With little more under their belt than a relentless string of live performances, and a twice pressed (subsequently sold out) Self-Titled Demo, NYC based band Lathe of Heaven have proved themselves to be a potent and cohesive element amidst the torrent of hardcore punk and synth-driven pop revival currently proliferating throughout the U.S. underground. Today the band sign to Sacred Bones Records and announce their debut album ‘Bound By Naked Skies‘ is out September 1st. To coincide with the announce, the band are sharing the first single from the record, “Ekpyrosis” alongside a video directed by Lucas Cabu and Vitor Jabour.
Though the term Ekpyrosis has roots in Ancient Greek philosophy, the name has since been adopted and reformatted to signify a cosmological theory that describes the origins and destiny of space and time. The Ekpyrotic Model, commonly associated with The Cyclic Model, hypothesises that the universe undergoes periodic cycles of contraction and expansion, leading to the creation, destruction, and thus recreation of the universe.
Despite this theory’s contentious place in the field of cosmology, the band nevertheless finds its implications inherently compelling. There is something both horrifying and beautiful about the idea of our universe being in a constant state of death and rebirth, which Lathe of Heaven believes serves as a strong and apt portrayal of the various themes spanning across their upcoming debut record, Bound by Naked Skies.
The “Ekpyrosis” video aims to place its viewer in the uncanny space of present and past, thematically exploiting neo retro-futuristic depictions of New York City, it’s punk underground and its dystopian future – a future the universe may have unknowingly seen before. On the visuals, director Lucas Cabu said “This was a fun project. The band wanted to have space images playing behind them and have an 80’s look to it, so we used an analog mixer to do the chroma key in real time while the band was playing in my room! We kind of pre-edited it in real time then did the master in a beta-cam to give it an even more antiquated look.”
Formed in 2021, the band features members of noteworthy Brooklyn based projects such as People’s Temple, Porvenir Oscuro, Pawns, Android, Hustler and more.
Though this roster of past and alternate musical endeavors exposes a diverse range of genre and skill sets, Lathe of Heaven can only be understood as a departure from such influences, exploring a sound entirely of its own.
Now nearly two years later, LoH are finally prepared to unleash their debut Full Length Bound by Naked Skies. With careful consideration, this eleven track LP blends elements of British New-Wave and Finnish Post-Punk into a nuanced juxtaposition of 80s sonic mania. Incorporating themes of classic and contemporary Science-Fiction, Bound by Naked Skies indebts itself as much to its literary influences as it does to the music that informs its unique and deliberate sound. Paying powerful homage to the uncanny worlds of authors Arthur C. Clarke, Octavia Butler, Ken Liu and of course Ursula Le Guin (whose novel the band is named after), themes of cosmology (Ekpyrosis), simulation (Heralds of the Circuit-Born), mental illness (Moon-Driven Sea), and ontology (Entropy, The Spider.), weave implicitly throughout the arch of the record, providing a sense of insight into the minds of those plagued by the ambiguous nature of humankind’s terrifying and not-so-distant future.
Lathe of Heaven tour dates: 4th Aug – TV Eye (w/ Home Front and Deluxxe), Brooklyn, NY (Tickets) 18th Aug – Union Pool (w/ Temple of Angels), Brooklyn,, NY (Tickets) 7th Sept – TV Eye (w/ Witness and Eyedrops), Brooklyn, NY (Tickets) 13th Sept – The Dirty Bird (w/ The Poisoning and The Exile), Santa Ana, CA 14th Sept – Knucklehead ( w/ The Exile and Shrouds), Los Angeles, CA 15th Sept – Zebulon (w/ Protocultura), Los Angeles, CA 16th Sept – Stork Club (w/ Vulture Feather and Vague Lanes), Oakland, CA 17th Sept – Enzyme, San Francisco, CA 18th Sept – Naked Lounge (w/ Vulture Feather and Exposure Therapy), Chico, CA 19th Sept – Coffin Club, Portland, OR 21st Sept – 23rd Sept – Varning Festival, Montreal, MTL (Tickets)
Brooklyn band BODEGA shares the new single, “Thrown,” from their anticipated second album, Broken Equipment, out March 11th on What’s Your Rupture?. Following lead single “Doers,” “Thrown” serves as a thesis statement for the record’s multi-faceted exploration of how ideology and identity are shaped, but never fixed. In the album’s opening moments, vocalist Nikki Belfiglio urges listeners to “watch the thrown.” She is joined by fellow founding member Ben Hozie, who details various ways his personality is constantly influenced, or “thrown”, by phenomena such as “big rock ads” or “the itch on my back.” The track is biting, with metallic bass and taut percussion.
