Hello Hindu Pez and welcome back to Brutal Resonance! Last we spoke was in 2021 during the height of the pandemic. This was a little after you wanted to call it quits with Hindu Pez. Nonetheless, here we are. How has it been going with Hindu Pez? And hindrances or is it all going smoothly?

Hindu Pez: It took some time for me to wrap my head around what came next. Relaunching something that’s existed for almost 20 years is one thing, but pile on the issue of COVID and it being very touch-and-go to go book gigs like you’re used to doing, and suddenly you get overwhelmed. My intention of releasing the other two EP’s in 2021 had to get put on the back burner for a while as I got set up in my new place / new city / whatever and I just finally got back to a vertical base at the beginning of 2022.

Anyway, we’ll jump right into things this time around. You’ve a new EP out titled “Flee The Scene”. Tell me what the title means and what the general theme of the EP is.

Hindu Pez: I did a considerable amount of guest dj spots in Norfolk, VA’s goth night under my dj name, “Dj Who?” through 2021, as well as other cities. Something I worked on with considerable effort last year was keeping up with what was new in goth/industrial/ebm/synth pop for my dj sets. A common thread I found was how Very Much The Same a lot of old and new club music is. It made me question my own motives in making music as Hindu Pez and ultimately inspired me to get as far away from any formulaic 4/4 oontz material as possible.

I rant about this a lot : if something’s already been done, why do it? Ministry already made Psalm 69, right? So why do that? Why follow in someone’s footsteps and copy what they’ve done? It is of hyper importance to me to be forward thinking in what I’m doing and continue to chase after the next thing, the next sound and the next idea.

So really : Flee The Scene is about choosing to NOT do what everyone else is doing, choosing to go on a different path, to ignore what’s popular and go as far against the grain as possible.

Your first track is rather upfront, titled ‘Fuck Your Goddamn Dance Floor’. I personally viewed this as a deconstruction of a regular club song. Is this the case or is it something different?

Hindu Pez: That is absolutely the case. Even in the beginning, Hindu Pez has always been about killing club music. It’s been done, and it’s been done to death. Who the fuck wants to sound like Combichrist? Not me. Boring.

Don’t get me wrong - there are great artists making great songs within the blanketed “scene”. But I absolutely have no desire to sound like that, at least as Hindu Pez. Do the next thing. Take risks. Get weird. Hold your middle finger up.

The second song of the EP is ‘Missing The City At 2am’. The amount of variation on this track is staggering for two-and-a-half minutes. Was it challenging to write this piece? How did you go about doing so?

Hindu Pez: I believe I wrote the skeleton of this in an afternoon, before I linked up with JJ to finish it. I was really missing NYC - missing the train, missing street food, missing the noise, the smell and the chaos of it, the shitty dive bars and fancy restaurants alike, all of it - this was my love letter to the city.

For this in particular, I spent a good chunk of pre-prep getting breaks and manipulating them to the point of the absurd. I’m a huge fan of the mid-90’s digital hardcore sound of Berlin, and that was an inspiration for pushing the drum loops as hard as possible. I embraced the weird.

The last song on the album is ‘Kill The Dj’. One might think that this song was written as a

personal vendetta against someone. But let’s hear it from you. What’s it about?

Hindu Pez: This is equally about a couple specific “scene” dj’s, as well as just the laziness that seems to be rampant in our “scene”. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a dj billed as a headlining guest for a major event and they can’t be bothered to blend or beatmatch. That really, really, really bothers me in an intense way that could border on the irrational. It’s 2022, and google exists. Read some fucking tutorials, you lazy swine.

I take what I do very seriously, whether it’s Hindu Pez, my day job, or dj’ing in clubs; I can’t imagine going through all the trouble of purchasing a laptop, a midi controller, gathering songs and preparing a setlist for a dj gig just to then not be able to actually perform. Do better. Try harder. Or get out of the way.

When will we see the third and final EP in this trilogy? Do you plan on bringing them all together in a full length album?

Hindu Pez: EP #3 - “Farewell, Mo Chroí” - comes out Oct 1st, 2022. It will round out the trilogy and will make all three works apparent in their connection upon listening.

There is a current conversation between myself and my team about how to present this as a full LP, but I don’t want to speak on that just yet as concepts have a funny way of changing.

In the press release, you stated that this is for fans of the 90s German record label Digital Hardcore Recordings. Was this label your primary influence on “Flee The Scene”? Or was there more to it.

Hindu Pez: DHR was definitely the influence and inspiration for this EP. I have the utmost respect and adoration for not only the aforementioned label, but what a handful of artists managed to achieve between 1993 and 1999. There was a lot of forward thinking, an intense level of fearlessness and an embracing of the harsh, the non-musical, the confrontational and the weird. A lot of those records aren’t even mixed or mastered very well! Very lo-fi, very harsh, distorted and teetering on unlistenable. Sound familiar?

Musicians are very spoiled now with composing on computers - back then composition with synths and machines was a hassle! And a handful of people pushed very limited gear to previously unheard levels. I have to admire that.

I’ve always looked at industrial music as something that lost the plot. When did industrial music become safe? When did it get a formula? When did risks stop happening? When did money come in and ruin it? Take risks. Be fearless about failing. Embrace people not understanding your work or dismissing it. If people don’t like what you’re doing, there’s a chance you’re headed in the right direction. Maybe people won’t like it or get it now, but records have a funny way of being adored very well after the point.

The EP was also produced by JJ Williams (Oh-So, In Tenebris, X-Smashcasters, 7th Grade Girl Fight). What was it like working with him and what did he add to the EP?

Hindu Pez: JJ is my brother - not blood brother, but he’s my adopted brother - and one of the few people I talk to every single day without fail. We’re the same age and have a lot of the same influences and favorite records, so there’s a commonality in our language when we’re working on new material together. He’s produced my other projects : Deathhouse Blues, The Wrist Cutter, Black Mass Gathering, and of course Hindu Pez, and that shared language helps when an idea needs to be converted from thought to sonic form.

JJ is also a wizard of sorts - he understands synthesis down to a molecular level. Ask him how to achieve XYZ functionality on a synth in the room, and not only can he explain how to dial it up, but you’ve got it happening within minutes. This makes working together not only efficient, but exciting. There’s never an idea being shut down (unless it really, sincerely sucks) or dismissed, and our mutual respect makes our collaboration an intensely rewarding experience.

I must say, however, that the consumption of 144 alcoholic beverages between us over a weekend of intense work, the memory damage incurred and my throwing up in his parking lot at 10am may have influenced the sound of the record all it’s own. He may have thrown up as well, but I may be misremembering.

Also mushrooms.

Lastly, I thank you for your time.

Hindu Pez: Thank you! Always a pleasure to link up again. We’ll speak again in October!

Hindu Pez

Apr 2022

Industrial, Drum\'n\'Bass