Inner Demons #18

 

Inner Demons #18

https://innerdemonsrecords.bandcamp.com/

This Is What I Hear When You Talk – I Already Made Two for Brett, So This One’s For Xenon – [IND20] – 3” CDR/Download – 2022.

https://innerdemonsrecords.bandcamp.com/album/i-already-made-two-for-brett-so-this-ones-for-xenon-ind120

https://thirtyfive.bandcamp.com/

     1.    I

     2.    II

     3.    III

     4.    IV

Image From Inner Demons Bandcamp, artwork by Dan Fox.

The mysteriously themed I Already Made Two for Brett, So This One’s for Xenon is four separate passages of noise that are locked around a series of different synthesiser drones. As a fan of this project and electronic droning sounds in general, this release piqued my interest as soon as I pressed play. Slightly glitchy noise and oscillating drones combine to make I. Waves of hissing distortion and squeaking feedback become prominent in the second part dominating the main drone. Later in the track, the Synth drones feel like distant chanting.

III is spacious, the backing noises form a bigger space as they drift in and out of each other. Scraping, hollow sounds scream through the work – in true This Is What I Hear When You Talk fashion, the difficult, challenging aspect of the work is now in full flow. The sound becomes increasingly assaultive as III progresses. By the time we get to IV the work is an apocalyptic eruption that combines ambient drones, buried vocal sounds and some unexplainable rhythmic pulsations. It sounds as if the end is nigh.

I am always keen to hear anything Dan Fox does through This Is What I Hear When You Talk, that always challenges the listener and this bleak release does that. In fact, I love it, excellent release and thank you.

Euphoric Bullshit Vibe, surfing the waves of my own isolation 2023.

Inner Demons Records #16

 

Inner Demons Records #16

Inner Demons Records – 3”CDr/Downloads – 2021

https://innerdemonsrecords.bandcamp.com/

https://www.innerdemonsrecords.com/about

https://thirtyfive.bandcamp.com/

There has been a bit of a gap for me reviewing material of late, due to life stuff going off, time makes things easier. So, what better time to go through and share my thoughts on the latest (but one) batch of 3” Cdrs by one of my favourite labels - Inner Demons Records.

The Sister Hook – 200 Feet of Main, 150 Feet of Luff. – 3” CDr/Download – 2021 – [IND095]

          1.   200 Feet of Man, 150 Feet of Luff.

The Sister Hook is an anonymous project and 200 Feet of Main, 150 Feet of Luff is the debut release. I am immediately hit by a sharp, high-pitched drag that pulls across the roaring distortion. This has a very dense texture and the shards of screeching noise feel as if they pull across the work. I like the thick texture of the main sound – it works well. Having read a bit about Wall Noise and watched things, I believe wall noise is sourced from specific themed samples or recordings, magnified and redelivered as something else completely. I wonder where this was originally sourced from. This drags across 15 minutes, I felt lost within it and I am grateful for that.

Hendekagon – Psalms For the Unreligious – 2021 – 3”CDr- [IND096]

https://www.adventurousmusic.com/

https://adventurousmusic.bandcamp.com/music

1.   I - The New Religion, That Divides the World In Consumer and Explorer Is Ending.

2.   II – The Attempt to Eliminate the Natural Instinct to Think For Oneself And To Care For Others Is Dissolving.

3.   III- A Holistic Approach to Extinguish Thoughts About Gods in Oneself, So to Become An Independent Individual Is Here.

“my object in life is to dethrone god and destroy capitalism.” Karl Marx

Quote on project’s Religious Unmusikalisch release.

Psalms For the Unreligious is a classic example of where Inner Demons selects something left of field to release, they do this with every batch – throw in a few oddities. True to this, Fail and Hendekagon have worked together in 2021, this can be found here. This gem of a release builds harmonic, deep drones that have a religious feel as if played in a modern church, the sounds make the listener feel as if they are immersed in a space, experiencing the music. Contextually this makes me ask questions: Is it to make the unreligious feel spirituality or is it a critique? Either way, this is an outstanding experimental release.

