SOURCE – Every album comes with challenges. What were the biggest frustrations you faced during this new album, Wield?
Eric Kusanagi (Guitars) – The biggest challenges were the schedules. When you have five people, all of whom are married and have careers, timing can be very challenging. But we make it work, and it’s worked well.
SOURCE – How do you feel about the initial reaction from critics to this album, Wield? Were there any surprises?
Eric Kusanagi (Guitars) – I’ve been very happy with the responses. It seems that people really enjoy it. The singles are all quite different from each other, so I was a little nervous about how people would respond.
For instance, Tides is quite heavy and slow-moving, very much influenced by Doom and Sludge, while Dancing at the End of the World would appeal more to your traditional post-rock fans. It’s a song that’s a lot prettier and emotionally sweeping. Collider, our last single, is even more different. At 10 minutes, it’s our longest song, and it conveys a lot of emotion.
SOURCE – Many producers imprint their unique style on an album. How would you characterize the production style of this record?
Eric Kusanagi (Guitars) – The production style of this record has always been a partnership. I’ve worked with the producer, Mario Quintero (Spotlights), for many albums now, not including this band. I’ve known him for 20 years, and he understands what I’m looking for. He knows how to get the best out of people and capture their performances. I’m not sure if it’s the friendship or the musician-producer relationship, but working with him is really amazing. With Mario, it’s a give-and-take. He was brought in to be the 6th member of the band, providing us with advice and guidance, making helpful suggestions, or, at times, just telling us what he wants, lol.
SOURCE – Looking at your discography, how do you feel this album stands out from your previous work?
Eric Kusanagi (Guitars) – Wield has more depth. It dives deeper into what came before it and explores interesting ideas and musical motifs, some of which are pretty, some dissonant, and some heavy. The difference is that we explored much more and examined every part with a microscope to make sure it felt right to us both as musicians and listeners. I hope listeners get that in a way.
We crafted this to be listened to from front to back, not just as a Spotify single. It’s meant to be a journey that we invite everyone on. A lot of time and care went into writing, recording, and performing it. I hope it leaves a lasting impression on the listener.
SOURCE – Could you share some insight into the creative process behind the album artwork? What led you to choose the final design?
Eric Kusanagi (Guitars) – I was toiling over album artwork when the time came. I want to give people a full package, and I don’t want the artwork to be an afterthought. Album artwork is highly important.
With this photo, I was reviewing statues, and there’s something really beautiful and enduring about Hellenistic statues.
I’ve always been a fan of stark black-and-white photography, not so much into illustration. With illustration, people could be turned off by the album right away at first glance, so I obviously want to avoid that. I personally find that photography tends to resonate more broadly, maybe because the image is based in a reality that we all exist in, rather than a surreal illustration that might make sense only to some.
SOURCE – Do you consider music videos an extension of the album, or are they separate creative entities?
Eric Kusanagi (Guitars) – I do feel that they are extensions of the album; they are meant to accompany the music in a way that makes sense, at least to me. Thematically, they line up.
The Dancing at the End of the World, is a song about how things in life can go terribly wrong, and it’s about us making a conscience decision to remain optimistically positive, even when all hope seems lost, smiling in the face of hopelessness.
The video is as literal as it can get; it literally shows a woman dancing in the background of the apocalypse.
SOURCE – How has technology influenced your approach to producing this album compared to your earlier work?
Eric Kusanagi (Guitars) – Technology has been both a blessing and a curse. As musicians, we typically just want to play and not try to figure out technical problems. It can take away from momentum. We don’t want to fix things; we just want to play music.
Technology has been a blessing with our ability to work together from a distance, which obviously enables us to move faster through the creative process.
So how did it actually influence this time around? It made things a lot easier after we figured out all the technical issues from the first record, haha.
SOURCE – Has social media provided you with instant feedback on the album? How do you feel about receiving such immediate responses?
Eric Kusanagi (Guitars) – It’s been amazing. We’ve been sitting on this album for a year before we even made an announcement of its release. So the response has been amazing. While numbers aren’t indicative of success, they have also impacted our listener count and follower count across many social media platforms.
That said, there is a concern as a musician. We now live in an attention economy, and attention spans are short-lived. If you aren’t constantly crafting new “content” (in our case, music), then you run the risk of getting lost. So, there’s this pressure as musicians to create, but we want quality over quantity. We won’t risk what we feel is quality for the sake of having more “content.”
SOURCE – What are your plans for connecting with fans after the album’s release and promotional cycle?
Eric Kusanagi (Guitars) – After the promotional cycle, we will have some videos (haha, content) that we’ll release from time to time to remind people we exist.
After that, we hope to be able to visit the fine people of Europe in 2026. Wish us luck!
Photo Credit: Chris Sikich
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