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TRACKLIST
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listen HERE
Featured Track
SONG: Drunk to death by Truck Violence
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TRACKLIST
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SONG: Drunk to death by Truck Violence
Keauthor: Karsyn, welcome. Thank you for having the time to speak with us today.
Karsyn: Hey, thank you for having me, always happy.
Keauthor: In the background is Thomas Hart.
Karsyn: It is yes
Keauthor: Hello to both of y'all. Now the first thing I wanna say is I've been a big fan for a while now,and my first thoughts when I had initially heard y'all was like "wow, I really gotta hear this live!";and the live performances, just completely different beasts, as opposed to your album. What was the process of creatively transferring that strong punk energy into the studio for the first LP?
Karsyn: To be honest, anything that did or didn't translate was purely incidental. I think that when we had recorded that, we were SO green such that we were just trying anything to see how it workedI mean obviously going into the lp, i had in mind that the live has to be different from the recorded because they're just different mediums;you don't have that visual stimulus.It's very solitary and has to be in some ways methodical. But as for the actual steps we took to translate, I mean, there wasn't that much difference. We kind of tried to capture some sort of aesthetic that we felt, you know, complimented the music. You know, I think when it comes to lp two, which isn't out right now, we definitely were a lot more deliberate in the recording process and, you know, took more liberties as we became more acquainted. And as we mature, the process matures, not to say that we're fully matured.I mean, the second lp is still gonna be extremely green, but they just have to be different beasts.
Keauthor: I say this specifically because I noticed a lot of layering and effects processing,alongside a sort of loudness only capturable within a sterile studio environment.
Karsyn: We only have one guitarist, so the album is double tracked, everything with leads and solos and blah blah blah blah, blah.You have to fill out the experience more, and I think that we do that quite well.
Keauthor: Yall Definitely do,it's great. This next question is for Thomas. So you joined [truck violence] after Violence(The First LP released in 2024) was recorded..
Thomas: Yeah.
Keauthor: As the Drummer,you are integral to the Band's groove. How have you developed the previous tracks to make them your own, and to the new songs that will come out?
Thomas: I think I'm a different style of drummer than Ryley [kylma] was, although i do have to give him his flowers too.I take inspiration from some of the ways that he played on the first album. The band i was in before was more math rock and noise. i think i'd like to like push things in that direction a bit, whether it's like weird time signatures or trying to push things weirder on the rhythm end.I had to make some adjustments joining the band too, because i was so used to playing fast,and this band is a lot sludgier and heavier, so i'm probably hitting like twice as hard as i used to. then other than that, like, i've tried to just be like a voice in terms of writing.i think that's like the type of drummer i am, i'm opinionated about how the songs turn out most of the time, so i help with songwriting decisions. i had to kinda push my sound into something different, which is always cool. Now it's becoming more of like, i'm becoming more comfortable in it.
Keauthor: Is that the type of energy that you seek to bring to the newer sound, or is it kind of more of a mesh between your older stuff and your newer stuff?
Thomas: Yeah, kind of more of a mesh. Like i didn't wanna like transform everything into being like crazy, like chaotic math rock or anything,because truck violence is definitely more of like a groove based band. It's a lot more about like the feel and the atmosphere of things rather than just playing the craziest thing you can, which is honestly what math rock is a lot of the time.So the stuff that i bring to the table, i would say like kind of like an adhd style drummer, because i played math rock so much. So like i try to play stuff weird in a way so that it's fun for me really. So i'm always like writing things with janky rhythms, but i'm also trying to suit the style of like heavy, like slow and atmospheric and groove oriented. And i didn't wanna take away from that at all. Because that's what i like so much about the first album,those like characteristics about it.
Keauthor: So what is the updated writing process, with more people in the room?