“‘Thrown’ was an attempt at a self-portrait track,” says Hozie. “The older I get the less I trust my own thoughts and perceptions of self ——> I realize most of my values and judgments come from the records, films, books, and advertisements I have consumed my whole life. Recognizing this ‘thrown-ness,’ while slightly disturbing, has been a source of inspiration for my creative mind. If the mind can only output what has been presented —> provide it with the proper input. You can remake yourself entirely at the drop of a (top)hat. The inputs I selected for this lyric: James Joyce and Bob Dylan. The music, to me, is a synthesis of many of the stylistic motifs our group has developed over the past few years : syncopated bass over a slow-shifting sea of guitar harmonics, violent guitar spasms with machine influenced but human-played drums; plus male/female vox alternating between spoken text raps and melody.”
The accompanying lyric video, directed by Belfiglio, is a combination of acrylic portraiture and the graphic design of advertising.
The follow-up to the band’s acclaimed debut album, Endless Scroll(2018), and 2019’s Shiny New Model EP, Broken Equipment was inspired by a book club. In the early months of 2020, the Brooklyn art-punk incendiaries gathered together with close friends to study the works of a wide range of philosophers. The resulting Broken Equipment is BODEGA’s attempt to interrogate the external factors that make them who they are, propelling existential quandaries with tongue-in-cheek humor, highly personal lyrics, and irresistible grooves.
The album’s 12 songs are set in present day New York City, packing in references to contemporary issues of algorithmic targeting, media gentrification, and the band itself. Watch: “Thrown” Lyric Video “Doers” Video
After a stellar year that saw them release their debut album and join IDLES on a largely sold-out nationwide tour, Brooklyn art punks Gustaf have returned with a fiery remix of their track “Design” by none other than the multi-time Grammy-winner Beck. Their friendship with Beck blossomed after he invited them to play a secret loft party at his New York apartment, and his re-work of their first ever recorded single comes alongside a throughly enjoyable Interview Magazine piece in which they discuss the merits of creating and sharing outside of the box. Today, they’re also announcing a slew of headline dates across the United States and the UK, as well as a Talkhouse conversation with tourmates IDLES.
LISTEN: to Beck’s remix of Gustaf’s “Design” on YouTube
Audio Drag For Ego Slobscame out via Royal Mountain Records on October 1st to rapturous praise from the likes of NPR, NME, BrooklynVegan, DIY, Paste, and the band will continue to prove why they are one of America’s most “reliably fun bands” as they head out on a full US headline tour with stops at SXSW, Treefort, Savannah Music Fest and many more, before jumping across the Atlantic for their first UK shows, a run that will see them appearing at Brighton’s The Great Escape festival.
Beck’s remix of Gustaf’s “Design” is out now on Royal Mountain Records. It is available to stream here.
Tour Dates
2022 3/10 – Washington, DC @ DC9 3/11 – Durham, NC @ Pinhook 3/11-12 – Savannah, GA @ Savannah Stopover Music Fest 3/13 – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl 3/15 – Dallas, TX @ Sundown at Granada 3/16-18 – Austin, TX @ SXSW 3/20 – Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress 3/21 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo 3/23 – San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop 3/23-27 – Boise, ID @ Treefort Music Fest 3/25 – Seattle, WA @ Sunset Tavern 3/26 – Portland, OR @ Bunk Bar 3/31 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St Entry 4/1 – Milwaukee, WI @ Colectivo 4/2 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle 4/3 – Columbus, OH @ Ace Of Cups 4/5 – Toronto, ON @ Garrison 4/7 – Burlington, VT – Higher Ground 4/8 – Portland, ME @ Portland House of Music 4/14 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s 4/15 – Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall 4/16 – New York, NY @ The Broadway 4/29 – Nottingham, United Kingdom @ Bodega 4/30 – Edinburgh, United Kingdom @ Stag & Dagger Edinburgh 5/1 – Glasgow, United Kingdom @ Stag & Dagger Glasgow 5/3 – Dublin, Ireland @ The Workman’s Club 5/4 – Manchester, United Kingdom @ YES / Pink Room 5/6 – Leeds, United Kingdom @ Headrow House 5/7 – Coventry, United Kingdom @ Coventry Central Library 5/8 – Birmingham, United Kingdom @ Hare & Hounds 5/9 – London, United Kingdom @ Moth Club (co-headline w/ Kills Birds) 5/10 – London, United Kingdom @ Moth Club (co-headline w/ Kills Birds) 5/11 – Cambridge, United Kingdom @ The Portland Arms 5/13 – Brighton, United Kingdom @ The Great Escape Festival 5/14 – Bristol, United Kingdom @ Crofters Rights
Formed somewhat on a whim, Gustaf (Lydia Gammill – lead vocals, Tine Hill – bass, Vram Kherlopian – guitar, Melissa Lucciola – drums, Tarra Thiessen – percussion and vocals) were playing packed gigs across the country in record stores, apartments, basements, pubs, and even SXSW festival stages before they even cut their debut album – Audio Drag for Ego Slobs. The result is an album created by a band who’d cut their teeth on the road and came into the studio with a power pack of post-punk poppers.
