Nefarious Industries Artist- THose Darn Gnomes Interview up
1. 1st question; where the hell did this band’s name come from?
“Where the Hell Did Those Darn Gnomes Go?” is a World of Warcraft quest. We started playing music together in high school and never bothered coming up with a new name when we became a “real” band.
2. In 5 words you as a band explain the band to someone about to listen for 1st time?
We sound like fucking hell.
3. I hear element of Noise rock, Metalcore, jazz and Heavy indie rock. What bands influenced .... Those Darn Gnomes?
There are definitely elements of each of the genres you named present in our sound. Some of the artists that really opened my mind and ears are King Crimson, Kayo Dot, Gorguts, Matana Roberts, Khanate, and Craw. These days I mostly listen to a lot of trap and hip-hop (Black Fortune, Maxo Kream, and Denzel Curry are some of my recent favorites).
4. Calling Whitetails To A Tuned Bow is an amazing collection of tracks is there a theme behind it all?
My house was broken into about three years ago, just before our second album The Zodiac came out. I came home from work to find the door wide open but nothing missing; instead, whoever came in had left a home-dubbed VHS tape labeled “Calling Whitetails to a Tuned Bow.” The tape was a surreal video collage of a deer hunt set to gentle acoustic guitar playing (which was sampled for the song “Hall”). It seemed suitably ominous and fitting for the bizarre, nightmarish feeling much of our music seeks to invoke. Beginning with The Zodiac, our music has had a focus on idealized pastoral life and the decay thereof. This album was heavily inspired by Michael Cimino’s The Deer Hunter and the South Netherlandish tapestry The Hunt of the Frail Stag, both of which portray a transformation following the death of innocence or naïveté through the hunting of deer, a serendipitous parallel with the tape I was given.
5. How does the very creepy and fascinating album cover tie into story or idea?
All the art for this record was made by my good friend Robert Khasho, whose intense, surreal art seemed the perfect fit for the album’s music. I’ve known Robert a long time now and his work has been massively influential on me. I’ve wanted to use his art for a while and this album seemed like the perfect opportunity.
6. What is the San Diego scene like any interesting bands you like to talk about from your area?
There are a lot of great bands in San Diego doing exciting stuff musically! A few of my favorite hometown acts are S O L V (heavy drone pop), Talk Can (hip-hop), Year of the Dead Bird (math rock), Monochromacy (drone), Pruitt Igoe (spoken word), Ingonoir and Snapghost (rnb), Stuntdouble and Tenshun (hip-hop/breakcore), Secret Fun Club (mathcore), and Parker Meridien (hip-hop), to name some offhand.
7. Nefarious Industries how did you hook up with them and what are you looking for with the partnership?
Dave Brenner from Earsplit PR introduced me to Greg at Nefarious and brokered that whole connection. They’ve both been a joy to work with and I’d gladly release any future music with Nefarious.
8. Live , what kind of scene or crowds are most enjoyable to perform too? I have feeling metal crowds may not be best environments?
We used to play a lot of metal shows but as you guessed that scene doesn’t really vibe with our music in general. I’ve always thought of us as a noise band in metal drag, but these days we share bills with a wide variety of music that falls under the “experimental” umbrella, whether it’s noise, free improvisation or just weird rock music.
9. If you could make a proper video for any track on Calling Whitetails To A Tuned Bow?
We have videos in the works for “Hall” and “A Cliff In Our Garden” which I hope to release soon after the album drops.
10. Do the members of Those Darn Gnomes have other projects they would like to talk about?
I play pedal steel in a just intonation country/slowcore band called Passing and have a new band called the Krinkles with members of Pig Destroyer and Crowhurst. I also do a lot of session work for other artists, mostly hip-hop production. Most recently I wrote and arranged material for Crowhurst’s new album III and recorded saxophone for the new album by Caulbearer (members of Afterbirth) and have a number of other projects lined up for the rest of the year, including a collaborative full-length with Gridfailure and appearances on several of his other upcoming albums. Additionally, I release solo work under my own name, most recently in the form of a new solo acoustic guitar album.
Russell has a solo noisecore/sludge project called Mycropenez. He dropped his debut album last year with a follow-up on the way soon.
Jonathan is one-half of Codex Confiteor, San Diego’s only medieval doom organum duo (probably). They are the heaviest band in the world.
Of our two most frequent drummers, Nick Lesley plays in the improvised math punk band Necking and the krautrock group DMDM. Christian Hell grinds away with Tijuana powerviolence maniacs Hong Kong Fuck You. I’ve sat in with each drummers’ bands and both roll with shredders of the highest order.
11. As I've only heard current material how does older stuff differ?
Our first album (2015’s The Years) is arguably our most “metal” sounding release, though it still featured a lot of out-there shit including freely improvised and aleatoric sections and straight-up noise.
We stepped up a lot of the improvised elements on The Zodiac while also working in some of my densest, most complex composition with a focus on serialist canons and counterpoint.
We put out two individual songs after that, the compilation track “Daddy” and the standalone EP “Peeling.” The former was a setting of a Sylvia Plath poem recorded in a Chick-Fil-A parking lot and the latter was an unused cut from The Zodiac sessions wherein we practiced improvised motivic development on a five-note theme.
12. How does image and visuals make a band like Those Darn Gnomes to fans and live?
I think visual elements (be they album covers, music videos or live performances) have an undeniable impact on the way music is consumed. By carefully curating the visual presentation of a work of music, the artist has the opportunity to create the environment in which the audience listens.
13. Digital age, Twitter, YouTube, Bandcamp and Podcasts how does an underground band break through the noise in 2019?
My band is still deep below underground so I don’t feel I’m qualified to offer any advice, but I will say that living in a “digital age” has not diminished the importance of traditional methods of promotion. I find the best way to get one’s music in front of listeners is still playing shows and touring.
14. If members were no longer able to make music, what other creative outlets do you all have?
I have a number of other hobbies outside of music including painting and collage art, building effects pedals, gardening and carpentry.
15. Thank you for the time any closing thoughts here.
Thanks for the interview and thank you to everyone who’s taken the time to listen to the new album! RIP Nipsey ♿️
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