Here’s our interview with experimental punk band Sand Eater.
How would you describe your music?
Punk rock with a splash of grunge and whatever the hell else we feel like.
Tell me about your most recent album.
It’s called “Nowhere” and it took a long fucking time to write. Cuz our vocalist left for two fucking years. It was inspired by garage rock, acid, and watching the desert we live in a become a lowly ghost town.
Can you tell me more about your home town?
Well let’s see here. There’s very little life here. It’s sorta a place that’s just dead.
There is no economy it’s all based on providing services for people who live here, like groceries, and restaurants, so they can commute to places with an economy.
It feels like the whole place expanded too quick
There is a really great Joan Didion quote that we talked about a lot during recording:
“Here is where the hot wind blows and the old ways do not seem relevant, where the divorce rate is double the national average and where one person in every thirty-eight lives in a trailer. Here is the last stop for all those who come from somewhere else, for all those who drifted away from the cold and the past and the old ways. Here is where they are trying to find a new life style, trying to find it in the only places they know to look: the movies and the newspapers. “
– Joan Didion, some dreamers of a golden dream.
Are there other things/circumstances that reflect a lot in your music?
Isolation I guess, during the writing of nowhere we went into lock down and hardly saw each other.
Before that we were going to shows at least three times a month and practicing once or twice a week. I think that came through in the music.
When we finally got together to record it was like a burst of total energy.
Did that lead to a creative burst when you guys finally reconvened?
Absolutely, most productive we’ve ever been. We were completely in sync. And then our vocalist moved away for two years. So now we’re working to get back to that totally synced dynamic.
What’s it been like without your vocalist? Is there a noticeable void in songwriting and band chemistry?
We were basically on hiatus for 2 years without him. As far as songwriting goes he always wrote the lyrics and as far as band chemistry goes he was sort of the identity of the band.
Without him the rest of us went our separate creative ways until he eventually came back.
What bands have influenced you guys?
All [of] our tastes very pretty wildly from one another. Which I think is a good thing since we each bring pieces of it into our writing.
Bob Dylan, The Ramones but only (DD) Blue Oyster Cult, Weezer, Chevelle, Alvin and The Chipmunks, Death Grips, Minecraft parodies, Kilslug, Fidlar, The Frights, The Regrettes.
I probably should’ve asked this earlier but how long have you been a band/how long have you known each other?
Short answer: four years as a band.
[Editor’s note: the following has been transcribed into 3rd person for ease of reading]:
The singer (Oliver) and drummer (Edward) met each other in kindergarten, and grew up together . They met the eventual bassist (Kore) in middle school.
Sometime after that when they were all in high school, they got introduced to the guitarist (Gryph) through a mutual friend. The guitarist had just bought some mics and the singer had written some poetry so they made plans to all get together.
About two years after that the singer moved away, and started dating Kore. When he came back Kore joined as a bassist.
What’s a band you’d like to open for?
That’s a hard question… There are a few bands that I would totally die if we ever had a chance to open for them. We talk about dream shows from time to time.
When it comes current living bands there is a cool scene brewing in Ireland with some noise punk bands like “Gilla Band”. I think we’d fit in pretty well opening for them.
Is there anything you guys would like to experiment with?
Writing wise, we’ve always enjoyed experimenting with new tones.
When we first started our drummer was just striking a washboard with a pickup attached. On occasion we will pull out a saxophone or our analogue synth if the song calls for it.
Usually these things come up during writing, and are rarely planned.
