Things have been chaotic lately for Ekko Astral, the experimental and politically motivated Washington, DC punks who were a Stereogum Band To Watch in 2024. Earlier this year, bandleader Jael Holzman filed a peace order petition against former drummer Miri Tyler, one month after Tyler announced that she was leaving the band. At the time, Ekko Astral were preparing to release their album the beltway is burning, but Topshelf, the label slated to release the LP, dropped the band. Ekko Astral planned to put the record out themselves, but its release was delayed indefinitely, while the band pulled out of Liberation Weekend II, the trans-rights festival that they planned. Now, Ekko Astral have announced that they're wrapping things up, at least for the foreseeable future.
In a new social-media statement, Ekko Astral announce an indefinite hiatus and lay out plans for their farewell shows — a free outdoor New York gig on Aug. 22 and a hometown sendoff at Washington, DC's DC9 on Aug. 27. They also say that they "no longer have plans to release the beltway is burning any time soon." Here's their announcement:
It's time to end things.
The final Ekko Astral shows for the foreseeable future will be a free outdoor performance on Aug. 22 in New York City and a finale gig on Aug. 27 in Washington, D.C. with our friends Right Chipper and Berra.
These last shows will span our entire catalogue, serve as a celebrations send-off and will be the last events where we plan to play tracks from this discography for a very long time.
We will also be raffling the painting from the pink balloons album cover at the DC9 show, and plan to donate all proceeds from the raffle to trans health services at Whitman-Walker.
These are the last shows we plan to do as Ekko Astral for the foreseeable future. We are putting the band on indefinite hiatus to prioritize other musical projects.
We also no longer have plans to release the beltway is burning any time soon.
Maybe one day that record will see the light of day; right now both of us want to build a project more fitting to where we are now creatively and that isn't this band.
Ekko Astral rose up out of bedroom jams and basement shows to become a dream realized.
We're eternally grateful to every single person who helped us along the way. None of this would've been possible without your help and we're forever indebted to you.
It's time to end things.The final Ekko Astral shows for the foreseeable future will be a free outdoor performance on Aug. 22 in NYC and a finale gig on Aug. 27 in D.C. (tix on sale now).Thank you for all you’ve done for us and with us. We hope to catch you at the last shows.
— ekko astral (@ekkoastral.bsky.social) 2026-07-15T14:01:55.803Z
