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STNNNG tapped by Shellac to play All Tomorrow’s Parties festival

by Andrea Swensson

September 06, 2012

One of the U.K.'s largest non-commercial music festivals, All Tomorrow's Parties, tends to book some of the most eclectic lineups around, thanks in part to the fact that they recruit different bands to do their curating for them. This time around they're handing the reigns over to Chicago post-rock trio Shellac, who will headline the upcoming Nightmare Before Christmas festival in Camber Sands, U.K., November 30 through December 2, and they've already announced that they're bringing two Minnesotan bands along for the ride.

Underground rock stalwarts Arcwelder were already announced as part of Shellac's lineup, and just this week they revealed that they'll also host hard-driving art-punk band STNNNG.

Shellac are actually a 1/3-Minnesotan band themselves, with drummer Todd Trainer calling Minneapolis home, so it makes sense that they would pull some local talent in to fill out their lineup. STNNNG has also opened for Shellac on numerous occasions, including this past weekend at First Avenue; this time, they'll have the opportunity to be introduced to an international audience.

"Obviously we are thrilled and honored to play," says STNNNG frontman Chris Besinger. "Beyond that, as I said on Saturday night [at First Avenue], having your heroes treat you as peers defies description. To have the chance to travel to England and play with not just Shellac, but Wire, Mission of Burma, Oxbow, Bottomless Pit -- bands that I own, literally, every single record by -- that makes you feel that you are part of a continuum.  

"All too often playing music at the level we're at you can feel like you are banging your head against a rock without much point, but opportunities like this makes those nights in the practice space, those hours in the van, those days behind the board arguing about the minutia of this or that mix, those shows to less the appreciative (or even populated) crowds on the road, all worthwhile."  

Besinger also shared that they will be visiting Abbey Road studios in London to master their new record while they are abroad.

"I am fully out of superlatives to capture it all," he says.

Listen to STNNNG's Local Show session from back in 2010 here.

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