the ugly hug

Where We’ve Been, Where We Go From Here – Friko on Tour, Chicago and their Debut LP | Q&A

June 4th, 2024

On their debut LP, Where we’ve been, Where we go from here, Chicago-based indie rock duo Friko sets the percussive, noisy intensity of post-punk against the soaring melodies of chamber-pop. Since 2019, their expansive sound and allusion-rich lyricism have helped them establish a dedicated fanbase in their home city and beyond. Just before the band embarked on a week-long leg of their Spring tour supporting Water from Your Eyes, I caught up with vocalist and guitarist Niko Kapetan to discuss the importance of today’s Chicago scene, the intricacies of the recording process and inspirations behind their first album.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Claire Borgelt: How’s tour been?

Niko Kapetan: It’s been good. It’s been smooth. I mean, we just bought a van which has made it so much nicer. I’m looking forward to getting out this Friday with Water From Your Eyes.

CB: So exciting! Do you have a favorite moment from tour so far?

NK: The New York show was really fun. All my guitars like, one by one, screwed up, like messed them up. One of them, I just like fell on stage on top of. I met a lot of people at the merch table. It was a good time. New York shows are always fun.

CB: Is there anything you find you really miss about Chicago while you’re on the road?

NK: Um, other than just home and like, friends and partners, probably some of the neighborhood, places like Thai Lagoon. Just a Thai place. And then just being by Humboldt Park. That’s kind of where we live. It’s just a nice place to stop and walk and think for a sec.

CB: Speaking of Chicago, how would you describe your experience with the city’s music scene? What’s that been like?

NK: It’s been incredible. I mean, we started in 2019. Before COVID there were so many DIY venues. They kind of disappeared for a few years, but they’ve been coming back kind of slowly over the past year or so. It’s just a very supportive scene, and we’ve made a lot of friends. We still are friends with a lot of the bands, and even newer bands on the scene. And there’s a lot of good venues that do under 21 shows, which were so important for us when we started. Yeah, people are definitely just listening to bands in Chicago now. It’s an exciting place for music right now.

CB: Yeah, for sure. Are there any bands out of Chicago that you’ve been really loving recently?

NK: Hmmm… bands that I’d shout out that I think deserve more of a shout out… I think V.V. Lightbody is incredible. Sharp Pins, the project of Kai, who plays in Lifeguard. Bnny just released a new album on Fire Talk Records. Chapter just released a new album. I could go on!

CB: I also wanted to know if you feel living in the city has impacted your writing process. Is there any way you feel like your environment really comes through in your writing?

NK: Um, yeah, I mean, both indirectly and directly, just the general feeling of growing up around here. Coming to the city was always a very specific feeling for me. Honestly, I’ve always tried to harness that in writing. It was like a beautiful sparkling statue to me when I was a kid. And there are little lyrical references on the record, like talking about the L train and stuff too.

CB: I also wanted to ask more generally, what is your writing process like?

NK: Usually it starts with some basic chord progression. Then I just take a couple lines that feel like the hook of it, or the core of the song. If I feel like I have that core of the song, I’ll just kind of write from there. Then once I have it on vocals and guitar I’ll take it to the band and we’ll arrange it.

CB: How does that usually go? What’s the process like when it comes to expanding it from there?

NK: I mean, Bailey is a multi-instrumentalist. I mean, we’ll just shoot ideas off of each other and like, just switch around with the bassist we’ve been playing with. You know, maybe I’ll go on drums or Bailey will, or whatever, it doesn’t really matter. Just kind of have fun with it. We’re excited to get more writing time this summer, when we have a touring break for a second.

CB: I know that you and Bailey have been playing music together for a really long time, even before this project. I was wondering what your favorite thing about working with them has been. What comes through in the collaboration process?

NK: I mean, Bailey is very kind, first of all, which I’d say is their best attribute and what makes all of this work. They’re just a very fun person. They’re so talented, and being a multi-instrumentalist has made them so important to this band. On recordings, they’ll do a full overdub with whatever instrument, and maybe our piano or guitar. We just get along, you know? It’s kind of like good luck. It’s like, if you’re gonna be on the road and spending so much time with someone, like, there is an element of luck. You just need to lock in some way as people, and we do. Yeah, they’re just a very good person, and they’re passionate. So it works.

CB: I was also curious if there are any artists who you feel have really inspired you, maybe not sonically speaking, but in terms of your outlook on the creative process more generally.

NK: That’s a good question! I’m trying to think outside of music too, because there are definitely a lot of people like that for me. I was watching a bunch of Andy Kaufman stuff. The comedian. He’s just like, really out there. Or like, Anthony Bourdain’s way of doing things was always cool when I was growing up. Those are so random, though!

CB: Is there anyone who you feel really inspired you to get into music initially?

NK: Yeah, I mean, when I was eight through thirteen, the only band I listened to was the Beatles. Just because of my parents. We went to Vegas and we saw LOVE and I was like, oh my god, this is crazy. My ten year old self was just obsessed for many years and that definitely started me on the path of wanting to write songs, just because I loved them so much. But recently? Black Country, New Road, Geese, Squid, all that new kind of rock stuff, you know? The current rock stuff is really cool and onto something. We got to meet Geese in New York and they were really cool. Hopefully we can play together sometime. Leonard Cohen was another one. He just had a crazy life. He didn’t even make music until he was like 32. And he lived in Greece for seven years, just writing. Pretty cool.

