Back in the early-to-mid 2000s, Earshot were key players in spearheading the American alt-rock movement, releasing massive hits like “Get Away”, “Not Afraid” and “Wait” respectively, with their influence and success getting them significant radio airplay, as well as being featured on a number of video games including Madden ’05, MX vs. ATV Unleashed, and Project Gotham Racing 2. However, despite all the success of 2002’s Letting Go and 2004’s Two, the band would go through several line-up changes and their momentum would gradually wane, not releasing their third LP, The Silver Lining, until 2008. After this, the band would recede into the shadows for over a decade, releasing only a 4-track EP in 2015 and a couple of singles during Covid. Thankfully, all of that is about to change: with a brand-new line-up that includes ex-Breaking Benjamin guitarist, Aaron Fink, Earshot are set to make a massive comeback in 2025 with their first new album in 17 years. The band’s first single “Where Were You?” recently dropped to a strong reception from fans, and the band are currently in the throes of planning their next moves. I recently caught up with the band’s founding member and frontman, Wil Martin, who candidly discusses the band’s history, its tribulations, and the bright future that lies ahead of them, so I hope you enjoy it. (Please note: the transcript from this interview was edited and some of the wording changed for a more concise reading experience. For the definitive version of this…
Interviews
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What’s up everyone! Welcome to my first interview that I’ve done for Sputnik, and hopefully the first of many. This week, I was able to sit down on a Zoom call with Jackal Twins to discuss their debut record, Cuzco. These guy were absolutely amazing to talk with, they all had great senses of humor, and they all genuinely love the work they have done with Jackal Twins. If you haven’t listened to their debut album yet, or this is the first time you’ve heard their name, let me give you a quick introduction. Jackal Twins is a three-piece band based out of the New England area, with Ben Trussell on drums and vocals, Mike Palumbo on guitars and vocals, and Dante Lamusta on bass. Their Bandcamp profile describes their music as “psychedelic noisy tunes for the hopeless romantic.” Good luck trying to pin a particular genre down, though. They tend to focus on the mathcore side of their music, and lean into the aggressive style. However, there are numerous genre influences that shine throughout, with a great balance of heaviness with melodic songwriting. But I’m not here to explain the band myself. No, I’m here to let you guys hear from the band themselves. Please, enjoy this interview with the Jackal Twins! You can either read the interview, listen to the recording, or follow along with both.
NOTE: The transcript below was edited for brevity. Some of the wording has been changed or…
Peter Connelly is one of my most revered composers, not only for being involved in some of my all-time favourite games growing up, but because the music he created for those games expanded upon Nathan McCree’s iconic formula for Tomb Raider in a way that made it, arguably, better. By the time Connelly came in to compose the scores for Tomb Raider’s 4-6, the direction taken amped up the sombre sophistication and exotic, Bondian-esque string arrangements to match the darker, more serious tone the series was heading in at the time. So, in light of the release of Tomb Raider IV-VI remaster, which came out a couple weeks ago, I thought it was a good time to catch up with the man responsible for the scores to these classic games. As an established composer, what was your musical upbringing like? It was relatively normal but I was always fascinated by music and musical instruments. My father introduced me to Burt Bacharach at a very early age and I was obsessed with Burt’s music, melodies, his approach to music and his arrangements, so much I remember wishing that, one day, I could also be writing for an orchestra. I’ve not heard a Bacharach song since I was a kid, what a blast from the past. Bacharach’s known for so many catchy classic songs. His compositional style has a rich network of emotions, layered with a lot going on if you dig into a song, but there’s something immediately alluring and easy-going about… For me, Thurnin’s new record, Utiseta, is easily one of the best albums of the year. Coming as a recommendation, Thurnin’s sophomore album blindsided me with its incredibly astute songwriting, rich instrumentation, and resonant Pagan aesthetics. Given my obsession with this LP since its release in September, it seemed only logical I get some discourse going with Jurre Timmer – the project’s mastermind – to discuss the thought processes behind the project, his sudden success with Thurnin’s debut LP Menhir back in 2021, and how he approached moving forward with a successor. Give us a bit of background on yourself. Jurre: I started doing mostly metal back in 2015, which was when I was really getting into songwriting. I released two albums under a previous project [Algos], but I drifted away from that because it’s a really expensive and difficult genre to produce in if