Recently The Nu-Metal Agenda had the pleasure of sharing the latest release, Scary Website, from the experimental cybergrind crossover act I’m letting unseen forces take the wheel. I sat down with Bee and Hannah from the band to discuss the EP, working with Big Money Cybergrind, and establishing their place in nu metal history.
This interview was conducted in early July, follow the band for the latest updates
Terra Eyes: So, how does it feel to be part of the nu metal canon?
Bee: It's pretty crazy. I mean, there have been so many different metals that they've been making cannons out of throughout history that it's very cool to be a part of progress.
Yes.
Hannah: Yeah. It’s on the cutting edge, you know, keeping up on the newest metal for our...cannons
Exactly. Exactly. So, what inspired the EP?
Bee: Oh, lot of different things. I'd say it really actually came together in the span of two nights. We were sitting on a bunch of works in progress, kind of thinking about putting them on an LP or something. Then one night we were like, “You want to just release these?” The first track on the album was made the night before, it was super spontaneous. So I don't really know what inspired it other than just our absolutely insanely fast-paced workflow- it doesn't really stop for anything. That just took hold at that moment. But I think Scary Website as a vibe we were just trying to create a sense of being in a place you shouldn't be, that was the general inspiration behind the direction of the EP. Do you have anything to add to that?
Hannah: You ever just find yourself on this weird website- it might be an art installation or something like that? Maybe it's, I don't know, 4:00 AM in 2004 and you see something that gives you a tummy ache? That's it. That's it.
I guess you could say in the process of recording, you just let unseen forces take the wheel.
Bee: Quiet literally.
Hannah: Yep. It's the ethos.
Bee: It's definitely a very functional name. It really is representative of how it works.
I was showing the rest of the NMA team, and they were skeptical because at first, they were like “There's no way this is nu metal” but then they kept listening and said “Okay, yeah, we get it”
Bee: You know, we'd been cooking up that P.O.D. reference for months, we just had to throw it in there. I think that really added a lot of legitimacy to the claim for sure.
Hannah: So, speaking of P.O.D., the album that “Boom” came out on, Satellite, do you know what day that came out?
No?
Hannah: That album came out on September 11th, 2001. And-
It did, I remember that!
Hannah: There are posters that they gave out to record stores that had their release date on them, so it’s just their faces, the band name, and then it says 9/11/01. I found them on eBay and I bought three of them when we were just a three-piece. Each of us has a P.O.D. 9/11 poster, so it was just a matter of time before we interpolated “Boom” to commemorate that.
Bee: Yeah. Never forget,
Never forget
Hannah: Never forget the release of P.O.D. Satellite
Wow. That just brought back memories.
Bee: It's a lot to take in. I get it.
So the Big Money Cybergrind release, how did that come about?
Bee: We've been in the loop with a lot of the people in that scene for the past year, year-and-a-half maybe. It was mostly them approaching us about it. We had been talking about the possibility of contacting them about doing something similar, but they beat us to it. It was cool though. They definitely have a lot of faith in Scary Website and it's cool to have that support, you know? Big shout-out to those guys
Hannah: For sure. For sure.
Bee: Yeah. It's huge. It's so cool to have recognition from them specifically because of all the crazy things they've contributed to the scene. They're a very interesting group of people and their scene is so incredible.
Do you guys ever plan on doing live shows or anything like that? Even getting together?
Bee: Definitely. It's just- Hannah, I'm sure you have thoughts on this.
Hannah: Yeah. So, right now it's a little bit of an issue because we're all broke as shit and we live in different places. I almost said different parts of the country, but Mickelbach lives in the Netherlands. Our opportunities to all be in the same place are limited. And even if it was just me and Bee doing something- because what we have out right now is mostly just us- we could make it happen, but there are financial barriers. It just really depends on what opportunities we have and what resources we have at the same time. As soon as that ball gets rolling a little better, we'll be on the road.
Bee: There's definitely a very careful balance with that. We went on tour for my personal projects (Weed Cowboy and Dynastic) last year and I'm still recovering from that. Just the thought of playing a show anywhere that's not in like a 50-mile radius from my house is kind of scary, but hopefully we can make that happen soon because I think that the core of the spirit of what we do is the live aspect of it and I think it would really change things drastically for us.
Yeah, no, I've never been able to afford to go on tour, so I feel it.
Bee: Yeah, totally. It's expensive and we had a lot of luck with the deals we got on stuff.
Do you guys have any super secret stuff you want to drop for the interview? Let the people kind of stew a bit waiting for stuff.
Hannah: There are a couple things that I think I could say with confidence, and that I'm sure nobody will beat me up for leaking. One is that we do already have a track in the works that has if not all five of us then four with the plan of the fifth one adding something. So there does exist a full band song and I can tell you that even right now, it kicks ass and I feel more confident saying that because it has a smaller percentage of my own work in it than a normal one would. This one fucks, that I can tell you.
Bee: Really does.
Hannah: Also, there’s going to be an LP. I can confirm that it will happen.
That's awesome, that's gonna be good.
Bee: Heck yeah, thank you. It's changing form every time we talk about it, so it's very interesting how it's all coming together. It's gonna be cool.
Hannah: Every form is even more impactful than the last one. By the time it's done, I don't know, I'm kind of scared of it. I think it'll be a big deal for us.
Bee: It gives me the creeps.
That's when you know it's good.
Hannah: Yeah. I mean, Funny Realm came together in what, three weeks? And the response to that was insane.
Bee: Yeah. “Robot Walker vs. Carrot Cake Jake” was the first WIP Hannah ever sent me and said, "Hey, you wanna get on this?" and it all happened so fast. But that was fun and I think that definitely lends itself to the album because I don't think we could have meditated on that for too long.
Hannah: Right.
For sure. Last but not least, for closing statements, anything you want to let people know about? Any projects you want to promote?
Bee: Well I think first and foremost, we do have some physicals coming out through Big Money Cybergrind. Super excited about that. You can get Funny Realm and Scary Website on one tape or one CD, like a side A and side B, it's pretty sick. There is a track missing on the track list, so you can even write in your own if you want. It's an interactive experience.
Hannah: Also our solo stuff is gonna get BMC releases. I just got the artist copy for the Twink Obliterator Likeness Monster tape-
Bee: Oh, nice. I need to check my mail.
Hannah: Those will be coming soon, and you can go and buy the Scary Website ones now.
Well thank you all so much for chatting, I appreciate it greatly.
Hannah: Thank you.
Bee: Thank you.
