MANTIS INTERVIEWS WIZARDS, WIZARDS INTERVIEWS MANTIS
Interview with Wizards from Only Poseurs Know How To Die
Ahead of our debut album, Skud Farkis, I sat down with Wizards from Only Poseurs Die Young to ask it a few questions:
Q: I couldn’t help but notice that Wizards is plural. Are you actually multiple wizards in one person? Or one person in multiple wizards?
A: The idea for the name came from the fact that there are a lot of solo projects that, despite primarily or solely being one person, are titled like they're plural. Early on, the Mountain Goats were just John Darnielle, The Microphones were just Phil Elverum... I thought damn it'd be a funny idea for someone to do that for themself with their name. I was right it is funny that was a good choice.
Q: When did you start making music? Have you always wanted to be a musician?
A: When I was really little my grandmother would invent songs and sing them to me. I wanted to be a poet. I wanted to be like T.S. Elliot, like E.E Cummings, and grab the sun like a grapefruit and sink my teeth into it. To feel its blood. I wasn’t very good though lol. So I decided music is easier to make enjoyable, especially noise. The thing I love about noise and more extreme music is how accessible and easy to make it is. Noise is the new punk.
Q: Which historical figure would you kill if given the opportunity? (Assume that baby Hitler has already been killed by someone else).
A: Ayn Rand, or Fredric Wertham. Probably Ayn Rand out of the two, objectivism and the justification of Pure Self Interest as a moral objective has done irreparable damage to philosophy, politics, and the culture as a whole. Most right wing weird dudes don't know who Ayn Rand is or understand Objectivism in the slightest but the ideas have permeated so far and wide that people like Jordan Peterson, Ben Shapiro, etc. etc. all take an unconscious inspiration from that batshit line of thinking.
Q: What inspired your lyricism in Skud Farkis?
A: the main throughline in my lyrics and vocal style, the feeling I try to communicate (I’m obsessed with a theory of mine that most art is the attempt to communicate An Idea the creative has that is impossible to fully do justice as a statement) is the dichotomy between being a person who actively seeks catharsis and romanticizes their own misery, suffering, and negativity, and sees beauty in it... except when it occurs to them. Someone who swears up and down that they understand that it is terrible and not something to be romanticized, and then creeps back to their old ways! A ridiculous example of this, someone who seeks out gore content, getting mildly injured and cursing god, without realizing the fundamental disconnect there. It fascinates me and I have yet to capture that moment adequately!
Q: You have an interesting style of drumming! What’s your favourite way to play the drums?
A: I used to have a set, and I'd just bash that son of a bitch with butter knives, hit it like my big kush vape, hit it like my son. but now i have to settle for a DAW. I usually play for about 5 minutes at a time, get into some groove, and chop it up and keep what's good. I kind of am bad with knowing how much time has passed!
Q: What are your thoughts on the current nature of punk rock music? Does “punk rock” even exist anymore?
A: Yes and no! The world has changed, and punk is something different now, but I don’t think you can kill punk. I think it's been overwhelmed by people and things clinging to the sound and aesthetic over the actual integrity and philosophy, but honestly, some poseurs and sellouts make some decent music and art. I enjoy the music, so I don't mind. True punk is alive and well though, in basements and garages and at skate parks, in film, literature, music and art. It's harder to find but it's there. It'll always be there. Long after the last trust fund crustie is dead and in the ground, a guitarist who can't play well will still be making out sloppy style with the bassist in his moms garage while the vocalist screams out the home address of a local state politician. Maybe in Wisconsin.
Q. What bands do you look up to the most for inspiration?
A: Definitely Orchid and I Hate Sex for my vocals. Also, Bruce Springsteen, you can’t fucking beat the boss you just can’t. It can't happen. I really enjoy the various projects of Damian Ojeda and Phil Elverum, all their projects. I don't think I sound very similar to them but I go for a similar "individual wailing in a sea of lofi noise" sound when I try production stuff!!! There are some fantastic modern emoviolence projects, killedinkombat, Lord Snow, etc... much love to them!!!!!
