Everyone has them. The static voices in your head that fill you with self-doubt—or with utter confidence—tearing you between what’s wrong and what’s right with yourself. Some call them intrusive thoughts. Others call it white noise. Yosef “King Yosef” Pelletier calls it “a churning” or a “hum.” This sentiment defines the title of Pelletier’s most personal project to date, and also his debut album, An Underlying Hum, recently released via his DIY collective, BLEAKHOUSE. The title of the LP has an eerie—yet optimistic—syntax. Blurring lines of industrial and hardcore, An Underlying Hum takes listeners on an unapologetic journey through the dark corners of Pelletier’s mind to deliver vulnerability and relatable experiences. Whether you’re in a great spot in your life or a rough patch, this LP gives listeners something to chew on during each play-through to contemplate further
As always Yosef, it’s a pleasure getting to catch up especially for your debut album An Underlying Hum. It’s been such an adventure watching you grow from the Soundcloud days to now. What’s been the most rewarding aspect of your journey over the last few years up to now?
Good to hear from you, man. I think having a full body of work that is unabashedly me, and I feel no insecurity about is probably my biggest reward right now. Where I am at sonically is giving me a freedom to write whatever I want and not be too concerned in the way it’ll be perceived which is very liberating.
With this being your debut album was there a different approach you took during the creative process compared to your previous works?
I really took my time on this record and gave myself space to fail and learn as much as possible. I didn’t do a deadline, set restrictions on what was allowed or really set any rules other than to be honest and make sure it all felt right. In previous releases, I knew what or where I was going and what needed to be done and with this one, I just let it show me in an almost Freudian way. The writing of AUH vs. The Ever Growing Wound are very different processes to look back at.
When talking about King Yosef and “genre” it’s damn near impossible to place you into one specific category. Emitting sounds of industrial, hardcore, metal, and even hip-hop how would you define King Yosef in terms of categorizing yourself in a genre?
I always just call it industrial or industrial hardcore now. It’s easier to make people understand that and then let them decipher all of the other influences on their own time. If I give people too many reference points it sounds like I am making something I am not.
An Underlying Hum has such an eerie yet optimistic syntax to it. A bunch of different imagery runs through my mind when reading it. How would you break down the title for listeners?
The title came from a conversation about the subconscious background noise I have always more or less felt in the back of my head. Like a churning or a “hum”. So, it’s more or less facing what’s under the murky surface and seeing if you will win, or you’ll let it win. The most direct lyrical connection to the album title, other than the title track, would be “Light Seeps In” where I am comparing this thing I just have in me that is always trying to chip away at me until I fall apart. The happy side is all of this feels like the past now. More of things I went through and less things I am going through now.
What is the backstory behind the cover photo for the album captured by Harper King?
I have shot with Harper quite a few times and have always loved how open she is to just winging it. So, I knew roughly what I wanted, and Harper just knocked it out of the park.
The shot that got chosen felt like two sides of the same coin sort of imagery but, one is looking towards light, and one is in a void. It just lined up and felt right.
This record tackles an array of themes from pain, adolescence, identity, trauma, and so many more. How did you find it in yourself to face those past traumas to illustrate it on this sonic canvas
This record really starts in therapy for me. I had been working on a lot of other people’s music and had decided I felt sort of unemotional in my own music and needed to do something more drastic.
So, my therapist basically said, “If you really want to do this justice, you’ll have to accept its going to hurt and work back up from the depths a few times” and because of the loving and supporting friends and partner I have, I just jumped in headfirst for a few years. It was another thing where I just had to let it happen, I couldn’t decide that I was going to write about a memory. It had to just happen, and I had to accept it. I am grateful to have done it.
I remember when we last spoke you had mentioned how your following projects after The Ever Growing Wound would act as a connected story. How does An Underlying Hum bridge the gap from its predecessor?
There’s sonic Easter eggs and lyrics that connect the two pretty thoroughly. If you listen to “A Noise Begins”, the piano line that runs all of AUH plays off in the distance directly after I talk about “the hum” for the first time.
Sonically, TEGW is me taking everything I learned through AUH and trying to do it myself for better or for worse. I still love that project.
Based on your documentary Journal 002: Living in the Hum, it appears as though you were creating this album while also touring. What was it like balancing recording while also touring?
I actually managed to balance it well. There is no way to do both for me because writing is such a “I need to just spend hours alone exploring” sort of thing so, on the road there is no writing but I am gathering info on what works well in a live setting. I made sure to really get everything done on both ends to avoid any sort of lapse.
It’s no secret you’re heavy in the DIY aspect of creating your music and having full control over how it’s produced and distributed. Have you found that it’s become easier or more difficult to curate everything yourself as your journey has progressed?
Both! I am now proficient at Photoshop and Premiere pro but also have to do all those aspects for myself and multiple other projects, so I feel some fatigue every now and then. I do enjoy being creative and it is not always writing or mixing etc. So, being able to edit music videos and create assets for myself really does give me some rewarding work without having to dive back into the heavy stuff.
You recorded this piece at Gods City Studios with Kurt Ballou and also with Steve Evetts. What was it like working with these two and how did they help evolve your style for this record?
It was amazing. I was intimidated by both but they both treated me like a contemporary and treated the record with care. Both Kurt and Steve were very open to teaching me things that they knew would aid in my pursuit of what I was trying to do. As well, giving up the control of mixing was extremely freeing to think about so much more on the production and sonic sides of things. This record would not be what it is without the fine details they added to it, and I am eternally grateful to them.
Not only are you a vocalist, but you’re also a producer. What were some new production techniques and insights you picked up while making this record?
Like I stated before, getting to work with two of my idols when it comes to production really showed me a lot. The main thing was to trust myself because most things I doubted Kurt or Steve would be like “This is awesome, what do you mean?”. As well as understanding the tracking process a bit more and learning a lot of vocal tricks via Steve that kept me pushing through the whole record. They both showed me a lot of technical things and working with in their flows made me level up to a new space where I had not been comfortable, nor would I have had to enter that space.
Having Cameron Gené and Lynden Rook in your corner as other ears I bet helps tremendously with your creative direction. How did Cameron and Lyn contribute to the project in terms of their creative inputs other than solely their instrumentation?
I get demo-itis a lot. I will replay things thousands of times after a first draft is done to see what needs to change and having another set of ears to send things to was integral to this process.
Cameron was a co-writer on a few songs and offered a lot of little changes that really ended up making the songs what they were.
With Lyn, having someone bring all the drum parts I had programmed to life, was extremely important to this record. Between the two of them, they give me all the back-end support I could need to explore any sonic space and know that I could achieve what I want.
Last year you created the collective, BLEAKHOUSE. Its roster already housing a robust selection of artists from many backgrounds and walks of life. How did this idea come about?
It really was just birthed out of the idea of “My friends make awesome music. I want to help them put it out” and it was that simple. A lot of people in BLEAKHOUSE are lifelong friends, or locals so it really just has been a way to have our own space for us to release what we want, how we want, when we want. After my album, most of my focus is going to be putting out multiple records from artists from BH, as well as a compilation with everyone.
What is something you hope listeners take away from An Underlying Hum?
Two things I hope for. One, I hope that people that listen do at least one listen from the start to the end. The sequencing of the record is really what makes it for me. Two, I hope they can feel that it’s human and honest. It’s not meant to be perfect but, meant to express that growth is good and if you don’t look at the bad parts of you, it’s hard to move forward.
An Underlying Hum is available on vinyl or cassette on King Yosef’s Bandcamp. Follow the artist on Instagram and Twitter for future updates.
Image courtesy of Quinten Koroshetz