This Is What I Hear When You Talk – Koala Chlamydia - 3”CDr/Download – 2021 [IND097]

          1.   Koala Chlamydia.

Inner Demons House project This Is What I Hear When You Talk, steps in with a track made of deep drones and echoing noise. Shouts seem partially buried within the sound but are audible enough to be a constant presence. Koala Chlamydia is a relentless vortex that increases in density as it progresses. This has the oddness of Dan Fox’s other project FAIL, but still stands on its’ own, radiating Industrial, ambient hostility on this lone 20-minute track of hellish greatness.

 

Napalmed Monk – Inner Challenge – 3”CDr/Download – 2021 – [IND098]

https://ulkapindrecords.bandcamp.com/

         1.   Inner Challenge.

The furnaces of HNW Hell are reignited as Inner Challenges blasts a rolling, scraping distortion, it feels as if it is constantly turning over as if a big ball of sound in rotation. At the midpoint, it feels as if there is some melody trapped in the mass of the distortion. Later, there is a clear hiss that overlays the entire sound, shrinking its mass slightly as concentration wavers between the two. I do feel an emersion into the sound happens and you feel engaged within its’ physicality.

Foot and Mouth Disease – Rows of Ten – 3”CDr/Download – 2021 – [IND101]

https://footandmouthdisease.bandcamp.com/music

https://www.facebook.com/Foot-and-Mouth-Disease-272250709456435/

1.   tgd 9.

2.   tgd 10.

3.   tgd 11.

4.   tgd 12

5.   tgd 13.

6.   tgd 14.

I have previously reviewed Foot and Mouth Disease in 2019 with their 2 x 3”CDr release Forever Composed of Nows on Inner Demons. Foot and Mouth Disease is a Rochester, New York project that has been releasing since around 1996. Foot and Mouth is Lawrence J. Patti, there have been many online and physical releases.

Feedback resonates like a wind across a barren landscape, this is tgd9. Scraping occurs as the pitched resonations playout. Jingling frequencies form tgd10, this ambient landscape is slightly busier as subtle deep howls evoke a background menace. BY the time tgd11 comes round, I am beginning to remember why I liked this project. Warbling underwater noise converses with sharp, tingly frequencies. Rich landscapes build up on each track. Rows of Ten feels like a journey, representing the many shifts and moods that happen along the way. The mastery of sounds, their interaction, the moods they create is excellent.

When I hear this project, I hear good work. Rows of Ten has me converted; I am a fan of this great project.

Conure – Notes On A Spinning Table – 3”CDr/Download – 2021 – [IND102]

http://conure.conurenoise.com/

https://conure.bandcamp.com/

        1.   Notes on a Spinning Table.

        2.   Preliminary Notes on a Table.

Conure is a project of Mark Wilson project based in Berlin and has been active since 2000. Notes on a Spinning Table is the third release on Inner Demons records.

Simple keyboard drones, shifting to different notes are coupled with distortion/hiss. A few other sonic elements subtly enter the composition at different times across the near 12 minutes of ‘Notes on a Spinning Table.’ How this is so effective, I don’t know, but it truly does work well. The shorter second track ‘Preliminary Notes on a Table’ has a lot of distortion which flies off the handle more, still backed by keyboard notes and drones. This track becomes a bigger display of noise that is eventually pulled back into check and to an end.

Bingo! This is another IDRs experimental gem. Strong work and a nice Saturday perk. Conure is very worthy of further investigation and purchase.

15 Degrees Below zero – Abandoned – 3”CDr/Download – 2021 – [IND103]

https://15dbz.bandcamp.com/

http://15dbz.conurenoise.com/

https://www.facebook.com/15degreesbelowzero/

 

          1.   Abandoned (full length version)

This project is Mark Wilson (Conure), Daniel Blomquist & Michael Addison. All previously worked together as Imperial Floral Assault Unit and they have been releasing as 15 Degrees Below Zero since 2000.

This work is an ambitious use of drones, distorted hiss and noise. It is complexed, subtle, moody and shifts continuously. Abandoned is a spacey, dreamlike passage of work that has an element of futuristic sci fi to it. This could easily be in a soundtrack to the next Bladerunner film, it would slot in there with ease.

Basically, what we have here is another gem of a release, beautiful work, well done.

Top batch Dan, great work.

