Jamie Blacker is ESA, also known as Electronic Substance Abuse, and we are going to talk about the album, Designer Carnage that came out on February 14th of 2022, on Negative Gain Records. But I will digress with a little background information first. ESA is a UK project that was formed in 2002 after Blacker, who had been involved in the black/death metal scene, started to experiment in and became drawn to the sound of harsh, rhythmic industrial noise, which he has in all essence become a relative master of. The first album was released in 2006, Devotion, Discipline and Denial, then releasing albums very regularly ever since.
Straight off the bat, “LaudanumDance” is like electrodes connected straight into the brain, sparking with glorious fuzz and beats. Like a fever dream, Blacker yells his discontent. Yet, hark it that a harpsichord? Classical piano which is a gorgeous oddity, played at a decent pace to be suddenly broken by the female vocal sample of Konstantina Buhalis and break beats, that descend into the stomach wrenching, bellowing tones. Those beautiful harpsichord keys again trill away, as they and the piano are played by Frederic Scarfone. Frustration and anger are swirling in the charged track “One Missed Called” which is about repression and fear stopping one from getting further in life. It is powerful with the female sample, of again, Konstantina Buhalis, screaming how much she fucking hates the person who puts her down. The rhythms circle and pounds down, enforcing the angst.
The use of noise and techno is near perfect in “I Detach“, when out of nowhere…ragtime music. Yes, weird and yes unexpected, but it works. The ticking of a clock, alien like electronic warbles, the ragtime and Blacker’s voice just culminate into this bizarre, dreamlike world of movement. The title track, “Designer Carnage” exudes electronic smut and grime. Fantastic! The music grinds while samples repeat the title. It speeds up towards the climax like there is no getting off this ride, only to drop you and drag you along again. Bara Hari is the guest vocalist for “Disruption Only” and it just pounds away. as a good, well lubricated industrial machine should. The rhythm is a drug that you can’t get enough of while in the static, you can hear angry voices. BaraHari joins in and it becomes something otherworldly while those hammered beats carry on regardless, stuck in a groove.
“Come And Find Me” again utilises that ragtime sound throughout in a myriad of stomping beats and electronics. A hallucination induced nightmare which translates to smashing yourself on a dancefloor. Curiously addictive and no we cannot get enough as it builds apon itself in a downward spiral. Saxaphone is by Matt ‘Chops’ Thompson and female vocals by Hellsea. For the track “Hyena“, all the vocals are credited to Pee Wee Pimpin, as he goes from cajoling to viciously snarling, the synths cackling as they track you down in your last moments, but what a way to go/ “Whom Then Shall I Fear?” features Pee Wee Pimpin, as he raps which works ever so well with the heavy electronics in the background. In fact, it is almost like listening to Public Enemy’s, “Bring On The Noise” but they were all industrialised and updated. It is an amazingly strong track.
There is something wicked and it comes this way in the track, “Vast Accept“. Off kilter and deranged, on a psychopathic mission only it knows. Do not be lulled into a false sense of security as it awaits to pounce while you are off guard with those techno beats. The final track is “Saturnalia“, which is full of blast beats, raging guitar and the deep, growling Blacker vocals, that start to fritz in and out. There are also these wonderful science fiction sounding synths and classic flamenco guitar by Frederic Scarfone, that lend themselves to a western touch, while Matt ‘Chops’ Thompson gives us that sleazy saxaphone. With wailing female vocals, it all crescendos, only to die away.
I knew this new album had come out but a friend, whom is also an industrial DJ, thrust it under my nose and declared that if I was to review anything this year, it has to be this album, Designer Carnage. In all honesty, he was completely correct. If this is not in people’s top 10 industrial releases for the end of the year, then I am going have to say that your taste might be in your arse. Jamie Blacker is able to experiment with so many different styles and mould them into something cohesive, with lashings of wicked heavy rhythms, filthy grinding electronics, inject music of past eras, whilst screaming near bloody murder at you. Really can’t much better than that other than you can dance to all of it. I dare you not to find yourself bouncing to the beats. You definitely need some Designer Carnage in your life, so let ESA be your dealer.
¡-PAHL-! have released their debut album, which followed three singles, The Lepzig project dropped I on March 31st, 2022, brandishing their style of grandiose, dark synth/electronic music. The trio consists of Olaf Parusel as the mastermind behind the composition of the music, while lyrical penmanship plus production was done by Leonardovon Leibnitz and lead vocals rendered by Peter Hardlab.
