Ekko Astral have said they are going on an indefinite hiatus, describing the decision as a move to focus on other musical projects. In a statement shared on social media, the Washington, D.C. punk band said it was “time to end things” for now and made clear that it does not expect to release its planned album, The Beltway Is Burning, any time soon.
The group also outlined two final shows for the foreseeable future: an outdoor performance in New York City on August 22 and a Washington, D.C. concert on August 29. According to the band, those dates will function as a full-catalogue sendoff and may be the last time they play material from this body of work for a long stretch. At the D.C. show, they plan to raffle off the painting that appeared on the cover of their 2024 debut album, Pink Balloons, with the money going toward trans health services at Whitman-Walker, a local LGBTQ+ health clinic.
Ekko Astral formed in 2021 when college friends Jae Holzman and Liam Hughes started the project, later expanding the lineup with drummer Miri Tyler, bassist Guinevere Tully, and rhythm guitarist Sam Elmore. After Pink Balloons came out on Topshelf Records, both Tully and Elmore left the band. Last year, Ekko Astral and the nonprofit Gender Liberation Movement also launched Liberation Weekend, a music and arts festival.
The band’s plans shifted sharply earlier this year when Topshelf said it was dropping Ekko Astral and ending its involvement with The Beltway Is Burning. A representative later told Pitchfork that the decision stemmed from a dispute between Holzman and Tyler that escalated into Holzman filing a peace order petition against Tyler. Ekko Astral later postponed the album indefinitely and withdrew from the second edition of Liberation Weekend. Holzman and Hughes also canceled their other upcoming performances, aside from a West Coast run supporting Mclusky. During one of those shows, they recorded the live album Fuck This Band: Live at the Chapel, which arrived as a Bandcamp exclusive on April 22, the date the album had originally been scheduled to release.
In their statement, Holzman and Hughes said Ekko Astral grew from bedroom jams and basement shows into something they had long hoped to build, and thanked everyone who supported them along the way. For now, though, the band says this chapter is closing while its members pursue other work.
Source: pitchfork.com
