The American drone metal band sunn O))) from Seattle played an unforgettable show at Dragstor Club in Belgrade in October last year as part of their European Shoshin (初心) tour. Since shoshin can be translated from Japanese as “beginner’s mind,” the tour underscored the band’s return to its roots.
For nearly 30 years, Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson of sunn O))) have pushed the boundaries of heavy music, navigating the space between avant-garde experimentation and rock to forge a sound that is instantly recognizable as their own.
The band has now returned with its first album of new material since the critically acclaimed “Pyroclasts” in 2019. Their tenth, self-titled album — also their first release for Sub Pop — showcases the duo’s mastery of time and space, light and darkness, while demonstrating their continued willingness to expand their signature sound into bold new territories.
In his first interview with a Serbian media outlet, Stephen O’Malley speaks about spirit, longevity, and a lifelong passion for music, while also revealing that there is no “right way” to experience sunn O)))’s music.
After nearly three decades, Sunn O))) still seem less like a band that writes songs and more like one that builds its own sonic space. Do you see yourselves today more as musicians, architects of sound, or something else?
– If those are the three choices I would say so something else. Multiple choice right (laugh)?
Your new album is your first for Sub Pop. What does it mean for you to enter the catalog of a label with such a strong history, but a very different mythology from the one you built with Southern Lord?
– I think there’s a lot of things in common, really – the Spirit of it, the longevity, the passion for music and also the courage to try working with different types of music. Sub pop was really influential, I think, on not only for Southern lord but other labels we’ve done as well like Ideologic organ. It’s one of the it’s one of the classic indie labels you know they’re along with Discog, Touch and Go, you know, Earache, old Earache actually… It’s an honor.
Sunn O)))” as a title feels like a kind of self-renaming. Why now — and why an album that carries the band’s name at this point?
– Why not?
Your music is often described as an intensely physical experience. What matters more to you — what the audience hears, or what the sound does to the body when standing in front of the amps?
– What matters more to me is that the people present have a meaningful experience.
At a time when music is increasingly consumed in short, fragmented formats, Sunn O))) demand time, patience, and full immersion. Has slowness today become a form of resistance?
– Maybe patients is a form of resistance and non-reactivity they’re very powerful skills that can solve a lot of superficial issues especially around violence and aggression.
Your live shows have an almost ritualistic quality, yet they never feel theatrical. Where do you draw the line between ritual, performance, and pure sonic impact?
– I don’t know if I’m thinking about drawing a line between things to be honest.
I like that the subjectivity of the questions 🙂
Your music is often described in terms of heaviness, but less in terms of beauty. Is it important for you that there is a sense of light within that mass of sound, not just darkness?
– I personally do not Dwell in the darkness around metaphors with music I find it to be far more complex and spectral if we could touch if we could touch beauty with anything then it’s it’s a not it’s just a privilege but it’s also a duty.
You’ve collaborated with artists from very different worlds, from experimental and metal scenes to Scott Walker. What does someone need to have in order to enter the Sunn O))) universe?
– There’s no ticket to get in.
After everything you’ve pushed forward in the idea of heavy music, what can still surprise you today in the sound of a guitar?
– Oh good question. I mean it’s it’s each of my plays it gets more and more exciting to play the instrument. Strange, because it’s a really primitive instrument as well. And it’s not about it. I mean there’s a lot of additive elements with the facts and different amplifiers and tubes in the electronics and every all the components essentially in the circuit but it’s just really enjoyable. So I don’t necessarily find myself to be like a particularly talented musician or composer, but it’s really I really enjoy playing music and to play music with other people it’s the best.
People seeing you live for the first time often don’t know whether to stand still, nod along, or simply endure the set. How would you explain the “right” way to experience Sunn O)))?
– There’s no right way. Just experiences in your way.
How important is it for you that the audience understands what you do, and how much is it enough that they simply feel it — even without any explanation?
– I think music has so many possibilities beyond what we can explain that we shouldn’t always try to define everything in language or using our logic or Reason and just feel an experience.
Your concerts are allowed to the edge of physical endurance have you ever thought okay this might be too much for is it that precisely the point ?
– Never thought that.
A.S.I. for Headliner