you’re doing everything solo. So after that I shifted my attention and made a doom album under the moniker I, Forlorn, but then all my equipment broke, so I decided to go back to what I had originally started doing, which was acoustic music. I wrote this demo which ended up being “A Lament for the End” – which was the only song on Menhir that was completely improvised – and showed it around to some friends, who encouraged me to go down this path and make more of it. So I set out to make this really chill album without any stress or… In advance of the release on Friday, November 3rd of their third LP, Summer Moon, all five members of There Will Be Fireworks took some time to answer some questions posed by Sput’s own Sunnyvale. Yes, you’re not going crazy, there was indeed another interview with two members of the band posted on this site last week, but the more the merrier! For ease of reading, please find the initials of each band member below. Many thanks to the band! AK – Adam Ketterer (drums) DM – David Madden (bass) GF – Gibran Farrah (guitar, vocals, synthesisers, piano) NM – Nicholas McManus (vocals, guitar, synthesisers, piano) SD – Stuart Dobbie (guitar, piano) November 3rd, 2023 marks a day many fans doubted would ever come – the release of a long-awaited follow-up album to The Dark, Dark Bright. Anything you can share on how things transpired/how the creative process unfolded between the 2013 release of that record through the finished product of Summer Moon? NM: A lot has changed for us since 2013! We released The Dark, Dark Bright in November 2013 and played a few shows around that time and in 2014. We had a clutch of other songs at that point that we loved but that just didn’t feel right for The Dark, Dark Bright. And, to be honest, I think we need that little natural break from writing for a bit. We all had a lot of life stuff going on too – starting out in our careers, some… This interview was conducted and formatted by user Slex After a ten year hiatus in which the band remained hard at work, beloved (at least on Sput) alternative rock band There Will Be Fireworks have finally returned with a follow-up to the cult classic The Dark Dark Bright. Ahead of the impending release of Summer Moon on November 3rd I was able to correspond with Nicholas McManus (vocals, synths, guitar) and Adam Ketterer (drums).
The first question I have is, did you guys ever feel burdened by the legacy of The Dark Dark Bright? At least on Sput it was hailed by many as an instant classic, did that shadow ever loom as you guys worked on Summer Moon? NM: I think it’s all relative. We’re aware that there are these amazing little pockets online that still love The Dark, Dark Bright – and we’re really appreciative of that and humbled by it – but we’re equally aware that in the grand scheme of things we’re a little DIY band self-releasing records to a small audience. To be honest, we kind of thought everyone would have forgotten about us anyway. It wasn’t until we re-released The Dark, Dark Bright on vinyl earlier this year that we realised how many people still cared. There’s a certain freedom that comes from all that. Also, we don’t do this for a living, we’re not actively involved in any scene and we’ve not been playing shows, so for most of the last ten… An interview with BaselineOOOMusic has had a bad year. Sputnik has had a bad year. Awful things have happened, and the jury is still out on who to blame — silly jury! They should spend less time pointing their fingers and more time clapping their hands at the one user who can save us. After a randomised selection of noble volunteers, it was determined by fated that this user would none other than the site’s longtime dismantler of philosophies, distorter of diets, shredder of manchildren, encourager of all the most unlikely and profane interests, BaselineOOO! Here she is! There will be no images: hush and look at Baseline’s words. * * * * * jotW: Greetings BaselineOOO, lucky winner of the Sputnik Interview Raffle. You have appeared before us today to save Sputnik. How does this feel? BaselineOOO: Hello, Sputnik! Baseline at your service, or should I say, at your rescue? Honestly, I’m resonating with this whole “saviour” thing, my messianic syndrome is tingling. It feels like finding a glitch in reality and riding it. Saving Sputnik? Don’t I do that every day with my succulent comments? Should be like just another day at the office for me! jotW: Let me explain the rules: I will write in italics and you will not write in italics, otherwise the interview will break and you can’t save Sputnik. I will ask you questions and you will try to answer them. You may ask me questions in response and…