“You say that I’m much to old to be low-fi,” Gammill sings on the opening track, “Mine.” The groove of it is undeniable, rooted in Hill’s bass lick and the tippity-tap of Lucciola’s hi-hat. The song seems to about reclaiming dignity and an attitude of “I really don’t give a rat’s ass.”
“Book” has Gammill demanding proof of erroneous claims of her life being false. It keeps the dance grooves rolling and into “Best Behavior.” “I wanted you to know that I was good today,” Gammill sings, possibly letting her lover know that she wasn’t up to anything naughty…Well, perhaps a bit. “Dream” is a song about weird love, with Thiessen repeating “We love you.” while Gammill claims, “You’re doing great.” and then both of them stating, “It was only a dream.”
Kherlopian’s guitar takes on a bit of a yacht rock feel, which I love, on “Liquid Frown” – a song that seems to be about being under so much relationship stress that it makes you nauseous. Hill’s bass is in full funk mode on “The Motions,” and the backing vocals are warped (like they are on many tracks) to reflect Gammill’s perplexed state of mind at the world in general. “Common sense seems so pedestrian,” Gammill sings on “Cruel” – one of the wittiest tracks on the album with the band flipping off romance.
On the flipside, “Dog” is about someone Gammill didn’t really find attractive or think much about until she saw the guy’s dog. “It took a little effort to see. Hey, who’s that pulling the leash?” “Package” ups the anger a bit before the slightly psychedelic “Happy” comes in to close the album with Gammill saying, “I hope you’re happy getting what you want…I’m out here singing alone.”
As the kids would say, don’t sleep on this album. It’s one of the best post-punk records of the year.
Brooklyn band BODEGA announces its long-awaited second album, Broken Equipment, out March 11th, 2022, on What’s Your Rupture?, and shares the infectious lead single/video, “Doers.” Inspired by self-help books and vlogs, it tackles the toxic side of forced productivity and slyly pokes fun at Daft Punk with its central mantra of “bitter, harder, fatter, stressed out.”
Of ‘Doers’, the band’s Ben Hozie offers: “Sometime on tour near the end of 2019 I found myself reading and watching a plethora of self-help books and Youtube vids. This started from a genuine desire for spiritual and physical improvement but I soon started noticing how advertisements everywhere were utilizing the language of self-help. I was being programmed. This ideology of constant productivity forces you to treat your own body, mind, time, and friends as products to mine. As a result the world becomes a smaller, duller place. All artists (all people) desire to be productive. Yet… If a photo is taken of you in the woods: for all millennia you’ll always be stuck in the woods.”
The accompanying video – directed by Ben alongside BODEGA co-founder Nikki Belfiglio, and drawing inspiration from Ryan Trecartin, Hype Williams and Slipknot – continues to take aim at the 21st century’s incessant productivity/positivity cycle.
Ben explains: “For the advertisement (music vid) for the track we teamed up with our old pal Joe Wakeman (who used to perform with me and Nikki in BODEGA BAY). We shot at the old abandoned IBM offices in Kingston, NY (where Nikki and Joe were born and raised) and a gym and a parking garage in Bushwick. The video stars Dr. DOER, a misunderstood monster who simply wants to issue directives and inspire his team of ghouls to #greatness.”
The follow-up to the band’s acclaimed debut album, Endless Scroll(2018), and 2019’s Shiny New Model EP, Broken Equipment was inspired by a book club. In the early months of 2020, the Brooklyn art-punk incendiaries gathered together with close friends to study the works of a wide range of philosophers. Passionate debates lasting long into the night became a regular occurrence, motivating the band to become as ideologically unified as the weighty tomes they were reading. Broken Equipment is BODEGA’s attempt to interrogate the external factors that make them who they are, propelling existential quandaries with tongue-in-cheek humour, highly personal lyrics, and irresistible grooves.
