Seattle-based “turbowave” pioneers, DUAL ANALOG are set to make waves with their latest single & video, “Reborn.”
“Reborn” is a visceral journey through the dark corridors of human emotion and the haunting echoes of regret. As the band reflects on their struggles following their debut album’s release, “Reborn” emerges as a poignant anthem for anyone who has faced adversity and felt trapped in a cycle of obscurity.
With “Reborn,” DUAL ANALOG steps into the visual realm of a story-driven narrative for the first time, signaling a new chapter in their artistic evolution. The accompanying music video, directed by Skye Warden (Nuda, DK-Zero, Abney Park) adds a visual dimension to this gripping tale of self-inflicted torment and redemption. This collaboration adds depth and dimension to their music, offering fans a multi-sensory experience that transcends traditional boundaries. Through a mix of their own haunting melodies, existential lyricism, and nihilistic outlook, DUAL ANALOG paints a vivid, yet inspiring portrait of a man consumed by his own ambition unlocking his true potential at the expense of his family.
“Reborn” is available on all major digital outlets including Bandcamp and Spotify.
DUAL ANALOG formed in 2019 by vocalist/guitarist Chip Roberts and multi-instrumentalist Kurtis Skinner. Incorporating elements of new wave and metal with a generous dash of industrial and world music, they create “turbowave,” a fearless fusion of sound unapologetic in its combination of instruments and sonics. Their debut 2022 album, Lust, Worship, and Desire, alongside its four singles and accompanying music videos, enrobes itself in lush, sexy vocals, backed up with catchy bass grooves and smooth hooks, all under a veneer of crushing heavy metal guitar riffs and polyrhythmic drum grooves.
DUAL ANALOG is currently in the studio completing work on their follow-up album, The Wheel, slated for a fall 2024 release.
Interview with DUAL ANALOG
KKM: Where are you located and what are the vibes like musically there? Have the different places you’ve lived inspired you differently or brought unique challenges to you as an artist?
C: We’re based in Seattle, Washington. The Pacific Northwest is a gloomy place most of the year, so it’s conducive to dark, introspective, isolating sounds. I think part of the reason we have the world music in our sound is probably a bit of escapism; wanting to take a vacation somewhere exotic and warm.
Seattle is a tough city for live music, especially for original artists. The winter months are cold and wet, the cost of living is high, there’s parking, crime in the city, and rising housing costs with all of the tech companies moving in over the years. It can be challenging to get people to spend their hard earned cash and limited time to go out and see a live show. This is why we try to make every show unique and bombastic. You’re not just going out to see some band play at some bar, you’re going to get an experience.
KKM: How did the creative process differ for this latest release than older ones?
C: Kurtis had wanted to challenge himself to write a song in 7/8 meter, which was new to us at the time. When we both sat down to look at it, I gave him some feedback on how it could be structured, then he sent it to me for drums, guitar, and vocals.
I spent probably a month or two just getting the drums to flow, then vocals came pretty quickly, followed by guitar. The biggest challenge for me was writing those parts in a way that the listener couldn’t tell that it’s in an odd meter. The Genesis song “Turn it On Again” is in 13/4, and that was a big hit for them, but you wouldn’t really be able to tell unless you knew what to listen for. I wanted to take a progressive song with odd timing and try to make it a hit because I think that’s funny.
Lyrically, my girlfriend was yelling at me one day because I never write songs about her, so I thought it would be funny to have our nerdiest, proggiest, most female-repellant song be the one I write about her just to mess with her.
KKM: Can you talk about the current single and the next one?
C: “Long Divide” will be our first single of 2024, set to release on February 13th. The song has been in rotation at rehearsals and live performances since we started performing with the backing band, but it didn’t fit lyrically with the material on our debut record.
We’re deciding whether the follow-up single should be a straight industrial song called “Slave,” or if we want to skip right ahead to our video track “Reborn.”
After putting out “Long Divide,” it would probably be a better move to dumb it down with something simpler like “Slave.” It’s a straight four-on-the-floor goth dance anthem, and an extremely heavy one at that. We’re incorporating a lot more 7-string guitars in this new material.
“Reborn” is a bit more sophisticated, with more parts and more dynamics, but still a pretty straight beat and also very heavy, but much more melodic. We’ll be filming a music video for it in late February.
KKM: How do you balance time between your profession, your creative work and family? Is the discipline in balancing a challenge?
K: Having the band is almost like having a second job, as there’s lots of work that goes into it. Finding the balance between everything usually isn’t a problem, it’s just about keeping the right attitude and using time in the most productive or enjoyable ways.
C: The balance is probably the second most challenging aspect of playing in an original group; moreso than any of the work itself. If I don’t sit down to write out a schedule with what I’m going to work on in a block of time, then nothing will get done. This is just how I stay sharp and on track.
KKM: How important is literature to you as an artist?
K: I’m not sure how much it influences me personally/creatively, but I love a good story, and find it important to immerse in someone else’s narrative, as it gives perspective in life.
C: I approach lyrics as poetry set to music, so in that sense having a story or a feeling you want to express is not dissimilar to a piece of literary work.
KKM: Favorite cities to visit or perform in?
C: Last year we finally made it out of Seattle down to Portland, Oregon. They really appreciate live music there, and there’s a great scene. We’re hoping to get out to LA, Austin, and the East Coast soon.
KKM: Most embarrassing records in your collection?
C: Olivia Newton John and Brady Bunch Christmas. There’s also a Jimmy Buffet record where he’s wearing his best pastels trying to be Don Johnson. I keep that one just to look at the pictures.
KKM: Favorite journeys as an artist?
C: The process of seeing a song be born and take shape into a complete piece, then performing that piece.
KKM: What scares you?
C: Silence is deadly, and apathy is death. The thing that scares me the most as an artist is pouring heart, soul, blood, sweat, and leather into something that is completely ignored. The new material deals with a lot of those feelings.
KKM: Are there any locations on the globe where you would like to retire to & that you think would be inspiring as long as you live?
C: I wouldn’t mind going the Marty Friedman route and living in Japan, learning the language and assimilating with the culture. Hopefully the Concord will make a comeback by that time so I won’t have too long of a flight to visit family. They just need to figure out that whole exploding thing.
KKM: Name a song that can make you cry. Have you ever cried after you created a song or during the process? If so, what song?
C: “Suddenly Last Summer” by The Motels. I can try to explain it, but the bottom line is it just tears me up. The line “One summer never ends, one summer never began,” I just get it.
KKM: What was the last great record you heard?
C: It’s hard to find a great record start to finish, so I’ll shout out some local artists who put out some pretty solid work last year.
2 Libras put out “World’s End.” The best song on that is “Golden Age of Isolation”
Watch Clark put out “Seems to be Normal.” Best song on that is “Same.”
KKM: Motto?
C: “Song is king and groove is queen.”
KKM: What have you planned in the coming months for the band?
K: We are working on many new songs, several of which we hope to get finished up in the coming months.
C: We have a list of songs in various stages of being “done.” We’ve been chipping away at that list, then separating standalone singles from album tracks. Once we have a handful of songs that work well in an album sequence, we’ll fill in the gaps with new album tracks. In the meantime, we have lots of meetings with photographers, directors, promoters, DJs, trying to put together a crack team for our album release.
written by W.Z.
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/dualanalogband/
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/dual-analog/1486651330