CB: I also want to talk about your new album. I have to say, it’s one of my favorites of the whole year! How would you describe the progression from the EP that you put out to this album?

NK: It definitely felt like a big step for us. I mean, when we started the EP, it was right before COVID. It was early 2020 and we’d only played like, six or seven shows together. We weren’t really like a band band yet. So that EP, to me, still sounds like us figuring stuff out and more like a recording project. But this record was us having the songs down pat and getting together and playing like everything as a band. That’s the biggest difference for me, for sure.

CB: Is there any track that you’re especially proud of?

NK: “Where We’ve Been” was definitely the mountain for us to climb, because we probably had to mix that song for like, upwards of 100 hours. When we recorded it, we didn’t think we were gonna use the live vocals, and my guitar amp was like, right behind me so the guitar was louder than the vocals on the mic. But after recording, we were like, we have to use that live vocal. We just spent so much time mixing that and figuring out how to make sure the guitar wasn’t in the vocal mic, like an insane amount. It was just such a huge mountain to climb and then it was such a cathartic ending once we reached the end of it. That’s definitely my favorite song on the record and to play live.

CB: Speaking of recording, I was reading about the way you incorporated that live sound into the process. What inspired you to take that approach to it?

NK: Especially a year ago, when we first started recording this record, I was just listening to a lot of The Replacements and Joy Division. They didn’t really do the band-in-the-room thing, but they definitely did like, just a lot of really raw rock band stuff. It was still just like, feeling that room and the charm of that. It just has a certain feeling to it – friends in a room making music. I just kind of wanted to capture that. It was very much just the band, our friend Jack Henry, and an older friend, Scott Tallarida, who owns the event space where we’ve actually recorded the whole record. It was like a family affair.

CB: I was also super curious about some of the imagery and the art surrounding the album. What does the cardinal on the album cover represent for you?

NK: The cardinal came from the song, pretty much. That was one of the earlier songs written for the record. It’s the last on the record because it kind of just feels like it has a finality to it. The imagery of it just kind of made sense to go with the record. I really love playing that song. I wrote it after covering “These Days” by Nico at my first solo show back after COVID. I just broke down because it was heavy at that time. That’s kind of why that song has a callback to “These Days” in some parts you know?

Photo by Pooneh Ghana

CB: This is maybe a silly question, but I have the album on CD and I was really curious about those handwritten lyrics in the album insert. Who wrote those?

NK: Oh, I wrote all those! I have crazy bad handwriting. But, you know, we were like, we might as well be honest with it.

CB: They turned out really cool! How did that idea come about, with all the little pictures and stuff?

NK: With the vinyl LP, it’s like a thing that’s long and skinny and unfolds to be really long. Do you know The Microphones? Phil Elverum? We’re huge fans, and one of us had the insert from Microphones in 2020, which was this really long, skinny thing with all the lyrics in it because it’s a 40 minute song. We were like, that’s it! We should do that! I’ve met him at the merch table like three times because he still works his merch tables. He’s an inspiration for sure.

CB: I have the Mount Eerie insert taped up on my wall. I definitely get that vibe from it.

NK: And Phil Elverum, actually, is an artist with a life outlook who’s definitely an inspiration. He’s a very different type of artist, but I’ve just got a lot of respect for how he’s done it.

CB: Do you have any plans for what you want to do next as a group?

NK: I mean, we do just want to take the next step forward creatively with this next record. I’m playing around with the idea of piano pieces arranged with two guitars and a bass. That’s been interesting. That’s been fun to do. Kind of like Philip Glass type stuff. He’s another one – a huge inspiration.

CB: Is there any sort of sound or anything that you want to explore going forward that you maybe haven’t had the chance to yet?

NK: Yeah, we’ve been experimenting. We just recorded a cover that’ll probably come out in June where we got to experiment with some stuff. We’ve just been all over the place. I’ll send Jack Henry, our friend who helps engineer a lot of our stuff, Talking Heads stuff and think about how that stuff is produced. Bailey loved Paramore growing up and while that type of production is not really our thing, we’re very obsessive about the sonic side and just very interested in different ways to go with that. Pet Sounds, where it sounds like a whole orchestra and like a bunch of people. A lot of things to combine, hopefully,

CB: I think that attention to detail definitely comes through in your work. It’s a very good mix of being authentic with the live mixes and stuff, but it also feels super intentional. I think you guys have done a really great job with that.

NK: Thank you. It was hundreds and hundreds of hours of mixing to make it seem intentional. But now I think we know what we’re doing much more. That’s part of the magic of it. That’s why it felt very special. Just because we had to work so hard at it.

Written by Claire Borgelt | Featured Photo by Pooneh Ghana
Claire Ozmun Shares “I-90” | Music Video Premiere

June 1st, 2024

Today marks one day since New York-based singer-songwriter Claire Ozmun’s song “I-90” entered the world; now, with an accompanying music video made with hand-written lyric animations (by the Ugly Hug’s own Audrey Keelin) and home video recordings from Ozmun’s personal family archive, Better Company Records’ newest signing makes an exciting entrance through her foray into a released discography.

Ozmun says, “I started writing ‘I-90’ in 2020 while living in my parent’s basement. I was facing student loan debt, a waning relationship, and changing family dynamics. ‘I-90’ is about granting myself permission to feel the weight and silliness of that time.”