Nothing & Nobody 2022.

Inner Demons #14 – New July 2021 Batch.

 

Inner Demons #14 – New July 2021 Batch.

https://innerdemonsrecords.bandcamp.com/

THIS NOISE KILLS FASCISTS.

Inner Demons.

Following on from my recent interview with Dan Fox who runs Inner Demons Records, I have received the latest batch of releases by the label. In this one, there are 11 recordings, all are housed in the familiar Inner Demons 3” CDr format with Dan’s Black and White artwork – the obsessive eye to detail of the formats the label demonstrates impress me a lot. I believe that this may be their biggest batch of releases so far.

Over the last 15 years, Inner Demons has stayed true to its own ethics and done close to a hundred releases of different artists from around the world. The label has established itself as a leading light in the present-day noise scene. Inner Demons #14 is an overview of their latest batch of 11 new releases.

 

Yasuyuki Uesugi – Untitled - 3” Cdr/Download – [IND091] – 2021.

https://yasuyuki-uesugi.bandcamp.com/

      1.    Untitled – 20.17

Yasuyki Uesugi is a new Japanese Noise artist who has been active since 2019, his single Untitled track begins as a sudden explosion of distortion that creates a wall of Harsh Noise. The texture of the sound is thick with a sharper blast that undulates around the main body of distortion. A fluid medium roar creates a subtle shift in sound as it becomes a part of the texture later on in the track by altering the layers that create the whole sound. The energy of the track splutters erupting menace and danger. The ripping blasts of distortion alter throughout the Untitled track.

There is a feeling of the past in the sound as if on an old rail journey many centuries ago, the creaking of the noise does this, yet the roar contrasts it as if on a high-speed, modern-day journey. Solid contrasting HNW delivered, good work.

 

Platonoff – The Grapes of Wrath - 3” Cdr/Download – [IND093] – 2021

https://platonoff.bandcamp.com/releases

      1.    Communism Great Construction Projects.

      2.    Railway Gulag.

      3.    The Grapes of Wrath.

      4.    Wunderwaffle.

‘To hell with politics, Gestapo will die by itself )) There is no other way here.’

Platonoff 2021.

Platonoff appears to be a new project based in Russia. I get the impression members may be linked into other projects.

Having checked this and their Uno Lump album from 2020 on their own Bandcamp, this really differs from anything I have heard on IDS before. Their work is rhythmic, heavy industrial, noises collide for a time until a slow rhythm kicks in and guides the sounds into order. The noise seems to either stay as disciplined as the rhythms or suddenly go off and flood the proceedings with mayhem. Tracks seem to find a solid rhythm and then go off on screwy tangents, warping themselves so that they become something else entirely - this can be drawn out slow moving ambient landscapes for which the distanced beat becomes a faint pulse. At other times complete noise mayhem goes off over the pulsations so everything is reduced to a distant broadcast from wherever the chaos takes the sound.

The hypnotic gem of a release that is Grapes of Wrath is spread across 2 Cdrs, creating a long, shifting journey worthy of further listening.

 

Dragon and Jettenbach – Roche Limit – 3” Cdr/Download – [IND094] – 2021

https://meektapes.bandcamp.com/album/constraints   

https://edgewood112.bandcamp.com   

https://jettenbach.bandcamp.com  

https://lessthanone.bandcamp.com/music

    1. <●>°•    

    2. ○)°)•

    3. ○)) ●))

The Roche Limit: The point at which one celestial body can no longer maintain its own gravitational self-attraction and disintegrates due to the gravitation and tidal forces of a second celestial body.

This album is a collaboration between two UK based artists DJ Peter Adjobia (Dragon, Edgewood) and Paul Jetten (Jettenbach) working together for the first time.

I like this release from the outset, it has the feel of a soundtrack casting pleasant ambient landscapes as drones play out. The three tracks flow into each other beautifully and the sound is like a gorgeous dreamscape, Roche Limit is slightly sinister, rich ambient music, at times I think of Nite Fights era Walker Brothers. It is impossible for me to be critical about this album, I think it is amongst the best that the label has produced.

