The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions inteded to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.

Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.

Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Tim Otis of High Noon Kahuna

—

How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?

Make sounds with the intention of accentuating, enhancing, or supporting other sounds around me. It all happened very organically. In high school I played guitar… a lot. Then I became very interested in drumming and started jamming on drums about 5 years later. It was a very organic transition from drumming by myself, to free-form jamming (mostly with Matt LeGrow and our brothers), then those free-form jams evolved into Admiral Browning.

About nine years ago I got back into guitar big time. Revisiting old riffs I had, learning new stuff. Exploring tones, pedals, amps, different pickups and stuff like that. Started jamming on guitar with a neighbor who drummed, shortly Paul joined us on Wednesday nights to jam. It was also very organic, we never “constructed” a song as much as we honed free-form jams into songs.

Describe your first musical memory.

My zeroth musical memory is piano lessons as a young kid, I remember not liking my piano teacher at all. Hahah! Beyond that, mom and dad played guitar, bass, banjo, piano and sang at church, so I had early access to instruments, PA systems and microphones. I have several memories of playing with this stuff, learning about it, and singing in musicals as a young person in church. However my favorite thing to do in those days was to hear Rick Dees weekly top forty. I would rush to the radio on Sunday nights when it
aired. It was the highlight of my week as a young kid. Not only tracking where my favorite artists were on the charts (Duran Duran) but I was equally fascinated by some of the side stories Rick would share when introducing a song or band.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

This is a recent one! Our latest High Noon Kahuna recording with Kevin Bernstein at Developing Nations! We went in with about 80% of the songs fully-baked, done, and dusted. We had sketches and rough drafts of the other 20 percent with enough time booked to fully explore and experiment in the studio. It was liberating and wonderful! Out of this freedom we created what I think is one of the coolest tracks on the new album, “Tumbleweed Nightmare.”

When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?

Drumming showed me my limits were mental. When I was at my physical limit, the riffs and music drove me to push past those limits. I can run or workout with weights or kickbox or kayak or ride uphill on a bike, but nothing on earth pushes me to my limit and enables me to break past my limits like drumming and more importantly, being a collaborator in the musical sounds of the band.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

Betterment! With any form of art, it starts small, and sometimes it starts bad. As we learn and grow while practicing, our art becomes better. Every time we practice our art is a chance to improve.

How do you define success?

Success, to me, is being happy with yourself, your surroundings, the people in your life, and your work. Society always dangles the carrot in front of us, there will always be something we don’t have. Being motivated and driven enough to keep working hard every single day and on days when the motivation isn’t there, having resiliency to push through the items that need doing, that’s how I’m able to feel successful at the end of the day.

As far as a band setting goes, there are thousands of micro-to-macro successes. Celebrating each one of those can manifest more. Things like, inventing a new part for a song, having a good practice jam, playing a fun show, a successful recording session. Each of these are rewarding and should be seen as successes.

What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?

The bathroom at the Springwater Supper Club & Lounge in Nashville Tennessee. Love that place, many of my good friends have worked there and booked shows there. Have played several amazing shows there and attended some awesome parties and shows there. But, wow that bathroom was bad! All the things you’d expect from a punk-rock bathroom. Few rival it, however the bathroom at the Meatlocker in Montclair New Jersey and the bathroom at the Milestone in Charlotte North Carolina were contenders.

Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.

I think everyone who is a true music fan/nerd has developing tastes. I’m thankful that I’ve never reached the end of my musical journey as a fan of music. I’m also thankful for my friends over the years who have showed me new music. As my tastes and preferences evolve I’m thankful that new ideas emerge regularly that challenge my own musical abilities and push me beyond my limits.

As far as non-musical creations, I’ve been getting back into drawing, lettering and calligraphy. There are a few ideas here that I’m working on creating.

What do you believe is the most essential function of art?

Expression. Art allows us to convey our attitudes and emotions on different levels. Art can be beautiful, art can be brutal, art can be beautifully brutal or brutally beautiful. I’m thankful for the ability to express these emotions in ways that resonate in ways beyond just talking about them.

Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?