Ozmun’s EP, set for release on July 19, is titled “Dying in the Wool.” As described in a press release, “I-90” “offers a candid look at early adulthood, capturing the experience of comparing personal achievements with those of peers and navigating complex relationships and self-discovery. Set against Midwest-imbued guitar parts, vocal harmonies, and nostalgic field recordings, “I-90” reflects Claire’s introspective nature and trust in the future.”

If you’re in New York, her EP release show (with support from Hiding Places and Adeline Hotel) will be held at Sultan Room on July 24th and you can buy tickets here.

Written by Audrey Keelin | Photo by Mara Rothman
Wesley Wolffe Holds Up the Mirror on Good Kind | Feature Interview

May 31st, 2024

Songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Wesley Wolffe is a familiar face amongst the New Orleans underground scene, coming into local favoritism playing with bands like STEEF, Sleep Habits and a vast amount of other stellar acts. But on his own, Wolffe spent years secretly molding his own career of brash post-rock and punk antiquity that is garnering some head turns across the country. Earlier this year, Wolffe released his sophomore record, Good Kind, that found him taking his unrestricted and fractured song structures into intense and exciting new territories for the young songwriter. Overgrown with the frustrations of social unproductivity, Wolffe’s writing became a controlled burn – turning what we think we know about ourselves upside down and clearing out the path of human disregard – all within the parameters of his unique and gripping creative lens.

Wolffe unleashed his official self-titled debut album in 2020, solidifying his sound as both a writer and performer. Taking a year off from music during the pandemic, unsettled with both the world and himself, he shares, “I just moved back to New Orleans, and I wasn’t feeling super great, so I just didn’t write anything for a long time. It took much longer than I thought it would to get back in it, but I spent two years writing and settled on seven songs.” This creative breakthrough came with gathering what he learned from his last release, as he reflects, “okay, I’m gonna do this one the right way.”

Taking the songs to Mid-City Studio to record with Matt Seferian (Pope), Good Kind wastes no time in forging its own path. Broken down into individual anecdotes, these songs are seared by the sweaty and compact musicality and unique structure of Wolffe’s instrumental demands. With the accompaniment of his twin brother, Turner Wolffe, on bass and Rob Florence on drums, Good Kind’s strength comes from the moments that waver between full fledged tenacity and the DIY charm that Wolffe commends.

Photo Courtesy of Wesley Wolffe

These days, you don’t have to go far to feel ashamed about being a human. Now that our ability to witness the world can come from our pockets, so does our ability to see how easy it is to hate, destroy and turn a blind eye to what really matters. “I always knew that I wanted to be political with my music,” Wolffe conveys. Like the rest of us during the pandemic, Wolffe was trapped in his room, feeling useless as he could only watch each bit of string that holds us together unravel with ease. “I feel like in that time period when I was writing those songs, the range of emotion that I was feeling was very, very slim. I was just becoming numb to things,” he says. “I think I was just grieving, at the risk of sounding cliché, the loss of youth that I was experiencing as a kid in their early twenties.”

Stark in its deliverance, Good Kind opens with a reminder; “Words are just words when/ Directed towards performance.” “Trinkets”, from the very beginning sets an uneasy distance between words and actions as a frantic guitar falls in line with the band’s heavy drive – Wolffe conducting the arc from a first person perspective. “I’ve never felt a great need for self expression when it comes to my personal relationships and what not,” he admits. “My life is no different than yours. I love and hate in the same way most people do. No one needs my take on those types of things – especially these days.”

Where Wolffe’s writing style sticks out is his ability to detach, leaving his own world views to embody new perspectives of ego, greed and ignorance, something he explains, “I think that’s why I can get into a character. Instead of just giving my perspective on something that’s fucked up, I can try to find a way to give somebody else’s perspective that might be on the wrong side of whatever issue it is.” A grueling task to say the least, to embody those that are taking the world in the wrong direction, becomes a game of observation, performance, and then reflection. “I feel like I need to hold a mirror up to them so that’s why my songs are in the first person,” he says. “Writing like this isn’t necessarily grounding – it can be exhausting and I’d like to think it’s challenging for the listener as well.”

“I didn’t kill no one/ All this talk of funds/ Ask me if I care,” is a hell of an opening line. “Streets” is one of the most pivotal songs in Wolffe’s repertoire, thriving in a hostile demeanor that the band creates with their unfeigned performance. Yet Wolffe’s attunement to this character, with such deadpan candor, is striking when taking the gravity of this plea – as we witness ignorance and the implementation of wrongdoing beginning to melt and mold down into a targeted vendetta. Songs like “Good Kind” and “About Me” are love letters to personal greed and being indifferent to the suffering that follows in suit. “Am I hurting you with my silence?,” he sings on the song “Boulder”, a song of manipulation and distrust, and a line that takes the cake when it comes to provocative cluelessness.

“I guess it’s not far off for me to to think of myself in that way as well – to be like a really fucked up narcissist guy,” Wolffe admits, “so it’s interesting to tap into that world and write a song about it and then it can just exist.” In no way is it idolization, but a satirization of how people continually miss the mark of what it means to be human. Good Kind becomes an exercise of holding ourselves accountable in our daily actions – observe, perform and reflect. For as hard it can be to admit, we all have moments of ignorance towards our faults – and in a way, Wolffe holds the mirror to us as well – to break the loop between performance and real action that can make all the difference.