Two years on from the critically acclaimed third album from Musk Ox, Inheritance, and a lot has happened in that time. Evan, the band’s violinist departed from the band this year to pursue other creative ventures, Raph has continued to tour extensively with both his solo work and Leprous, and the band’s founder and guitar player Nathan Larochette, it seems, has been very busy indeed. On 21st July Nathan released his second solo album, Old Growth – an austere dark-folk album with an incredible array of tactile moods and an underlining poignancy. I recently caught up with Nathan to discuss his new album, a slew of new content headed our way soon, live prospects, and Musk Ox’s future. Earth and Sky was seven years ago and since then you’ve done Inheritance, so what made you want to release this album now? It’s funny because I recorded the album in September/October of 2020, so I’ve had it for a while now and some of the older songs date back maybe ten years. It’s been a project that’s slowly come together, because the main focus was finishing the third The Night Watch album and then working on Musk Ox’s third album, Inheritance – which were these big projects that took so much effort and work. Whereas this album [Old Growth] had similar challenges, but it was a reaction to those other records; they were albums with big, long songs that made it intense, so I really wanted to… Welcome back to Sputnikmusic’s maybe possibly most helpful segment where we discuss the ins and outs of reviewing music and all its glory! Maybe you’re a budding reviewer, on the cusp of greatness, searching for that piece of the puzzle lost on the floor or maybe your mum just logged you on to the household’s singular trusty laptop and you don’t know what to do with your fifteen-minute screen allowance before the older sibling demands the computer for…research? Either way, you’ve come to the right place! First off. How did you get in here? What are you? This place doesn’t seem to have doors. I’m just a mysterious lad with a Trailer Park Boys-derived moniker whose late-blooming interest in music quickly turned to obsession, which led me inevitably down into the dingy corridors of Sputnik. I don’t remember the first thing I read on Sput, but it was probably some review for Bob Dylan or Led Zeppelin or Tom Petty or the like. Now, some twelve years or so later, here I am. For the vast majority of my tenure on Sput, I never had any thought of being a contrib, let alone staff, but the ways of life are mysterious, I guess. Milo would like to know who your musician union representative is. I would like to know why. I’m gonna go with Mark Knopfler, probably my favorite guitarist, and I think his “chill but emotional” style of playing resonates with how I try to review: laid-back but letting… So it’s been *checks notes* a hot minute since we’ve done this but in case it’s your first day here or the first sober moment since those mushrooms turned on you this is where we vaguely cover “how to review an album”. That is to say in this segment we’ll be cross checking different staffers’ approaches to putting words together. Maybe you’re a budding reviewer, on the cusp of greatness, searching for that piece of the puzzle lost on the floor or maybe your mum just logged you on to the household’s singular trusty laptop and you don’t know what to do with your fifteen minute screen allowance before the older sibling demands the computer for…research? Either way, you’ve come to the right place! First off. Who are you and how did you get here? I’m Kompy I got here cuz I got locked out of my Webkinz account and figured this was the next best thing. But you are the show-poni of the hour. The creme della creme. How has your reviewing got you to this perceivable reception point? What makes Kompys so chompy? Weed brownies and poor sleep health Weed, brownies or weed brownies? Remind me to compare recipe cards later. Ooh, got anything with walnuts? A couple of salads, nothing of note. Maybe some caramalised beetroot? You always know how to make a mouth water, chef! And how does that cream turn to butter? Hard work? Dedication?… So it’s been *checks notes* a hot minute since we’ve done this but in case it’s your first day here or the first sober moment since those mushrooms turned on you this is where we vaguely cover “how to review an album”. That is to say in this segment we’ll be cross checking different staffers’ approaches to putting words together. Maybe you’re a budding reviewer, on the cusp of greatness, searching for that piece of the puzzle lost on the floor or maybe your mum just logged you on to the household’s singular trusty laptop and you don’t know what to do with your fifteen minute screen allowance before the older sibling demands the computer for…research? Either way, you’ve come to the right place. First off. Who are you and how did you get here? Hey, I’m Alex, AKA robertsona, and I’ve been using Sputnikmusic for about 14 years, with about a decade under my belt as Staff. I think I found Sputnikmusic in trying to supplement Pitchfork with other sources of music news and reviews, and evidently the idea of writing my own reviews and putting them out there for consumption was appealing: from May 2009, when I was 13 years old, to August 2013, when I turned 18, I wrote well over 100 reviews for the site. I currently live with fellow Sputnikmusic user ArsMoriendi in Manhattan, and I teach high school English around New York City. Wait. You’re not Robert? I feel betrayed right now! To integrate… You guys probably get the gist of this by now, right? But just in case you haven’t or you’re new or GetLow this is where we vaguely cover “how to review an album”. That is to say in this segment we’ll be cross checking different staffers’ approaches to putting words together. Maybe you’re