I’ve been watching every werewolf movie I can find since last Halloween, there are roughly 70 on my list. I look forward to seeing them all. (Suggestions and recommendations welcome!) Some upcoming tattoo work I’m getting. Spending some fun summer time with my wife, hounds, and mother nature.

https://linktr.ee/highnoonkahuna
https://highnoonkahuna.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/highnoonkahuna/
https://www.facebook.com/HighNoonKahuna/

https://linktr.ee/crucial_blast
http://www.crucialblast.bandcamp.com
http://www.crucialblast.net
http://www.facebook.com/CrucialBlast
https://www.instagram.com/crucial_blast/

High Noon Kahuna, This Place is Haunted (2024)

Please know that I’m sincere when I tell you High Noon Kahuna signing to Crucial Blast for their now-announced second long-player, This Place is Haunted, is heartwarming. The label has been supporting the weirder end of underground weird for 25 years now, and in their snagging High Noon Kahuna — whose 2022 debut, Killing Spree (review here), drew together seemingly disparate ends within heavy rock, black metal, surf, jazz and doom — I’m reminded of their long history with noisy bands who didn’t quite fit a mold otherwise, be it Jumbo’s Killcrane or Totimoshi around the turn of the century, Across Tundras, Weedeater, the split between Floor and their offshoot Dove, etc., or bands like Cultic and Gnaw Their Tongues in more recent years. Not every imprint, new or old, has a broad enough background to get what a band like High Noon Kahuna are going for.

Based in Frederick, Maryland, High Noon Kahuna will indeed be at Maryland Doom Fest 2024 this June (info here) for their first appearance, and a May 17 release means This Place is Haunted will be out before they even get there. They’re playing live in the meantime, of course. The other night they were in Martinsburg, West Virginia, for a set that was filmed (credit to Phebography, I think?) that you can watch in its entirety at the bottom of this post.

I’ll hope to have more to come closer to the release, but here’s what’s out there now from socials:

HIGH NOON KAHUNA This Place Is Haunted CD / CS / DL (VINYL TBA) – OUT MAY 17, 2024

Crucial Blast is stoked to announce that we are joining forces with longtime friends HIGH NOON KAHUNA on the release of their second album, This Place Is Haunted.

Harder, darker, but also brimming with haunting melody, the Maryland band features former members of Internal Void, Vox Populi and Admiral Browning, executing an incredibly infectious mix of classic noise rock and psychedelic crunch. The twelve songs on Haunted are on a whole new level from the band; this rumbling riff-beast brilliantly evokes everything from pummeling Am Rep abrasion, soaring Hawkwindian space rock, haunting post-punk, Dick Dale-on-acid licks, doses of massive doom-laden crush, and even wisps of classic Morricone moodiness and some hammering QOTSA-esque groove.

Easily one of the most unique bands ever to emerge from the DC/MD area, KAHUNA is weirder, heavier, and catchier than ever before, and C-BLAST is incredibly excited to bring this banger to your ears.

This Place Is Haunted will be released May 17th, 2024.

Stay tuned for the first single from the album, coming in early March!

High Noon Kahuna is:
Tim Otis: guitar (Admiral Browning)
Brian Goad: Drums (Internal Void / The Larrys)
Paul Cogle: Bass VI and Vocals (Black Blizzard)

https://linktr.ee/highnoonkahuna
https://highnoonkahuna.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/highnoonkahuna/
https://www.facebook.com/HighNoonKahuna/

https://linktr.ee/crucial_blast
http://www.crucialblast.bandcamp.com
http://www.crucialblast.net
http://www.facebook.com/CrucialBlast
https://www.instagram.com/crucial_blast/

High Noon Kahuna, Live in Martinsburg, WV, March 2, 2024

Look at the blue text below and you know what you’re gonna see? Yes, a whole lot of skull emojis. Like a lot. But it happens that each individual one corresponds to a demonstration of the labor of love and community that is the Maryland Doom Festival. From Abel Blood through Zekiah, Maryland Doom Fest 2024 celebrates its 10th anniversary edition with its standard sans-bullshit glut of heavy. Once more the Frederick-based event looks your square in the eye, drops for absolutely immersive days on you and asks if you’re up for it. Well, are ya?

I’m not sure what my summer travel plans are yet — this and Freak Valley have overlapped the last couple years for me — but it’s been since 2019 that I was last down there and oh I’d be so eager to show up and have the three or four people who recognize me (and thus make it feel like an absolute family experience; love love love everywhere you go down there) quietly think to themselves I’ve gotten older and fatter en route to obliterating myself with volume for about 96 hours straight. Fuck. King. A.

