PACESHIFTERS

In order to get the full “Breach” experience, there are a few steps one has to take. Please follow them with caution and make sure not to skip any of them. Remember, the following steps are NO advice!
1) Make sure you have a stereo set to ‘extra loud’. If not, buy a new one. Somewhere during the “Breach-session” you’ll want to crank up the volume, protect yourself from that disappointing moment where you find out that you can’t go any louder.
2) Warn the neighbours or make sure they aren’t home. You don’t want them calling the cops when their special granny’s china vase is rattling out of the wall cabinet. Or call a mental institution to put you in a stray jacket after they peeked through your window to see what the hell you are up to.
3) Do some stretching, a decent warm up. Especially when you are some years older, your stiff body will need the preparation for the movement that is bound to come.
4) When you are not 16, pretend you are. Sixteen and not giving a fuck about the rest. Let go of all conventions of behaviour. They suck! You. Are. Sixteen and ALIVE!
5) Now listen to some Hüsker Dü, Dinosaur Jr. or some of those other great bands of the late eighties and early nineties, just for the vibe. Your body may already show some signs of movement. Get into the “Just Gimme Indie Rock!” mood. After all, you are sixteen! And it’s 1989! The world sucks! Rules suck! Guitars rule! Your parents don’t understand you, but you have INDIE ROCK!
6) Do some extra stretching.
7) Clean up the sofa from everything breakable. Actually clear the whole room from valuables you don’t want to see destroyed by uncontrolled movements.
8) Do some more stretching. This is vital.
9) Place the record in or on your player and drop the needle or push play.
…
Brace yourself.
…
and
…
Let go!
10) Listen to and experience one of the best freaking indie rock records you have heard in ages. Jump around, jump on your couch, play air guitar, fist pump, shake your head and swing your arms from time to time. Don’t worry about exhaustion, Paceshifters will shift pace to a lower gear in some songs; you can catch your breath there. Forget about the nagging ache in your knees and jump off your table and pretend you’re crowdsurfing to Memories. Let go and shout out, sing along with the catchy choruses. Probably not the deepest lyrics you haveheard, but they make sense and give you a sense of belonging; ‘When your lover becomes a friend/when your lover becomes a fr-uuuh-iend!!!. We’ve all been there…and we all messed it up. Scream! Louder! Make that clockwise movement with the volume button when one of the brothers in Dokman (Seb) dives head first into a Mascis-like guitarsolo and let it roll over you. Be the music, be the rhythm. Find that volume switch.
More.
Louder.
Sweat.
Sweet.
Indie Rock Galore
11) Play everything again. And again. You know you want to. - Luifabriek

Ed Stasium is a man who can share some stories.

Paul Dokman, bassist for Netherlands band The Paceshifters, records “Davis” for the trio’s upcoming album, which is being produced in the Durango studio of Ed Stasium. Enlarge photo
SHAUN STANLEY/Durango Herald

Paul Dokman, bassist for Netherlands band The Paceshifters, records “Davis” for the trio’s upcoming album, which is being produced in the Durango studio of Ed Stasium.
Lead singer and guitarist Seb Dokman lays a track on the song “Davis.” Enlarge photo
SHAUN STANLEY/Durango Herald

Lead singer and guitarist Seb Dokman lays a track on the song “Davis.”
Ed Stasium works with The Paceshifters from the Netherlands in his home studio near Durango. Enlarge photo
SHAUN STANLEY/Durango Herald

Ed Stasium works with The Paceshifters from the Netherlands in his home studio near Durango.
Koen Klarenbeek, drummer for The Paceshifters, adds his beats to a track for the band’s upcoming album. Renowned producer Ed Stasium is backing the Netherlands trio’s efforts. Enlarge photo
SHAUN STANLEY/Durango Herald

Koen Klarenbeek, drummer for The Paceshifters, adds his beats to a track for the band’s upcoming album. Renowned producer Ed Stasium is backing the Netherlands trio’s efforts.
A music industry veteran for more than 40 years, Stasium’s stellar résumé as a record producer includes the likes of The Ramones, Living Colour, Talking Heads and so many more. It’s remarkable that such a luminary is now a Durango area resident, and many of the tales of what went on, inside and out of the studio during his heyday, are not fit for print.

However, for all of the unpredictable behavior he’s witnessed over thousands of hours in the studio with well-known or up-and-coming bands, he hasn’t been plagued with occurrences such as power outages, the birth of a grandchild or an emergency appendectomy. All those things happened to Stasium in October during his recording sessions with The Paceshifters, a young rock trio from the Netherlands recording their latest release at Stasium’s in-home KozyTone Studio. Stasium is credited with producing, engineering, mixing and mastering the to-be-titled release, which is due out in 2012.

Formed in 2008, The Paceshifters are bassist/vocalist Paul Dokman, younger brother Seb Dokman on guitar and vocals, and Koen Klarenbeek on drums. It was the young musicians’ love of The Ramones that led the band to Stasium half a globe away.

“We listened to lots of Ramones when we were young, and he is the fifth Ramone, that’s the reason,” Seb Dokman said last week during a recording session. “We love his work.”

Love being a two-way street, it wasn’t enough to simply admire Stasium’s work.

“We started writing new songs, and we sent them to Ed,” Paul said. “He wanted to produce them and now we’re here.”

Stasium is a producer who doesn’t seek out the next hit. His formula for working with a band is as simple as finding something he likes. Unsolicited submissions come regularly, but he’ll work with you only if he likes it.

“They contacted me and I heard some of their old material and listened to it, then I requested to hear some new material. I liked the old material, it’s really good, but when I heard the new material it knocked me out,” Stasium said.

“It was fresh rock ’ n’ roll. Real rock ’ n’ roll not this fake cookie cutter rock ’ n’ roll but the real thing. Politically smart lyrics. Great players. It’s lean, three of them, but there’s a lot of meat there. No frills.”

The young trio’s ambitions are high while maintaining a cool head for business. Profits from past records and shows are reinvested in future projects such as this one. Paying for it all by themselves ensures artistic freedom.

The enthusiasm in KozyTone is contagious. The recording sessions are actually rather casual, with band members spending down-time fishing or hiking around the neighborhood while Stasium sits at his console, bobbing his head to the power chords like an amped teenager.

“I bring their vision to fruition,” Stasium said.

“I see what they want to do and what they want to sound like. It’s not my record, it’s their record.”

Ed’s résumé is seen in the stairwell that leads down to his recording studio; wall space is covered with awards and gold records. The Paceshifters want some space on those walls, too. They make a lot of sound for a three-piece, and Stasium is psyched about the product. And considering what he’s seen and heard over the years, his praise is no small accord.

“The Paceshifters are probably in the top three of the bands I’ve ever worked with,” he said.

“The material is great, the band is great the personalities are great, and I think they have a huge future ahead of them.” - Durango Herald

Most reviews are in Dutch some quotes about Breach:
Telegraaf (biggest newspaper): Dirty, Dark and Growling this is what Rock intended to be like.
Nu.nl (most important news site): This "jewel" will secure them a place in the Major league of rock.
Oor (main music magazine): 2014 is the year of Paceshifters! -