LEONARDO VON LEBNITZ & PETER HARLAB
The single “Abraham” is a powerful start to the album, as the horns sound and then be lured into the depths of ¡-PAHL-!, as they make comment on the religious ownership of the figure. The next track is “Big Data” which goes from dirty growls, to soaring heights of vocals and synths with an orchestral backing. Another single is “Dyo” with its overwhelming adoration in this beautifully simple song, that showcases Hardlab’s vocal talents.
“Götter Neuen Stadt” or Gods of the New City, is deep and cinematic in sound and could easily be a favourite off the album for me. There is so much going on in the background of this track, the synths that float, the electronics that are the restless flow beneath and a stringed instrument, with what sounds like metal strings. To this end, “Mankind” is the reduction of average humans to slavish beings, with no rights, the vocals describe our reliance on technology that might be responsible for some of this. Hardlab’s voice mingles with ViolaManigk’s quite delightfully. The sweet singing is undermined by a crackling voice in “Mass Instruction“, the programming of the masses to accept everything. There is the overwhelming power of an electronic choral of angels and down beats.
Slow burn “On Conspiracies” which asks how much credence there is in these things. The harpsichord is a beautiful touch, a refined touch with the unearthly voices that are not human. The single “Telos” asks what is a person’s potential. The bleak electronics speak of sorrow, while Hardlab sincerely questions what is “Telos“. “Timeless” is a great finishing track. Full of emotion and longing yet a resignation that all might be lost, so not all is timeless. The electronics are just mesmerising and fade with the words, unless we be saved……
How do I say this…..? For music created by three individuals, it has this huge atmosphere to it, a bit like a Cecil B DeMille movie. In fact, it was that style of biblical high drama movie, that this album made me think of…… kind of a modern fall from grace where only the few may be saved. Made in Germany but relevant to many, as technology and super billionaires acquire more information about us and subvert our reality, an observance of modern society. The music itself is this wonderful mixture of divine grace, smashed together with industrial dirtiness, the lyrics are a looking glass into the modern psyche and the vocals will both catch your heart and break it.
Independent label, Fuzz Club, announced the release, on April 19th, of the track “WitchKraft Singles” by Wet Satin. Jason Miller and Marc Melzer are the men behind the project, strangely named after a psychotropic sunscreen which was in a dream about a Philip K Dick book, and were previously in the band Lumerians, based in London.
Sort of, electronic lounge music from a bygone era yet in the future, say like the original Star Trek series but with a weirder, funkier feel. The retro synths and rhythms do a calypso snake through your brain, winding around your ears.
This is a bit of electronic fun with their style that has been dubbed Kosmische Tropicale, due to the fusion of cosmic disco, Afrofunk and a few other musical sounds. Have to say that it is fairly enjoyable to listen to and probably more so, under the stars with a drink in your hand and dreaming of another galaxy.
There is something quite alluring about a national identity, steeped in memory, myth and lore, which naturally bleeds into their music. Lia Hide could be mistaken for a Greek goddess, however she is a very talented producer, musician and singer, who has been creating music since 2013. With her style of dark pop/post-punk mixed with ancient wisdom, she has released her fourth album, The Missing Fourth Guest and we could help not help but to jump at the chance to talk to the charming Lia about this album and what has lead up to it.
Greetings to you Lia Hide. Please join us in the Onyx boudoir.
Lia Hide is a woman with many public faces. You are a dancer and a performing artist. Was this inspired by family through your childhood or something you were drawn to at an older age?
I’d love it if I were a dancer, but dancing is one of my weakest points.. Unless if I drink an extra or two, that might do the trick! I was drawn to acting from a younger age, though, and did take acting lessons when I was just 10 years old, and performed often back then, but once I got to my teenager years, I was utterly fixated with music. And yes, music was always a thing in the family: my dad played the guitar, my grandpa played the bouzouki, although he was a blacksmith and fisherman (!) and my mom would always sing traditional weeping Greek songs while cooking, she missed her home village and mom, badly. So, it felt natural, in all ways!
Was music always a big part of this artistic expression?
Yes, I was always bold and fierce in a social group, but I would never, and still don’t, express my fears or sadness, to anyone.. So I wrote them down into music and songs!
What is your role as a music educator?
I am a popular music vocals teacher, I am a London College of Music collaborator, and have been teaching also, Musical Theatre, Pop and Rock Ensembles, Modern Music History, and piano! I simply adore my students, they my fountain of youth!
Recently, I have spoken to a few Greek artists, and it is interesting to get their perspective on the music scene, especially in the capital, Athens. Do you think the dark alt scene is flourishing and has it changed since you first started your professional musical career?
