Interview mit Brandon Cruz von So Hideous

It’s been five to six years since you last released new music. What has been going on with you in the meantime?
Fatherhood, new jobs, members moving and line up changes. It was a time of transformation for our remaining members. Im grateful that we were able to navigate all the challenges to put something great together.

Your music has been mostly influenced by black metal, shoegaze and classical music. On your new album „None But A Pure Heart Can Sing“ there’s now also stylistic elements from jazz and even afrobeat. How did this development come about?
I love those styles of music and I felt that I was finally in a place artistically where I could express that side of myself and create freely.

Was it difficult to integrate these new sounds into your style?
Thankfully not at all. Once we solidified our new lineup it was just a matter of doing the hard work of putting it all together.

Will you continue to work with this new sonic palette in the future?
I will continue to add and subtract to the sound as I see fit. I’m excited to write new material that is divorced from any conception of what this type of music “should be”.

Black metal and orchestrations, on the other hand, seem to play a slightly smaller role on the new record, making the songs less overwhelming but a bit more dynamic. Was that the way you intended it to be?
It’s simply how it all coalesced. I don’t write music with the idea that “this song needs one cup of black metal, two ounces of orchestra, three liters of post hardcore” etc. That’s silly. We play what we enjoy in the moment.

You mix many different styles in your music. However, when playing within the metal genre, people often seem to get nailed down on that. How do you feel about that?
I think it’s corny. The hangups on the discussion of genre or what sound you align yourself with are harped on to an unhealthy degree and nonsensical. I certainly don’t care.

It seems to be mainly metal bands that venture into the realm of classical music. Conversely, classical artists rarely seem to approach metal. Do you have a guess on why that is?
You would have to ask them. I will say that Earl Maneein our lead violinist for this record with the Seven)Suns is a much bigger “metal head” l than I am.

You also seem to have a great appreciation for the post-rock of bands like Mono and Envy, as can be heard in the second half of „Intermezzo“. In your opinion, how close can one get to the style of another artist before it becomes a copycat oder idol worship?
I love these bands and learned so much from them. With that being said I don’t think they hold a monopoly over clean guitar arpeggios, piano and strings. Metal guys only recently started asking us about them when we included them on press releases.

The press release for the album also says that you worked with clusters in the style of Penderecki. Can you elaborate on that? And maybe give us an example of this taken from your new album?
As soon as you press play on “None But A Pure Heart Can Sing” there are these minor second tone clusters. They reappear all throughout “Souvenir (Echo)“ along with some octave glissandos. It was very exciting to write for this after a lifetime of lyrical melodies.

The album sounds very challenging in many places, especially the drumming. During the process of creating the record, did you sometimes reach your limits or was there something you couldn’t do as you wanted?
I wanted to add a Japanese koto on „Souvenir“ but it didn’t work out. Maybe the next one…

„None But A Pure Heart Can Sing“ seems a bit fragmented. The songs take very abrupt turns at times and it’s hard to make out a continuous arc of tension. What would you say to someone who calls the album inconsistent for that reason?
One person’s “inconsistent” is another person’s “exciting and unpredictable”. One person’s “consistent” is another person’s “boring”. The album was based on the idea of the joy in consistent forward movement. To someone that calls the album that, I would say they are completely wrong but nonetheless thank them for listening.

Your releases are generally rather short – the new record is hardly longer than 30 minutes. Has that been necessary so far, from your point of view, in order not to bloat your releases with filler material?
100 percent. I do not want to add extraneous intro or outro tracks on this unless they are specifically helping to tell the story. For this album we just wanted to get on with it and not revel in 5 minute crescendo buildups. The future may be different but for now this is the feeling we want to elicit.

The production of your releases seems to be met with criticism from some of your fans. Is that just a matter of taste or is there in fact something you think could be improved about the sound of your releases so far?
This is news to me… In any case I would have to also say, they are wrong and thank them for listening anyway.

„None But A Pure Heart Can Sing“ is a rather cryptic title that probably can’t be taken literally, if one thinks about the recent abuse allegations against Marilyn Manson or Alexis Marshall (Daughters), for example. How is the album title to be understood?
I think it’s probably not for the best to look into most titles in a hyper literal sense. I hope you don’t believe Pink Floyd actually went to the moon. Our title was more about finding the joy in free expression and the beauty of making your work without cynicism. Truly finding your voice and the happiness in sharing it.

The elegant artwork is stylistically interesting, although it provides hardly any hint on what to expect from the music behind it. What can you tell us about the motif and your thoughts on it?
I truly love the artwork and think it encapsulates the sound of the record which is someone in a form of captivity; yearning to sing her song.

The cover images of the singles that were released so far seem to be thematically related. What connects the tracks to each other in terms of content?
They are all rooted in the aforementioned aspects of pursuing artistic and personal freedom. One may go through different parts of that process vis a vis frustrations or toil but it’s all part of the endgame. I enjoy every aspect of searching for the truth in our music.

You also released a music video for the track „The Emerald Pearl“ that seems to aesthetically channel modern spaghetti western movies. How does that fit with the lyrics and music?
„The Emerald Pearl“ is a stand in for that which you want the most. When I wrote the Ennio Morricone style guitar riffs at the beginning it seemed really suited towards that aesthetic when trying to convey that tale.

What are your next plans for SO HIDEOUS?
Write. Play. Record.

Let’s end the interview now with a short brainstorming session. What comes to your mind about the following terms?
Symphonic metal: Don’t know
Cultural appropriation: …
Christmas music: Phil Spector
Romanticism: Small doses
Music streaming: Necessary evil
Your resolution for the coming year: Do it now

Thank you again for your time. Any last words you’d like to share with readers?
I would like to thank anyone who has listened or shared our music with others. It is a truly beautiful experience to still be able to do this. To our older fans thank you for sticking by us as we sorted it all. To newer listeners; thank you for coming on this new chapter in our career. In this pandemic it is truly humbling to create work that brings people together. We hope to continue to see you in the future and wish the best for you all.

Publiziert am 3. März 2022 von Stephan Rajchl