“I figured it was the lamest thing I could do. Become a birder,” Author & Punisher main man Tristan Shone says with a laugh on the title of their new album, Nocturnal Birding, out Oct 3 on Relapse Records. As you would guess the music on this new album is influenced by the songs and rhythms of birds he encountered while hiking. All joking aside, Shone found true inspiration in the wonders of nature. Not only is the music inspired by the sounds of birds, the song titles reflect that interest, too.
“I was outside listening to nature. When you do that, you realize there is something out there beyond the industrialized structures and buildings of our society,” Shone says.
In addition, to this newfound muse, Shone also decided that the new album had to be a bit of departure from previous album, Kruller. While that album was designed as a purely in-studio creation, the songs on Nocturnal Birding, were created with the live experience in mind.
“The last album had all these expansive soundscapes. I found out after playing 100-200 shows, that the experience was not visceral enough. So, we went back to playing some of my older songs. These were made when I was just using a guitar and synth. I wanted to make this album more physical like that,” Shone explains. “This is an industrial album made like a hardcore punk record.”
Not only did Shone change up his musical approach, he also changed the make-up of the band. Guitarist Doug Sabolick (PLQ MRX, Ecstatic Vision) was brought in for the Kruller touring cycle and was made a full-time member of the band for Nocturnal Birding.
“I missed guitar. You know that rhythmic chug you get from industrial music,” Shone says.
For Nocturnal Birding, Shone wrote most of the album on guitar. He would then send these tracks to Sabolick who would refine them and make them ready for recording. Shone would handle all the parts concerning the drone machines and synths, and electronic elements of the music. They worked together to create a compelling album.
All this fits into Shone’s masterplan of making an album that is not only influenced by the natural world, but is also more aggressive, physical and meant to be played live, bringing a more “human” element to the mechanized sounds of this style of music.
“Writing songs to play live is different from writing an album as a studio creation,” Shone says. “Usually when you see an industrial band play, there is one person playing the synth and another person as the vocalist. Most times they are using prerecorded music. It’s the same exact thing each night. Whereas the older industrial bands were actual bands, like Ministry,” Shone says.
This actual “live” element of industrial music is what Shone is bringing back. “If you don’t see me moving, you don’t hear any music,” Shone says.
While Sabolick is a full-time member of the band, Shone also collaborated with a bunch of other artists on the album, as he has in the past. Indonesian noise artist Kuntari contributes live drumming to “Titanis,” while Couch Slut’s Megan Osztrosits, contributes spoken word and harsh vocals to “Mute Swan” and French industrialists Fange appear on “Black Storm Petrel.”
Nocturnal Birding is also influenced by Shone’s volunteer work for Border Angels, a group that drops water along the US/Mexico border. Both birds and humans migrate. Just in different ways. Shone started doing waterdrop work for the group a few years ago, and the experience opened up his eyes. “I started going on these waterdrops. I met people who were on these different paths than mine. Some of them had family members who already crossed the border. I heard all these stories. It was not just the world of musicians and artists I was used to,” Shone says.
The new album is dedicated “to those who have lost their lives travelling across the border from Mexico to the USA through a cruel policy of prevention by deterrence,” says Shone. “This land is not ours to hold onto nor was it ours to take.”
Nocturnal Birding is out Friday, and you can preorder it from Relapse Records. Follow Author & Punisher on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for future updates.
Photo Credit: Atomic Alyona