Wesley Wolffe is donating all the proceeds of his bandcamp purchases to the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund which you can purchase here. For more information on how you can donate, head to their website that is linked above. You can also purchase a CD of Good Kind through New Orleans-based label, Kiln Recordings.
Georgette Pullover by Make Your Maze | Album Review

May 29th, 2024

Building upon the gratuity of contrast and the wiggle room of a DIY world, Georgette Pullover is the latest mini-album from New Orleans-based creative project, Make Your Maze. Beginning in 2019 as a Bandcamp-only outlet for multi-instrumentalist and producer Andreas Jahn (Sympathy Wizard) for his more off-kilter sonic explorations, Georgette Pullover sees a definitive expansion of the project into something that is both sweet by nature and confident at heart.

The album opens with “Dov”, where electronic tinkerings push back tides of static waves in a competition of the harshest. It’s an abrasive opening, but it stands out as an incredible differentiator to what follows in suit. While experiencing intense OCD lows, Jahn spent the time fleshing out these tracks as a writing exercise to contrast anxiety-relieving and anxiety-inducing sounds – building fixations to live inside the listener as well. Songs like the delayed mania of “Bronwyn Avery” or the dilapidated folk diddy “6AM Flower Carton” thrive upon their own relapse, creating soundscapes of brash electronic layers and vocal manipulations that graze the edge of anguish.

But in the in-betweens of frustration from unresolved mediums, Jahn compartmentalizes relief in the midst of admirable twee-pop instrumentations and beautifully catchy melodies that are all tied neatly together with a bow of lo-fi rock n’ roll whimsy. Songs like “Pastry” and “Friend Foundation” live amongst Jahn’s warm production style – allowing the repetition of sounds to lift up the catchy and oftentimes complex melodic structures. One of the standout tracks, “baseball” is a patient breeze, making sure to capture the entirety of a blissful feeling, “in the same hi-resolution render” Jahn sings, reaching the high notes of the chorus. But throughout, Jahn romanticizes the sound of nostalgia, whether that be through revitalizing song snippets written in his teenage days or embodying the works that have inspired his own projects (“Awful Mess” by the Softies), there is an undeniable layer of joy tucked into the songs.

Georgette Pullover offers a remarkable escape when taken in as a whole – where Jahn plays with both our sour familiarity and active wonderment for the world around us. It’s a very sweet album, one that is memorable upon introduction, as it allows the listener a view into our own characterizations of what we personally find comfort in – an attribute that Make Your Maze humanizes so well.

You can stream Georgette Pullover on all platforms as well as purchase a limited edition cassette made by Kiln Recordings in New Orleans.
Jason Evans Groth x ugly hug | Guest List Vol. 8

May 29th, 2024

Every Wednesday, the ugly hug shares a playlist personally curated by an artist/band that we have been enjoying. This week, we have a collection of songs put together by songwriter and guitarist, Jason Evans Groth of Magnolia Electric Co., Haunted Library, the Coke Dares and others.

As a librarian, Groth is a natural archivist and this collection of songs connects the web of friendships, networks and inspirations that he has encountered within his long running time in the indie music world. Touching upon the impact that individuals like Jason Molina and Steve Albini had on his life, this playlist is a personal love letter to the passion that comes from music and the people who make it something worth holding on to.

To accompany this curation, Groth has shared a write up to account each song to a specific memory, person or purpose that has moved him.

I moved to Raleigh eleven years ago, for a job that I was offered two days after my friend and bandmate from Magnolia Electric Co, Jason Molina, died. I left Bloomington, IN, my home through college and twelve years beyond; the place I moved to to keep my high school band going and where I joined, subsequently, all of my touring bands; the place where I watched my friends start Secretly Canadian Records; where I hosted, attended, and played dozens (if not hundreds) of house shows and bar shows and festival shows and college shows; and I started life as a full time librarian at a big state school a few states South. I didn’t fully stop touring but I did fully start a different career. Music has shaped my identity for as long as I could turn up the volume on the radio, and I think about everything in terms of it.

I’m now on the brink of another big move to a different college town for a different academic librarian job. Two days before I was offered the job, Steve Albini, who I got to work with on three records and who I consider a huge influence and a friend, died. The timing is not lost on me, and I’ve been thinking a lot about my friends. Not just Jason and Steve, who both died too young, but all of my friends. The ones who are or soon will be in towns I used to live in; the ones who I still keep in touch with no matter how far or close; the ones who I will meet and who I will remember to call and who I can’t wait to see again; all of my friends.

Photo Courtesy of Jason Evans Groth

This list is made entirely of songs that I have, over the last year or so, added to or heard on collaborative playlists with friends. Friends who share music are and always will be my best friends, and sharing music like this – music that I think of when I wake up, music that means something to me for a moment and I capture into a list, music that is brought up in conversations, or music heard in a movie, or music that is evoked because someone says something that makes me think of lyrics – is one of my favorite ways to communicate. Looking back at these lists I see a snapshot of me not just over the year but as a whole, as a person who has been fully taken with music for as long as I can remember. And all of the songs are songs that are both shared, specifically, with friends on lists, but were all shared with me by other friends, too.