Since BODEGA’s formation in 2016, Ben and Nikki have experienced a rare meteoric rise. The duo double as filmmakers, earning acclaim for their 2020 erotic dramaPVT Chat starring Peter Vack, Julia Fox, and other recognizable faces from the Safdie Brothers’ cinematic universe. When the pandemic forced them to hit pause, they used the opportunity to regroup with drummer/performance artist Tai Lee, bassist/book club leader Adam See, and lead guitarist Dan Ryan. Broken Equipment was produced by Ben himself with Bobby Lewis, BODEGA’s NYC live sound mixer. The record was mixed by Bryce Goggin, whom the band sought out for his work with Pavement, and Adam Sachs (WIVES).
The album’s 12 songs are set in present day New York City, packing in references to contemporary issues of algorithmic targeting, media gentrification, and the band itself. Watch BODEGA’s “Doers” Video
Since forming in 2018, Brooklyn art punks Gustaf have been the subject of an unusual amount of buzz for a band who had never released a note of recorded music. Based entirely on the back of their live shows, the band found early champions in luminaries like Beck – who saw them perform at a secret loft party he played around the release of his latest album – the New York no wave legend James Chance, and shared stages with buzzing indie acts like Omni, Tropical Fuck Storm, Dehd and Bodega, while word of mouth led to sell out shows when they played their first LA headline dates in late 2019. Last month the band released their first single, the Chris Coady (Beach House, TV on The Radio, Future Islands)-produced “Mine,” which earned immediate praise from spots like the NME, Paste, DIY, The Needle Drop and Exclaim, and today, Gustaf are sharing their second single, a track called “Design,” another slice of the band’s finely-tuned, off-kilter art-punk that sees them reunite with Coady as their producer.
Vocalist Lydia Gammill explains: “Although the title of the song is not the refrain (“desire’”, we named the track “Design” because it is a commentary on how our desires and critiques of others are a product of our design.” Gammill continues, “Like in “Mine”, the narrator addresses an invisible critic, arguing that the ills we believe to be unique to ourselves are the result of an oppressive system. However, in the end we’re just shouting at the back of someone’s head as they leave the room.”
The cover art of Public Practice‘s debut full-length album, Gentle Grip, is intriguing. It’s an abstract / pop art image of a woman’s head, eyes closed, lips and teeth parted in either a breathy sigh or ready for an embrace…and there’s that hand. A right hand with fingernails painted to match the woman’s lipstick has a (gentle?) grip on the back of where her neck would be. Is it the woman’s hand, giving herself a soothing neck massage? Or is it someone else’s, pushing her forward to something she wants but was hesitant to embrace without a little help?
I might be making too much of it, but the image is as intriguing as the album. The opening synth-bass and echoed guitars of “Moon” immediately hurl you into Blade Runner territory while singer / lyricist Samantha York sings of leaving this world for better things, but thinking things might not be better in the off-world colonies after all. Drummer Scott Rosenthal mixes hypnotic floor tom beats with wild full-kit drum fills to jar you out of the mesmerism that York can expertly cast upon the unwary (or, often, more than willing) listener.
The contrasting upbeat pace of “Cities” is a delightful surprise, reflecting the bustle of city life as York sings about the dark sides of some places needing to be brought to light. “Disposable” was one of the first songs released from Public Practice (in October 2019) – and with good reason. Drew Citron‘s bass thumps in your blood and Vince McClelland‘s guitar work is like a shuriken spinning toward you with multiple points. York sings about being careful what you wish for and how “You have it or you don’t.”
The tempo of “Each Other” is wonderfully bumpy and jagged. The whole feel of “Underneath” is undeniably sexy thanks to Citron’s excellent bass line and the vocal mix she and York. Rosenthal puts down a slick Blondie-like beat and McClelland’s guitar work is deceptively tight. “See You When I Want To” is a fun track – as the whole thing, including York’s lyrics, was improvised. “My Head” would’ve been a disco classic in another era. The song’s about creating a dance club in your head to tune out the 24-hour barrage of noise coming at us, so it’s perfect.
The first single off Gentle Grip, “Compromised,” is about the rough road of moral choices. “You don’t want to live a lie, you don’t want to pick a side, you don’t want to compromise. You don’t want to live a life, but it’s easy,” York sings while the rest of the band just cooks throughout the whole track. “I thought this would all fade away. Didn’t know you would stay so angry. I thought it was just a passing phase. Sure we could crawl to an understanding,” York, puzzled, sings on “Understanding” – a sharp post-punk track with McClelland’s guitar ranting like a drunk on a street corner (and I mean that in the best possible sense – McClelland’s mini-solos sound like mini-stories within the story of York’s lyrics.).
