Learn more about Culted's new record, “Nous”!
Hello Culted, thanks for your time. Would it be possible to introduce your band to our readers, as well as your roles in it? Matt: Hi Valentine, good to meet you. Sure, I’ll introduce the band, I’m Matthew Friesen, guitar, bass, noise, percussion, video, and overall production. The rest of the guys are Daniel Jansson, vocals and noise, Michael Klassen, guitar, bass, noise, percussion, and sound production, plus Kevin Stevenson, drums and percussion. With a worldwide pandemic going on, how have you handled the management of your band over the past few months? Matt: Fortunately, the global pandemic has had no major effect on us. As a band, we’ve been creating remotely since the MySpace days, we don’t need the interaction like most musical projects. I’m currently in a couple of other bands, and I can not visualize those bands operating like Culted does. Culted is its own entity, and it seems like we were preparing for something like this without being aware of it. You've just revealed your new record, “Nous”. How long have you worked on this release? Matt: We worked about 4 or 5 years on it? It was a while. We had many interruptions with life in general, but we stuck with it. It was truly our therapy.
Any funny stories to share from your recording or writing sessions? Matt: None that I can think of. We don’t work in a traditional sense. We’re usually writing, recording and mixing on our own. Kevin: For the first time ever I actually recorded in a studio - we did the drums with Len Milne at Bedside. He was very cool. I learned a few things: don’t put a coffee cup on an amp, and don’t ask the sound engineer to hold on a second. Also, if Len, Mike, and Matt all come out of the booth, you really messed something up bad. It was a lot of fun and Len had great ideas. I found it a very different experience, but no doubt Len did too, having to put up with my bullshit. Fun fact, I lost 7 pounds that day! If you had to pick one song that best reflects the spirit of this album, which one would you pick and why? Matt: I can’t really say that one song or the other best reflects the spirit of this album. The album as a whole is the true soul of the record. Yes, each song does stand on its own, but without all the different psychological elements that each song possesses and connects to each other, the soul of the record would not exist. I’m sure you are, like a lot of people, missing live shows. Matt: Yes, I’m missing live shows. Culted doesn’t play live, so we don’t have any shows planned. Kevin: I missed seeing Tool, so that sucked! To finish, what is one lesson you’ve learned that you think is important to pass onto other bands? Matt: I haven’t really learned that much, all I can think of is to create and don’t worry what anyone thinks. Kevin: Get a job, lowlife! Thanks for your time!
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