Oh, and I hear Thunderbird Divine have new stuff in the works and it’s amazing. So that’s a thing too.

Social media had it like this:

We are super stoked to share with you the Maryland Doom Fest 2024 rosters, schedules, and lineups!!!

#4daysofdoom

THE MARYLAND DOOM FEST 2024

✝️Thursday June 20

Cafe 611-

💀 Thunderhorse
1115-1230
💀 The Magpie
1010-1055
💀 Born of Plagues
905-950
💀 Stone Nomads
800-845
💀 Pyre Fyre
700-740
💀 Dirt Eater
600-640

Olde Mother Brewery-

💀 Spellbook
920-1000
💀 Strange Highways
820-900
💀 Bailjack
720-800
💀 Stone Brew
620-700
💀 Abel Blood
520-600

✝️Friday June 21

Cafe 611-

💀 Diggeth
1215-120
💀 Shadow Witch
1110-1155
💀 Red Beard Wall
1010-1050
💀 CROP
910-950
💀 Almost Honest
810-850
💀 Cobra Whip
715-750
💀 The Crows Eye
620-655
💀 Stereo Christ
525-600

Olde Mother Brewery-

💀 Ten Ton Slug
915-1000
💀 Thousand Vision Mist
815-855
💀 Crowhunter
715-755
💀 Asthma Castle
615-655
💀 Bonded by Darkness
515-555

✝️Saturday June 22

Cafe 611-

💀 WHORES.
1150-115
💀 AGE/S
1040-1130
💀 Bloodshot
935-1020
💀 O ZORN!
830-915
💀 Double Planet
730-810
💀 Sun Years
630-710
💀 When the Deadbolt Breaks
530-610

Olde Mother Brewery-

💀 Black Water Rising
915-1000
💀 Switchblade Jesus
815-855
💀 Wyndrider
715-755
💀 Indus Valley Kings
615-655
💀 Vermillion Whiskey
515-555
💀 Doctor Smoke
415-455

✝️Sunday June 23

Cafe 611-

💀 Cirith Ungol
1200-110
💀 Mythosphere
1055-1140
💀 Conclave
955-1035
💀 Compression
855-935
💀 Sons of Arrakis
755-835
💀 Curse the Son
655-735
💀 Kulvera
555-635
💀 Old Blood
500-535
💀 Cloud Machine
405-440

Olde Mother Brewery-

💀 Thunderbird Divine
920-1000
💀 Black Manta
820-900
💀 High Noon Kahuna
720-800
💀 Unity Reggae
620-700
💀 King Bastard
520-600
💀 Zekiah
420-500

52 bands over a 4 day weekend at 2 venues across the street from one another!!
#4daysofdoom

WEEKEND PASSES: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-maryland-doom-fest-2024-tickets-732298202637?aff=oddtdtcreator

https://www.facebook.com/MdDoomFest/
www.marylanddoomfest.com

Thunderbird Divine, “I’m Gonna Love You Just a Little More, Babe” (Barry White cover)

With headlining performances slated from a soon-to-retire Cirith Ungol, noise crushers Whores., mostly-local melodic heavy proggers Mythosphere, Switchblade Jesus, Conclave, Ten Ton Slug (from Ireland; I got to see them one time; way burly; they’ll do well in Frederick), and plenty of other returning acts and newcomers alike, the lineup for Maryland Doom Fest 2024 could hardly be more appropriate a celebration of the annual Chesapeake gathering’s 10th anniversary. Based in Frederick, the four-day ultra-consuming sensory assault of volume will once again take place at Cafe 611 and Olde Mother Brewing, and if you’ve never been, I’ll tell you outright there’s nothing quite like it.

I mean that. Maryland Doom Fest goes harder than the average festival. A day might start at 1PM and not end until 2AM. And now more than ever, as the fest has grown with the two venues running alongside each other, the bill is packed. I think this year was 50 bands? Well, they’ve got 52 for 2024, and while next June is a while out, there’s a tradition to uphold of Halloween announcements, and festival honcho JB Matson (Bloodshot, War Injun, Outside Truth, etc.) pays tribute to his regulars — Shadow Witch, Bailjack, Thunderbird Divine, Thousand Vision Mist (congratulations to Danny Kenyon of Thousand Vision Mist on recently kicking cancer’s ass), among others here — while also giving showcase to outfits like Pyre Fyre, O Zorn! (whose very moniker heralds weirdness), WyndRider and more.