In a clever twist, the song “Leave Me Alone” might be the sexiest song on the record. The groove of it slinks around the room like a femme fatale convincing a hard-boiled detective to take the case of her missing husband. It’s the album cover in aural form. McClelland saves some of this wildest guitar work for “How I Like It” – which he also sings. It sounds like he stuck a Tesla coil in his guitar. “Hesitation,” the album’s closer, on the other hand, repeats the same three notes and creates a post-punk (and slightly goth?) banger.
There aren’t a lot of bands out there willing to experiment like Public Practice, which is a shame because the time is ripe for experimentation. We need intriguing records like Gentle Grip that nudge us toward things we want (not material things, mind you, but things like healthy relationships, self-care, and joy) when we need that guidance the most.
Before COVID-19 floated across the country and shut down music venues and tours everywhere, I was lucky enough to catch The Wants on tour with BODEGA. Two of The Wants, guitarist / lead vocalist Madison Velding-VanDam and bassist / vocalist Heather Elle, are BODEGA members. I got to speak with Wants drummer Jason Gates after the show and he told me they’d been working on their full-length debut, Container, for a long while and were proud of it.
As they should be, because it’s a sharp post-punk / new wave / no wave album that everyone should hear. Opening instrumental track “Ramp” starts off with what sounds like half-melted tapes being played backwards before it adds synthwave layers and instantly intriguing guitar licks. The title track has Velding-VanDam singing about compressing emotion, desire, and even human contact into something manageable or easily hidden (“Watch him, pull him apart, can he fit in a container?”). The song now in the wake of self-isolation, which put us all in our own containers / homes against our will, is doubly powerful (and it was already massive with Velding-VanDam’s brash riffs, Elle’s thudding bass, and Gates’ killer beat).
After another brief instrumental (“Machine Room”), Velding-VanDam again reveals himself as a bit of a prophet on “Fear My Society” as he sings, “I don’t need my society. I can feel my society bringing me down.” Elle’s backing vocals add a haunted layer to the track, and the whole thing reminds me of early 1990’s Brian Eno recordings. Lead single “The Motor” (which seems to be a song about working well under pressure – perhaps in the bedroom) has some of Gates’ sharpest chops and Velding-VanDam’s guitar seems to come at your from at least four different directions.
I love that The Wants (and any band) include instrumental tracks, especially ones like the three-and-a-half minute “Aluminum” – a weird, yet catchy soundscape that goes well with the following cut – “Ape Trap” (a song about being caught somewhere and refusing to let go of what’s keeping you miserable in that space). “I’m craving science fiction, so I’ll no longer do your dishes while I beat my head on the walls of my ape trap,” Velding-VanDam sings in perhaps my favorite line on the album (and Elle’s wicked bass curls around you like a purring cat).
The hissing and thumping “Waiting Room” could easily slide into the score of John Carpenter film. Elle’s opening bass on “Clearly a Crisis” gets your whole body moving while Velding-VanDam sings about being wary of moving forward in a relationship (“There’s clearly a crisis. This attraction’s inescapable, so I hide myself…”). The sparse breakdown about halfway through the track and the subsequent shoegaze tidal wave afterward are outstanding. “Nuclear Party” has a great early B-52’s sound to it (especially the way Velding-VanDam’s guitar seems to stumble around the room). Elle’s bass and Gates’ drums on “Hydra” are dance floor-ready and Velding-VanDam’s vocals remind me of Cy Curnin‘s (of The Fixx) vocal style. The album ends with another long, and somewhat creepy, instrumental – “Voltage.”
Container is an impressive debut that is not a BODEGA spin-off. Both bands are outstanding in their own right, and both bands tackle some similar subjects in their lyrics (the often bizarre natures of relationships, sex, and technology, for example), but The Wants are just as happy to stand back in the shadows and watch the party as they are to jump into the middle of it.
On their debut full length, Gentle Grip, Public Practice reanimate the spirit of late ‘70s New York with their playfully angular yet thoughtful brand of no wave-meets-funk and dark disco.
Magnetic singer and lyricist Sam York and guitarist and principal sonic architect Vince McClelland (who previously played together as members of the meteoric yet short-lived NYC post-punk outfit WALL) come to the table with an anarchic perspective that aims to eradicate creative barriers by challenging the very idea of what a song can be. Paradoxically, Drew Citron, on bass/vocals/synth, and drummer/producer Scott Rosenthal (both previously of Brooklyn indie-pop favorites Beverly) are uncannily adept at working within the framework of classic pop structures. But instead of clashing, these contrasting styles challenge and complement one another, resulting in an album full of spiraling tensions and unexpected turns.
