Veteran punk Wick Bambix from Nijmegen releases first single from her new album on Rookie Records in Germany!
Who is Wick Bambix? You can see her on this photo, second from right. At the June 2022 Women In Punk conference in Amsterdam, she represented the second punk wave, in the late 20th century, in the Netherlands. To Wick’s left, from the left: Fay, of the most recent generation; Andrea, singer of De Fatwa’s, for the third, early 21st-century, wave; Terry, bass/vocals of Cheap ‘n’ Nasty, of the 1970s first wave.
Wick usually does not like to be interviewed. But she gladly made an exception for the interviewer of this panel: Helen Reddington, on the seat to the right of Wick. Wick also played a vocals/acoustic guitar set at that conference.
Wick was born Willia van Houdt. In the late 1980s, she played drums in a punk band, first called Punkpanthers, then Second Lesson, then the Bingo´s. She also founded Bambix, where she was singer and guitarist. Originally, it was an all-girl band; later, it became mixed-gender. Bambix is the name of a children’s food brand.
Bambix became reasonably popular in the southern and eastern Netherlands; and very popular in Germany and South America. They became less well-known in the western and northern Netherlands; and in Anglophone countries. Even though Wick’s lyrics are in English, she is an English language teacher, and she likes country-style guitar play.
And now, after recent acoustic guitar work, Wick has released a new, electric, solo single ‘Red Flag’. This is the official video, recorded in Nijmegen by Louise, lyrics and music by Wick Bambix. It is the first single from her new album ‘When Things Grow Teeth‘, which will be out in September 2024.
Patrick Schappert, ex-bassist of Bambix, plays along on this song. So does Tim van Doorn, producer of the record. The lyrics are a call for action, as war and environmental destruction threaten the survival of all life on Earth:
Put that flag away, or make it burn harder
Live like yesterday, you were a lot smarter
You didn’t even know me
Never saw me cry
Now we’re all forsaken and we’ll die
Show me all your scars
Mine have disappeared
Bullets sing a song
Tomorrow it’ll be gone
As stewards of creation our moral obligation is to minimize the damage and the loss
I remember life was good
Couldn’t‘ve been much better
Neighbours were our brothers
Strangers were our friends
I remember life was good
Couldn’t’ve been much better
Little did we know how very soon we would feel numb
Now the world sighs
Wondering what went wrong
Playgrounds turned to graveyards
Flowers turned to stones
Silent streets, shattered days
This is what it will be always
We’ll never get it back
When all is left and all is gone
We’ll never get it back just a remembrance of human stupidity
Wick Bambix will be on tour in Germany this autumn – see dates below!
Main Photo Credit: GERIE HERMANS
06.09.24 St Wendel, JJs Pub
07.09.24 Wiesbaden, Kreativfabrik
05.10.24 Menden, Punkrock Schützenfest
18.10.24 Berlin, SO36 (Female fronted is not a Genre Vol. 3)
19.10.24 Lübeck, Punk im Treibsand
15.11.24 Köln, Sonic Ballroom
30.11.24 Meppen, Jam
19.12.24 Darmstadt, Gute Stube
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