Contrary to some beliefs, modern noise isn’t exclusively inhabited by rehashed S&M imagery and failed machismo – there are a few people out there making inventive, brazen sounds that resist easy categorization. Luke Younger is one of them, and he uses the guise of Helm to do it, crafting long-form narratives of desolation, intrigue, static hiss and unrelenting crunch with sound sources both obvious and highly classified. His records keep getting better and better, and while I have yet to hear his newest work, Olympic Mess (just released this month), I can’t wait to settle into it and stumble blindly through his exotic soundscapes all over again. Mr. Younger answered a few questions for me below, although to be honest I really should’ve pressed him about the obsessive Iceage fan-base a bit more…

You just finished a pretty long tour with Iceage. How did that go? I assume you were mostly playing to audiences who wanted to hear traditional rock songs, more or less…
It was amazing on many levels and I feel lucky that I got to experience that sort of tour playing the music that I do, as these kind of opportunities don’t really arise that often. It was a great to play to a completely different audience and blew apart any preconceptions I had of what it was going to be like. We did a whole month in the USA together, then two weeks in Europe and also four gigs in the UK last month. Out of all the different countries we went to, I have to say that the USA was more receptive and sympathetic to what I was doing. I would say on average you had about 40% of the crowd watching my set and taking it in, 30% watching it and fucking hating it and 30% non-plussed and talking to their mates. I would say that’s a pretty decent result for a support act, especially one like myself in a situation where you are opening for a band like Iceage who have quite an obsessive fan base and are there pretty much only to see them. At this point I think I have enough material about crazy Iceage fans that I could write a book, or at the very least a very substantial Tumblr.
I would say the best gigs for me were playing at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC, a packed out Echo in Los Angeles and the gig in Denver where it sold out, the straight-edge hardcore band Civilised opened and had a massive PA. There were some midwestern towns where people came up to me and asked what the music I was playing is called because they had never heard anything like it before and wanted to hear more, which felt rewarding and made the daily nine-hour drives feel worth it somehow. A guy in Omaha also told me I was probably the first person to bring a modular synth into the city – whether that’s true I don’t know, but I’m happy to believe him nonetheless. In fact, the only gig which I thought had a bad reaction was the one which you were at in Philadelphia on the first night of the tour and an obnoxious prick in the front row heckled me about my shoes for five minutes until he got bored. The most difficult gig was on the recent UK tour in Manchester which is by far the most hostile reaction I have ever had to playing live music. Five minutes into the set people were shouting at me to “fuck off”, threatening physical violence and someone even punched the stage out of frustration. I was part shitting myself and part loving it, although I couldn’t leave the dressing room afterwards.

What would you say is more satisfying – when you get to blow someone’s mind who’s never heard ‘noise’ music before, or when someone with an established reputation in the field gushes over your work?
Both are nice for different reasons and I’m not sure I could put one above the other easily. It always feels good to be acknowledged by someone you respect but ultimately it’s good to receive positive feedback regardless of whoever the person is.

Your first releases nearly a decade ago were on CD-r. Do you miss that format as a viable thing that people would willingly buy when it came to underground experimental music? Or are you glad it’s mostly obsolete?
I have mixed feelings about CD-rs. I used to really enjoy seeing the effort that some people put into the packaging to make them feel quite personalized – you could tell there was an element of craft involved which elevated them above music into individual pieces of art. That seems to have been lost with the rise of digital and even the re-emergence of cassette and vinyl as common, almost mainstream, formats to an extent. That said, I definitely do not miss acquiring countless of these things and coming home from my travels with a bag full of shit harsh-noise and drone CD-rs by people with names like Rectal Massacre, Dog Waster, Levitating Rainbow, Goat Smoker, etc… I still have a box full of this crap at my parents’ house which I need to deal with at some point.

How faithful are your live performances to your recordings? Do they exist in two separate worlds, or is there a lot of overlap?
They are separate in the sense that the way I make music at home or in the studio is completely different to how I perform it live, ie: I use equipment to play live which I don’t use in the studio for creative purposes and vice versa. This made playing live quite difficult at first because my live sets didn’t really represent the records much, but the more I started to play gigs things gelled together and the two processes started to inform each other and became part of a bigger picture. Now I’m very keen for the live set to represent the records and see playing live as a way to present them in a different light. I think it’s nice that if people come and see me play then they can hear things that are recognisable from the records, but performed with subtle differences – maybe mixed differently and have different pieces interwoven with each other so they end up being a out of their regular sequence. I guess in a nutshell, I’m trying to abstract the recordings somewhat whilst still trying to present something that feels cohesive as a whole. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t but it’s all part of the ‘experiment’ for want of a better word.