a budding reviewer, on the cusp of greatness, searching for that piece of the puzzle lost on the floor or maybe your mum just logged you on to the household’s singular trusty laptop and you don’t know what to do with your fifteen-minute screen allowance before the older sibling demands the computer for…research? Either way, you’ve come to the right place! I want to chat with the guy who inspired a nutritious breakfast drink (we will take sponsorship if you’re out there Nestle). No? Rude. Anyways… Mr. M. Ruggles. The one and only ladies, man, ladies-man, jellybeans, lo-fi aficionados… First off. Who are you and how did you get here? Some bloke shook me awake and said, “This is the last stop.” I wasn’t entirely sure where I was, but once I alighted the bus, I grabbed the nearest man with lapels by his lapels and started screaming about how blackgaze was coming along just fine until Numenorean showed up, and then I thought I was being restrained but everybody was cheering, and they crowd surfed me to wherever this is. Here’s another version of the truth. Picture a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed lad from a quaint wee… Hopefully by now you’ve figured out what’s going on here. In this segment we’ll be cross checking different staffers’ approaches to putting words together. Maybe you’re a budding reviewer, on the cusp of greatness, searching for that piece of the puzzle lost on the floor or maybe your mum just logged you on to the household’s singular trusty laptop and you don’t know what to do with your fifteen minute screen allowance before the older sibling demands the computer for…research? Either way, close that incognito tab and let’s deep dive into “how to write a review.” More seriously though, I was out hiking the other day and we found a guy stuck down a well. No, not the Batman kid. His name is Johnny and he sweeps legs. We told him we’d help get him out or toss down a roast chicken (just one of these, not both) if he answered a couple silly questions first. First off. Who are you and how did you get here? If this does not conform; what are you?
Is there anyone on this site you share high percentage tastes with? Well, enough to have a signature handshake with? Are you trying to infiltrate my harem? Ah, no. Call it a professional curiosity. Well then, this being a bona fide *music site*, there are loads of people I have enough overlap… Good morning and thank you for um…setting aside your schedule of busy Sputnikmusic debauchery and endless page refreshes to get to the nitty gritty of “how to review music”, hacks, roms and workarounds. In this segment we’ll be cross checking different staffers’ approaches to putting um… words together. Maybe you’re a budding reviewer, on the cusp of greatness, searching for that piece of the puzzle lost on the floor or maybe your mum just logged you on to the household’s singular trusty laptop and you don’t know what to do with your fifteen-minute screen allowance before the older sibling demands the computer for…research? Either way, you’ve come to the right place! We hopped on a ship (it might be called Spunik #1) to visit a kid from Mars, the one and only Zapruder defender Mitch Worden. Let’s ambush him with the questions we maybe need some answers to. First off. Who are you and how did you get here? 
landscape on planet Mars, scenic desert scene on the red planet I ask myself this question staring into the mirror every morning. Still don’t have an answer. Send help. OK anyways, hello! I am MarsKid, otherwise known as Mitch or the single remaining Persefone fan on this godforsaken corner of the web. I write a lot, much of it pertaining to metal of varying degrees of quality, and I am a proud member of Sputnik’s core-fam.
Oh. Hi, and welcome back to yet another installment of “Staffers’ gone Wild!” or um…vague instructions on how to review music. In setting aside your schedule of busy Sputnikmusic comment posting and left click debauchery to get to the nitty gritty of “how to review music”, hacks, roms and workarounds we hope you still enjoy this little left-hand turn from visiting Tool threads. In this segment we’ll be cross checking different staffers’ approaches to putting words together. Maybe you’re a budding reviewer, on the cusp of greatness, searching for that piece of the puzzle lost on the floor or maybe your mum just logged you on to the household’s singular trusty laptop and you don’t know what to do with your fifteen-minute screen allowance before the older sibling demands the computer for…research? Either way, you’ve come to the right place! I’ll do away with the small talk (or will I?) but you guys all know the power puff diddle of Sputnikmusic. The site’s Mr. Nice Guy. The El Primo himself, pimp-daddy Dewinged! First off. Who are you and how did you get here? That depends. In this version of the multiverse I’m the worldwide famous reviewer Dewingus Magnificus, well known for writing embarrassing 5/5 reviews for several hair metal albums, but what really brought me here was the scent of blood in the air. Also Mongi’s review of Cult of Luna & Julie Christmas’ “Mariner”. Are you really a pimp? I’ll admit I’ve pimped a couple of dwarves in the past… |
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