“Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how your childhood impacted your musical direction?”
Jex Blackmore (vocals): I live in Detroit, which is where my dad is from. He’s a third generation funeral director. My mom was a choir teacher. My grandparents and great-grandparents worked for the auto industry and, before that, in the copper mines in Northern Michigan. Music was really important to my parents and they had me taking piano lessons starting at age 4. My family’s history and the training I received as a child provided context for my work as a musician. I think that’s becoming more clear now with this project in particular.
“How are you planning on growing your fan base and sharing your music with the world? What message do you have for anyone who is about to discover Love Interest?”
Justin Malek (drums): At this point, I don’t think there’s any “active plan” in place on how to grow our fan base. It’s just a matter of finally being able to share these songs with everyone and play them live. You just hope people are as excited about it as we are and join the ride. My message would be to allow yourself to be open and vulnerable when listening to it. In a lot of ways that has been the foundation of this band and creating outside of our comfort zones.
“Who is the most inspiring artist for you right now? And where do you find inspiration for making music?”
Jex: I’ve recently re-discovered the work of Nan Goldin after watching the Laura Poitras documentary “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed.” Nan is a photographer and activist whose work is absolutely brutal. Laura is also one of my favorite filmmakers and everything she makes inspires me to burn something down. I would describe it less as finding inspiration, and more of being compelled. I make music because I have to channel outrage someplace.
“Can you tell us about the story or message behind the EP, Motherwound?”
Jex: The conservative religious movement uses the bodies of pregnant people as a political prop. They champion the “sanctity of life” as a dog whistle for religious extremists while terrorizing people who simply want to live their life in accordance with their own beliefs and needs. It made me think of how laughable this crusade is, and how cruel. The four songs on this EP are told from the perspective of mothers who have been abused by the State: mothers who are unable to support their families; mothers whose children have been taken away from them by the church and by the state; mothers who have to worry if the air and water their children consume is poisoned. They say we are beloved but in the same breath, they wound us.
“How would you describe your sound in one word for potential listeners?”
Alex Awn (guitars): Oppositional
Justin: ALL
“Did you face any challenges while writing or recording Motherwound?”
Alex: Half the band have written together for fifteen years and the other half of the band were either brand new friends or hadn’t collaborated with the rest of us. So sorting out the writing dynamic was a welcome and interesting challenge at first. We had to get comfortable with personalities and writing dynamics as well as confront what exactly it was we wanted to do and where we wanted to go. If you look at our respective personal discographies, none of us have a band that sounds like this. The whole intent was to travel in uncharted territories and, by definition, you’re not just going to ace that on your first exploration. It takes a lot of trial and error. So that whole “there are six people in a new band” thing was a challenge to overcome but now we’re a finely-oiled machine with a lot of songs ready to record.
Justin: All of what Alex said. A lot of times, just actively going against what your natural instinct would tell you to do at any given time when writing a song; I.E. Make the part super distorted and heavy, play double time, throw in a blast beat etc…also troubleshooting pedalboards. We lost some good practices to a pedalboard or two. RIP.
“What is the message of your music? And what are your goals as an artist?”
Jex: I want people to learn something and to empathize; I want people to recognize their own power and I want people to access catharsis. The goals and the message are the same.
“Who is your dream artist to collaborate with? (dead or alive)”
Alex: I would call Rick Rubin an artist even though he doesn’t play any instruments. I would love to collaborate with Rick so he could tell us Danzig stories and, in between stories, maybe coach the band on getting the most out of what we’re doing. How could Rick take Love Interest to the nth degree? What does that look like? I trust him completely so I’d be excited to find out.
Justin: I would probably skip Rick Rubin altogether and just go with Danzig. We all know who made who in that relationship. In all seriousness, Trent Reznor or David M. Allen (producer of The Cure, The Chameleons, Sisters of Mercy). I’d be lying if I said I know a great deal about Allen or his creative process but, according to his discography, I would like to think any one of us would follow him off a bridge.
“What is your advice for people interested in pursuing music as a career or for those trying to enter the industry?”
Alex: Give nothing but your best in everything you do so there are no regrets. Sweat the details. Utilize your friends and your network. And be resilient. You will get many rejections. That’s part of life. You just gotta soldier on. Also, if you’re fortunate enough to have record labels investing in your music then choose who you want to do business with wisely. Dealing with a record label that sucks can cause a lot of tension in your band. Dealing with a record label that’s on your wavelength will create a fun and lasting partnership. You need to get a good vibe from your record label and make sure you see eye to eye on the things that are important to you. I’ve turned down bigger record label offers and went with smaller labels because I could foresee that the bigger label I was talking to would interfere with my artistic freedom and we didn’t share a unified vision. That was a deal breaker. Know what your “must-have’s” are and stick to them. A label is a partner. Be judicious.
Justin: Be nice and be yourself; don’t play a role. It also helps if you know people so, again, be nice.
“If you could go back in time and give a younger you some words of wisdom, what would they be?”
Jex: Power is only legitimized by us and nobody actually knows what they are doing. Target the rich but don’t get caught.