Thomas: i'd say it almost always starts with guitar. Still, I feel like that's most of the time, especially in heavier music. the impetus is most of the time on guitar.I really like jamming with Paul[lecours] because he comes up with really strange things. His meter, as Karsyn knows, like, his, his inner meter is like really fucked up.Which is like fun to play to when you're a drummer,Because like, he just comes up with things and like all sorts of different time signatures and all sorts of weird, like off beat rhythms. So, yeah, it's a lot of fun to jam with him.I would say things start there and then like i write a drum part or chris[clegg] writes a bass part. chris and i kind of write at the same time as one another, and then Karsyn comes in with their own thing,Kind of separately, i would say, because it's like not as intrusive. You know what i mean? Like whatever I'm doing relies on what Chris is doing so heavily. And then Karsyn tends to be like thinking in the background about what they're gonna do on top of it. At least that's, that's my take on it
Karsyn: .Yeah, more or less. Yeah, i don't think, like,writing process from LP one to LP 2 two changed dramatically. It's kind of i mean, the voices have changed, obviously, because Thomas is in and Thomas is more of a voice.And so that means more of a criteria that you have to contend with, but there's also more ideas being brought to the table, at the same time.but really like, i thought every band basically worked almost in like a jam setting where like you start off with an idea and then everybody sort of iterates off of that idea. But i feel like i've been disillusioned.So many heavy bands i know actually have one person orchestrating everything and then just bring it to the space and then that's how it works. there's benefits to that, but, you certainly lose a little bit of swing,I feel like that you might get when you have so many people, sort of bringing a different side to a part or a piece or an entire song or a composition or an album.
Keauthor: But some of the songs in the first album were mainly you and paul, right?
Karsyn: yeah,we did write two songs basically before chris joined.We wrote,Along The Ditch i think, and The Gash.I don't know if you would be able to-you can tell actually, cause the baselines in those two songs are very simple. or, like, at least they're not very simple.But they're, they're less chris' style then what, you know, we wrote later on that album or on this album, the next one that will be out at an indeterminate date.
Keauthor: you had spoken in previous interviews about sometimes you have poetry and then, there's people working around in the room, you know, getting their music together, but there hasn't been more like an active listening to a groove and then like writing something after that. Have things changed?
Karsyn: not really.Everything that I write is written like days, weeks, or months beforehand ... I just feel like writing, at least the way that I treat it, is not something that can be, you know, born under pressure or like retro-fitted to something else. Like i like to think about writing as you're trying to capture something and you want that capture to be articulate and truthful.And to do that, you have to do away with any non essential boundaries or, rules with how you write.That's why i don't write in any particular meter or any particular rhyme scheme.
Karsyn: because i feel like there's something to be said about creating walls for yourself and that can inspire certain levels of creativity.But what i'm really trying to get out right now is to be my most articulate and my most truthful. therefore I don't limit myself or limit myself the least possible.So, yeah, everything's written months beforehand and that hasn't changed as of now.
Keauthor: As a consistent and constant writer, you often allude to many different sources of inspiration, like authors. What are your biggest non musical inspirations when it comes to things like writing?
Karsyn: for myself, when it comes to like literature, it's hard to say cause it's constantly shifting, right? Like I come up with new reasons to write or new reasons to be like an artist or musician, probably month to month, week to week. Let me think. What was I reading pre album 2, I don't really remember. This summer, i was really inspired by modernists like Thomas Bernard,by like juna barnes, by beckett. And maybe now I'm reading some more like christian mystical stuff like saint augustine, you know, boethius, kierkegaard, and so on. But like i said, it shifts all the time. Like you'll see probably every poem i write is gonna correspond loosely to whatever i'm reading.And whatever i'm reading, plays with, you know, whatever is going on in my life at a particular time.you know, i think it's really important to acknowledge that as an artist, you're always standing on shoulders, constantly standing on shoulders.I think this desire for people to want to tote this sort of flag as "i'm original and every thought that i have is original.And you've never heard this song before, and you've never heard the style of music before", i think is, one, it's lying cause everyone's lying when they say that, of course,and two, it it, it limits yourself because you want to actively be working with, you know, what inspires you and actively working with, you know, who laid the groundwork for what i'm about to do. What did they do and how can i play with that? That active engagement is always gonna produce something more interesting, intricate, more honest, more truthful than denying yourself that you have any inspirations. Like everything you came up with is just out of thin air.So, i rely heavily on what i read and it informs me a lot. just as much as, you know, waking up in the morning and doing whatever i do informs what im writing.They all play into each other, but you have to kind of recognize that it exists.but anyways, to round it back to your question i don't know what, what inspired the first album. I don't really remember what inspired the second one. If i give it a lot of thought, i could figure it out.But, you know, full steam ahead, i guess.
