Music Spotlight: Slothrust

Sep 14

Sep 14 Music Spotlight: Slothrust

We’re so stoked for today’s release of rock band Slothrust’s new album The Pact. The band is composed of songwriter + guitarist Leah Wellbaum, bassist Kyle Bann + drummer Will Gorin. On their fourth full-length album, Slothrust delivers more of their unique sound, a hybrid of grunge-rock + jazz influences, like you’ve never heard before. We chatted with Kyle on the making of the album.

Asymmetric Magazine: Congrats on your album! Tell us about The Pact.
Kyle Bann: Thanks! The Pact is our fourth studio album. We made it in Los Angeles, our new home base. On this album, you'll hear us expanding into some new territory where we haven't gone before.

AM: What was your favorite part about creating this album?
KB: Recording The Pact was the sickest time ever! We're all relentless musicians who love to play, so we're pretty happy about having the opportunity to do so every day. It's hard to pin down a favorite moment, however, a top contender was having an awesome guest horn appearance from Mark Pender and Ron Dziubla–super chill dudes. Probably the best horn players I've ever seen in my life. Ron's sax solo on On My Mind was mind blowing to witness.

AM: How does it compare to your previous work, including Feels Your Pain and Everyone Else?
KB: This was the first time we worked with an outside producer since we recorded Feels Your Pain with Joe Saliba back in 2011-2012. We made The Pact with producer-engineer Billy Bush with the goal of making a more textured, experimental album. We wanted to explore new territory sonically and Billy was amazing at helping us take the songs to new places we didn't know they could go.

AM: How would you describe your sound?
KB: To me, it lies at the center of a 3-way Venn diagram where the three circles are punk rock, jazz and pop. We've been getting the label 'grunge-pop' recently, and we're not mad about it.

AM: What themes do you typically pursue through your music?
KB: A sense of playfulness despite the darkness.

AM: What other musicians are currently inspiring you?
KB: I've been listening to a lot of Prophets of Rage, Virtual Riot and Talking Heads recently.

AM: Where is one place that you feel completely in touch with your creative self/music?
KB: Playing piano... either by myself, or for a couple of drunk friends late at night.

AM: What is something that you want people to take away from this album?
KB: Be Yourself! Be kind.

AM: What can we expect to see from you next?
KB: We'll be touring a lot over the next year! We're incorporating a lot of new things into the live show–taking things up a notch.