Horse Lords - Joy and Repetition

Creators of a twisted, repetitive strain of rock music, direct offspring of the post-minimalist avant-garde movement, Horse Lords masterfully blend Philip Glass's compositions with the classic rock lineup of bass, guitar and drums (with the occasional sax thrown in). We had the pleasure of interviewing the Baltimore quartet ahead of their European tour (before catching them at their Milan show).

It's a pleasure to have the chance to interview you. At OndaRock we've always followed your work with great interest. You're a band of four young musicians, but your first studio album actually dates back to 2012, a full eleven years ago. What's changed in your music and in your lives since 2012?

So much has changed in our lives since 2012 - there are really too many changes to recount them all. But musically, I'd say we've changed very little: we have more or less the same goals and we keep moving forward with them. In a sense, we're closer to achieving those goals, whether compositional, spiritual, or interpersonal. From other points of view, we're still trying to figure out how to actually function as a band, as a group of people, and as artists. A wise woman once said, "every day is a winding road."

Your new LP, "Comradely Objects", was very well received by OndaRock, as was its predecessor "The Common Task". What are the differences between the two albums?

"The Common Task" was created in the usual Horse Lords way, the same way we wrote all our previous LPs. We spent months writing a piece, refining and perfecting it in rehearsals and live on tour for months. Then we went into the studio and recorded it live. With "Comradely Objects", because of the pandemic, that way of writing unfortunately wasn't possible. So we spent a few months writing material from scratch and did mostly multitrack recordings. Only now are we figuring out how to play all the tracks live.

Your music is often labeled math-rock, post-rock or post-minimalist. Do you identify with any of these definitions?

People can hear and project whatever they want, and that's perfectly legitimate, but none of us was really influenced by math-rock and we don't identify with that scene at all. We might share a few influences with other bands labeled math-rock, but nothing more. Post-rock, on the other hand, is a category we simply don't identify with. Post-minimalism is a different story. It's a label that makes sense and identifies a good deal of what we do: we take minimalism's emphasis on process and repetition and apply it outside classical contexts, using its filter and its rules on popular music (including the rock genres we generally find less interesting).

It seems to me that Philip Glass's music has inspired you a great deal.

You're not wrong at all, but it's not a direct influence. I think what you're hearing comes from the influences we share with Philip Glass rather than from direct inspiration.

Do you have formal musical training, or are you self-taught?

Two of the four members studied music in college, but all of us are mainly self-taught.

What differences are there in listening tastes among the band members? Do you all listen to similar music?

The music we listen to together in the van on tour is really varied. We listen to all kinds of music (except math-rock!).

I've read that you're also experts in alternate tunings - who inspires you?

James Tenney, Maryanne Amacher, Ellen Arkbro, Marcus Pal, Julia Reidy, Catherine Lamb.

Thank you for your time - let me close by asking whether you're already working on the next album.

We're currently working on a collaborative project with a friend and composer based in Germany, the American Arnold Dreyblatt, and this collaboration will likely give rise to our next album.

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