Q: What is your favourite album cover of all time?
A: I think the goal of an album cover is to make you feel by looking at it how the music makes you feel, and in that respect I think "I want to be there" by Sadness has the best. I really love more minimalistic covers!
Interview with Mantis of Only Poseurs Know How To Die:
I was so thrilled by that line of questioning, i found the need to immediately interview Mantis right back!
Q: I want to ask you the same, where does your name come from? (The insect, I presume, but why did you choose that name?)
A: I've always been fascinated by praying mantises. We don't get them in England, but I would watch videos of people caring for them as pets all the time, and I think they love in ways that human beings can never really comprehend. The love they feel isn’t something that we can replicate, and maybe it can’t even be considered a feeling. Can insects feel? But it’s still there, regardless. A love so abstract it moves beyond the reality of emotion. It's relatable in a way.
Q: What would you say is your personal Great Guitar Player?
A: I wanna say Chris Stein from Blondie. If you’ve listened to the song No Exit, you’ll understand why. The guitars in that song are the sole reason I became a guitarist in the first place, and my dream is to one day be able to play like him.
Q: You are super good at using samples to add to music, what sort of material do you examine for samples, and what makes the ones you pick stand out to you?
I don’t really have a specific process for sampling. I think the most important part of picking good samples is simply knowing a lot of niche media. For example, one of the samples used in Skud Farkis is from the show Bagpuss, an old British kids show from the 70s. Given our demographic, it’s unlikely a lot of people listening will know the source material, and that makes it stand out. For me, it’s a piece of childhood I knew through ancient DVDs and word of mouth, a connection to my older relatives, but to a young, American listener, it has the vibes of a piece of lost media. Something that will spark their imagination, you know?
Q: What do you think the modern music landscape is lacking/could use more of?
It feels like a lot of people are being experimental for the sake of being experimental these days. There’s nothing wrong with experimenting, obviously, our whole album is an experiment! But too many indie songs nowadays are written for the purpose of standing out as experimental, rather than genuinely having a passion and a vision for your music, and needing the practice to build it up. People experiment to find themselves, find a sound, figure out what they do and don’t like. But, similar to how everyone wants to be punk but won’t commit to turning down brand deals and expensive ticket pricing, people want their music to sound experimental for the attention, not because they believe in it. Everything is a brand now. Everything is a TikTok sound or Instagram reel opportunity.
Q: What artist would you say is the most underrated and deserves more credit/attention?
Dido! She’s well-known in England, but largely unknown everywhere else. Everyone knows her voice, though, because she’s the sample at the beginning of Stan by Eminem, but no one knows her. I grew up on her music, and Life For Rent is a beautiful album, but she’s been smothered by the shadow of Eminem since the early 2000s. I wish people would appreciate her as a separate talent.
Q: You're skilled in the visual art department as well... What artists and movements do you take the most inspiration from?
A: The editing of the 80s/90s is my main inspiration, and the attempts at creating zine-like images in video format. I’m a huge fan of stop motion, and so I like to make any real life footage look glitchy and bouncy and stilted by taking picture after picture of every second of the footage and painstakingly splicing it back together into a stop motion video. The more effort it takes, the more satisfied I am with the end product.
Q: What gives you hope in the Bitch Of An Earth? Artists, Musicians, etc... what's around right now that gives you the hope and ability to keep making dope music?
The thing that gives me hope is my own determination to be who I am. I have the image of a person in my head, an attainable image, and one that is undeniably myself, and reaching the day that image becomes the guy looking back at me in the mirror is keeping me going. That and listening to who really cares by tv girl.
Q: What's your favorite movie of all time? You can tell a lot from that!
My favourite movie of all time is the Andy Samberg movie Palm Springs. I think it’s such an accurate yet subtle depiction of the less talked about aspect of Depression: the fear of actually losing it. When you’re so used to your routine, the idea of getting better actually starts to terrify you, even though you know you’d ultimately be better off. It’s the fear of change that keeps you paralysed in place. Also, I love Andy Samberg.
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