 

Gen 26 – Recessive Gene Mutation – 3” Cdr/Download – [IND088] – 2021

http://matjaz.jezakon.com/

      1.    Recessive Gene Mutation I.

      2.    Recessive Gene Mutation II.

      3.    Recessive Gene Mutation III.

I am a fan of the explosively consistent Gen 26 and it is great to see a release on Inner Demons by this Slovenian heavyweight. Gen 26 has produced a body of impressive Harsh Noise over its’ two decades. Here we are presented with 3 passages of Recessive Gene Mutation. Each Mutation is a blast of distortion in wall form with subtle differences spreading across the tracks in the examination of tone and texture. The Inner Demons Records format of 3”Cdr works well for Gen 26 as his sound explorations tend to be short maintain interest and allow comparison between different takes. The first two are crisp in their sound, the third has a muffled restraint creating strong contrast against the other works. Great work as you’d always expect from Gen 26.   

 

eR_Ka – NoisegrinDrtitch – 3” Cdr/Download – [IND092] – 2021

http://napalmed.cz/

      1.    Gojko Mrvitch.

      2.    Laco MrtWitch.

A fear comes over me as soon as I hit the link provided in my presearch I know what I will be reviewing! A side project of Czech noise terrorists Ein Stunde Merzbauten of whom I have reviewed quite a bit of stuff. Like other Czech noise projects, it (visually) appears funny, like a comedy project but the delivery will always be very thought out and serious - the name throws you off balance.

Goiko Mrvitch rains distortion on the listener, the sound is fast and shifts around a lot within its own parameters to keep attention focussed on the work. The sound is also slightly restrained to contrast the adrenalin fuelled delivery and this creates a real tension throughout the track. Laco MrtWitch uses similar methods to the opener but seems to function at a sharper level playing with choppier noise and hitting highs of screech and feedback a lot more. NoisegrinDrtitch is top tier Harsh Noise delivery like a fast ride in a speeding car.

 

This Is What I Hear When You Talk - TUCKFRUMP IV – 2 x 3” Cdr/Download – [IND086D] – 2021.

      1.    Nope.

      2.    Also Nope.

This is What I Hear When You Talk, the name implies personal and political connotations depending on the release, the TuckFrump series really leans the name to the political. This is one of Dan Fox’s projects, many of the releases can be found on the Inner Demons website. This is the fourth TRUCKFRUMP release.

Wow, ‘Nope’ has an impressive use of loud bass within its roar, there is an immediate tension between this and the distortion that drags across it. The depth of the sound feels as if I am in the middle of surround sound – I feel contained within this. Nope is energetic, loud and unchanging.  Also Nope uses a restrained bass that seems to be cut into, it also has a bounciness as a crackling distortion plays over it. This track is like broken techno masked by the crackle: the first track also has this, but it isn’t as easily recognisable whereas Also Nope sees to revel in it. Both tracks are strong and differ from each other - this is another impressive album by This Is What I Hear When You Talk.

 

The [Law-rah] Collective – Live 2018 – 2 x 3” Cdr/Download – [IND069D] – 2021.

https://www.facebook.com/darkambient

      1.    Den Haag, September 28^th.

      2.    Den Bosch, September 15^th.

I like the idea that there is noise collectives out there,keeping a sense of community and collective creativity - it gives a sense of organised assault to the genre, The [Law-Rah] Collective  goes back to 2000.

This double live album was a surprise that shows how Inner Demons keeps variety in the mix of its output. I am very impressed by this collection of live performances. It is the kind of work that you can play and drift away with. The sound evolves and resonates in each set, it has a hallucinogenic, dreamlike quality. The second disc is a lot more ominous than the first. Things break up a lot and it becomes a distorted pulsating conversation of fractured sounds. It is difficult to write a lot about this beauty of a release as I kept getting lost in it, I am converted - this is gorgeous work.

 

This Is What I Hear When You Talk – Half of A Whole – 2 x 3” Cdr/Download – [IND084D] – 2021.

      1.    I.

      2.    II.

The second release in the batch by This Is What I Hear When You Talk has an ambiguous title, are we referring to the release or something personal? Who knows, Dan Fox’s work has many sides and dimensions to it.

