June of 44, a super-group collective with a rich underground lineage of members from beloved bands; Rodan, Lungfish, Codeine, Rex, Hoover and Shipping News, are back to play their first UK shows in over 20 years. Having recently been announced to perform on the Sunday of Supersonic Festival (10th July), they now announce a London show on Friday 8th of July, 2022, at 229. Tickets available here.
About their return the band comments: “It will have been 23 years since performing in the United Kingdom… so much life, too many wars, so much music, a few extraordinary babies, heart-breaking loss, real struggle, epic success, total failure – for all of us”.
Further commenting on their summer appearance at Supersonic Festival, they said:
“We’d been asked a few times throughout this very long period to reconvene for a short tour or special event in England, at no moment did it ever seem quite possible until Supersonic expressed interest in us for their 2020 edition. At the time, we had little knowledge of the festival – upon scratching the surface, it felt like the ideal place for us to re-emerge in the UK. There is an honest, gritty, hard-working, direct carefulness with the way it seems Supersonic has been built and continues to develop – in both its curation as well as its organisation. The approach resonates with us, it’s attractive and runs adjacent to the way June of 44 digs to construct itself. Additionally, we’d be remiss to not at the very least mention what an honour it will be to perform in the birthplace of such incomparable, deep inspirations as Black Sabbath, John Bonham… from Broadcast to Steel Pulse, so much extraordinary music has bloomed out of beautiful Birmingham”.
Supersonic is proud to invite June of 44 to play in Birmingham and London this July.
Often referred to as the punk rock pirates of the math rock world, June of 44 were a collective from 1994-2000 who created music that ranged from experimental jazz to ambient dub to angular post punk.
The band name refers to a convergence of events in June 1944: the correspondence of writers Henry Miller and Anaïs Nin; Meadows’ grandfather’s time in the military; and the birth of Mueller’s mother.
At the time June of 44 formed, Jeff Mueller, Fred Erskine, and Doug Scharin were all coming out of beloved underground bands: Louisville’s Rodan, D.C.’s Hoover, and New York’s Codeine, respectively. Together with Sean Meadows, who worked with Mueller’s former Rodan bandmate Tara Jane O’Neil in the Sonora Pine and would go on to play with Baltimore art-rock mystics Lungfish, the four got together in New York to devise a sound from scratch.
Often cited for their artistic hand crafted record packaging, June of 44 had six releases in as many years.
Line-up:
Sean Meadows – Guitar, bass, and sings. Member of Lungfish, the Letter E, and the Sonora Pine
Fred Erskine – Bass, trumpet, and sings. Member of Hoover, the Crownhate Ruin, the Boom, Just A Fire, and continues with Freddie T. and the People
Doug Scharin – Drums, keys, and samples. Member of Rex, Out of Worship, and Codeine, and continues with HiM
Jeff Mueller – Guitar and sings. Member of Shipping News
