Submission Hold | en

Formed in 1993, Vancouver agit-punk band Submission Hold is now in its second decade of creating and disseminating provocative sounds and challenging dialogue. Fusing experimental punk sounds with free-improv, eastern folk, chamber music and radically political lyrics, Submission Hold has created a style all their own. Dubbed "post-genre" by Pop Matters magazine, Submission Hold has often been held in the same regard as bands like Fugazi, Sonic Youth and legendary Dutch noise-makers The Ex. Over the past eleven years Submission Hold has played in more than twenty countries, as well as every major Canadian city and many more smaller towns along the way. While maintaining the core group of vocalist Jen Throw-Up, guitarist Stephen Flach, bassist Andy Healey and Kenton Loewen on the drums, they have made many musical collaborations over the years. One long standing connection is with U.K. based flutist Kirsten Elliott. Elliott first appeared in 1997 on Submission Hold's "Progress (...as if survival mattered)" and is featured live and on record with the band, when her busy schedule permits. Other notable collaborations have been in the guise of the band's improvisational alter-ego, The Din. The Din is pure improvised music and tends to make rare appearances on Submission Hold tours. While retaining a DIY spirit, The Din has played with such internationally renowned players as the American percussionist Gino Robair (Tom Waits, John Zorn, Splatter Trio), local Vancouverite Ken Morrisson (Robert Reigle's Surrealestate) and in Aalborg, Denmark the group was honoured to be led by the avant guard Dutch conductor Gert-Jan Polderman, to name just a few. Submission Hold has over 15 official releases. Their music and ideas have been released on their own label, Allium, as well as the Goleta, California based Ebullition Records, England's Flat Earth, Civolentia Violenta from Argentina and Radio 1, a record label from Melbourne, Australia. Their records have also been re-released on small, independent labels from Indonesia to Poland to Brazil and many places in between. .