Tim and Andy from Silkworm are friends (their band Bottomless Pit toured with Magnolia), and “Couldn’t You Wait?” is often the first song I think of when someone I love passes away. Steve Albini recorded that song, and Tim’s new band – Mint Mile – was the second to last band Steve ever recorded. The first time I heard “Farewell, Farewell” was in Utrecht on the last day of my first European tour with Songs: Ohia, played by our friend Burd Early as a wish for us to travel safely. Mark, the drummer from Magnolia Electric, shared The Goon Sax song with me because it reminded him of some demos I had made and shared with him.

The Gizmos – classic punk rockers from Bloomington – wrote a song about friends in the Midwest that just feels like home to me, and had my band The Coke Dares play some shows with them at a reunion a few years back. Jason Molina invited me into Songs: Ohia partly because he saw my Neil Young album cover band, The Cinnamon Girls, play Tonight’s the Night and told the head of Secretly Canadian “that’s my band.” Zeb, who plays in the Cinnamon Girls, showed me “Don’t Be Denied.” Amy O. is a friend from Bloomington and I can’t get this song out of my head. I heard this Heaven 17 song for the first time with my friend Sarah from Bloomington at a little reunion this past November in the mountains of Asheville. Rosali is a friend from the Triangle and “Rewind” is one of the best songs of 2024.

Here’s Steve with Shellac, being as provocative as ever, but also melodic, and sad, and cathartic, and darkly funny. All of that was Steve, and it sounds so good, as always. The Beths sing perfect harmonies and make great melodies, and my friend Kyle who works with me at the library casually introduced me one day when we were wiring music studios and I was hooked. My friend Scout writes great music, including this, which she recorded with Steve; Sal, who played on the last Magnolia tour, plays bass on this, and Will Oldham, who I admire and who I’ve gotten to play a few weird and memorable shows with, sings beautifully.

One time, at a Robbie Fulks show, Jason Molina told me that I was “as good as he is” at guitar; I don’t believe it, but I am grateful to Jason for showing me Robbie (and Steve recorded this, too). Nobody really showed me the Ariana Grande song but it’s been following me around, and it is so much like “Dancing on My Own” how could I not like it? It also has the word “friends” in it, so it works. Butterglory was one of those bands that only your friends knew about in the 90s, and I ended up meeting one of them at another indie rock person’s wedding in like 2011. Sardina was an amazing Bloomington band made up of people who were both inspirations and friends – the singer, Michelle, used to host my bands in Austin, and the drummer, Lon Paul, recorded my band the Impossible Shapes and played in the Indy band Marmoset. He also died way too soon.

Photo Courtesy of Jason Evans Groth

Steve recorded this Superchunk song, my favorite Superchunk song, and I thought it was appropriate to nod to the region I’m about to leave. My friend Matt does sound for them, too, so it all comes together. My friend David Vandervelde played “Looking for the Magic” for The coke dares when we stayed with him one night, and it’s never not been the first song I think of when I think of songs everyone should hear. My friends in the band Pavement introduced me to “Witchi Tai To” over the last two years of them playing. Ok, we’re not actually friends, but they changed my life and I feel like we’re close. And “Red Barchetta” was the secret fantasy song that Jason Molina wanted Magnolia to cover, shown to me first by my friend Greg in high school, but made legend by Molina at sound checks when we couldn’t quite figure it out. And “Thank You Friends” – the full version of which was shared with me first by my friend Jim, singer of my band Cadmium Orange, and the demo version which was shared with me by my friend Elizabeth, a DJ on one of the best radio shows I ever heard (Girls’ Guide to the Outlaw Spirit on WKNC in Raleigh) – is obvious.

Just writing this all down and looking at this list that is also a story, makes me feel so incredibly grateful for my friends, friends for whom music has been an identity definer and shifter, friends for whom friendship is often founded on the platform of passion for music. Thank you, friends.

Photo Courtesy of Jason Evans Groth
mui zyu Knows That There Are No Rules of What An Earthling Can Be | Feature Interview

May 24th, 2024

To the likes of being awakened by your sleep paralysis demons – used to the routine of these spooky encounters by now – only to be shown the surprise birthday party they have thrown for you, there are elements of mui zyu’s music that stick out as odd, borderline conflicting, yet from the center of its beating hearts, there is a tender sweetness that becomes irresistible to partake in.

mui zyu is the creative project of Hong Kong/UK artist and experimentalist, Eva Liu, who as of today, has unleashed her sophomore record nothing or something to die for out into the world via Father/Daughter Records. Over the past few years, Liu has molded her expansive, yet incredibly intimate project as mui zyu into something that is both emotionally refining and sonically addictive when ingested by earthlings. But fifteen songs in and out, nothing or something to die for is a rehabilitation of what it means to be a human, and the things we must hold on to when existence begins to feel radical and nihilism becomes a choking hazard when left out in arms reach.

With a production style that’s made through a clenched jaw and an expansive mind, Liu has thrived in brewing and boiling her sonic landscapes from within her home studio with co-producer and fellow Dama Scout bandmate, Luciano Rossi. But when it came time to create nothing or something to die for, with help from PRS Foundation funding, Liu was able to take her ideas to Middle Farm Studios in Devon, England. “The engineer came and picked us up from the station and took us to a farm shop to get supplies,” she recalls as the week of recording began. “Once he dropped us off at the studio, he left us to it – we were stuck there for a week and had no way of leaving unless we walked for hours.” Besides a hairless cat named Dust, Liu and Rossi were left to their own curiosity.