Congrats to Matson and all at Maryland Doom Fest on their 10th anniversary. To do something of this scope once is a lot. To do it across 10 years, well, aside from being fucking crazy, it’s also deeply admirable.

The aforementioned announcement — brief as ever; the poster lands heavy enough to cover any lack of verbiage — follows, courtesy of socials. Ticket link is there too:

WE ARE EXTREMELY PLEASED TO PRESENT TO YOU, THE MARYLAND DOOM FEST 2024 LINEUP!!!!!
THIS WILL BE OUR 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION!!
(#128128#)(#129304#)(#128128#)

52 bands over a 4 day weekend at 2 venues across the street from one another!!
#4daysofdoom

WEEKEND PASSES: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-maryland-doom-fest-2024-tickets-732298202637?aff=oddtdtcreator

https://www.facebook.com/MdDoomFest/
www.marylanddoomfest.com

Ten Ton Slug, Live at Red Crust Festival 2022

Maryland heavy genremelders High Noon Kahuna released their debut album, Killing Spree (review here), last November. The new video for “Danger Noodle,” the second cut on the record, presents a cautionary tale of what happens when religious fanatics handle their serpents in traffic — and no, that’s not euphemism. Snake-handling as a religious practice is mostly a US thing, more specifically mostly an Appalachian thing, and of course has been somewhat exaggerated in terms of the numbers of people who actually do it, but that’s only because it’s so fascinating and seemingly random. Yeah, I know there’s a snake in the Bible who’s kind of a big deal. But there are lots of animals. Remember Noah?

Nonetheless, somehow snakes are the thing, and to be perfectly honest with you I’m too terrified of American religious culture to dive into why that happens — presumably something about the devil and rugged individualism — but if it makes people feel special for five minutes out of their day, well, the rest of life can be pretty crushing and miserable, so I won’t say I don’t understand being part of a weirdo community with practices that seem odd to outsiders either as I’ve worn a black t-shirt almost every day of my life for at least the last 25 years and I woke up at 4AM to start writing this post. Religion, whatever you worship and however you practice, dogma or not, is bizarre. You ever read about what happens in the brains of people speaking in tongues?

So yes, sometimes faith comes back to bite you, be it in unresolved trauma or with literal teeth. Made by Chaos Cartoon and Design, the “Danger Noodle” clip reminds of this and offers as well a chance to dig back into Killing Spree as a whole, which was the proverbial ‘these guys are onto something’ debut album tucked away amid the onslaught of releases late last year, the band combing a desert of sound and finding remnants of black metal, surf rock, heavy riffing and shover-prog in order to attain some individualism — rugged, of course — of their own amid a flood of acts. Their pedigree in bands like Internal Void, Akris and Admiral Browning is welcome context, but High Noon Kahuna‘s style is something else almost entirely, and as “Danger Noodle” shows, their approach is loaded with potential. With a sound that stretches so far and stays cohesive, they can go just about wherever they want, and they do on the record, from the almost Kylesa-esque jabbing rhythm of “Parachute” to the low-end fuzz that precedes the freakout in the second half of closer “Sand Storm.”

It is my sincere hope that Paul Cogle, Tim Otis and Brian Goad keep the band going, and continue to explore outward from the foundation they’ve constructed; as intentionally wobbly as it can seem in places, that’s the point. The record’s only 34 minutes long and if you haven’t heard it, please consider this gentle encouragement to dig in (the Bandcamp stream is down there somewhere) after you watch the video. They’ve got live dates coming up as well, including playing a VHS expo in Hagerstown, MD, which fits somehow.

Enjoy:

High Noon Kahuna on “Danger Noodle”:

We have always loved the irony that one of the most poisonous creatures on earth can be given such a cute name.

Lyrically, the song speaks of the dangers of obsession; be it money, religion, or power.

We have been friends with Troy at Chaos Cartoon and Design for a long time. When he approached us about doing an animated video we got very excited. We briefly discussed Serpent Handling factions of Christianity and shared a few gory images of preachers who were bit. Mostly those of Cody Coots from Kentucky, there is an amazingly violent video of him getting bit on youtube. Troy took it from there!

