photo by Rachel Z Photography
The Sleeping Shaman is currently hosting an exclusive stream of Are We OK, the new EP from electronic/instrumental hip-hop/funk entity INTERESTING TIMES GANG, which sees official release tomorrow.
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. Are we okay? Probably not, but this EP might be just what you need to get there.
“After I finished up the last ITG album, 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.”
Miller continues, “Are We OK is in the same vein as the last record, but the scope has expanded. I’m taking more risks and bringing in more disparate influences. This EP is kind of like a tour through my record collection and, unfortunately, my mind!”
The Sleeping Shaman writes, “Ian Miller is a name known for his post-metal exploits in Kowloon Walled City, but with his solo project, INTERESTING TIMES GANG, we see a completely different side to his musical influences and output. Under the ITG moniker, Miller explores the realms of hip-hop, trip-hop, and breakbeat that has more in common with Roni Size and DJ Shadow than Neurosis and his day job in Kowloon Walled City.”
Stop by The Sleeping Shaman and listen to INTERESTING TIMES GANG’s Are We OK first at THIS LOCATION.
Are We OK will be independently released tomorrow, Friday, March 11th, through Bandcamp HERE and Distrokid HERE. Also see the video for the EP’s title track 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.
https://itgang.bandcamp.com
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