Photo by Tia Liu

“I feel like our approach to making this album was a lot different in that we had more time to experiment and mess about with new equipment,” she adds. Through their interwoven brain paths and love of textured earworms, Liu and Rossi thrived in these moments of uninterrupted exploration. “If I’m wanting a particular sound or feeling, I would just describe it, and [Rossi] would be able to manipulate the certain thing to sound exactly like what’s in my head,” she shares, showcasing their strengths as a creative duo.

Going beyond the classic build up of instruments and mui zyu stylings, there are multitudes of little sound bites and recording tricks that live amongst the record’s landscape – something that Liu takes a lot of pride in. “As soon as we want to explore something, we’ll explore it to the max, even if we chuck it in the end.” Most memorable, to her excitement, was the chance to use a fanfare horn that hung on the wall of the studio “It was my first ever experience using a brass instrument – I had no idea what I was doing, and I think it literally only plays one note on the album,” (found in the depths of the song “sparky”). “But that’s what I enjoy most about our process and I wish I could do that every time I record – it was just such a nice experience being so removed from the world and solely focused on what I love doing.”

nothing or something to die for also features a handful of collaborations with outside artists – something that Liu has always wanted to do, but never felt confident enough in her abilities to ask for. “I used to be so terrified – I just had that inner imposter syndrome screaming at me all the time.” But spending years working with Rossi and other bandmate, Danny Grant, in countless creative environments, Liu now admits, “I feel like Dama Scout definitely gave me the confidence to approach other people and collaborate more with other artists I love.” With songs like the dissolving “sparky” featuring lei, e (formerly Emmy the Great), the darkly meditative “in the dot” featuring Lukas Mayo (Pickle Darling) or the industrial-strength muscle relaxer that is “please be okay” featuring Miss Grit, the features only enhance the sonic experience of the album, pushing Liu’s writing to new depths that she never thought were possible before.

Opening with “satan marriage”, an instrumental that plays out from an array of stringed instruments, the album comes to life like body parts shaking off their tingly slumber and unconnected nerves. Soon a drum machine accumulates and introduces our surroundings, as “the mould” kneads our physical being to fit inside this fantastical world of dilapidated characters that Liu has created – one that emboldens the horrors of very human-centric qualities of destruction, apathy, misogyny and greed through the lens Liu’s own individuality.

Following her 2023 debut LP, Rotten Bun for an Eggless Century, which followed a lone warrior exploring concepts of identity and healing, nothing or something to die for goes beyond Liu’s conception of her own character as she observes how mankind, as a species, have both a hand in, as well as are concurrently fighting off, this dying world. “As humans, we’ve kind of messed up a lot of things,” Liu will say with visible weight. “With this album I’ve left my story behind and I’m now looking more outward at my understanding of the world.”

Photo by Tia Liu

“I think a lot of the album has to do with embracing chaos in the many forms it comes in,” she adds, in the name of betterment. Dealing with serious grief on songs like “please be okay” and “the rules of what an earthling can be”, reckoning with the pressures of appeasing others’ standards, while “in the dot” gives a voice to our most destructive humanly habits, being an earthling can feel impossible at times. The sugar-coated, cavity filled track, “donna likes parasites” refers to a family member who is, as Liu puts it, “overly worried about everything. The strive for perfectionism is actually damaging their health – it’s actually ruining their life.” Like a parasite, these manufactured stressors begin to eat you from the inside out. “I find a lot of people I know are always trying to find a way to better themselves, or I guess in their eyes, quick ways to find happiness,” she says. “But it’s not lasting.”

“After the pandemic, a lot of my friends were exhausted and very disheartened with everything that’s going on in the world,” primarily noticing, “people were just not looking after themselves.” In response, Liu’s artistic theme became one of perception; creating new ways to look at, perceive and carry our trauma alongside our need for harmony and hope. “It’s just amazing how our perception of things can change all the time – whether it’s true or not,” she admits, going on to explain, “sometimes we look at memories and we can interpret them differently at times and you’ll start to feel differently towards it.” Utilizing this idea of perceptions as a new challenge – “it’s just deciding what to do with it that can change how you feel.”

“Follow the mould through portals/ Looking at memories wrong/ Take tiny sips through their lips”, rattles through the pop sensibilities and slo-mo palpitations of “the mould” as Liu views decay with a new manner of optimism. The idea of portals, as she explains it, “ represent a sort of opportunity to rethink something or to look at something differently for the positive.” “the mould” celebrates that idea, warts and all, as she embraces the caste that only she can fit in – no longer living in regret of what she’s not, but rather cherishing what she has become on her own.

Taking inspiration from the the classic 1986 David Lynch film Blue Velvet, the standout track, “sparky” honors the dog that plays in the hose as his owner dies. Although dark in its depiction, it comes down to instincts – what is Sparky capable of controlling in the moment and where is Sparky at his purest form? Although it is often warped by societal expectations of what Sparky should be doing in that moment, Liu lays it out on the chorus, “Does it feel cute biting the water, Sparky?/ Does it feel good trying to be happy?,” she sings, almost with envy towards its simplicity.

