American quartet from New York heaven’s lathe (consisting of Daniel, Stephen, Gage, and Noel) use nods to sci-fi to stamp their own brand of urgent post-punk, boasting eclectic instrumentation and perfectly abridged lyrics. I am.
In the midst of a UK tour, we spoke to the band about their debut record. (Bound by the naked sky)), the band visited Europe for the first time and learned about their innovative influences.
Independent: Hey everyone, how are you doing?
Daniel: Hello, I’m fine! As I write this we are in the UK on our first EU&UK tour. It’s the seventh night, and so far everyone has been doing well, so everyone is doing well and having a good time.
Independent: How was your first European tour?
Steven: beautiful country. Some of us have been here individually before, but not all of us have done shows as a band, so I’m really looking forward to seeing what the scene is like. is.
We played a few shows in Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands, then took the ferry from Calais and spent the evening and morning in Brighton. It was all so great. We also passed by Stonehenge on our way to Bristol for our first show here and took some photos from the van. Bristol was a great UK kick-off, very good energy and a great crowd.
They then head to Manchester, Glasgow and London before returning to Brighton for a show. I wish I could see more of the UK. I have to go back.
Independent: For our readers who are not familiar with your band – what is Lathe of Heaven?
Steven: We’re a four-piece post-punk band from Brooklyn, New York, incorporating synthesizers, electronic percussion, and sci-fi themes into a traditional guitar/bass/drums/vocal format. We’ve been playing together for about three years now, but we’ve known each other through music projects and punk for even longer. You can find each of us playing in other punk, hardcore, and metal bands in New York. Gage and Daniel are also visual artists. Gage does all the artwork and Daniel does the chic tattoos.
Independent: Band name – Is there a connection to Ursula K. Le Guin’s book? What meaning do novels have for the band?
gauge: Yes, our name is taken directly from Ursula K. Le Guin’s novel. I’m a huge fan of her science fiction and wanted to convey that with our name and aesthetic. To be honest, The Dispossessed is my favorite of her novels, but if I remember correctly, another band already took that name (lol). So Lathe of Heaven seemed like the next best thing. And to be honest, LoH sounds better anyway. That novel is very important to me. Le Guin brilliantly portrays the duality of the human experience, and the social and psychological themes she touches on in her stories really resonate with me.
Independent: Do any of your works include elements other than music?
gauge: absolutely! Virtually every aspect of the record incorporates some sort of homage to something I’m passionate about. Whether it’s science fiction, sociology, art, or punk. For example, the illustration on the record band was partly inspired by Arthur C. Clarke’s novel “Childhood’s End,” and the record name itself is a play on James E. Gunn’s short story “Childhood’s End.” It’s a twist. “The Naked Sky” (fun fact: this may have been the first conceptualization of humans living in a simulation). The lyrics of our song “The Spider” describe a scene from Philip K. Dick’s “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” and many of the designs on our T-shirts is heavily influenced stylistically by his HR Giger.
Independent: released debut record Bound by the naked sky Last fall – what has happened to LOH since then?
Steven: It was wonderful. This question comes at a good time, as we just played in the biggest room ever at the Grausone Festival in The Hague on Sunday. It was surreal. There were two balconies. He had three sound technicians working on my drum kit. They rolled it onto the stage with risers and such. Each had a spotlight. It’s the type of thing that makes dreams come true.
We are currently on a three-week European tour, and last fall we hit the East and West Coasts of the United States. Several festivals are scheduled in the United States this summer as well.
This record keeps having to be repressed and the response from people who come to our shows has been very positive. We were able to make music videos, hone our live performances, travel around the world, and meet all kinds of talented people…not bad.
To be honest, it was also a lot of work. In order to become a band, there’s a lot more to doing than just writing and practicing songs that people don’t see. Doing so will increase your appreciation for other artists.
Independent: My favorite song on the album is “Ekpyrosis”, could you tell me about it? What are you talking about?
gauge: Ekpyrosis is a Stoic philosophy originally conceptualized by ancient Greek philosophers. The name has since been adopted to represent a more science-based cosmology that explains the origin of the universe. The Ekpyrotic Model (or commonly associated with the Cyclic Model) states that the universe undergoes periodic cycles of contraction and expansion, leading to its creation, destruction, and re-creation. It is unclear how well accepted this theory is among cosmologists. I’m not an expert in cosmology, thermodynamics, or astrophysics, but I quite like the idea that our universe is constantly dying and reborn, and I see this as an interesting thought experiment that ties in with things like: I think it will be helpful.across a variety of themes Bound by the naked sky.
Independent: You’ve been compared to outfits like Joy Division, and you’ve also taken cues from bands like Lebanese Hannover and France Police, but are there any artists who have directly influenced your music?
noel: Most of our direct influences are from great bands like Killing Joke, The Cure, Siouxsie and The Banshees, to lesser influences like Finnish post-punk pioneers Musta Parati and Piehat Nuket. I think it comes from classic 80’s post-punk bands to lesser known bands. Spanish artists such as Alaska y Los Pegamoides and Paralisis Permanente.
When it comes to older bands, the list could go on forever. We also enjoy listening to what our contemporaries and colleagues are doing, and it’s no exaggeration to say that this influences our own music.
We also listen to various genres of music, so I think it influences our sound, albeit indirectly. Nevertheless, we are very invested in creating our own sound and plan to continue to expand on it.
Independent: We’re a UK-based publication, so we’re not at all familiar with the US underground scene, but are there any bands we should keep an eye on?
Too many to name! Abism, Heretic Bodyhammer, Pure Terror, Lamp of Murmur, Cross, Savage Pleasure, Depict of Sin, Haram, Black Blade, The Exile, Secretaries, True Body, Siege Fire, and countless others.
Independent: What does the future hold for Lathe of Heaven? Are there any new releases planned for 2024?
Steven: We’re working on something and we’ll see if it gets finished this year. In the meantime, we will continue to play shows in New York and the rest of the United States, with a few states and cities that we still have obligations to visit. But more music, more touring, more world, that’s definitely the goal.
Lana Williams’ words
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