11 Questions with SQD

If you could share one thing with an audience before they first tuned into your music, what would you say?

Drop any and all expectations. This music is catharsis, and it is for anyone who has had incredible highs and the furthest lows. Approach with an open heart and open mind.

What’s a non-music thing, a book, a place, a random job, a conversation you overheard, that actually changed how you create music?

A book called ‘Last Exit to Brooklyn’ by Hubert Selby Jr. It charts the lives of New York outcasts in the 50s, the author was next to illiterate at the time of writing, but it’s printed how he wrote it, i.e. no paragraphs, no quotation marks, barely any grammar at all. He broke the conventions and wrote a masterpiece. That’s how I think music should be approached – do whatever the fuck you want.

Give us a song origin story. Where did the idea come from, and did you know straight away that it was something, or did it take a while to reveal itself?

Our third single, ‘kaui’o’O’o’, the main riff in the verse went through many variations. First it sounded like the Mars Volta, then yourcodenameis: milo, before landing on the final version. Once I had that in my pocket, the rest of the song came together in an 8-hour session of just me sitting in front of the computer. It’s now probably our best song.

Pick a song that you’ve released that could only have been written at that exact moment in your lives. What was going on, and is there any part of you that wishes you could still be in that moment?

We have a song on our upcoming album called ‘Augm Garden’, that is a song for anyone who’s had a bad day. I’ve struggled with my mental health over the past few years, and all of that compounded into something of a breakdown when both grandparents passed away within a few months of each other. The lyrics deal with both of those issues. Listen to it when you’re having a bad day.

Tell us about a gig that went somewhere unexpected: a night where the room, the crowd, or just something in the air made it feel like more than a show. What happened?

What’s going on in the world right now, nothing to do with music, that’s quietly making its way into what you’re working on?

Political dread. Everyone creative is banging the same virtuous drum, and we are no different. It takes a village. The structural change needed to make the world a better place is too enormous to fathom. I think that idea around overwhelming odds is becoming the basis for our next set of songs.

There’s a sound, an instrument, a texture you haven’t used yet, but it’s there in the back of your head. What is it, and what’s it waiting for?

Fucking filthy electronics. Building on the “dread” theme. We are fans of people like Blanck Mass, Jon Hopkins and Trent Reznor; integrating gritty tape loops and sub-bass is the answer to our musical dreams. If we can pull it off, that is.

Which artist, alive, dead, from any era, would you most want to play your music to?

Steve Albini, even if he tore us to shreds, it would be an honour from one of my guitar heroes.

Forget the big moments. If your music was the soundtrack to one small, ordinary moment in someone’s day, what would that moment look like?

Little victories. Getting one over on your workplace antagonist. Nailing a parallel park, first try. Dialled in your morning coffee just right. The first nicotine hit of the day. Pop us on and ride the high.

What’s next for you? Tell us what you’re working on and if you have anything exciting in the pipeline.

Our fourth single is coming soon, followed by our long-overdue first album.

Any final words to leave us with?

Playing live is an addiction, and we take it seriously. We hope the energy we bring to the stage shows that, and more people like Uncover can help us carry the addiction further.