Lyrically, York explores the complexities and contradictions of modern life overtop dance-inducing rhythms and choruses that disarmingly open up the doors to self-reflection. “You don’t want to live a lie / But it’s easy” York sings on “Compromised,” the record’s brisk, gyrating lead single. As York puts it, “No one’s moral compass reads truth north at all times. We all want to be our best green recycling selves, but still want to buy the shiny new shoes — how do you emotionally navigate through that? How do you balance material desires with the desire to be seen as morally good?” Towards the slinkier end of the album’s aural spectrum, songs like the supremely danceable “My Head” — which is about tuning out the incessant influx of external noise and finding your own internal groove — are more personally political while still hearkening the last days of disco.
But whether they are poking holes in commonly held ideas centered around relationships, creativity, or capitalism, Public Practice never lose sight of the fact that they want to have fun, and they want you to have fun too. After all, who wants to stand on top of a soapbox when there’s a dark, sweaty dancefloor out there with room on it for all of us?
Keep your mind open.
[Get a grip on the subscription box while you’re here.]
I recently chatted with Ben Hozie, guitarist, lead singer, and co-songwriter of Brooklyn art-punks BODEGA (who play at Schuba’s in Chicago tomorrow night) while he strolled along Park Avenue in New York City after having left a classical guitar lesson. Our conversation covered everything from the band’s attitude toward performance to the Zen of airports.
7th Level Music: I’m really looking forward to the Schuba’s show.
Ben Hozie: Yeah, that should be good.
7LM: I’m also really looking forward to seeing (guitarist) Madison [Velding-Vandam] and (bassist) Heather [Elle] with The Wants (who, along with Chicago’s Jungle Green, will open the Schuba’s show).
BH: Their band is super cool, super fun.
7LM: The first couple tracks I’ve heard are really good.
BH: They’re a really fun live band, too. It almost becomes a techno show. They have these super hard edge grooves.
7LM: I’ve been listening to the [BODEGA] albums again and again building up to the show, and I keep thinking that Heather might be your band’s secret weapon.
BH (laughing): Yeah.
7LM: Her bass grooves, every time I hear them I think, “Damn, she is laying that down!” Everybody in the band is just killer. I know that you and Madison and (original drummer) Montana [Simone] and (co-lead singer, percussionist, keyboardist, art director) Nikki [Belfiglio] and Heather all met through the art and music scene there in New York City, isn’t that right?
BH: Yeah, we all had a bunch of different bands at the time who all knew each other. We were also doing different kinds of things, making films together. Like any creative world, everybody is doing a little bit of something.
7LM: Is that how you also met (new drummer) Tai [Lee]?
BH: No. I actually met Tai because Tai came to one of our shows. She was kind of into the band, and Tai’s a super smart person so we were talking about philosophy and hanging out. I asked, “What do you do?” and she said, “I’m in this show STOMP.” She was a drummer and dancer. I think she came to another BODEGA show and we realized she was wanting to do something away from STOMP and it just so happened that was when Montana was wanting to focus more on her fine art. She does sculpture and paintings. So that was a very easy transition. It was like, “Why don’t you just quit STOMP and be in our band?”
7LM: Speaking of philosophy, that’s one of the things I love about your music – your approach to radical honesty and impermanence and presence. I’ve been writing a book about impermanence and presence and I reference “Truth Is Not Punishment” in the book. That’s such a powerful tune.
BH: Thank you.
7LM: On the new album, Shiny New Model, one of the first lines is, “Ben, what’s the deal with all these ATM’s?” I couldn’t help but think that came out of a real conversation.
BH: Of course. For whatever reasons, I’ve been obsessed with ATM’s. In our band before BODEGA, Bodega Bay, we even had two songs called “ATM.” I make films, too (Pretorius Pictures), and in almost all my films I make sure to have shots of ATM’s, not only because I like the way they look but I think they’re a potent metaphor. Somebody eventually got around to asking and I thought, “Well, I gotta answer them.”
7LM: By the way, I watched Little Labyrinth. Nicely done.
BH: Oh wow! That’s great. Madison and Nikki are in that one.
7LM: It was really nice. Another thing that song reminded me of is that I’ve been reading all this stuff and kind of obsessed lately with this idea of “non-places” like airports and hotels where people don’t really reside in them, and I’ve been seeing all this information on how everything’s becoming the same. How every coffee shop has to look like a Brooklyn coffee shop now and how our phones make every place into the same place, and I love this love-hate relationship with technology that you approach in your songs.
BH: I kind of romanticize those places. It’s one of my favorite things about tours, hanging out in airports and motels. There’s something really dreamy about all the glass. It’s kind of awful in some sense, but I kind of enjoy it. There’s something very Zen about being in those places. It’s like, “Nothing is happening here except for a bunch of transitory moments.”