“In a way, the portals do represent an escape, but they also represent the next level, the next chapter or the next world that you’re about to embark on.” This sounds like a huge concept, but Liu knows it doesn’t need to be overly complicated. As she embarked on this treacherous journey, mirroring the complexities of manufactured rules and utilizing chaos as a benchmark of capabilities, she found there are slivers of grace amongst these songs that hold a purpose. “We need to take time to look and realize and reflect that things are actually really good and you are lucky to be where you are.” In no way is this an album of defeat, but rather one of self rehabilitation against the odds of what an earthling can be. “I like absurdity, but I think overall, this album is about hope, and as cliché as it sounds, not giving up.” As portals open and close, allowing momentary lapses in reality, Liu embraces that first step through, knowing it can make all the difference.

Written by Shea Roney | Photos by Tia Liu
Psychedelic Anxiety by Frances Chang | Album Review

May 23rd, 2024

Brooklyn-based musician Frances Chang’s second album, “Psychedelic Anxiety,” is a metaphysical take on experimental indie pop that’s about navigating the psyche — bringing complex, and oftentimes, clashing emotions to the surface.

It’s a slow burn of an album with diametric contrasts; Chang’s etheral vocal melodies float around kaleidoscopic rhythms while a lurking specter of existential dread hides in the peripheral.

The sonic offerings on this eight track album are diverse; grungy pop, psychedelic-infused indie folk, self-described “slacker prog” as well as ventures in lo-fi experimental improv and sound poetry. And through this tapestry of musical stylings, Chang reinforces the idea to listeners that you never quite know what to expect next.

Released on Feb. 16, Frances Chang (guitar, synths, vocals, programmed drums, voice memo) primarily spearheaded the album via home-recorded tracks. The project was partially engineered by Andrea Schiavelli (Eyes of Love), who also mixed the album.

The rhythm section is composed of Liza Winter (Birthing Hips) on drums and Schiavelli on bass, while other contributions include Michael Sachs (woodwinds on “First I Was Afraid”) and guitarist Nick Llobet on “Rate My Aura.”

As the opening track on Psychedelic Anxiety, “Spiral in Houston ” is unexpected; it’s not a sweeping grandiose opener that’s meant to impress. Chang’s vocals are wispy, but densely layered; paired with an acoustic guitar, electronic drums, and experimental sound textures, building tension to carry across its surreal foreboding narrative. It evokes the feeling of being stuck in an old memory that you try to shut out of your mind.

“What’ve I done?/ In a sagging bed in Houston/ on the highway/ next to a psychic’s house/ lit up in yellow possibility/ I call you … exactly when you’re least mine/ It’s telepathic/ I know just how to find/ all the airy knives.”

Meanwhile, “Eye Land” is an example of Chang’s excellent use of contrast. There’s a dichotomy of loud and soft musicality at play. Quiet introspective moments are shaken back to reality with catchy grunge riffs, and then settle down to become contemplative once again.

This song was written while Chang was on tour; traveling through the Irish and English countryside with a friend, according to her Bandcamp page. It’s a love song that’s pining and nostalgic, complicated by an uncertain relationship.

“I may not see Rose again for a long time/ But I won’t go swimming/ Today I’m bathing in music/ lying around your spare room/ sky is cloudy here in June/ waking up under a sandy moon/ you fall out of your tent/ saying my blindness wrung you out.”

But the memory turns painful and moves with a devastating turn: “I can feel ya here with me, like oily water/ subduing me – I think maybe you’re/ thinking of me too/ It doesn’t feel light …/ It’s ugly, clawing at my gut.”

“Ya A Mirage,” is a song about being interrupted with intrusive thoughts while trying to meditate. With a slacker rock/ grunge pop sound, it’s a window into the subconscious that relies on a stream of consciousness style lyricism.

A departure point on the record is, “Sci Fi Soap Opera”, a sound poem where Chang’s spoken words blend with a dream pop synth wall of sound.

It transports listeners to a dream within a dream; full of ruminations on relationships: “I struggle to fix the problem in you that is really in me/ I confess, I take full responsibility.”

“First I Was Afraid” takes pieces of its melody from the soul classic “I Will Survive,” made famous by Gloria Gaynor. It’s a dark reflection on past childhood trauma manifesting in present day relationships. Chang’s singing is heartbreaking and plaintive while accompanied by a backing chorus of woodwinds.

“Body of the Lightning” takes homemade field recordings of thunder and rain from Schenctady, NY and melds it with feelings of longing amidst expansive layers of wave-like synths.

And on “Rate My Aura,” an impromptu jam of synthesizers, electronic drums and poetry that was recorded on an iPhone voice memo closes out the record. This moment in time was captured during a morning in an empty house to an audience of one — a cat named Grayson — and encapsulates the searching and improvisational nature of Psychedelic Anxiety to find some semblance of peace of mind.

“I’m all for trying as best you can …/ It’s all there is to do/ that and try to find it within yourself/ to wish love upon you and everyone/ and everything there is.”

Throughout her second album, Chang pairs otherworldly sound textures and bedroom pop hooks with surreal lyrical imagery to contrast with mundane everyday moments. There’s a magical realist approach to her songwriting that’s like a funhouse mirror — reflecting reality back through a distorted view to gain new perspectives. Sometimes strange. Sometimes beautiful. But always enlightening.

Written by Chris Goudreau
mui zyu x ugly hug | Guest List vol. 7

May 22nd, 2024

Every Wednesday, the ugly hug shares a playlist personally curated by an artist/band that we have been enjoying. This week, we have a collection of songs put together by Hong Kong/UK artist and experimentalist, Eva Liu of mui zyu.

