While dystopian tales have become almost cliche in 2022—we are living in a notquite post-COVID-apocalypse world, after all—Author & Punisher have found a way to keep the topic new, interesting, and downright terrifying with their take on technology and doomsday prepping on Krüller.
Out February 11 via Relapse Records, the album combines the signature production stylings of Tristan Shone with guitarist Phil Sgrosso, giving the album a heavier, more ripping feel. The presence of guest musicians and more guitar on this album brought a fresh take to themes that are dark even by today’s standards.
“I got more into nature and hiking during the pandemic, as many did, and getting into that got me thinking more about, I guess you call it prepper culture,” Shone says. “Some of the themes and books I was reading, by authors like Octavia Butler, Ursula Le Guin, and Margaret Atwood, they’re really sort of talking about these vehicles that people literally have now, like Toyota Tacomas or Mercedes Sprinters, that are all decked out by ridiculous survivalists.
“For me, being a gear and tech guy, I kind of have my initial reaction of, ‘Oh man, that’s gnarly.’ But then you start thinking about it, and it’s so unnecessary. These cars have computers inside. If you are really going to survive in the wild, you can’t have a car with a sensor that can go bad and break down. So, there’s something really ridiculous about that, and then you see they have all these upside-down flags in their windows, and Blue Lives Matter and all that bullshit.
“And I just sort of feel like that became a theme for the album, the breakdown of society, survivalists, people living off the land, and people fantasizing about that scenario. The fact that surviving and having to fight is so attractive to people and they fantasize about it, even if they don’t know what it entails.”
The album is accompanied by a series of videos that portray frightening aspects of technology, like drones and survivalist vehicles, police and surveillance.
“It’s this conflict between both loving technology and kind of realizing this sort of downfall of society due to it in a lot of ways.”
While Shone may realize the conflicts he has with machines as a member of the human race, he’s also much beholden to the machines he uses in synthesis and production to create his signature sound. So much so, in fact that he will now be selling his signature, musical contraptions, called “Drone Machines” after his album, for other musicians to use in their art.
“It’s basically going to be a boutique controller machine company that makes hardware utilitarian interfaces for sound that you can plug into your computer, or you can use with modular synthesizers and analog and digital gear. Very similar to what I play on, but a little more robust. We have prototypes in process, and I’ll be using the gear on the road with me as well.
“Things will be more open source, and the materials I use are metals and woods, no plastic, you know? You can order all the innards and electronics, so if something breaks, you’ll be able to order new parts rather than some plastic thing where you have to buy a whole new item. So, these are intended to last for a long time.”
Look for a gear line from Shone and more Author & Punisher announcements this year.
Check out the music video for “Drone Carrying Dread” here:
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Photo courtesy of Author & Punisher and Becky DiGiglio