7LM: I also love the way that you and Nikki and everybody else incorporate so much art and sexuality into the songs and the performances. I think a lot of that’s missing from a lot of live bands right now.
BH: Yeah, especially in the indie rock world. We’re still too much into that 90’s thing where you just wear your work clothes onstage and it’s not cool to try hard. Not only is it not fun, but that’s a privileged position. If somebody’s paid money to see you, you’d better entertain them.
7LM: Yes. I read a quote from Benny Goodman not long ago that pretty much says the same thing. If you’re gonna get up there, you gotta bring it.
BH: The sexuality of it, that can mean a lot of different things. One of the things that’s gotten so boring about rock and roll is that it’s not sexy. Obviously, it became sexy in a really gross way. We all know what that means, but sex is an essential part of what rock and roll is. The idea of a liberated sexuality. That was one of Nikki’s main ideas when we started the group, “We have to be sexy, but in a new way.” Whatever that means. We’re always experimenting. That’s always a loaded word, but I think you can smell what I mean.
7LM: Speaking of your music and art, I saw the clip of the [Paris] fashion show with “Name Escape.” That was perfect. Seeing all these dudes who look exactly the same coming out during that song, I thought, “This is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.”
BH (laughing): I gotta tell ya, that was one of the most surreal moments of my life. Sitting with all these high-fashion people and to hear a song we recorded in our practice space being blasted in front of all these people and to feel like, “How are we here? What ripple in the Matrix did we accidentally blip into?”
7LM: Speaking of Paris and Europe and that part of the world, I listen to BBC 6 Radio a lot and “Jack in Titanic” was all over that station. They loved that track.
BH: Yeah, thank God for BBC 6. They made it so we can tour Europe now.
7LM: I can’t remember, have you toured Europe already?
BH: Yeah, five or six times now. We tour there more than we do America because, for whatever reason, we have way more fans over there now.
7LM: Have you discovered countries where you’re popular and you wonder, “How did you hear of us?”
BH: Yeah, France is like that and to a certain extent the Netherlands is like that. It all started with the BBC 6 thing. I also think that maybe since Europe’s smaller, information travels faster. We have a lot of support in pockets of America, but for however long it takes us to get to Minneapolis or Nashville, everywhere in-between has not a fucking clue.
7LM: Getting back to your film work, I loved “I Am Not a Cinephile,” and when I found out you were a film maker, I loved it even more.
BH: That song came from me hanging out with academic film people. That’s kind of my background. I studied film history and film theory and film philosophy in college, and I do genuinely love that stuff but I remember having a dinner with a couple older guys who were so obnoxious in their cinephilia in a way that was not even aware of the joys of cinema. I just left that dinner thinking, “If that’s what cinephila is, I don’t like it.” There’s a good documentary called Cinemania, have you heard of it?
7LM: I’ve heard of it somewhere.
BH: It came out ten or fifteen years ago. It’s about this group of people in New York who go to every single repertory screening every day in New York City and they’re still doing it right now. If you go into a lot of art houses of New York, you’ll still see these characters. They have such an OCD regarding cinema, they’ll be like, “Okay, there’s a [Jean-Luc] Godard playing at eleven at MOMA, but if I take a cab I can make it to the one-thirty [Stanley] Kubrick over in the Bronx, and okay, there’s a thirty-five millimeter John Ford print showing…” and I don’t know how these people can afford it because they clearly don’t work. They just sit in the movies all day. The movie really shows you how these people are just addicted to the screen in a weird way. They have incredible taste in movies, obviously, but it’s like, “Haven’t you seen them already?” It’s really bizarre. Godard is kind of a hero of mine, and there was a month where they were showing every single Godard film at Lincoln Center in New York, even the TV stuff and the stuff that’s not available online. I did what those people do. I was there for every screening, five a day. It was amazing, but I kept seeing all these people and I would be like, “What’s wrong with these people? Are they such losers that they have nothing else to do with their lives?” But then I realized, “Oh my God! I’m one of them!” It’s a complicated song.
7LM: Do you have any favorite misheard versions of your lyrics?
BH: Yeah, I do. There are some pretty funny ones, but the best one is our song “Name Escape,” and some guy thought it was “Name a State.” He thought I was saying, “Name a state,” and he was like, “Delaware! New Jersey!” “Name a state!” “Alaska! Hawaii!” I was like, “That is an insane interpretation.” It was pretty stupid, but it was amazing. That’s what he heard. He even bought the record. He kept hearing it that way. I was like, “Are you not listening to the rest of the song?”
