Rock for People presents: Counterparts (CAN) + special guests: Kublai Khan (USA), Paleface (CH), Dying Wish (USA)

There’s an anxiety in life that comes from knowing there isn’t anything to do but try to prepare for the inevitability of change. And sometimes the only thing that can make a drastic shift or an ending more difficult is to see it coming. On their seventh full-length, A Eulogy For Those Still Here, Counterparts set out to capture that surreal space in-between, and in the process pushed their sound to its greatest extremes to make their most definitive statement as a band.

“I think I deal with things by preparing myself for the end,” explains vocalist Brendan Murphy. “When I notice something is wrong or something’s up, I can’t just wait for it to happen. I start catastrophizing and then sometimes I end up willing these things into existence. With so much of this record I’m mourning the loss of someone that’s still alive or saying goodbye to something that hasn’t left yet.” Murphy’s preoccupation with endings reaches wide, from relationships dissolving, to friendships fading, to loved ones passing away–and even to his band.
They will arrive with the new album on April 19, 2023, to the Prague’s Rock Café.

Special Guests: Kublai Khan TX, Paleface, Dying Wish.

Since forming in 2007, Counterparts–made up of Murphy, guitarists Alex Re and Jesse Doreen, bassist Tyler Williams, and drummer Kyle Brownlee–have gone from the Hamilton, Ontario, underground to touring the world as hardcore heavyweights. But with 15 years already under their belts, Murphy couldn’t help but consider a day where his well might run dry. “I started to think about what it would be like to write a record as if it would be our last, to try and make something that I knew I would be satisfied with if it was,” the always candid singer explains. “I love this band, it’s the most important thing I’ve ever done and I’m very fortunate to have it, but we put a lot into it and it’s not the most sustainable way to live.” Murphy’s forthrightness is part of Counterparts’ appeal, and it’s earned them a loyal fanbase who have come to appreciate the unflinching honesty that’s at the heart of everything the band does. “We’re just totally transparent,” Murphy says. “Almost to a fault. I don’t hide how I’m feeling lyrically, I’ll say whatever publically, there’s just no secrets. So although there’s some ambiguity with this record, I also think people will understand where we’re coming from.”