Established in 1979, The Ex is a legendary underground band from The Netherlands, rooted in the squatting movement of their original home town of Wormer and their adopted home town of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Inspired by bands like The Fall and Mekons, The Ex started out as an 'anarcho punk' outfit at the height of the Dutch punk explosion (their classic debut LP, 1980's Disturbing Domestic Peace, still stands as the best example), but after a handful of albums they started to move on
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Established in 1979, The Ex is a legendary underground band from The Netherlands, rooted in the squatting movement of their original home town of Wormer and their adopted home town of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Inspired by bands like The Fall and Mekons, The Ex started out as an 'anarcho punk' outfit at the height of the Dutch punk explosion (their classic debut LP, 1980's Disturbing Domestic Peace, still stands as the best example), but after a handful of albums they started to move on, becoming a totally different group altogether, mixing punk, noise, free jazz, improv, avant-garde, rhythms from Ethiopia and what not: a singular sound of their own.
As of 2025, The Ex released fifteen studio albums of their own since 1980, but the group also recorded many studio collaborations with artists such as Chumbawamba, Dog Faced Hermans, Tortoise and Sonic Youth, improvisers like Tom Cora and the Instant Composers Pool (ICP), They toured with African musicians Konono Nº1 and Getatchew Mekurya. The Ex worked with recording engineer Steve Albini. The Ex and Albini were close friends until Albini's death in 2024.
They also had nineteen different band members, but many of them only had short stints with the group. The only remaining founding member is guitarist Terrie Ex (real name: Terrie Hessels). Drummer Katherina 'Kat' Bornefeld has been with the band since 1984. Guitarist Andy Moor joined in 1990. The most remarkable line-up change came in 2009, as original singer, lyricist and front man, G.W. Sok (real name: Jos Kleij) decided to call it a day. He wanted to focus on solo projects and left The Ex in friendship. His successor was Arnold de Boer, core member of Zea. Forever the 'new singer', he has been fronting The Ex for over fifteen years now.
The band have released many of their albums on their own label, Ex Records. Members of The Ex also run small labels through which they release solo material and collaborations with other artists. These include Terrie Hessels' Terp Records, Andy Moor's Unsounds, and Arnold de Boer's Makkum Records. The Ex distribute all these through their website, along with recordings and publications by founding member and former vocalist G.W. Sok.
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…shrink me down again
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