As a project, mui zyu has molded an expansive, yet incredibly intimate soundscape into something that is both hauntingly stunning and neurologically addictive when ingested by earthlings. To celebrate the release of her sophomore LP, nothing or something to die for, out this Friday, Liu has created a sonic theme revolving around the album’s artwork, sharing:

“the theme is imagining what the cave-dwelling characters in Waffle Burger’s painting for my record would listen to in the morning. this is how i think they’d soundtrack their days, from waking up in the damp stoney cavern, to swimming in the hot broth, doing their group meditations and roasting the heck out of their marshmallows.”

nothing or something to die for will be available everywhere this Friday (May 24) via Father/Daughter Records. You can preorder the album now on bandcamp.

Written by Shea Roney | Photo by Tia Liu
Alycia Lang Explores Self Compassion on New Single “In Circles” | Single and Music Video Release

May 20th, 2024

Today, Durham-based singer-songwriter, Alycia Lang, shares her third and final single, “In Circles”, from her forthcoming debut full-length, Speak the World to Hear the Sound (due 6/14) via Mtn. Laurel Recording Co. Produced by Adrian Olsen (Lucy Dacus, The Killers), “In Circles” follows a rumination of self compassion as Lang learns to allow herself some grace.

In its most subtle moments, “In Circles” grazes amongst different timbers of plucked strings, patient and gentle harmonies and light atmospheric pieces that create a lush landscape of composure. But following a desirable chromatic fall, the song’s weight becomes strikingly clear, as Lang’s newfound empathy leads the chorus to its emotional and vibrant height; “but oh, my sweet mind why don’t you slow down”, she sings, putting a pure emphasis on perspective and presence.

Taking inspiration from a conversation with a friend, in which she compartmentalized her personal challenges as a separate entity than herself, Lang was struck by this outlook, saying:

“If we could all just make that one small shift from punishing ourselves for not thriving in an over-stimulating, impossible set of circumstances and grant ourselves permission to slow down, maybe everything would be ok.”

Along with the single, Lang is sharing the official music video for “In Circles”, made by Spencer Kelly and herself.

You can stream “In Circles” on all platforms now. Speak the World to Hear the Sound is set to be released on June 14 via Mtn. Laurel Recording Co. Lang is currently on tour with Samia playing in her touring band.

Written by Shea Roney | Photo by Al Bingham
Will’s Hi-5’s

May 17th, 2024

Every Friday, a staff member at the ugly hug curates a list of their five favorite new(ish) releases to share with us all. This week, our photographer, Will, put together a list of distorted hugs, tin can stunners and loveable bedroom pop tunes.

“Angel Like You” by Nick Harley

In what has quickly become one of my favorite albums of the year, Nashville-based Nick Harley delivers a perfect blend of Appalachian folk and low-fi indie. “Angel Like You” introduces the album with melancholic nostalgia with a simple instrumentation, just a couple of well-picked guitars, and some drums. The sentimental songwriting, about the purity and optimism of the beginnings of love, is captured on the warm fuzz of analog recording. The entire album creates the ideal soundtrack for driving through the Appalachian mountains after a spring rainstorm. For now, I’m settling for a post-rain walk on the streets of New York, and it’s just as good for that.

“Gulf Shores” by Merce Lemon, Colin Miller

Continuing with artists hailing from Appalachia, “Gulf Shores” by Pittsburgh-based Merce Lemon and Asheville’s Colin Miller has been a part of my rotation since its release in January. One of two covers by Will Oldham (who I only recently really dove into the discography of, and it’s a must listen to for fans of Songs Ohia, MJ Lenderman, etc.) and the song is truly done justice. A beautiful and melancholic song, sonically and lyrically, Miller takes the lead of the duet with the floating sounds of steel guitar (my absolute favorite instrument) behind him.

“Dotted Line” by Why Bonnie

Their first single after signing to Fire Talk, “Dotted Line”, proves Houston’s (now Brooklyn’s) Why Bonnie, led by Blair Howerton, has picked up right where she left off. The single maintains the grit of the band’s past work, rounded out with a more polished sound. The song juxtaposes the all too common frustrations of making music as an indie musician over an energetic instrumentation. After getting the chance to catch their live show at Baby’s All Right this month, their upcoming album is definitely something to keep an eye out for.

“Julia” by Crate

New York’s Crate has a single line description on Bandcamp; “like a warm hug”. This description rings true with their debut single “Julia”. After a slow build of synth and drums for almost a minute and a half, it comes crashing down when the guitars come in, and you are enveloped in a sea of warm distortion. After being lucky enough to see them open for A Country Western at Trans Pecos, I was blown away by their sound and can safely say it’s one that is only better live. Here’s to hoping that more music is coming on the way from them soon!

“Trudy” by One Wheel Fireworks Show

To finish on a sadder note, Ashville’s Will Cole, releasing music under the title One Wheel Fireworks Show, delivers a full album of songs as devastating as they are beautiful. “Trudy”, a tribute to the all too relatable despair of an aging dog, the song’s namesake also being who the album is partially dedicated to, and just might be the best of both. Cole sings softly over a steady hum of fuzz with a single guitar before a short slide guitar solo finishes the song. The song reads like a page from a diary with its heartfelt sincerity which is driven home by a minute of audio clips about dogs and Asheville that extends the melancholic feeling of the track.

Written by Will McRae