Loud Cities Magazine _Issue 3_03_2021

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Loud Cities Magazine / #3 MAR 2021
The Modern Cults LP is simply an
outstanding record and we were
excited to host the North American
premiere in The Noise Journal. An
album of 10 glorious post-punk bullets
with 3 from the previous release. Why
did you choose these specific songs?
Because we thought that they represent
us very well and especially at our live
gigs these songs are a lot of fun to play.
At the same time, the lyrics of these
songs represent the whole theme of
the album.
From “Daria” and “Acceleration” to “A
Faction” and “Signals”, you sound like
an unlimited brainwave team. What
musical routes did you go through
between the first self-titled EP and the
Modern Cults LP?
After the release of our EP, we didn’t
expect to get so much positive feedback
and were totally surprised. All of a
sudden there were a lot of live concerts,
for example, the tour with OMD and that
we wanted to make an album. So after
all the concerts we locked ourselves
in our studio and rehearsal room and
tried out new ideas and sounds. It was
hard at times because on one side there
was the expectation and on the other
side, there was the deadline. But in the
end, everything went well and we are
happy and proud that we made it.
Related to the previous question, I am
enraptured by your comfort in creating
some pretty striking riffs, which you’ve
transformed into very accessible songs.
My first encounter with HOLYGRAM
was with “Daria”, a post-punk splendor
in all, while the last song of Modern
Cults LP is “Distant Light”, where you
show your shoegaze roots too. In
between these two songs and all in
HOLYGRAM’s music, we clearly hear a
band who is not tied solely to the strict
lines of post-punk but likes to put in
some shoegaze elements occasionally,
as well as darkwave, new wave, etc.
Please tell us about the way you create
music. Does a riff point in the right
direction for you or do you use it as a
springboard to somewhere else?
It always depends on the song. But in
most cases, we take an idea, a riff or a
sound and try to find out where it takes
us. That means that we can’t know
if it will be a post-punk, new wave
or shoegaze song. As an example, I
can mention the birth of the song
“Signals”. I was in the rehearsal room
experimenting with sounds (what you
hear at the beginning of the song)
and recorded the bass-riff and a drum
computer. Then I showed it to the
others and everyone wrote something