Dancing with Bullets – An Anti-Gun Music EP in Support of Gun Control in the USA
GET THE “DANCING WITH BULLETS – EP” HERE
BERLIN, Germany – The new EP “Dancing with Bullets” is out today on January 17, 2020 on BB3 Dynamics Records. The new gun control music was written immediately following the horrific mass shooting that took place on June 12, 2016 at Pulse Orlando Nightclub in Orlando, Florida, USA where 49 innocent people were senselessly killed by guns. All proceeds from the anti-gun EP will go to the onePULSE Foundation (https://onepulsefoundation.org/) that was established to honor the lives that were taken.
To produce “Dancing with Bullets”, Bates worked with German vocalist Coco SaFir in Berlin to bring forth powerful messages of embracing freedom, of resisting violence and oppression and of living life like every day is the last.
Says Bates, “It wasn’t until I left the USA and relocated to Europe that I finally became aware of how horrible and unacceptable the gun problem is in the USA. As an American citizen, I was always taught that the USA was the ‘land of the free’. I was lied to along with everyone else. The USA has supposedly over 393 million guns…the most of any country in the world…and year after year thousands of citizens and visitors continue to be murdered by guns. No human being can truly be free in a gun culture. And as a gay man, I find solace and freedom on dance floors of gay clubs. So, to see my LGBTQ+ community be horrendously targeted at Pulse Nightclub where club goers just wanted to dance to music, to be free and to have fun, that really hit home for me.”
A special video was also created to honor the lives that were lost due to gun violence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ea1MsbFQVcc
The track listing for the “Dancing with Bullets” EP is:
1. Dancing with Bullets (featuring Coco SaFir)
–Written and Produced by Bates Belk in Berlin
–Music Co-produced with Damian Press at Neon Nursery Studios Berlin
–Lead Vocals by Coco SaFir in Berlin
–Music Mixed by Gareth Jones at Strongroom Studios London
–Music Mastered by Frank Arkwright at Abbey Road Studios London
–Music Mixing Assistance by David Jones
2. Dancing with Bullets (Gun Control Remix)
–Written and Produced by Bates Belk in Berlin
–Music Co-produced with Damian Press at Neon Nursery Studios Berlin
–Lead Vocals by Coco SaFir in Berlin
–Music Mixed by Gwen Torino in Berlin
–Music Mastered by Arne Albrecht of Oakfield Mastering Regensburg
3. Zoning Out (B-side)
–Written and Produced by Bates Belk in Berlin
–Music Co-produced with Damian Press at Neon Nursery Studios Berlin
–Music Mixed by Gwen Torino in Berlin
–Music Mastered by Arne Albrecht of Oakfield Mastering Regensburg
–Backing Vocals by Dorrey Lin Lyles and Pamela Carden at SoundCloud Studios Berlin
–Voice Over by Leanne Levi Rivers
4. Dancing with Bullets (Instrumental)
–Written and Produced by Bates Belk in Berlin
–Music Co-produced with Damian Press at Neon Nursery Studios Berlin
–Music Mixed by Gareth Jones at Strongroom Studios London
–Music Mastered by Arne Albrecht of Oakfield Mastering Regensburg
–Music Mixing Assistance by David Jones
5. Dancing with Bullets (Gun Control Instrumental Remix)
–Written and Produced by Bates Belk in Berlin
–Music Co-produced with Damian Press at Neon Nursery Studios Berlin
–Music Mixed by Gwen Torino in Berlin
–Music Mastered by Arne Albrecht of Oakfield Mastering Regensburg
“Dancing with Bullets” artwork created by Angela Liuzzi of Creative Edge Design, Inc. New York City with assistance by Joanna Smolonska at Lovebird Design Berlin. Photos by Sebastian Runge.
Music Written and Produced by Bates Belk in Berlin
Video Animation and Motion Graphics by Roland Lauth in Berlin
Lead Vocals by Coco SaFir in Berlin
Music Co-produced with Damian Press at Neon Nursery Studios in Berlin
Music Mixed by Gareth Jones at Strongroom London Studios
Music Mastered by Frank Arkwright at Abbey Road Studios in London
Music Mixing Assistance by David Jones at Strongroom Studios in London
“Dancing with Bullets” is the second single following “Euphoria” to be released from Bates Belk’s forthcoming début 11 track album, entitled “The Dark Spektrum”, that releases on March 6, 2020. The album contains collaborations with over 50 Berlin-based artists including an orchestra on over half the album, and was mixed by acclaimed Depeche Mode, Erasure and Interpol music producer Gareth Jones.