photo by Rachel Z Photography
Ian Miller is the bassist for Kowloon Walled City, Less Art, Stangelight, and several other punk and metal bands. But INTERESTING TIMES GANG, the sobriquet for Miller’s solo experimentations, is a radical departure from those projects.
Are We OK is the follow-up to 2021’s critically acclaimed Beats, Rhymes, No Life album, released in 2021 via Pax Aeternum. The new EP’s five songs run the gamut from grimy hip-hop beats to chillwave to turn-of-the-millennium big beat.
“After I finished up Beats…, I took a break from the electronic stuff,” Miller says. “My bands started playing again and it looked like life was getting back to normal. Then omicron happened, and I holed up in the lab and started making tracks again. I’ve got an entire album-plus in the can, but I wanted to get some of this stuff out before the next full-length drops.”
He continues, “When I start making a track, I never know where it’ll end up. I typically start with some basic samples and eventually the song reveals itself to me. It’s like sculpting with sounds. The song ‘Are We OK’ is way more danceable than anything else I’ve done to date. I’ve been listening to big beat stuff like the Prodigy and Chemical Brothers for two decades now, and that stuff has seeped into my bones.”
This EP also marks Miller’s first foray into video editing. The video that accompanies “Are We OK” combines found footage from the ‘70s through the ‘90s into a celebration of hip-hop and dance music. The other four tracks recall 2000s chillwave (“Gods On Feedback”), golden age hip-hop meets chiptune (“Bewildering Fog”), baroque country crossed with downtempo electronica (“Singing In The Wire”), and unclassifiable club bangers (“Duck You”).
Are we okay? Probably not, but this EP might be just what you need to get there.
Stream INTERESTING TIMES GANG’s Are We OK now at Bandcamp RIGHT HERE.
Are We OK will be independently released through all digital providers on March 11th. Preorders are live at Bandcamp HERE and all other presaves can be found at Distrokid HERE.
Are We OK bridges the gap between full-length releases, as Pax Aeternum will release the new INTERESTING TIMES GANG full-length later this year.
Are We OK Track Listing:
1. Are We OK
2. Duck You
3. Gods On Feedback
4. Bewildering Fog
5. Singing In The Wire
https://itgang.bandcamp.com
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