Actually, I don’t know of any other dark alternative artists, but us, although there is a substantially growing darkwave and post punk and synthpop scene, and of course, lots of metal and hip hop. I think alternative music was a bit stronger a few decades back, newer and more minimalistic genres seem to flourish at the moment.
Lia, you are releasing your 4th full album, called “The Missing Fourth Guest” and this is based on a story by Greek playwright, Plato, where philosopher Socrates is a main character. Can you tell us more about this concept and how it relates to the album?
Timaeaus dialogue (by Plato) seems to be happening in an evening of wine and philosophy, where three people joining the conversation are eagerly trying to explain and discuss the person in the society, the man in the cosmos, war and defeat and the origin of the universe. So all these were ideas that were puzzling us, while we were stuck in these two horrible quarantines of Covid19. Socrates as a figure is a very strong influence for us and so is Plato’s Republic’s teachings!
You released the single “Dinner” in March with a beautifully made video, shot in a movie noir style with rich reds and sepia tones. How was it making the video and what is the premise behind “Dinner”?
We had the opportunity to film in an amazing location, the Bagkeion Hotel (and Foundation) that is a very historical building in downtown Athens, designed by the architect Ernest Chiller and built between 1980-1894, that once was a glorious luxurious hotel, that later served as a hospital for WWII. We shot from 12 in the morning till 6 at dawn the following day, and we created it with Kiss the Frog, a group of gorgeous film-makers, with their team of 14 people all together !
You also released the first single, “Proposal” which again has a very lush video and seems that “Dinner” is a continuation of a theme. The music feels so full of regret and longing, so do these two tracks and videos tie in together?
Yes, of course! Proposal and Dinner, together with Cloud (tracks 5,6,7 of the Missing Fourth Guest) put together ‘the Timeaus Sonata’ a major work, in 3 parts, in the Classical Sonata form, so Proposal is exposition and Dinner is recapitulation of that opening theme. They all discuss our questions and investigating of Plato’s dialogue.
How do you feel you have changed as a musician since, when you first released “Home” and now with “The Missing Fourth Guest”?
It seem like ages ago! I was but an inexperienced producer, and “Home” was such a huge and long album, and I wanted to make sure I fit everything in there. Now, I am more competent in producing our music, and I know when to stop and when to leave a song behind. I am also bolder and I am not afraid to state my mind, soundwise, even if people around me might suggest other ideas or suggestions, a thing I would never do in the past. I sing less, or less loud, I don’t feel the need to show-off that I am a good singer, or piano player, also.
It has been something I have noticed about Greek musicians, that they incorporate in their music and take very seriously, the tales, mythos and history of the past of your country, which is very extensive. Do you think that it is very ingrained into the Greek psyche or is it literally part of the DNA?
It is part of our education process I think. We are taught of these tales since we are very young, and we live in a country filled with Antiquities, so you can’t really …escape them, if you’re Greek!
Apart from your own musical endeavors, I last saw you on a compilation by Mechanimal celebrating their 10 years together with your version of “The Den” which was a lovely stripped-down reimagining. Can you tell us about your friendship with the guys from Mechanimal and what it means to you being on that compilation “Living With Animal Ghosts”?
I have great respect for both Mechanimal and ION and it was a great honor to be included in this compilation, and especially, with the song that we were assigned with! I tried to redress our version with lots of dark pianos and recreated a duet out of his amazing song, ‘The Den’, whose words and narrative spoke directly to my heart!
Will you be touring again soon as Covid messed up a lot of band’s schedules over the last 2 years?
We really can’t wait to hit the road again, I’ve missed it so badly! The people, the scenery, the travelling, everything!
If you could be the fourth guest at Socrates table, what burning question would you wish to talk to him about?
Actually, I wish I was but a spectator in the banquet, so I could ask, WHO this missing and so important guest, was! What if it were a she? Why is him/her so important? What did she/he know?
Sadly, we are bereft of divination but what do you see in the future for Lia Hide?
I am already in the process (deep in my head) of writing some new songs for the next album! Reality does not seize to inspire me and so many severe issues are storming around us, so I am already trying to figure out our new sound-vocabulary, while the words are already forming stories!
Thank you for being a perfect guest, Lia and we wish you all the best with this new album!
Even though currently, INfest8 is in Sydney and Sai Jaiden Lillith in Melbourne, ZCluster are soon to release an EP but have given us a new single, titled ominously, “Death Drive“, out on the 22nd of April.
