It’s pretty clear Genghis Tron have been doing some interviews. They mention it a couple times in the chat below, that they’ve been asked a lot about the change in sound they’ve undergone with their new album, Dream Weapon (review here). Hey, fair enough, right? Not only did their third album arrive last month some 13 years after their last one, 2008’s Board Up the House (discussed here) — both are on Relapse, which also issued their 2006 debut, Dead Mountain Mouth — but it also saw the founding duo of Michael Sochynsky and Hamilton Jordan surrounded by half a new band, including vocalist Tony Wolski and Sumac/Baptists drummer Nic Yacyshyn. Then on top of that, you add the fact that their new work brings synthesizer and vocal melody to the fore in a progressive, almost psychedelic-New-Wave vision of electronics-inclusive rock, moving beyond the “spazzcore” or “cybergrind” of their earlier outings and into a newfound hypnotic ether of enduring swirl, and yes, absolutely you’re going to get some questions about it.

I honestly haven’t seen much of the response to Dream Weapon in terms of reviews, but I know for sure I dig the record, so the chance to talk to Jordan and Sochynsky about it was something I welcomed. It took some scheduling, but we managed to nail down a 9AM time earlier this week and as I finished off my morning coffee — Jordan noted he’s also an early riser — the two main songwriters in Genghis Tron talked through the process of writing largely pre-pandemic but still remotely, as well as restructuring their band both in personnel and sound. I didn’t get to ask about working with Kurt Ballou after such a long break, but you’ll note that Jordan credits the GodCity producer with making the connection both to Yacyshyn and Wolski, so one way or another, he’s definitely had a significant impact on who and what Genghis Tron are in 2021, and that’s before you get to recording the album. And in any case, I’m sure there are other interviews you can find out there that ask the question what it was like to be back with Ballou with the passing of so much time. I was happy to talk about the building of melodies and songs coming together pieces at a time, the birth of Dream Weapon around what became its de facto centerpiece in “Alone in the Heart of the Light,” and so on.

Before you dive in, if you stick around the video long enough, you’ll find Sochynsky and Jordan giving the “breaking news” — they laugh when they say it — that they’re starting writing again already, and are planning to get together next weekend in-person in order to hash out material toward new songs and, one assumes, an eventual fourth long-player. Something to look forward to there, but as you’ll see, there’s plenty to talk about with Dream Weapon in the meantime.

Enjoy and thanks for reading/watching.

Genghis Tron, Dream Weapon Interview, April 20, 2021

Genghis Tron‘s Dream Weapon is out now on Relapse Records. The album can be streamed in below via Bandcamp and more info on vinyl editions, etc., is at the links.

Genghis Tron, Dream Weapon (2021)

Genghis Tron on Thee Facebooks

Genghis Tron on Instagram

Genghis Tron on Twitter

Genghis Tron on Bandcamp

Relapse Records website

Relapse Records on Bandcamp

Relapse Records on Thee Facebooks

Tags: Dream Weapon, Genghis Tron, Genghis Tron Dream Weapon, New York, Poughkeepsie, Relapse Records

This entry was posted on Friday, April 23rd, 2021 at 9:26 am and is filed under Bootleg Theater, Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.