What do you consider to be the darkest piece of music you’ve ever heard?
Hannah: The Mysterious Vanishing of Electra by Anna Von Hausswolff. My friend sent me this song years ago and said “You love this. That’s not a question, that’s a statement.” The vocals always sent shivers down my spine.
Mason: Cue by Scott Walker. The entire “The Drift” album is so unsettling and dark but that song stands out. I remember first hearing Cue as a young teenager and trying to listen to it alone in a dark room and feeling very uneasy.
How would you characterize your own music?
We often bounce between terms like darkwave, post-punk, coldwave, etc. but those terms often change meaning depending on who you ask. I would say dark, moody, ethereal, and atmospheric. If it takes you to another place then we’ve succeeded in our craft.
What are your musical aspirations?
Continue to make music that resonates with us and (ideally) others. To share our art with whoever is willing to listen and connect.
What are your main musical inspirations?
Hannah: I am inspired by all the people around me who are all so talented and always making really interesting music. I’m also currently listening to a lot of 90s shoegaze.
Mason: I pull a lot from classic bands in and out of our genre from the 80s and 90s when writing but I also like to pull from less conventional sources. A lot of the way I approach guitar parts and move voicings in chords is inspired by 70s country and folk artists, specifically Townes Van Zandt, but applied very differently to suit our sound. Non-musical sources like ice cracking under your feet in the winter, mechanical rumblings, or the way footsteps reverberate in a stairwell are also constant streams of inspiration.
What are your main goals in life?
Hannah: I want to live in a quiet cabin in the woods away from people with a bunch of rescue animals and have the freedom to create all the time.
Mason: To continue to create in whatever capacity possible.
What motivates you to create?
Hannah: Looking at as much art and listening to as much music as possible. I also feel extra creative in the fall and spring.
Mason: I’m not entirely sure. I’ve just always had a need to create things from a young age and I can’t imagine a life without it.
Are you more of an early bird or a night owl?
Hannah: Kind of both! I love getting up early and seeing the sun rise but I also like staying up late and working on art in the middle of the night.
Mason: Definitely a night owl. My most productive hours are later into the night when there’s minimal distractions, and a vast majority of my lyrical output comes from long walks at night when I can be alone with my thoughts.
Besides music, what other art forms would you like to explore?
Hannah: I have an art degree in printmaking! I mostly work in copper etching but I also love relief printing and oil painting. I am also a baby tattoo artist.
Mason: I like to do design work in my spare time, I do a vast majority of the design and layout work for this band and would love to continue to explore that avenue. As a child I loved sculpting and have flirted with it from time to time over the years but I would love to find more time to spend with that. Also would love to try blacksmithing, although that one is less feasible.
Which is the very first record that had a big impact on you?
Hannah: Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge by My Chemical Romance is the record that inspired me to start playing bass and guitar.
Mason: I would have to narrow it down to two. On one end of things I remember my dad having a CD of Road to Ruin by Ramones we would listen to in his truck all the time. That would’ve been one of my first times really knowing an album track by track and experiencing an album as a whole. I recently revisited this album and realized what an impact it had on me. On another end, I remember inheriting several boxes of records and a turntable from family and being enthralled by Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd, especially the synths and sparser guitar work on tracks like Welcome to the Machine and Shine On. It taught me to appreciate space and texture within music, to get lost in sound. I still have that copy of the record and it’s so worn out from my childhood that it can’t be played anymore.
What is the best decade for music?
Hannah: It’s hard to choose because every decade has such great music but 90% of what I listen to falls between the late 80s and late 90s.
Mason: As much as my listening habits fall into the past, I’d have to say the best decade is right now. We have unlimited access to virtually any era of music along with so much good music coming out all the time.
What do your future plans include?
We have some tour plans coming up in the next year to support the release of our debut LP! Aside from that we have some potential festival appearances and will likely pick up with writing after a little break while we promote this album. Continuously creating.
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In A Black Frame is out now via Negative Gain Productions and VERBODEN
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Ringfinger
Band photography by Alec Preissler
All questions answered by H. Dow-Kenny & M. McMorris
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