The tribal beats herald the vocals of Sai Lillith forcefully whispering in your ear to a set of dirty beats that slink along, until there is an explosion of near strangulated angst through the chorus. There is the screaming of the electronics to match the pained sentiment.
I do know that both members of ZCluster are big Nine Inch Nails fans and you can hear that influence, however, they are creating their own erotically charged, dark industrial music, born of their desires, frustrations and imaginations. It is name your price on Bandcamp so there is nothing stopping you from checking out “Death Drive“.
PANICMACHINE is the label. Phobos Reactor is the act. TFG, the gnome finder from TONTTU, is the featured guest. The single is “#FOLITWIBG” and in honesty…..yeah, you need to be told what this means. Fragments of life in the world infested by gnomes or had you already guested this? Released on April 18th, 2022, so hopefully not the beginning of the end!
There are five “#FOLITWIBG” tracks, literally numbered #1 to #5. #1 seems to be a gnome taking exception to humans in a simple trippy kind of way. It starts to get a bit groovy in #2…though the gnome is still not happy by the sound of him and by #3 the gnome is getting all sophisticated synth sounding. Maybe futuristic gnome and it is amazing like a bad trip. By #4 that gnome is become cyber mega cool in a very lurking way and track #5 is cyber loathing reloaded from #1, and so all comes full circle in the gnome of life.
Are gnomes out to get you? Probably. Do they want to steal our children? More than likely. Are they stealing our cats? Most definitely! One could ask if they (the musicians) are completely bonkers….but then again, one could say they know things most others don’t. Beware of the gnomes, for they are moving against us, so grab your cat and listen to Phobos Reactor featuring TFG (TONTTU), before the mayhem ensues.
Melbourne based, synthpop/darkwave act, Suburban Spell, have released the single “Fools And Clowns“, with a lushly produced music video. This latest single, comes from the Split Levels album that was released in February and the video was shot and edited by Adam Calaitzis, of Toyland Studios.
From the very beginning there is the shoegaze electronics, that swirl and envelope your senses in a gorgeous blanket of sonic emotion. It is about being out in the wee hours of the morning and the temptation of a one night stand, perhaps also the regret of the aftermath too.
You are taken to spots along Victoria’s Great Southern Road, which is a truly beautiful trip, though I must say in black and white, can look almost menacing at times but also shot in inner Melbourne. Peter Endall has taken his song and pared it down from around six and a half minutes, to a neat, just a smidge over four, yet the track has lost none of what makes it quite beautifully tragic and is only enhanced by the video.
Brutal Resonance have signed, Philadelphia’s Her Noise Is Violence, to their growing list of acts. With her soon to be released, first EP with Brutal Resonance, Out Of Time, coming soon, the first single, “Apathy” was dropped on April 15th, 2022. Her Noise is Violence is making a name for herself as a creator of industrial music with dark techno.
The beats and electronics rotate around your head, maybe in a state of confusion or a mind infected by a malaise. A male voice says everyone is dead and if they were dead, what would you? Deliberate and slow fuzzing rhythms plod on until….nothing. A sudden stop.
This is a lot more sedate than her normal fare, but as the artist herself explains, ‘Apathy’ is a chilled-out tune, it’s the last track on the EP and what I wanted to convey is the feeling of, well, apathy.‘. With this in mind, we await the EP and more of those beats with Her Noise Is Violence, plus get a load of the awesome artwork by Psyklon Industries.
Der Prosector is a project from Florida, that seems to have come to life around 2020. Made up of four members, Ged Denton, Andy Kenealy, Jules Seifert and Digby Denton, found themselves at a loss over the state of affairs in the US during the Trump administration, as the country turned inwards with internal fighting and backwards looking. So was born the single, “Standing In The Embers“, which came out on April 15th, on the label, Armalyte Industries.
There is definitely a punk aesthetic to “Standing In The Embers“, mixed with a mid 90s industrial guitar sound, topped with more modern synths. The beats are fast and furious while the vocals are sincere and imploring you to wake up because – ‘The problem is some people want to watch the world burn And it’s on fire‘. There are also two remixes included. The UCNX mix is understated and like a creeping doom, while the Gordon Young version, named The Pyroclastic mix is stripped back with a feel of anxiety and burgeoning insanity.
They sing of Covid, violence and extreme ideology which has touched everyone’s worlds in the last few years. Ironically, we now watch another power hungry despot, happily destroying countries for his own purpose. The world burns and if we do nothing, we will burn with it. A powerful statement in a time of great upheaval from Der Prosector.
