14 years of liberation, response and neo post punk.
Following the full announcement of his lineupthe first edition of Pitchfork Music Festival CDMX It is proposed as a new classic among the capital’s massive events. Names like King Krule, JPEGMAFIA, Sky Ferreira either Godspeed you! Black Emperor resonate a few days before the festival. Partly because of the power of their discography, partly because of the infrequency of their names on national stages. Such is the case of the group made up of Greg Ahee on the guitar, Alex Leonard in the battery, Scott Davidson on bass and vocals Joe Casey.
We’ve been trying to go to Mexico for years and finally someone invited us to play. We are very excited, it will be our first time there and, hopefully, not the last,” shares the frontman.
The group originally from Michigan has established itself as a pillar of neo post punk 14 years after its formation. After an endless list of performances inside and outside the US, six studio albums and having survived confinement, staying alive is cause for celebration.
Bands don’t last as long as we have and, when it happens, it’s usually for the worse (laughs). Part of what keeps us going are the places we haven’t seen, the people we haven’t played for. It makes us want to keep going.”
With the memory still fresh of a Show inside Greece, Casey exposes his ideas about the (little) locality to which they are exposed. Once we reach a certain artistic level, contact with local scenes is almost ironically reduced, due to the tight itineraries and the ever-present cultural barrier.
While on tour there is not much time to experience the city. “I always try to look for interesting places on maps, stay a few more days to feel as much of the place as possible.”
A common thought, among the vocalist and other artists, is that of indirect experience. Conceiving our identity would be impossible without what we expose ourselves to, we are beyond memory, passing through the body and reaching our environment. A city condensed and projected from the faces of the attendees to the members of Protomartyr on the temple.
The idea seems to go beyond the poetic and directly affect the musician’s philosophy. “Before giving concerts I had never really traveled, he has made me much more open. After years of doing this, I would say that the main thing is to let the here and now be the loudest noise.”
We can abstract this opening from among the sounds that make up Formal Growth In The Desert (2023). The quartet’s latest material moves away from the hard sound insistence to show us a more solemn and introspective side of the members, motivated in good part by the death of their mother. Casey.
This sound space is combined with the conceptual attitude of the frontmanconceived as a function of the creative flow of his colleagues.
I think it’s my philosophy on stage and within the band; I don’t manage to impose through the lyrics, rather I respond to the sound that comes out of everyone. The band’s music is what drives my words.”
Almost a year after its launch, the project’s concerns seem to focus on the criticism of consumption and not on artistic development directly. “I think we’ve gotten to that point where we have enough material for people to rate them from best to worst. That can be very depressing for you as an artist. You just want your next step to be what excites them.”
Faced with the imposition of public hearing, Protomartyr gives ground to embrace your leitmotiv: the creative work, the writing, the strumming, the music first, always and above all.
You will never be able to please everyone. The only thing left to do is stop chasing that idea of ​​the ‘perfect Protomartyr album’. This allows you to explore new ideas, new intentions when interpreting, etc.”
What could be interpreted as surrender ends up liberating the English-speaking institution. From aesthetic rubrics we move to the gratification of the sensitive, interpersonal connection and impulse. In his own words Casey. “You will never have stadiums singing your world hits, but there are people who care about what you do. That gives you the freedom to create what you want to create.”
Thus we end our conversation with Protomartyra few days after seeing them on the stage of the Bucarelli Pedimentwith the excitement of seeing one of the flagship acts of our generation and, hopefully, hearing a glimpse of the near future.
“We just started writing new things so I have no idea how that will turn out. But, if I learned anything from the album, it’s that whatever has to happen will happen. “I’m excited to see what sounds we’ll come up with.”
