Street Eaters dropped their new album, Opaque, on September 5 via Dirt Cult Records. We caught up with Megan March (drummer/vocalist), John No (bass/vocals), and Joan Toledo (guitarist) to talk about the album and their future plans.
What was the writing and recording process for this album, and how does it differ from previous releases?
Joan: Suddenly there were three of them!
John: Yep, sonically this album represents the moment in which we fully-embrace guitar-ism and its embodiment in Joan—We went a solid decade of being a noisy two-piece guitar-driven post punk band without an actual guitar, and this ups the ante significantly. Of course, this being Street Eaters, my bass tone is still distorted and overdriven AF, Megan is still hammering holes right into every drum head she owns, and Joan’s Sovtek head is perfectly attuned to fill in all the remaining openings in our saturated sound wall.
As far as the recording, it is a combination of Jack Shirley’s unmatched mixing skills with some tracking from our home studio and some tracking fully-recorded with Jack at Atomic Garden. In general, if the song has more layered sonic architecture and deep space-psych freak outs, we did the tracking at home; the more stripped-down rockers were done at AG.
There seem to be some heavy feminist themes on this record, as well as disgust with society as a whole. How did it feel to channel all that with this album, and what is the main message you want to get across?
Megan: Yes, you heard correctly. Music and art are very cathartic for me, and I’ve always needed to find a way to “work it out” or say what we feel needs to be said. This record directly confronts systems of power, which admittedly is a common thread in our discography, but on OPAQUE, I took a more personal approach by referencing personal experiences as metaphors for abandonment, isolation, betrayal, and yes, a profound disgust with systems of power.
Joan: Punk is inherently the music of disenfranchisement and disgust, of rebellion and rage. Punk is attack music. At its best it confronts oppression either directly or indirectly, either at one of its sources or the people carrying it out. It feels inevitable that more and more people will feel the violent weight of fascism as it continues to build power, and so it is only appropriate that we use whatever methods that are available to us to explore and reject imposed hierarchies of power.
Are there any plans coming up to tour on the record or play shows?
Megan: Yes. We just got back from a stint of Southern California shows, which were wild. Next up: an insane weekend on the east coast to play NYC, DC, and PHILLY, with a set on WFMU, then flying back to SF the next day to play our record release with UNWOUND. I will sleep when I’m dead.
John: Working on some possibilities to head back to the Pacific NW this fall/winter as well. More to come in general, for sure.
Even though it’s early days, are there any plans in the works for future music after this?
Megan: We have a new batch of songs we’ve been demoing for a new full length, please stay tuned …
Joan: We’ve been jamming a lot on new material, and I do mean full on hippy jamming. We’ll improvise around musical ideas for 10-15 minutes at a time and hold onto the more interesting moments. And because there are the three of us, there is a wider palette of sounds we’re pulling from. Currently some of our improvisational tendencies, which you’ll sometimes hear in between songs at shows, incorporate noisier tendencies or explore pitches and tones that are nowhere to be found in a typical punk situation.
John: Of course, what we call hippy would aurally traumatize an actual hippy unless they were a Fugs or Lemmy-era Hawkwind hippy. Honestly, I think we are writing the best music this band ever has. Our three-way creative process is totally in synch and scratches all the sonic itches. Street Eaters has always considered it crucial to get more musically-interesting and powerful with every release, never coasting off the past, and both this album and the brand new stuff (which you will hear at our shows) are 100% the clearest demonstration of this commitment yet.
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Joan: It’s really easy for people to believe that they have to wait for someone else to start something before they can do it too. And a lot of people don’t even believe they have the power at all! You the reader are capable of more than what society or your boss or the government tells you. You can start your own band. You can refuse power. You can scheme and collaborate with others. It takes everyday people to make a change.