Your new album, Olympic Mess – was that influenced by your live performances?
A good chunk of it was, and a few of the tracks I had been playing in my live sets for a while before I recorded them, but overall I would say that the record was more informed by the experience of being on tour as a whole and traveling – the fleeting conversations you have with random people you’ll probably never see again, visiting cities but never actually feeling like you were ever there once you leave, the monotony of traveling, etc… It’s funny how much of an unnatural way to live it is, yet a lot of musicians and artists do it without question and some even crave it. It’s funny how people on the outside seem to always think that touring is some glamorous and decadent thing. Of course there are some moments of needless excess, but generally if most people knew how mundane it was they’d probably be quite disappointed, ha.

How does the effect of long periods of touring play into your recordings? Are you actively recording bits and pieces while on the road, or just getting ideas? Or is it merely a mundane album with moments of needless excess???
When I’m touring and playing live on a regular basis I’m usually quite out of the mindset I need to be in to record so I don’t really think about it too much. If I’m playing pieces that haven’t been recorded yet, then I’ll sometimes think of ways I can develop them further and then how I ultimately want them to sound when they’re finally put down. Usually if I’m traveling to play a one off gig then there’s more chance of me bringing a digital recorder and recording some bits and pieces before the gig, but usually it’s nothing more than some tinkering around in my hotel room or whatever I can find in or around the venue that sparks my attention.
With this new album, It was recorded in pretty intensive bursts during and in-between tours which was good for giving long periods of reflection on the material afterwards. A few days were spent at Heaven Street in NYC with Sean Ragon before a US tour in May last year, then I did a couple of sessions with John Hannon from Liberez at his place in Essex before and after the Iceage tours. It was nice working with both of them as they have different approaches and techniques but equally get and understand what I’m doing to a degree so they chipped in with some good ideas. Both of them were also working on their own records at the time too so it was interesting to see some of that reflected back at me.

Do you think you’ve found a permanent home with PAN, for your records? Or is that just the label you’re working with for the time being?
Yeah, Bill is a good friend who I’ve known for years, easy to work with and I like his label so it makes sense. He’s very supportive and puts a lot of work into the releases so I’m happy to keep working with him!

Am I wrong, or does Bill / PAN handle all the artwork in-house? Is that something you don’t mind, having someone else handle the art for your records?
Yes, Bill handles most of the artwork. For Olympic Mess we worked with a Danish photographer named Kim Thue who we have known for quite a while. Kim published a book of his own photography from time spent in Sierra Leone a few years ago and also shot and directed the last Iceage video for “Against The Moon”, so it ended up being a nice three-way collaboration. I always have input into what I want the records to look like and I trust Bill’s taste so am perfectly happy for him to direct things.

I see you’ve just done a remix for Blood Music. Have you done a lot of remixing? Do you have any sort of standard approach to that, or is it more that you just take bits and pieces of the original track and play around with them?
I’ve done three so far. The first was for Lust For Youth and the most recent a techno act from Belgium called Orphan Swords. I really enjoy doing it as it’s a great retreat from working on your own stuff. I don’t really have an approach for working on other peoples material, which I think helps as you can be a bit more “reckless” with the process. All three acts I’ve remixed so far have been quite different as well so I’ve had to approach them in slightly different ways. For the Blood Music remix I hadn’t even heard the original tracks as I don’t think they’d even finished editing it properly at that point. So Simon from the band just sent me a bunch of stems which I chopped up, looped, processed etc… Built a basic structure and then mixed it with Sean in Heaven Street after fucking around with some bits and pieces on his MS20. Definitely doesn’t sound like either a Helm track or a Blood Music track, but has elements of both which I really like!

How long do you see Helm lasting? It’s just yourself, so it could conceivably go on as long as you are alive. Is Helm ‘it’ for you, or something you can see yourself terminating eventually?
I don’t think I could ever put a time frame on it really. In some ways this has now become my life’s work and as long as I feel compelled to create music and work which I feel suits and makes sense in the bigger picture of the project, I will keep going. I mean I will probably do things outside of Helm too as I always have done, but at this point I can see myself making Helm records for as long as my body and mind are able to.