Keauthor: I Ask that because,really the whole album in general kind of reminds me of this like modernist existentialism akin to Hunter s.Thompson, or maybe a dostoyevsky type specifically from notes underground, where it's like, there is this person who's aware of their limits, And it's, vague whether they're more imposed of mentally or physically. And so it's kind of bouncing around.
Karsyn: That makes sense. I actually like that reading because I look at the first album really as like a first meditation. So it's almost like listing desires, you know, and those desires] correspond with a history, right?And, and those two things on that album are attempting to create some sort of identity. And that identity is very loose, it's very vernal. And it's not very exact. And there's no consolation. You know, the album doesn't end with any sort of consolation. There's no point.It doesn't like bring you anywhere and say, you know, here is the headline. This is the final prescription. It's really just trying to, carve something out for oneself. And are all of those lyrics that I wrote, you know, do they perfectly describe, who I was at the time or who I am now, or my history, or my desires?No, of course not. Like you know, it's an attempt at doing that. Was it successful? maybe to some extent, but not fully. But I can see where you're coming from with.Like it is very existential in so far as, you know, there is no,] there's no final takeaway. There's no, you know, concrete to stand on or ground or whatever. It's not solid and there's no consolation. So I like that reading.
Keauthor: i think that's definitely a great way to put it, you know, especially where you pull from specific, regionally, coming from a very rural area and then, going into kind of like this, a metro center.There's like kind of a stigma about where you came from. You know, we have a lot of those places in arizona where, you know, it's kind of like you know, cowboy town relatively. You go into this metro where your come is kind of like weird, alien experience. I mean you know, the people are different, culture are different.But i think, what connects your writing specifically is that there's kind of$, it's the same problem, just kind of digested through a different lens.
Karsyn: i think that you're on the money there.
Keauthor: How has, post [relase of] Violence informed your writing process?
Karsyn: I've become a lot more critical of my writing And i write whether i want to or not, i write more with the idea that it's going to be read than i did before,So that's like a constraint that, once it exists, cannot at least to my knowledge right now, be removed, you know, once there's a third person involved or a third party, you know, cause there's,two parties initially.there's the writer and what's being written. and now the third party is one who would read what was written, who is not the writer. And so, you know, that's an added party that definitely changes the way that i write to some extent. i don't even think it's necessarily bad because, you know, poetry is, well today, it's very solitary, but it's not.It never was before. Today, there's this idea of the, you know, the isolated consumer. Whether that's listening to music or reading a novel or what, whatever you have it, it's always done in a room, alone, in silence.And, you know, there's something nice about thinking, when i'm writing something that maybe it'll be enjoyed with, with more people,, and it won't be so quiet and it won't be so, alone otherwise.I mean,] for lp two,there were a lot of changes or like smaller changes that, you know, feel bigger as to what they are. I almost wanted to say that, you know, the change in sound will speak for itself, but we've certainly gotten a lot better. You know, so that, that makes me happy. You know, there's always a little bit of a worry of like, oh, you know, it's just worse from here. And you get that particularly in the punk and the metal scene where like, youthfulness is kind of , everything. And you get that in hip hop as well ...But you get a lot in punk music where like everything that you make is reactionary and relies on you being, younger and younger every year. You know like the punk rockers of tomorrow are gonna be six, seven years old.you don't actually need to be reactionary all the time. and that you can mature and still make good music.And people have matured and made good art for a millennia, so that worry is kind of nothing But yeah, it's definitely informed our writing process in a myriad of ways, many of which I think will be more apparent when it's actually, you know, listenable.