High Noon Kahuna is a trio of veteran heavy music musicians based in the Mid-Atlantic U.S. region of Frederick, Maryland. With Tim Otis on guitar (Admiral Browning / Akris), Brian Goad on Drums (Internal Void / The Larrys), and Paul Cogle on Bass and Vocals (Akris / Black Blizzard).

HIGH NOON KAHUNA – Live shows:
– March 25 – Frederick MD – Cafe 611
– April 23 – Hagerstown MD – Captian Adam’s VHS Pirate Ship VHS EXPO
– May 6 – Frederick MD – Olde Mother Brewing Company
MINI-SPREE-TOUR:
– May 25 – Harrisonburg VA – Crayola House
– May 26 – Asheville NC – Shakeys
– May 27 – Marryville TN – The Bird & The Book
– May 28 – Lexington KY – The Green Lantern Bar

High Noon Kahuna:
Tim Otis: Guitar
Brian Goad: Drums
Paul Cogle: Bass / Vocals

High Noon Kahuna, Killing Spree (2022)

High Noon Kahuna on Linktree

High Noon Kahuna on Bandcamp

High Noon Kahuna on Facebook

High Noon Kahuna on Instagram

High Noon Kahuna on Twitter

High Noon Kahuna on YouTube

Frederick, Maryland-based trio High Noon Kahuna self-release their debut full-length, Killing Spree, this Friday, Nov. 18, and yes, the headline here is the stylistic blend. If you find yourself thinking something along the lines of “Morricone-infused heavy black metal surf punk? really?” and wondering if such a thing could exist, the answer is a resounding “sure.” Come on, it’s the year 3000 or some such. We’ve got all kinds of crazy shit now.

The real story of High Noon Kahuna isn’t so much that they did the thing in terms of mixing disparate styles, but that they did it and made it work. And in what’s probably a fortunate turn for them, the three-piece of bassist/vocalist Paul Cogle (Nagato, Akris, Black Blizzard), drummer Brian Goad (Nagato, Internal Void) and guitarist Tim Otis (Admiral Browning, Akris) are less experimental and less outwardly wacky in their presentation than one might think. That is, Killing Spree, which runs six tracks and 34 minutes, nine of which are dedicated to closer “Sandstorm” alone, is surprisingly light on chicanery. But that turns out to be the key. Perhaps the band was born out of a desire to do something different, to find a niche to which no one had yet laid claim, and their success in across these songs is as inarguable as Cogle‘s rumble beneath the Dick–Dale-but-from-Norway guitar line of “Sharktooth,” but if they had come out of the gate with some asshat goofball nonsense, in all likelihood, Killing Spree would’ve fallen flat. It very much does not.

Now, I’m not about to accuse High Noon Kahuna of taking themselves too seriously — even their moniker makes doing so idea ridiculous, let alone the music — but going into the album, opening cut “Parachute” makes it clear at the outset these songs are not a joke. Frenzied and shouting over its tense verse in a way that’s post-hardcore in the way Kylesa was, the lead track informs the audience, crucially, that they mean it. And “Danger Noodle,” which follows immediately, is an album highlight that rises from its initial fade to chart a way forward for the band as a whole in its clearheaded stylistic blend. With Satyricon-style swing-riffing at its foundation, it nails the balance of tone and rhythm, and in another context could probably be positioned as goth or high-art post-punk or some such critical wonder, but as is still sets itself on fire with its late guitar solo and cares less for where you put it than for its own declarations, which are resonant. The aforementioned “Sharktooth,” in instrumentalist fashion, leans toward the surf aspect and plays a bit with effects in the second half, but stays on target ultimately and is shortly over three minutes long like a classic 45RPM on a juke box in your alternate reality malt shop. All nostalgia is false nostalgia anyway; you might as well change the past.

There’s an element of shimmer in Otis‘ guitar throughout “Another Way Around,” which feels born of ’90s punk and maybe even a bit of alt-rock and runs a current of distortion almost as a drone line beneath its brighter melodic verses, which seem to answer “Danger Noodle” in showing a bit of influence from Michael Rudolph Cummings of Backwoods Payback — or else they just both really like Neil Young — while the penultimate “Black Lodge” takes hold with a broader seven-minute runtime in lead-up to the band’s finishing move, taking its guitar line for a swaggering walk early in surfly meander while gradually building toward the noisier assault that resolves in intertwining layers of feedback. And when “Sandstorm” arrives, it does so in a hurry of call and response guitar and bass leading into its verse, coherent like “Another Way Around” and less about mashing these (somewhat; because let’s be honest, we’re still basically talking about things-you-can-do-with-guitar here) differing aesthetics together one into the next than creating a genuine meld from them and coming out of it with something individual.