We’re halfway through 2015, and while it’s weird to even think about looking back, is there any record that came out this year thus far that you insist my readers seek out immediately?
I can’t necessarily think of one specifically and I listen to a lot of different kinds of music. For electronic stuff, I liked Anthony Naples’ debut LP a lot, Proto by Mumdance & Logos has been on quite heavy rotation, as has Mind Minatures by Aquarian Foundation. For noise / industrial, the Prurient and Ke/Hil LPs are killer and the Olymphia LP on Posh Isolation is ambitious but they pull it off. Chris Goudreau’s new stuff is unreleased but awesome. Dawn of Humans, NO LPs on La Vida Es Un Mus. Jenny Hval LP and Amen Dunes EP on Sacred Bones. Hour House LP coming out soon on Penultimate Press deserves a shout out too. Probably more…

To a fan trying to wade through the hundreds of bands and fests and labels, hardcore in 2015 can be as exhausting as it is exciting. Dozens of bands working with the same no-longer-obscure influences and an acute awareness of what everyone else is doing can lead to stagnation, so it’s up to us to celebrate bands like Impalers while they’re still among us. This Austin-based five-piece unit takes from hardcore’s various pasts (’83 Finland, ’81 New York, ’82 Japan, ’81 Detroit, ’84 UK are all represented) and mashes it up into something so smooth and powerful, you’ll wonder why no one else has melded Motörhead’s riffs and Gauze’s execution in such a flawless way. All of their records are great, but their latest 12″ EP Psychedelic Snutskallar pushes the band into uncharted territory, performing the near-impossible feat of “growing” beyond hardcore while firmly planted within the music’s timeless tradition (this isn’t another case of a hardcore band maturing by no longer playing hardcore). I spoke with singer Chris Ulsh, and while there was more I wanted to ask, I’ll gladly take what I can get.

What was the time and process like from Impalers’ inception as a band to your first vinyl release? Was it short or did it take a while?
The idea behind Impalers started when Mike, our drummer, and I were on tour with another band we played in. I think we were avoiding a particularly grim house party and listening to music in the van instead. We decided that when that band got home from tour we would work on some ideas while everyone else was on their way to rehearse. Once the songs began to take form we started scheduling our own practices every couple of days and then it took off from there. We had no plans past recording the first batch of songs, and actually almost scrapped the project entirely after we tracked the demo for the first time. The guy did such a piss-poor job recording us that we were convinced our band sucked, but the second time around it sounded much better and that’s what ended up being the demo.
As for the timeline, the earliest rehearsal recording I have was from 2009 and Beach Impediment / No Way didn’t get around to releasing the demo on vinyl until 2011, so the process was pretty slow at the beginning. Todo Destruido and W-Tapes split the first cassette pressing somewhere in the middle of all that and that’s when we decided to add three more people so we could play live. It was my first time playing a show only doing vocals without an instrument to hide behind and I was miserable.

Why were you miserable just singing, without an instrument? How different is it for you?
Until our first show I had only played drums or guitar in bands, so during the first instrumental part of the set it just hit me, a “what am I supposed to do right now?” kind of thing. I had never thought about it before. I imagine our first couple of shows were probably sort of awkward but it’s fine because no one was there.

You’re a five-piece hardcore band, which is kind of rare for the sort of no-frills, to-the-point style you play. Are there any five-piece hardcore bands that inspired you or your sound?
Initially when we were writing the demo as a two-piece there were a couple parts that didn’t really sound right with just one guitar and drums, so we had a few “just trust me” moments. After the songs were done it was obvious that in a live setting we would need to have two guitars, and I was bent on only singing to be more aesthetically appealing but also to try something new. Then the lineup filled out around that. But now that I think about it, most of the bands that inspired Impalers were all four-pieces. We wanted to do a tripped out later-era Anti Cimex sort of thing but with more focus on the vibe we could create by doing certain key changes and using some effects, rather than the more metallic Discharge sound those records have – if that makes any sense. The song “Mower” from the most recent record is where I feel like we finally nailed it on the head.

Do you think it helped for Impalers to have that incubation period as a ‘studio’ project, and a few years to figure out what you wanted to do? Would it be the same if you started off as a fully-functioning live band?
I think it would be completely different but I’m not sure how. Every band I was in before that was always rushed. We had to have this out by tour, this had to be ready for this show, etc… Having no real plans was perfect to make sure we got what we wanted out of the recording. Also being able to just scrap it and just walk away like we wanted to for a couple weeks with no pressure from anywhere – I think that provided a good environment initially for the creative process.

Does the standard hardcore-punk model still feel exciting in 2015? Write songs, put out a record, go on a tour? Do you think more bands should think more critically about what they are doing to promote and market themselves (or un-promote and un-market themselves, as the case may be)?
I don’t really feel like there is a lot of room for marketing but I completely understand un-promoting and un-marketing. It all depends on the goals you set when you start a band and that dictates what you say no or yes to, I guess. I am a fan of the hardcore-punk model because it gives you exactly what you put into it. Let’s say you are an active participant and you’ve been spending a lot of time with your records at home and you decide to put some effort into writing songs, then put out your own record or give it to someone you trust, then the tours come easy. But if you don’t contribute anything and put some derivative band together, why would you expect any return from it? You get what you put in. We all know this. If you are excited, punk is exciting. For example, we go to the pyramids in Mexico City before we’re about to go play, and that experience is the manifestation of our band’s work. I am literally living inside it, it’s very real to me and I like that about it. The bullshit will always be there and I might be romanticizing a little bit but I do appreciate the functionality of “write-record-tour”.