Keauthor: You had spoken previously a kind of about trying to, move away from tiktok or you have spoken on previous attempts to like move away from this like kind of sitting in a room digesting everything by yourself or kind of like the tiktokificaton, i guess you could say of art.And, how would you say you like try to, you know, actively fight against that with what you do?
Karsyn: Well, one is by not participating, and two, i think like you don't necessarily need to be an active voice always saying like, i don't need to be going on the metro up to people who i see scrolling be like, "hey, put that phone down, buddy". You know, because that doesn't really work.I think the biggest thing is just earnestness in and of itself.Like, i've been really interested in this concept of effectual grace, which is like this,i think it's a calvinist christian concept where, as a person, you sort of are necessarily deficient, but you're granted like this level of grace to be able to admit your deficiency.And in the christian world, which i think you can secularize it really well, which is that you say, okay, i'm deficient and i'm able to recognize this,i make mistakes and now i'm going to center myself more in,you know, a better space.And i think that that's really interesting, and i think that it's also really powerful because, you know, admitting one's deficiency is the opposite of, you know, however you want to put it, the tiktokification or the, you know, manicured state of music right now.The opposite of that is being like, okay you know, we are people and we're incredibly deficient and we're gonna, you know, make stuff that's sort of off kilter or make mistakes or make something extremely beautiful. but the beauty is itself in the deficiency.And that is like the power of making art as a human- there's a chance it can fail and that it will fail.And then if everything is just like,"what is the essential punk sound and i'm gonna do that" And "what, what is an essential punk lyric and i'm gonna do that" then you're not really giving yourself that chance as you're not really an interesting artist or an artist at all.You're kind of like assembling something on assembly line. Like okay, here are my pieces. I'm gonna put it together. And so doing the opposite of that to me is the best that i can do or think of right now
Keauthor: you had actually spoken on some,throughlines about, the similarities between both punk and rap in that sense,cause there are a ton of people that like you know, deify this like, old golden age of things. But it's always been up to the youth, you know, say like, fuck that.And then move forward as a result.
Karsyn: you know, take a risk.It's shocking to me that, you know, people will sit there and be like,i'm an artist, i'm gonna create something and then take zero risks. It's like, what are you creating? Like, you should stop it.
Keauthor: Yeah you know, that i think you guys said it perfectly with the whole, like ability to, you know, recognize yourself as important and move forward as a result that said there, you know, and i think nietzsche talked about it like that where he's like, you know, we accept us as humans and then like you know, it's important for us,to work amongst ourselves, you know, build something.