TurboWave is the metal crossed with electronics style that Seattle band, Dual Analog describe as their musical sound. They very recently released their debut album. Lust, Worship And Desire, so there seemed no better time to talk to the two originators of the group, Chip Roberts and Kurtis Skinner, about their turbowave genre, origin story and of course about the new album.
Dual Analog, welcome to the Onyx rabbit hole of reality versus the Id. We hope you will enjoy your flight with us as we traverse dimensions.
You are from the Seattle scene in Washington. What is the alternative scene like there?
Chip: The most popular original groups are metalcore or singer/songwriter acts, but there’s a growing goth/darkwave scene coming up. The climate in the Northwest lends itself to dark, brooding music. Unfortunately, the “Seattle scene” of the early 90s kind of typecasted this whole area it has taken a while to move past that as a city. It’s been almost 30 years now, it’s time to move on!
Let us clear something up. You describe your musical style as turbowave. One of the Onyx cats is called Turbo as well, however he does not write music in the style of new wave, industrial and metal (though he does disappear for large lengths of time so who knows). Can you explain your style a little more?
Kurtis: Personally, I like to branch out to different genres to see what I can do and what will work. A “Dual Analog” song to me would have drum machines and/or acoustic drums, some guitar, vocals, and various synths, as well as possibly some orchestral and sound design elements.
Chip: Saying it’s “synthwave metal” puts us in a difficult spot, because if it’s not synthwave enough, people get uppity. Similarly, if it’s not metal enough, people get uppity. We knew it had to be a “wave” genre of some kind, but we didn’t want to paint ourselves into a corner. Plus, “turbo” makes me think of the Judas Priest record, which incorporated heavy metal guitars with keyboards and drum machines.
Kurtis: We just like to combine interesting grooves and melodies into a more or less traditional song format.
Chip: The songs off of “Lust, Worship, and Desire” comprise just one portion of our catalog; we have lots of different kinds of songs from danceable, gothy affair, to straight up pop. We wanted something that hadn’t already been defined so that we could stretch out a bit.
What were Chip Roberts and Kurtis Skinner up to in the Seattle music scene before joining their collective super music powers together?
Chip: We were playing together in Perfect Zero, but I was also playing or subbing in cover/tribute bands in the area. I played lead guitar in a Prince tribute, which is how I met Libby B.; she sang backup. I was also playing the casino circuit with a female fronted funk/RnB cover band.
Kurtis: In addition to Perfect Zero, I was and still am composing for various independent films, mostly shorts.
We gather the name Dual Analog, has something to do with the fact there were two members originally in the band, so how did you guys become involved with each other and create this project?
Chip: Kurtis and I have known eachother since elementary school. We started our first “band” in 7th grade, broke up in high school, and then reformed in college. We played in Axis of Symmetry and Perfect Zero, both of which erred were melodic death metal. After playing the Northwest metal scene for a few years, we found, if you were a metal band, that there wasn’t a ton of room for innovation; it’s very black and white. We put out an EP with Perfect Zero before dissolving the band; it had just become too much compromise and damage control. However, Kurtis and I still wanted to work with eachother, and we were sitting on some very strong material for what would have been the second Perfect Zero record.
Kurtis: Right after Perfect Zero ended, we got together and discussed how we each wanted to go forward musically. We had the same ideas of what we wanted to make, and so the beginnings of Dual Analog started.
Can you tell us who else is part of Dual Analog?
Chip: Kurtis and I are the primary songwriters and recording musicians. All of the instrument parts you hear on the record were written and recorded by the two of us, but we have some of our backing band members helping out on harmony vocals throughout the record. The live backing band is Sarah Anne Campbell on drums, Lindsey Ferrari on backup vocals, Libby B. Franklin on backup vocals, and Alika Madis on guitar. Sarah and Alika do live backups as well; it’s a really powerful and strong group of players.
Lust, Worship And Desire is your debut, after releasing six singles. Did you feel it was time to put out an album or was it planned this way?
Chip: We had an EP written, tracked, and sent off for mixing, but the person we sent it to for mixing and mastering flaked on us. During that waiting period, we wrote a number of songs that we were excited about, so we decided to shelve that EP and just make a full album of all-new songs.
I have to say I really like the mix of modern electronics with vocals in Golden Temple. Do you have a favourite track off the album?
Chip: I like every song on the record, and they’re all a little different from one another, which I love, but the song I’m the most proud of is the title track “Lust, Worship, and Desire.”