Do you think that’s generally the case, that great hardcore bands get noticed no matter how much effort they put into self-promotion? Do you think the internet has sort of leveled the playing field, in that regard?
I think there’s a few different factors at play but the internet’s effect on underground music is undeniable to me. You hear people say things like “There are no good ____ bands anymore”, but really all that says to me is “I am too lazy to try to find current music on the internet”, because it’s so easy, it just takes a little time and effort. Think about the hours we’ve all logged on Discogs over the years, or even Metal Archives – the amount of available resources is so much bigger than when I first started seeking out punk bands. And then because of these resources, the spreading of information almost effortless. So in that sense I don’t think it requires much effort, social media will do that for you. If your band decides not to play live often then the word-of-mouth factor is not in your favor. But in 2015 bands that don’t tour because they have office jobs can fly across the country for a weekend and have a crazy reaction, so god bless the internet I guess.

I have to ask: what is your practice schedule like? Both your records and the live footage I’ve seen display a tightness that most hardcore bands seem to lack.
This may sound corny but all of us are pretty close and spend a lot of time together regardless if we are practicing or not, so the chemistry is already there before we pick up any instruments, and I think that has a lot to do with it. If practice is enjoyable and the drive is there, then that sort of tightness live is the most obvious result in my experience. We also played in some other bands together previously and they are all great musicians so that doesn’t hurt either. I think we like being creative within the company of our band and it makes the level of stress very low, at least on that front. We can be really neurotic about practice so maybe sometimes we will rehearse up to three times a week, but the frequency of practice really depends on what’s on our plate. I specifically remember practicing every day for a week before we went on our first tour, but if we don’t have much coming up we won’t force anything.

Does the band feel like a democratic five-piece at this point, or is it still you and Mike writing the songs, and just telling the other guys what to play?
It was up until the very last song we wrote. We did a track for the Hardcore: Gimme Some More compilation on Beach Impediment that started with Mike and I doing our usual thing, but everyone else was there and added their own flavor. Juan helped me out with the lyrics and played the bass on the recording. That song ended up being one of everyone’s favorites so we will probably start writing more democratically from now on since we know it works well. Mike and I wrote that way for so long that I think we really needed that extra push from somewhere outside.

I get the impression that Impalers had time early on for live awkwardness and generally figuring things out, without being in the hyped spotlight or whatever. Is that the case? Are you glad that Impalers took its time to blossom, so to speak?
It was sort of a combination of things. This was before the sort of resurgence that Austin just had, even Texas on a bigger level. There weren’t as many out of town bands coming through, or bands starting up here, or shows to play as there are now. Plus we were all younger, had other bands, school, jobs… It just didn’t make sense to try to do more than what was really possible at the time. Impalers was kind of an experiment in the sense that everyone’s spot in the band wasn’t their first nature, so it was pretty convenient being able to work out the kinks before a lot of heads started filling the room.

How do you feel about Austin becoming such a hardcore hub in the past couple years? Are there any downsides to it?
It has always been a hub but now is a particularly exciting time to be there. Timmy consistently spoiled our city with Chaos fest and bands I never thought I’d see but the main difference now is that a lot of other people are stepping up too. The younger group of kids down here really breathed new life into the scene and I think we needed that. Starting bands and booking shows, mainly at all-ages spots which made it easy to pack heads in. Since the age range is a pretty big spread, that is also the downside – trying to keep a consistent all-ages venue that won’t get shut down. We’ve gotten pretty good at sneaking kids in when we need to but the attendance at those shows isn’t the same.

Was there a specific concept behind the Psychedelic Snutskallar record, or did it just kinda randomly happen? Did you try to write a track to fit the title, or did the title come about afterward?
Mike and I had a short lived project called Sick Plot that recorded two songs during the same session as the Impalers 7″. The Sick Plot songs were more drawn out, each string was layered as its own track with tons of effects. The idea was similar to Impalers but more dense and jarring. I sent Todo Destruido all of the songs together after the 7″ was done and then Eddie coined the phrase “Psychedelic Snutskallar”. I guess it floated around in our heads for a couple years, then fast forward to right before New York’s Alright 2014. We wanted to throw something together on the fly to have a new tape for sale at the fest, so we decided to rework those two Sick Plot songs as Impalers songs and maybe come up with a couple new ones. I’m not sure which we decided on first, calling it Psychedelic Snutskallar or writing an eleven-minute-long d-beat song. We tried to make it as literal as possible lyrically and aesthetically, so the record is essentially about dosing a cop.

Is Impalers the best band you’ve ever been in?
It’s the best band anyone has ever been in.