7LM: I know the name of Bodega Bay came from The Birds, do you have any other favorite [Alfred] Hitchcock films?
BH: Yeah, my favorite Hitchcock is The 39 Steps. I like British Hitchcock, like peak British Hitchcock. It’s really witty and it has all the charm. That movie feels miraculous to me in a way because it still feels super modern and abstract like his stuff got, but it feels a little more like it was off the cuff in a way. It feels somehow more beautiful to me because it feels like he was in the act of self-discovery when making that one, whereas at the end when he was in masterpiece mode through the Fifties and early Sixties, he knew what he was doing at that point.
7LM: Have you seen 1917?
BH: No. Nikki saw that last night. She said, “Do you want to go?” and I was like, “You know what, I don’t wanna go see that.” I really don’t like war movies. I haven’t seen it yet, but to me it looks like a theme park ride. Maybe I should because I’m sure it will win movie awards.
7LM: I haven’t seen it either, but the big thing about it is that it’s one long continuous shot.
BH: Like [Hitchcock’s] Rope.
7LM: Yeah, as a result of that, Rope‘s been getting a lot more attention lately.
BH: It’s (1917) not actually, just like Rope isn’t actually [one long shot]. There are several movies that are actual long shots with no stitches together, like [Aleksandr Sokurov’s] Russian Ark had no splicing or no dolly into darkness and then pull out again. Have you seen the Bi Gan films like Kaili Blues or Long Day’s Journey into Night?
7LM: No, not yet.
BH: They also have this Hail Mary long take. It’s way cooler in Kaili, because it’s kind of like what I was saying about The 39 Steps, “How did you pull this off with this cheap technology?” He’ll get on the back of a car and he’ll ride a mile or two, and then the camera will get off the car and follow the character into a house, and then it’ll strap onto a motorcycle and this camera literally has travelled probably ten kilometers. It crosses a river even, and there are no cuts. It’s kind of a dumb movie in some ways, and it’s clearly a young person’s movie. No one would think to do that if they were a tasteful film maker, which is why it’s awesome.
7LM: Yeah, you’ve got to push the envelope. On the new EP (Shiny New Model), I noticed how some of the grooves were tighter. I don’t know if that was a conscious decision to experiment with different grooves or song structures or not.
BH: Yeah, we wanted to change it up a bit. Make stuff that was maybe a little bit more melodic, the production’s a little lush. One funny difference is there’s a kick drum on the record, whereas there isn’t on [BODEGA’s first record] Endless Scroll. I think having the sub-frequency adds to the feeling of grooviness. It’s still a kick drum on its side, but even just hitting a kick drum with a mallet on its side gives it that oomph. That was the first time we actually recorded in a studio with a classic console. The first record was just on a tape deck in a practice space.
7LM: I read that. I thought that was pretty damn cool.
BH: No matter what’s going to happen with technology, there’s nothing like a live group playing to tape. It’s still always going to sound good.
7LM: I absolutely agree with you. There’s some stuff that’s so overproduced that I sometimes think, “Why not just come to the studio and rock out?”
BH: Well, if the toys are there they’re going to get used. That’s the thing about technology. That’s why you can’t make something like an atom bomb and not use it.
7LM: Outside of music and film, what else are you fascinated with or interested in?
BH: I’m interested in all kinds of things. Philosophy’s my biggest passion, not as big as film and music, but maybe on the same level. Me and Tai have a little philosophy group that gets together once a week and talk about any kind of theory. I love history. I love gambling. I’m very into cards.
7LM: Who are some of your favorite philosophers?
BH: Right now in the group we’re reading [Gilles] Deleuze, who’s probably not one of my favorites actually, but it’s fun to read. I’ve really been into [Martin] Heidegger recently. In terms of classical philosophers, I love [Immanuel] Kant. That was my big guy when I was younger. So almost anytime I read something, I’m like, “Oh, what would Kant say about this?” That’s just where my brain goes. It’s not like I would necessarily recommend Kant to anybody. He’s a little bit of a bore if you don’t take him in his historical context properly. I’m a big fan of [Søren] Kierkegaard, even though I’m not a Christian. I think of veganism, that’s something I’m really passionate about, as being a thing like Kierkegaard’s faith in an irrational god. Even rock and roll is like this, you choose this mode of being, this principle that you have, and then you just will yourself toward it, even if you can’t really justify it to anybody else. All you have to do is justify it to yourself. I’ve always thought that was really beautiful.
7LM: That’s a perfect way to wrap this up. That’s beautiful.
Keep your mind open.
[Don’t forget to subscribe before you split.]
[Thanks to Patrick Tilley for arranging my chat with Ben.]
