Past being a kick-ass punk band, DC’s Ekko Astral are tireless advocates for trans rights. Living proof: Their 2024 tune “sticks and stones” is titled after Dave Chappelle’s comedy particular as a direct critique of his transphobic jokes.
With the tune’s new animated music video, Ekko Astral add one other infamous transphobe, JK Rowling, into the combination by displaying the creator hooking up with Chappelle in a toilet. Watch the clip, made by animator lemonprom and visible artist Kate The Cursed, under.
In a latest Bluesky submit, the band defined that the video got here out of vocalist Jael Holzman’s drunken dialog with Kate at a DIY home present roughly one yr in the past:
“We advised this artist they may let their freak flag fly and do no matter they needed, however we had one huge request: We needed to animate JK Rowling and Dave Chappelle f ** king. Months and months later, this bizarre off-hand request become probably the most psychedelic and highly effective visible of the whole album cycle, an I Noticed the TV Glow-inspired triptych that serves as a metaphor for the way in which bigotry as theatre helps destroy individuals and society.”
Associated Video
Holzman additional defined in a press launch that the “tune’s central conceit was at all times the passive shopper of recent media, primarily trapped of their seats watching cruelty handed off as comedy on full show.” Holzman added, “If these two can rain hell upon our communities, then, properly, we are able to do that.”
The “sticks and stones” video is Ekko Astral’s “ultimate visible chapter” from their debut album, April 2024 workers decide pink balloons (seize a bodily copy right here). Tonight (September 2nd), the band is kicking off a fall tour which can see them primarily supporting PUP and Jeff Rosenstock. See the complete record of dates under, and get tickets right here.
In Might, Ekko Astral teamed up with the Gender Liberation Motion to launch Liberation Weekend, a two-day music and humanities competition in Washington, DC that raised over $35,000 for trans rights advocacy.
Ekko Astral 2025 Tour Dates:
09/02 — Eau Claire, WI @ Leona’s *
09/03 — Minneapolis, MN @ Palace Theatre ^
09/04 — Madison, WI @ The Sylvee ^
09/05 — Chicago, IL @ The Salt Shed ^
09/06 — Detroit, MI @ Russell Industrial Middle ^
09/08 — Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE ^
09/09 — Columbus, OH @ KEMBA Stay! ^
09/10 — Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theatre ^
09/20 — Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore Charlotte ^
09/24 — Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Corridor ^
09/25 — Dallas, TX @ Home of Blues Dallas ^
09/26 — San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger ^
09/27 — Austin, TX @ Radio East ^
09/30 — Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren ^
10/01 — San Diego, CA @ The Sound ^
10/02 — Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Palladium ^
10/04 — Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater ^
10/06 — Portland, OR @ McMenamins Crystal Ballroom ^
10/07 — Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo ^
10/09 — Salt Lake Metropolis, UT @ Rockwell at The Complicated ^
10/11 — Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom ^
10/14 — Lawrence, KS @ White Schoolhouse
10/15 — St. Louis, MO @ The Sinkhole
10/16 — Indianapolis, IN @ Healer
* = w/ gash and Kat and The Hurricane
^ = w/ PUP and Jeff Rosenstock
