Skin by Valour Up Twice

About
'As we did on 2013’s Kill Your Darlings, we are still examining identity. Who do we really want to be?
Do we want to stand out from the crowd? Or do we want to belong to a whole? Which version of ourselves would we most like to become?
These are the questions that occupied our minds when we were in our late teens, and it’s very likely we will never stop asking these questions.

In 2015’s Reap / Sow we examined growth. An obvious time of our lives to do this, it seems:
We’d all recently moved out, were in the middle of our studies and busy deciding what we were going to do the rest of our lives.
An appropriate time to both look back on where we came from, and to look forward to what was (and still is) to come.

Now, in 2016, this questions haven’t fundamentally changed. It’s the scope that’s different.
We are not just asking ourselves how we fit in at school, with our friends and peers, we are asking how we fit in in this world.
What’s my place on this earth? This question leads to another one: how do co-inhabit a planet we people so different from us?

It’s been an undeniably eventful year so far.
Brexit, Trump vs Clinton, the coup in Turkey, another mass shooting and undiminished amounts of violence against minorities.
(not to mention David Bowie, Prince and Leonard Cohen dying, tragedy on a different scope, surely, but terribly sad nonetheless)
And these are just the things we’ve read of, heard of. I’m sure there’s exponentially more happening, the more you see of the world.

We find ourselves having difficulties understanding other people, making decisions so different from the ones we would make.
But then we realize: they must feel the same. They wouldn’t understand our points of view. It’s a matter of communication and empathy.
If we could feel how other people feel, we would never be heartless to them again.

Consider what happens with us, on a smaller scale: we argue. A lot.
And 9 out of 10 times, when things have cooled down a few days later, we find out we didn’t really fundamentally disagree.
We just didn’t really understand each other’s view. This is, of course, an oversimplified way of looking at the world, but it might be a good starting point.
How would you feel if you were in someone else’s skin? We feel that this is a question that must be asked, maybe now even more than ever.

So here a trilogy considering three points of view: The Demagogue, the Minority and the Privileged White Boy (yes, the latter is us).
We never set out to write politically charged songs. We just started examining the questions that occupy our minds at this stage of our lives.

We are stuck together on this earth, whether we like it or not. How will we make this work?


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A word of thanks to everyone that's been listening to our music and has been supporting us over the years.
It means the world to us that people make the effort to come see us and would actually spend money to see or hear us play.
You are amazing, and it's thanks to you all that we've been able to do what we do all these years.
Our music wouldn't exist without your support, and neither would this EP.

What the future holds for us is uncertain. It is possible this is going to be our last released. But then again, we might be back.
Maybe in a similar shape, maybe in a completely different one.
Whatever it'll be, know that we'll do it with passion, dedication and love. Anything less is not worth doing.

Love,

Paul,
Wouter,
Wouter,
Vic,
Also known as Valour Up Twice'

23 april 2009 - 17 februari 2017.

valouruptwice.nl