Gerold says. “I mean, we were industrial to an extent; we had electronics and all that stuff. But in reality, we had catchy melodies. It was really just a metal band. We were heavy and everything was screamy.” Louvau, too, noted their long-running flirtation with industrial music. “Even when we started our band as a kid, it was called Victims in Ecstasy,” Louvau says. “We toured with Pigface and Gravity Kills and Godhead, these super industrial bands when we were definitely more of like a rock band. We won some New Times music awards [at a] showcase for best industrial band when we were not really an industrial band at all.” But for their latest project, the band decided to swing for the fences. It’s a full- length called “Feed the Monkeys” that’s set to drop by year’s end from Cleopatra Records, which is the one-time home of genre legends like Nosferatu and Rosetta Stone. “For many years, the word industrial ... was almost a bad word,” Louvau says. “I remember right when we started writing songs for this record, I looked at Andy and I said, ‘I want to go down in flames with you, writing music that we’re excited about. I want it to be something that’s electronic and aggressive and something that makes people feel a certain way.’” And lo and behold, they’ve had some success by embracing their truer loves. “I had absolutely zero intention on our single ‘Fame Whore’ ever going to radio, to hear it on KUPD and Sirius when we never had any intention ever to write songs for the radio,” Louvau says. Gerold thinks that part of the feedback they’ve earned from the record’s output — which includes a recently released cover of Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the Name” — is that it isn’t industrial music but something else entirely. “That’s why I call it industrial punk rock because it’s like [Louvau’s] not really singing in those parts but it has a vibe and an attitude,” Gerold says. “And punk rock was the same way, where they could play their heavy songs and yell or talk over it or have a vibe over it.” Gerold adds that their focus on the lyrics is especially crucial, admitting that sometimes those aren’t a priority across heavier musical heroes. “When I was a kid, the lyrics were way less important,” Gerold says. “I wanted it to be fast and heavy, with screaming guitar solos. With this last batch of songs, all of us sat in a room and we’re hashing out lyrical ideas.” Ultimately, it was about finding even more inspiration from their heroes. “Robert Smith [has] amazing lyrics but they were simple so that you could really understand what he was talking about in each song,” Gerold says. “I tell Jim when we write, ‘What does it actually mean?’ I want the song to have a clear meaning so that the listener can pick up on that meaning and relate to it or not.” ‘If it’s not punk rock, then I’m out’ Louvau, meanwhile, thinks the draw is in how they distill the intensity of their live shows. “Our bread and butter is the piss and vinegar that we present live,” Louvau says. “And there could be people who’ve never seen the band before that are singing along to the songs by the time they’re over.” Their live show truly is essential. Some bands don’t require any spectacle, and There Is No Us is clearly not one of those outfits. “You literally have to be Radiohead to be a band that can stand there and do nothing,” Louvau says. “I go on top of the monitors and speakers and touch the ceiling in the club while I’m acting Tony Aguilera Industrial Complex from p 17 >> p 21
