By Until about a year and a half ago, he said he didn’t like “loud” music. I don’t mind turning the volume up, but it was too loud and unsettling. I preferred lullaby baby music all day long, or songs about fucking complaints and making money because no one doesn’t like being brainwashed.and i heard soul glow.
I’m not entirely sure what they changed my mind about. Perhaps the fact that they were black, but drummer TJ is white, so it can’t be.Maybe that’s because it gave the audience enough time to breathe before another auditory flogging. diaspora problem No, neither is it possible. The whole album scares me.) Maybe it’s because they’re really talented and I feel lucky to have had the chance to chat with them.
Before we get into the good stuff, let me introduce the band. There’s TJ, whom you’ve already met. Guitarist GG and vocalist Pierce.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
High Times: How did you meet?
TJ: I met GG a while ago. It seems like more than 10 years ago that I met GG.
GG: I met TJ at a show at 538 Johnson in New York City. And I met Pierce through band activities. Pierce actually booked my old band’s old show in Philadelphia.
Earrings: People were coming in and out. And essentially, both TJ’s time and GG’s time came to join the band. I’ve been in this band since the beginning, but everyone else has.
HT: So how does the song start? What is it like to walk into the studio?
Earrings: it really depends. Someone usually comes up with an idea. The idea could be a complete song already ready. Or maybe it just takes a few little flavors from each of us, or maybe one of us just has a couple of riffs of hers and then just plays and Play the idea over and over and talk about how you want it to sound. Or for digital shit, sometimes GG creates beats, sometimes I’m there and GG has an idea to translate into a song.
HT: Do you have a theme?
GG: Musically. i don’t think so.
TJ: It happens often.
Earrings: We used to ask each other, What do you want this next piece of shit to sound like? an album that i liked I want this shit to sound like pain. And I feel like it did.
HT: I feel like there is comedy in the music video. How do you think that influences the music itself?
TJ: i was just the subject Music videoThe music video was really a piercing idea. So that means you’re playing minor themes in this band’s existence. Was my experience joining a band as a drummer literally whipped with ropes? But it was a pain. I got a call asking if I would like to play the festival with them in a week. And we practiced sets every day for a week. a kind of play this. And I had to do it. In a way it blew me away.
HT: What role does cannabis play in your music?
GG: Jesus Christ.
(laughter)
TJ: good I mean, you heard the beginning of the album, right? I’ve smoked weed daily for over a decade, so cannabis plays a role in just about everything I do.
Earrings: I think the way other people drink coffee is the way I smoke weed. I smoke weed the way other people smoke cigarettes. It really helped me manage my anxiety and depression in a way I needed for years before I actually discovered it. I didn’t expect to feel good. I didn’t know I couldn’t have a constant monologue that was completely anxiety-driven. And that’s really underrated for someone like me. Obviously, I want to be a more balanced person, so I have to find other things in life too.And also weed helped me realize orAs GZA said, they’re all planets that revolve around the same sun. Music, weed, and everything else that I love is what keeps me tethered to this human coil.
GG: I used to smoke weed when I was a baby.
HT: when you were a baby? !
GG: One of the requirements to join this band, not a requirement, but I was asked before joining this band: Do you smoke weed? I got into a situation so I don’t do it every day anymore, but last night I smoked weed and that shit was crazy.
HT: Do you smoke together like in the studio?
Earrings: we often used a lot.
HT: What caused the change?
GG: In my case, I was arrested. So it messes me up a bit and I can’t do it all the time.
HT: How do you feel about cannabis-related mass detentions?
GG: That’s bullshit, from above.
TJ: Especially if there are places that are rolling out legalization. that’s ridiculous. How do you get locked up for shit that’s no longer illegal?
Earrings: It’s like my friend was still a slave because the emancipation proclamation was issued and no one told me. It’s like a friend really just steals your life and won’t tell you.
HT: Why do you make music?
Earrings: Truth be told, I don’t really feel like I’m good at a lot of other shit. So when this stuck with me as a kid, it stuck. So the short answer is because you can’t skate.
GG: My father is a percussionist and thought it was a good idea and gave me some drums. hahaHe probably kicked ass a few times for doing that because of how I’ve grown as an individual.Someone left the guitar in my crib, so I picked it up and taught myself how to play it. as a basethen I was like, Hey, I have two more strings. After that, I started learning to play the guitar on my own. I don’t know, but I just thought I should keep going because I felt better as I got better at the instrument. And as time went on, I kept meeting more and more cool people, which made me feel a sense of belonging.
TJ: My father got me hooked on punk. It’s what I’ve always been interested in and what people have recommended to me.
HT: Hmm. Are you from a wealthy family? Punk music is something only wealthy parents introduce their children to. I don’t know why I feel this way.
TJ: Not broken, but not particularly wealthy. I think it’s because my father is young. [He’s] not yet [his] I am in my mid 50’s and will be 30 next month. He was just into cool things and that helped me. He just had this huge pile of CDs. Either that or he would go to the library. I just took shit from the library and burned it. My mother worked at the library.
Earrings: Admittedly, I also burned a lot of CDs. I was just talking to someone last night about the first time I heard Metallica on the burned CD they made for me.it was metallica ride thunder On the other hand, then Arch Enemy’s doomsday [Machine] on the other side. By then I was already listening to a lot of rock music… I was in middle school, so I was probably around 12 or 13. His father also loved music, but he was mostly into jazz fusion. pop. He doesn’t listen to metal or anything like that at all. It was rather my own personality. But he definitely feels like he’s put me on a path of listening to music that’s very energetic and busy. My mom was in the military, so we were middle class. And it was always through a timeshare.
HT: How do you think classes affect music and bands? Do you think they are more likely to succeed if they are born to wealthy parents?
Earrings: Yeah, I think it can definitely make a difference. Likewise, my parents paid for me to take lessons for seven years. And honestly, I had a mentor who changed my life and how I see music and everything. And GG had no experience with that at all. So I don’t think it matters, but it helps.
GG: I think it depends on your interests. Resources are definitely helpful, but if you stick with what you’re doing, you’ll be fine.
HT: What do you think of the categories of black art? Afropunk, for example. Or go to a bookstore and look at the African American section.
Earrings: good, Afropunk is an almost meaningless term. A conversation about Afropunk, its terminology, and the festivals that go with it would probably take longer than 10 minutes. [That term] It does not really represent what was originally intended. I don’t know, that’s what I have to say.
HT: Life after death. Does it exist?
TJ: I feel like when I die, it’s over. I think that’s all.
Earrings: It feels like there could be an afterlife, like no energy is destroyed, only type beats are transferred. Heaven to me is like a selfish idea. We’ve already been given a heavenly chance here and we’re screwing it up. But hell is real.
TJ: Fuck.
(unpleasant laughter)
Earrings: I think reincarnation is real.that can Be authentic. You go back to the dirt and a whole new friend comes out.
HT: If I like you guys, who else should I listen to?
GG: have you ever heard :3lon?
Earrings: That shit will change your life. Spelling. Meshuggah. cloud rat. El Alpha. Tokisha. Tupac. Dance With the Devil by Immortal TechniqueI was alone in the middle of the night when I first heard that song. I listened to that shit and looked at my computer screen and stared in silence after that shit played. What the hell did you hear?!
HT: What do you think the future of music looks like?
GG: Spotify.
TJ: They just start running software that generates jingles and shit. It will be the world of AI.
GG: You will be able to airdrop at will.
Earrings: I think everything will be… I think genres will be more amalgamated and black music will just become a single genre where artists do different traditions in the same song at the same time.
HT: Can white people make black music?
Earrings: they already are.
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