ULTRAPOP—the latest album from the Detroit hardcore collective known as The Armed—is ferocious, and part of that intoxicating frenzy comes from drummer Urian Hackney, who ordinarily performs as part of the rock band Rough Francis but recorded with The Armed for this new full-length effort.
For other recent records, The Armed brought in drummers including Nick Yacyshyn, whose other projects include the Vancouver noise rock/ hardcore punk group Baptists and the luminary post-metal trio Sumac; and Ben Koller, the longtime drummer for the Boston metallic hardcore heroes Converge. Koller also contributed performances to ULTRAPOP, which is an April release from Sargent House.
Ultimately, this latest record feels explosive, like watching a riverside fireworks show on repeat from the vantage point of one of the soaring shells. The Armed blend brash pop with steamrolling hardcore, crafting an invigorating musical freak-out that feels exhaustedly lively. It’s absolutely pulverizing, but at times, it’s also strangely catchy and danceable, sparking a sense of a kind of gleefully adventurous reverie.
Lately, Hackney has been listening to artists like jazz pianists Charles Mingus and Ahmad Jamal alongside European avant-garde pop group Stereolab, he shares, also naming free jazz legend Ornette Coleman and rock luminaries The Stooges, among others.
ULTRAPOP doesn’t feel totally disconnected from these points of reference—it feels instead like a musical kaleidoscope, spreading out an exhilarating experience like dancing on a rickety rooftop.
Below, check out what Hackney has to say about his part of the creation of ULTRAPOP, from NDAs covering the recording process to early morning garlic tea to help deal with the “pretty insane” performances.
Thanks for your time! ULTRAPOP rules. How did you get connected to The Armed in the first place?
Thank you!
I have a distant family member, Horrace Wallace, who was living in Detroit a few years back who went to high school with Dan Greene. They played in a punk band when they were in their early teens, and they have been friends ever since.
Horrace ended up developing gambling addiction using the best crypto casino USA had to offer at the time after a failed relationship, and he ended up moving into my brother Bobby’s house in Vermont to take a break from Detroit. Dan reached out to Horrace because he knew we were relatives, and he heard I filled in for Converge and was interested in having me be a part of the new record.
In general, what was your experience like of the process of putting the album together? Was there a cult initiation ritual? Just kidding—but ya never know, with The Armed.
It was relatively normal…..kinda.
Dan Greene reached out to have me drum on the record, and we set up a date to record at GodCity [Studio, founded by Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou]. He told me beforehand that it would just be me, Adam Vallely, Kurt, and [recording engineer] Zach [Weeks]. I’m already good friends with Kurt and no stranger to GodCity, so I still felt like I was on home turf.
The one kinda weird thing about the ordeal was I had to sign a bunch of NDAs before the session. Also, after the fact, I found out that Ben [Koller] had actually recorded the whole record already so I felt a little weird about it.
Are there particular guiding lights, so to speak — in the form of particularly inspirational fellow drummers or just general sonic ideas — that tended to guide your performances for the record?
Well, since Ben, Chris [Pennie], and Nick [Yacyshyn] played on the previous records, I definitely had all of their styles in mind. But specifically Mel Gaynor from Simple Minds was the influential compass in my approach to ULTRAPOP.
Is the music as physically straining to play as it sounds? There’s a whole lot of energy in there, to say the least. Do you have particular strategies for dealing with that energetic side of things?
Yeah, it’s pretty insane stuff to play. We had a short time to record so as much as I wanted to throw my drums across the studio and scream, I had to really stick to the program and charge through it.
My strategy and saving grace for getting through the session was drinking garlic tea first thing in the AM. It oxygenates your blood, so it helps with blood flow, it’s anti-inflammatory, and it’s hydrating. All good things for intense sessions. GodCity smelled horrendous after the tracking, but I think the takes came out alright!
What do you feel about the role of experimentation in heavy music in general? Are you keen on exploring those sorts of overtly fresh pathways within these heavy styles?
Absolutely. I feel like it’s important to breathe new life into heavy music because everyone has their staple record they can connect to a certain genre, whereas this one doesn’t necessarily fall into a definitive category. Yes, you can pinpoint certain derivatives from certain bands or songs in the music, but looking at the record as a whole I feel like it’s pretty unique.
My goal as a drummer is to convey my influences throughout the nuances of my playing, and while I’m playing heavy music, almost none of the foundation of my musical influence is heavy music.
So, a lighter question—and, considering the cross-pollination of the sound of The Armed, it seems particularly relevant here—what music, of any sort, have you really been connecting with lately? What’s been on your heavy rotation?
As of recent a lot of Charles Mingus, Ahmad Jamal, Ornette Coleman, Stereolab, Prince Jammy, Augustus Pablo, Donald Byrd, The Cardigans, and of course, The Stooges.