‘I’ creaks into action, this piece has elements of Wall that juxtapose with Industrial and Ambient leanings. It has the dark qualities of Dan Fox’s Loss work whilst keeping hold of aspects of the wall elements of This is What I Hear When You Talk. Distortion continually seems to splash across the entire track. Along with the genre juxtapositions, there is simultaneously repetition and subtle change happening across the track.

The second disc II is immediately busy with an Industrial and Noise Wall feel, throwing a very busy, creaky, full sound at the listener. It juggles approaches again, but this time Dan seems to get it all in his hands and really pat it together into one mass. II also never seems to stop getting thicker in texture.

I like that someone is doing that, throwing big ugly masses of noise out as an abstract piece of sound, questioning and challenging their own genre continuously. I have done a lot of reviews of this project and can’t praise the work enough.

 

Noise Hangover – Event Horizon – 3” Cdr/Download – [IND089] – 2021.

https://noisehangover.bandcamp.com/     

     1.    Event Horizon.

     2.    Gravitational Collapse.

Event Horizon appears to be the third release by Russian act Noise Hangover who have been active since 2019. Apart from the two releases on their Bandcamp, Noise Hangover remains a mystery project.

Event Horizon is a dark release, breathing synthesiser heavy drones that are like a ritual nightmare. So far, I’d say this is the darkest release of the batch. The sounds seem part vocal, part synthesised as they intertwine. Gravitational collapse has a similar mood but shows a change of sound palette. This hisses with higher frequencies overlapping punctuated by restrained distortion. The sound frequently thins out to let sounds work alone or in small groups and does it well.

This is a great release that is a credit to the label and the project.

 

RaK – ElecTrick – 3” Cdr/Download – [IND090] – 2021

http://napalmed.cz/

      1.    210314_02

      2.    210314_03

On this release, I realise it is more mayhem linked to those Czech purveyors of crafted noise insanity - Ein Stunde Merzbauten. The first track on Elec Trick is a collage of electrical glitches, it has a humorous, chatty density to it. The track drops to warping drones and smaller glitches going off around it, this shift seems to clear the table and let things be rearranged again. A pulsating beat tries to bring a sense of order the process, succeeding slightly.

I talk about conversations of noise and this really does that, it isn’t like a lot of Harsh Noise where a texture is built up, this is lots of glitches, beeps and buzzes having a party. If you can imagine lots of little robots going off at each other, this is like that. In relation to the rest of the IDR batch where there is some dark, threatening landscapes or clinical experiments with sound, the playfulness of this is a contrast that makes Elec Trick stand out. As the recording moves into the second track the sound is very fractured, as if we are being continually moved to different interactions for brief periods of time, it differs greatly to the first track.

In my reviewing I have to dart around the scene a lot, checking in here and there, so I only get glimpses of artists at times. My take on Ein Stunde Merzbauten is that like Entre Vifs, Gen26 this is a focussed project experimenting in isolation with a playful, sheer focus on what it does. This one gets a thumbs up and an A* for good work.

 

Andreas Davids – Digitale Asche – 3” Cdr/Download – [IND087] – 2021

http://andreasdavids.blogspot.com/

      1.    Part 01.

      2.    Part 02.

This is Andreas Davids third Inner Demons release. Davids in an experimental musician and DJ based in Germany.

I notice the stripped back sounds immediately, this kind of noise comes on my radar occasionally, Julien Scrobek’s Tetsuo being a great example of this. This has an oscillating timer ticking whilst the drones radiate together around it. Part 01 Simmers away like this, small interactions that seem to relish space and quieter volumes. It intensifies gently through distorted hiss or pulsating electronics. There is a Science Fiction feel to some of the sounds, but in a 70s film, so I like the nostalgic futurism within each track. This album is noise that functions by playing off the space left by low volumes, it works well. I like this release.

 

Inner Demons Records never ceases to amaze me, this is a strong batch of releases that throws up plenty of surprises. This label is worth keeping on top of and I am proud to add this lot to my Inner Demons Collection. 

Coventry Soul 2021.

Inner Demons Records #13 - The Interview.