Karsyn: That's extremely important.I mean, the funny thing is the ai thing has multiple angles. But two of the ones i like to think about are one, humans are basically infinite or have an infinite capacity to interpret and to attribute, sort of intentionality where it may or may not exist.And so the funny thing, i read a book that had ai sequences.like it had parts of the book were written in ai and you couldn't tell obviously what was what.And that's to be expected, right? Cause like, when I go to a bookstore and I pick a book off the shelf, a poet I've never read in my life, you know, I'll read a poem. I don't know what the fuck he was trying to say with it, especially if it's, if it's incredibly abstract or symbolic.But i'm sort of reading it and i'm seeing things and i attribute all this intentionality to it and all this baggage and, i stick it in the poem and say, that's what it is. and the same can be true with ai.If you ask ai to write, you know, yourself, write you a poem and you show it to your friend and say, hey, look at this poem i wrote.You know, if you give a sophisticated enough prompt, you'll probably get something that can be interpreted. Maybe it's not gonna be groundbreaking, but it can be interpreted.Now the second point to that is that, of course, ai is, is just regurgitating things we've already done.So,] you know, that's not me saying look at what a great artist ai is., because had we not done any of this or given it access to any of these materials, it would be in unable to regurgitate, this, you know, jumbling of words. but it's just to say that, like there's no, there's no advancement that can be made through ai.Yes, it can produce something that is serviceable,, but it's not, it's not gonna go anywhere. I mean, if you want the envelope put forward, you have to be the one to push it forward. It's not gonna do it for you.Um, i see if you wanna be in a constant state of just reiterating the same shit over and over again and listening to that or, or reading that, then i mean, maybe, you know, start [$0.5s] producing yourself, your own poetry and your own music through ai and have a, have a nice life.But i think for anybody who cares that about, like, the progression of culture, then, then you can't rely on it, and nor should you.And not to mention the fact that most ai music is just basically companies paying themselves money
Keauthor: .I'm not sure if you've been following the news, like, we're fucked, like america is. It's bad
Karsyn: The internet's crazy.You know, it's been a wild ride, when the president of the united states had like, a meme coin that anybody internationally or domestically could put as much money into that they wanted. And then, like, anyone could just win if they put enough money, like, a private dinner with him that was subject to no rules and regulations, like, what the fuck is going on?
Keauthor: when he, made the ai video of him driving a poop bomber, i think it was for protesters in the states, like a fighter jet, and he dropped, like, a load of shit on a bunch of protests.the problem with him is that you have to look at how absurd it is, which is what makes it funny.Because if you just enjoy, kind of like, revelling and, like the absurdity of,modern life.Then it is like, entertaining,the stuff that he posts. But,it's terrible because this is like a guy who's actually in a leadership position,and, like,running a country.
Karsyn: i don't know how history will look on the states and it's trajectory. i never would have thought that the us would be seriously talking about annexing parts of canada or invading a nato ally in greenland. I'm just like, what the fuck is going on?
Keauthor: Yeah, y'all are very close to being the fifty first state. How have things been in canada in terms of insanity;is there a person or anybody around you where it's like, that's kind of like gone off the deep in any capacity recently
Karsyn: oh, oh, yeah yeah, for sure.I mean coming from alberta, you know, that is like a cesspool for like internet radicalized old people, especially in the countryside where everyone super isolated.Like i have a cousin or an uncle who literally is getting a med degree right now to only practice medicine within his fundamentalist church.And he was like, in debt off of amway. Just the craziest people you've ever met, who he's like, he's anti vax but, is getting a med degree just that he can legally practice even though he doesn't actually believe in modern medicines. Like the shit that's going on in alberta is absolutely insane. as forhow does it work being a political agent and being a band?i mean, it's not that difficult necessarily. I mean the punk scene is pretty politically homogenous.It's not like i'm ever really brushing up with anyone who's that.
Keauthor: there's like gen x punks that have turned into trump supporters because they're like anti establishment and have just like misinterpreted things i would say. But it's not that common.I will also say that as much as the states seems like a shitshow i think it's important for canadians to remember sometimes that there's still like a counter culture in the states. It's hard for us to remember, but, like, i think there's a lot of people who i would like to, play for and to see in the states, like, punk and, just the music communities of the states. Cause i think, you know, it'll still be a fantastic experience. And, there are people there that deserve to get concerts still and i feel like the trump presidency wants to, like, crush the counterculture,which is what the whole music scene is based off of, especially the type of music that we make.
Keauthor: So what exactly do you guys have planned for 2026?
Karsyn: well, a lot of touring and a new album.we'll be probably in the states, assuming we're not being invaded at any point. And europe, a lot of europe, and a lot of canada.But i can't give any specifics, just cause things will shift and move. But, yeah, a lot of touring and a new album is what we're looking at.
Keauthor: Sick. All right, then. well, I suppose that'll be all. Thank you both for your time.
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