The first movement of “Sandstorm” culminates shortly before four minutes in — more feedback! — and High Noon Kahuna harness big-slowdown doomly crashes for a couple minutes before Otis squiggles out the guitar over the lumbering. The noise is the last thing to go and there’s plenty of it, but it’s important to note that even as Killing Spree seems to be setting the parameters of who High Noon Kahuna are as a band, it’s also willing to bend its own rules. What should be taken away from that is the sense that Killing Spree isn’t a one-off so much as the beginning of a larger creative progression. One never knows for certain what the future will bring, but even in their instrumental stretches, High Noon Kahuna seem to have more to say and in addition to everything else they accomplish in these tracks, the sense that they’re interested in exploring further comes through plainly.

To bottom line it for you — because we’re just about there — there are two things you need to know. One, the band isn’t a joke. Two, they pull it off. I’ll not predict where they might go from here, end up in terms of sound or songwriting or style or anything else, but not knowing that is part of what makes the material so exciting, since the potential avenues spread out like the stinging tentacles of some giant prehistoric jellyfish. Weirdness über alles. Not universal in its appeal, but searching to commune with fellow open minds.

Give it a shot and see where you land. You can stream Killing Spree on the player below. If you do and have any thoughts either way, I’d love to know about it in the comments. Thanks for your time.

And please enjoy:

High Noon Kahuna on Killing Spree:

“While difficult to characterize, the High Noon Kahuna sound is a 100% organic blend of influences from Surf, Noise, Punk, Western, Shoegaze, Black Metal, and Doom. Our vibe formed naturally via freestyle jamming and has grown into its own unique force. We are so excited to release these jams to the world! We love what we do and hope you will, too.

We’d also like to thank our team (who are absolute professionals in their field) Kevin Burnsten from Developing Nations, James Plotkin from Plotkinworks, Leanne Ridgeway from Mettle Media PR, and the unbelievable art of Jon Moser, who all helped make this dream a reality!”

Preorder link: https://highnoonkahuna.bandcamp.com/album/killing-spree

–Links for the credits in the quote:
https://www.instagram.com/developing_nations/
https://www.plotkinworks.com/
http://www.mettlemediapr.com/
https://www.jonmoserjraws.com/

High Noon Kahuna is a trio of veteran heavy music musicians based in the Mid-Atlantic U.S. region of Frederick, Maryland. With Tim Otis on guitar (Admiral Browning / Akris), Brian Goad on Drums (Internal Void / The Larrys), and Paul Cogle on Bass and Vocals (Akris / Black Blizzard).

With the vivid cover art created by Jon Moser, ‘Killing Spree’ was recorded in the Spring of 2022 in Baltimore, Maryland, at Developing Nations by Kevin Burnsten. Mastering was done by James Plotkin at Plotkin Works.

Killing Spree – Tracklist:
01. Parachute
02. Danger Noodle
03. Shark Tooth
04. Another Way Around
05. Black Lodge
06. Sandstorm

High Noon Kahuna:
Tim Otis: Guitar
Brian Goad: Drums
Paul Cogle: Bass / Vocals

High Noon Kahuna on Linktree

High Noon Kahuna on Bandcamp

High Noon Kahuna on Facebook

High Noon Kahuna on Instagram

High Noon Kahuna on Twitter

High Noon Kahuna on YouTube

New stuff out of Frederick, Maryland’s ever-vital underground in the form of High Noon Kahuna upcoming debut full-length, Killing Spree. Tim Otis and Paul Cogle have circled each other for years on show and festival bills as members of Akris, Admiral Browning, Black Blizzard, and others, and together with Brian Goad of Internal Void — also Nagato with Cogle — their coming together feels organic in a bound-to-happen kind of way, and High Noon Kahuna‘s sound is suitably nuanced around a heavy rock foundation. These dudes have been at it long enough, together or not, that to expect something individual here is not at all unreasonable, especially given pedigree.