As many of you will know by now, I am a huge Inner Demons Records fan, I have a huge collection of their 3" CDRs that they have released. I spoke with label owner and curator Dan Fox. As well as Inner Demons, Dan has many projects including Fail, If, Loss and This is What I Hear When You Talk.

https://innerdemonsrecords.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/InnerDemonsRecords?_rdc=1&_rdr 

 

What was your intro to noise/HNW/PE?

ID: I'm not sure I had a proper introduction.  When I was a teen I started getting into punk and industrial rock and metal.  At the same time, I was starting to experiment with electronics and noise, but didn't have much money.  This was in the early/mid 1990s.  I had an Alesis SR-16, a child-sized broken bass guitar that my brother had given up on, and a small Crate practice amp that was given to me by an ex-girlfriend.  The amp was for guitar, and it had a fairly aggressive distortion that was triggered by a small switch.  I always had the distortion on.  The drum machine sounded great through the distortion, and so did the bass.  By the time I got the bass, it only had the 2 lowest strings left.  I tuned one of them down, so it was just flapping and scraping on the pickup and played simple bass lines.  I had no proper recording gear, so I used my stereo and a boom box.  I would record drums onto the boom box, put the tape into the stereo, and arrange the boom box, stereo speaker, and guitar amp so I could play the drums back while I recorded bass.  I'd place the boom box mic, stereo speaker, and amp so that the box would be able to record the stereo and amp at the same time.  And there you have broke-ass multi-tracking.

I guess the shorter answer would be that I started making it before I knew it was a thing.  i started getting into noise, pe and rhythmic noise a few years later.  I liked the sound of power electronics, but I really didn't care for the content and imagery.  At first, I thought it was just silly, or even parodic.  As I got to know some of those guys socially, I began to discover that it was not parody at all.  This was serious stuff that was being glorified by some seriously shitty people.  I soon severed my ties to those people and focused on creating and consuming projects with my own interests at heart.  Luckily, there's a ton of it to be found.

What were your motivations for starting Inner Demons Records, which I believe stretches back to 2004?

ID: I started IDR originally to release some of my own material without the potential regret I would have after working with someone abhorrent.  The first Loss and FAIL releases were on IDR I named the label after my lifelong battle with severe mental illness.  I sometimes refer to myself as "we" when referring to the label - my demons and I.  I didn't concentrate on my own material for long, as the 3rd IDR release was by a great noise project from Spain.  I put the label on hold for a long time due to some massive setbacks, and when I restarted it with a definite agenda.  I only want to work with good people from now on, and I want to release great audio by great people.  The label is very d.i.y. and transparent about any motives I may have.  IDR is a safe place to release ones art without fear of being judged for who one is, as long as one is not a scumbag.  I like as much diversity as I can get on the label.  I started by asking friends for material, but now most of the discs I release are from people that have sought me out and sent in submissions.  In order to work with the label one must agree to the (kinda lengthy) rules that I have.  I handle the art myself, keeping with a specific aesthetic.  I want great looking releases that can be skimmed through without having to skim overused pictures of naziism, WWII atrocities, rape, deadly accidents, or some dude eating poop.  It's everywhere, it's boring, and I have no room for that on my label.  I also think it's very important for new artists to have a place like IDR to get started.  I have some regrets about my past associations and made some mistakes early on, and I want to have a nice, clean, safe place for left-leaning artists to show what they can do.

Without using the themes you mentioned and adhering to the aesthetics you spoke of,, the label is still  interesting and unique, what sound wise, tends to make you give the ok to artists, what are you looking for sonically?

ID: I don't really "look" for anything.  I listen to each track of each submission, and if I like it and think the world needs to hear it, I'll release it.  It also makes a difference whether the artist has a strong connection to the material.  I like releases that were therapeutic in some nature to the person who created it, in the hope that it may help someone else down the line.

Inner Demons has a very strong visual aesthetic with the distinctive artwork and consistent 3"CDR format what were the motivations behind that?

ID: i have always liked the 3" format, and I think that's an excellent format for noise.  Personally, I tend to enjoy recorded noise in smaller doses.  Live shows are great and I rarely it's "too much", but when I'm listening, I like the harsher stuff in smaller doses.  My ears don't get as tired, and I tend to enjoy everything a little more.