Kurtis: I like some more than others, but I’m very happy with “Among the Living”. It’s also one of my favorites to play live.
Four of the six singles made it onto the album….what happened to Neon Dreams and Wasteland?
Chip: “Neon Dreams” was more of a soft open that we put out to give people a sample of our new project. Originally, I had it arranged with acoustic drums and 7-string guitars, but we decided to do just the electronic version as a single. We had floated the idea of putting out the heavy version for the album, but it didn’t really fit with the rest of the songs musically or lyrically. Live, that song always goes over really well, especially with the guitars added. “Wasteland” was kind of similar in that we thought about putting it on the album, but it just didn’t fit with the rest of the material.
The album has a premise or a storyline running through it. Can you tell us about the boy and his search?
Chip: After receiving an unsolicited kiss from a, seemingly, complete stranger, he sets out to become actualized sexually. Taking the affection as the one thing missing from his life, he devotes his existence completely and utterly to attaining physical perfection and achieving enlightenment through sex. He practices asceticism, studies the ancient, lost art of lovemaking, and worships the goddess who gave him a taste of what he was missing before disappearing. I liken the concept to a “coming of age” story.
It is said that this is an ideal based in Buddhism, and is this a lesson learnt?
Chip: Now, that would be a spoiler.
I also noticed that a lot of the synths create chiming bell like sounds. Was this a preferred addition or a way to tie in the karmaic storyline?
Kurtis: I can’t speak to the storyline, but for me the bells add an interesting organic element and has contributed to how we define “our sound”.
Chip: In terms of whether the sound is intentional or incidental, I think it’s a chicken or the egg scenario. Certain songs need a certain sound, and certain sounds bring a certain song. I’ve always felt that every song we write has a “setting,” some kind of visual backdrop that pops into your head when you hear it. Songs like “Among the Living” or “Pantheon,” for example, feel like a Tibetan monastery. “Dynasties Behind” makes me think of a hot summer afternoon in Angkor Wat. When a certain setting comes to mind, I just go with it and the rest comes together pretty quickly.
There seems to be an 80s retro feel to the music, especially with the synths and the vocals. Would you say this is the era that influenced you the most?
Kurtis: I listen to a lot of modern electronic music, which has a lot of 80s influence in it these days, so I think that’s more what I was going for – a modern version of these types of sounds.
Chip: In previous projects, I always sang tenor. That kind of voice works at times for this kind of music, and you can hear it in a few songs on the record, but the rounder, more baritone flavored vocals just kind of found themselves into the sound. It wasn’t a foresight driven decision to say “I’m going to try to sound like Depeche Mode” or “I’m going to make this one more like Duran Duran,” it’s just that the music lends itself to that kind of vocal style. As we got more organized and focused, I had to get back into voice lessons. As I learned more of the proper technique, my voice just sort of naturally changed. It was kind of odd since I had always tried to sound more like Sebastian Bach than Roland Orzabal, but I like the way my voice sounds now, and I can still sing like Bas when I want to.
What music and bands inspired you to get into the music world?
Chip: KISS and Bon Jovi were the two biggest ones starting out.
Kurtis: Chip was basically the first person to introduce me to music, so KISS and Bon Jovi, but also AC/DC and Guns n’ Roses.
What bands/acts do you listen to now?
Kurtis: I’m all over the place, so this is always a hard question for me. Rufus du Sol is one of my favorite bands right now, but also Above & Beyond, Porter Robinson, Lane 8, This Will Destroy You, Lights & Motion, Halestorm, Dance with the Dead to name a few.
Chip: I’m listening to whatever my girlfriend has playing in her car. Lately, it has been mostly Wu Tang Clan and LaRoux. I’m getting into some Fates Warning right now and also stumbled across this obscure New Wave band called “Zee,” particularly their album “Identity” from 1984. Sounds kind of like Dead Can Dance, but poppier.
If you met Buddha on the road would you ask him the meaning of life, kill him or have a beer with him?
Chip: A cup of tea.
Kurtis: I would ask what he was doing sitting on the side of the road.
What is in the future for Dual Analog?
Chip: Hitting the promo as hard as we can and lots of meetings with promoters. We have a video for “Into the Unknown” coming out in May, then we’ll be shooting another video for the title track “Lust, Worship, and Desire” around late July.
Kurtis: Also, tons of new material, we have no shortage of ideas. There will be a lot of music coming from us for the foreseeable future.
Thank you for astral travelling with us today. Glad to see no one became motion sick or became spiritually lost.
Onyx Music Reviews 