie rock with a love for tolerance, equality and creative freedom. Within the fuzzed-out guitars and hypnotic rhythms, Eruption Artistique’s mission is to challenge conservatism, reject racism and reclaim the joy of artistic rebellion.

It’s that same spirit of collaborative chaos that led to their creative partnership with fellow Rotterdam-based band The Smackbar. The connection feels natural; both groups share a taste for the offbeat, the eccentric and the defiantly unique. The Smackbar, led by producer, multi-instrumentalist and singer Emil, known for his work with Fuck the Writer and Eiland, brings together a trio of visionary minds alongside folk singer Sara and alternative songwriter and history teacher Bas. Together with filmmaker Jean Paul Gummo and actors Mike, Vinnie and Ed, they create what can only be described as lively, off-kilter rock n’ roll art.

Their latest creation comes with their new single titled “Donnie Giovanni,” a raucous garage rock outing complete with a bizarre, high-energy video that carries a strong anti-bullfighting message. The track roars with the punch of classic garage rock, wrapped in a layer of tongue-in-cheek absurdity that entertains and provokes in equal measure. It’s fast, loud and gloriously unrefined, presenting a reminder that rock n’ roll can still be art, activism and mischief all at once.

Every element of their output is homegrown and handcrafted from the costumes, props, puppets to the special effects, while the music is written, recorded, mixed and mastered entirely within Emil’s Charlatan Studio. Landing with a burst of gritty distorted guitars, bright trumpet tones ring out above the uptempo punch of kick drum as the arrangement jumps into a charging rock n’ roll jam cut with slick guitar lines, splashing drums and stretched organ textures.

Capped by hazy, processed vocals, the track flows with split vocal leads and instilled with punk attitude, catchy songwriting and pure rock swagger, “Donnie Giovanni” serves up an engrossing musical voyage brimming with thrilling energy. It’s an spectacular slice of Eruption Artistique and The Smackbar’s fiercely unique creative offering, delivering a sonic rollercoaster from start to finish. Bringing the song alive on screen, the music video lays down a gripping, monochrome experience that stitches shots of the bands performing the song with intense, subtly abstract moments that pairs metaphorical scenes with footage of bullfighting to make an emphatic artistic statement.

Watch the music video for Donnie Giovanni below

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