A GAZE AMONG THEM BY ROBIN WATTIE
Mathieu and I started out as roommates, jamming together with acoustic instruments in our living room with friends. I had just started teaching myself how to play the guitar and once I started jamming with Mathieu, he gave me some pointers and taught me some unconventional chord shapes that one might usually start with when learning an instrument.
From there we started to experiment with using electric guitars and the very few effects pedals we had at hand, asking ourselves, ‘how does one create an enormous soundscape, with minimal technical abilities (mine) and the most basic tools?’ Some of our huge influencers were and still are Tony Conrad, Steve Reich, John Cage, Marina Abramovic, to name a few. From there we moved forward with purpose and care and thought and so much hard work. So. Much. Hard. Work.
With this latest record, Mathieu and I wanted to really push our concepts forward while eliminating any bad writing habits we developed over the last few albums. We spent every possible moment in our jam space writing and reworking and scrapping and reviving then reworking and building and breaking down our ideas. We aimed to create a heavy yet minimal soundscape.
I write about being a survivor of abuse, violence and of childhood trauma and the lasting effects it has on the individual and the nucleus of that person’s family; I’ve also always written lyrics that investigate and speak to interpersonal and or social, structural relations and power dynamics; the deeply ingrained racism and cultural supremacy; the complications surrounding self-proclaimed allies that direct the focus to the needs and feelings of white folk.
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