They’re streaming “Another Way Around” — it boggles the mind how you don’t automatically make a song called “Danger Noodle” your lead single; not a marketing major in the bunch — now ahead of the release on Nov. 18, and preorders are, of course, a thing. The PR wire brought the following, because who else would:

HIGH NOON KAHUNA Shares Details Of Upcoming ‘Killing Spree’ Album

High Noon Kahuna is a trio of veteran heavy music musicians based in the Mid-Atlantic U.S. region of Frederick, Maryland. With Tim Otis on guitar (Admiral Browning / Akris), Brian Goad on Drums (Internal Void / The Larrys), and Paul Cogle on Bass and Vocals (Akris / Black Blizzard).

These three cats have been acquainted for many years and, throughout their accord, have consistently supported each other in all their various bands. At the onset of 2022, this crew found themselves with the fortunate opportunity to jam.

And jam, they absolutely did! When like-minded musicians converge, something mystical happens. By bringing years of influence and admiration for all musical genres, High Noon Kahuna has created an unusual style that disobeys the rule of music categorization. Drawing on influences from Surf, Noise, Punk, Western, Shoegaze, Black Metal, and Doom, it’s hard to confine the diversity into a specific box at any given moment.

With their new release, ‘Killing Spree,’ due out November 18th of this year, the band fuses a collective sound from noisy and fuzzy to clean and sparkly, with every gleam in between.

Killing Spree – Tracklist:

01. Parachute
02. Danger Noodle
03. Shark Tooth
04. Another Way Around
05. Black Lodge
06. Sandstorm

With the vivid cover art created by Jon Moser, ‘Killing Spree’ was recorded in the Spring of 2022 in Baltimore, Maryland, at Developing Nations by Kevin Burnsten. Mastering was done by James Plotkin at Plotkin Works.

Have a listen to the first single, “Another Way Around,” from the Killing Spree album and pre-order now via Bandcamp: highnoonkahuna.bandcamp.com

Out November 18th, 2022.

High Noon Kahuna:
Tim Otis: Guitar
Brian Goad: Drums
Paul Cogle: Bass / Vocals

https://linktr.ee/highnoonkahuna
https://highnoonkahuna.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/HighNoonKahuna/
https://www.instagram.com/highnoonkahuna/
https://twitter.com/HighNoonKahuna

High Noon Kahuna, Killing Spree (2022)

No time like the present, one supposes, for Maryland Doom Fest to lay out its plans for 2022. The lineup for the festival proper — which was held this year over the course of Halloween weekend and, much to its credit, didn’t seem to be a super-spreader event — will be announced later today, as a kind of New Year’s piss-off-2021/celebrate-2022, hopeful-future-despite-so-much-dystopia riff-led daydream, or at very least a long list of bands and probably a poster. As preface for that, organizer JB Matson has put out word of a return of the all-dayer Doom Hawg Day for next month as well.

To be held Jan. 22, which is a Saturday, Doom Hawg Day 2022 boasts no fewer than nine bands in its lineup — and it starts at 5PM! — and recognizable headliners in Mangog and The Age of Truth, the former from Baltimore, the latter imports from Philadelphia but certainly well at home in Frederick, Maryland, too. Both are veterans of the Maryland Doom Fest, and along with a solo set from Dee Calhoun (Spiral Grave, etc.), Doom Hawg Day will welcome Future Projektor, Atomic Motel, Bloodshot, Gallowglas, High Noon Kahuna and 2 Screws Loose.

Groundhog Day itself, of course, is Feb. 2, and while I doubt Cafe 611 has any celebrations in the works for that particular asinine ritual, Doom Hawg Day has been going for a few years now. I wouldn’t be surprised to have some of these acts show up in the Maryland Doom Fest announcement either, which of course one is looking forward to, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that lineup reveal looked a lot like this one, only with a longer list of bands. Maryland Doom Fest has never been one to skirt around the point of the thing.

Unlike some of us, I guess.

The thing:

THE MARYLAND DOOM FEST presents: DOOM HAWG DAY 2022

January 22 at Cafe 611, Frederick Md!!!!

Mangog
The Age of Truth
Future Projektor
Atomic Motel
Bloodshot
Gallowglas
High Noon Kahuna
Screaming Mad Dee
2 Screws Loose

https://www.facebook.com/MdDoomFest/
www.marylanddoomfest.com

Mangog, Economic Violence (2021)