As for the art, I do have a particular method.  I tried to design packaging that I could ship inexpensively, while still looking good.  I experimented with different coloured papers and painted the discs, but that became a ridiculously laborious process with a lot of steps that could ruin everything, causing me to start over.  I also had many problems regarding the quality of the paper and how well it held the toner.  I only have access to a single black laser printer, so that is why I don't print in more colours.  I try to make a product that's instantly recognizable as an IDR disc.  I start with a photo I have taken at some point, and screw with the image until it has more of a textural feel to it than a straight up image.  I don't want the focus on the art or packaging anyway.  I don't complete any part of the process without the approval of the artists.  If I don't end up with something that all involved parties are happy with then I just haven't done the right thing.

Of your own projects that I have reviewed Loss and This is What I Hear When you Talk really stood out to me. This Is What I Hear When You Talk seems to really get inside HNWalls and often deconstruct them. Can you tell me more about both projects?

ID: Well, Loss is by far the most complex and emotionally draining for me.  It's the most "serious" music I do, with every track being about something specific.  Most are about people, events, ways of thinking, and moods.  It takes an insane amount of work, but the temporary relief that comes upon completion of a track is nice.  I believe Loss is also the project one should listen to if one wants to get a peek inside my head.  It's ruthlessly emotional for me, and I believe that often comes across to the listener.  I started the project after a bad end to a long relationship, so the first Loss 3" is all about that.  Most of the Loss releases have a theme.  TIWIHWYT is entirely different.  While Loss is all multi-tracked and takes at least months to complete a song, TIWIHWYT is all done live to my DAW, with no editing.  These can be about anything or nothing.  The early tracks were just experimenting, then I decided to kind of go with my own definition of what a wall can be.  SOME of the stuff I do with the project can be classified as HNW, but I call them "Non-Interactive Texture Walls (Intense Topics)", or NITWITs.  One thing all of the tracks have in common is that once I get a setup that I like for a new track I don't touch it at all when it's recording.  Other than that, the actual style is all over the place.  I think of them as emotional walls while building them, and once I think I have a pretty good audible representation of the inside of my head at that given moment I hit record.  Lately I have been doing some ritual-type material in an attempt to help me through the grieving process after losing someone I love.

The label stretches right back to 2004 goes through to 2006, goes quiet for a decade and then in 2016 you returned with a good amount of solid releases each year, what was the story behind this?

Wow, that was a heck of a decade.  Essentially, my life was forced into a meat grinder.  I moved constantly, was usually in terrible relationships, suffered from severe mental health problems and poverty, and became disabled.  Also my house burned down.

How did the first boxes happen – Conure (2018) and Mai12 (2018) , I feel these were a massive expansion on the Inner Demons format. I was familiar with Karl of Mai 12 from previous reviews so I bought both and was amazed at having 4 discs of Mai12 and the complexity and scale of the Conure box.?

The first box set was for Nightmare Park.  I liked the material that he sent me, but I'm pretty sure there was too much for one or two 3"s.  I looked online at what I had for options, and he and I pretty much developed the box set idea together.  I always work closely with the noisicians while working on the art, so it was an easy process.

The Conure box set is nuts.  There's a ton of material in there, spanning a lot of noise genres, and it's all good.  Mark had tons of notes and specifics about most of the tracks, so it became this massive 12-disc set with a ton of information.

This is a cheeky side question that comes off question 1 - You said you started making noise before you knew what it was, I am always curious to ask anyone what were the gateway releases for you that hooked you into noise or peaked your interest?

I think the first album that really got the noise idea stuck in my head was probably Ain't It Dead Yet? by Skinny Puppy.  I know that's not a "noise" album, but they did use a lot of noise and ambience in their music, especially in intros and segues, and they usually had one track composed of chaos.  Many other albums have had major influence on me since, but that was the first one.

You have now done three Tuckfrump releases under This is What I Hear When You Talk, how do you feel now Trump is no longer the president of the USA.

I like the guy.  Did you get the impression I don't like him?

I think I just threw up a little.  I still despise him and eagerly await his death, which I hope will be painful, public, and extended.

What are your future plans for the label.

My future plans for IDR...  Well, more of the same.  I'm currently working on the next batch of releases after a long break.

Army of One 2021.