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New York City's critically revered avant-garde, industrial-punk trio, Pop. 1280, is about to release the fifth full-length, Museum On The Horizon, on 24 September via Profound Lore Records. Formed in 2008 by Chris Bug and Ivan Drip, with the vision of rebelling against the music-of-the day and making their soundtrack for the end times. Initially, a noise rock outfit, the band has released several LPs and numerous singles integrating diverse influences of industrial, EBM, techno, and post-punk into their signature sound. In 2018, Matthew Hord joined Chris and Ivan, and this new formation embarked on a collaborative journey that saw the band shed their rock roots and turn their focus toward sequencers, drum machines, samplers, and synthesizers. POP. 1280 now presents its new album, Museum On The Horizon, an industrial opus that epitomizes the band's drive to push themselves into new artistic territories and inspire each other to be bold and hold nothing back. And nothing was held back in this interview either.
Interview with: Chris Bug and Ivan Drip
Conducted and edited by: Jerneja
Jerneja: Hello Chris and Ivan, and thank you for joining me in this interview! Your band, Pop. 1280, started its journey in 2008 in New York (Brooklyn, to be exact), though, someone else's journey started some decades earlier - with James Myers Thompson, an American author and screenwriter, known for his hardboiled crime fiction, who's crime novel Pop. 1280 got published in 1964. What was, perhaps still is, so fascinating about it for you to decide to take over the name?
Chris: When we first started this band, I was drawn to Jim Thompson because he explores the contradictory nature of life in the modern world and the terrible things people will do in search of happiness and stability. These days, I rarely think about the novel. I think it's normal for our relationships with art to evolve over time.
Jerneja: I'll allow myself an inopportune question - just out of curiosity and for fun. I've encountered this "population marking" in several USA movies, and I just don't get it. Don't people move in and away, get born and die? So, what's the point here?
Ivan Drip: You know I don't really see it on signs nowadays. I think that it was more of a phenomenon in the past - the number of people in the town could give a traveller an idea of what services might be available? That's a good question, though - I don't know what happens if a bunch of people move out.
Chris: That's funny. Good question: what is the point? The point is that there is no point. I think we'd all be happier if numbers never existed.
Jerneja: Now, back to music, a fresh one. Namely, Pop. 1280 is just about to release, on 24 September, its already fifth full-length, Museum On The Horizon. What is the album title suppose to represent? Does it have any tangible connection with the tracks?
Chris: A tangible connection, maybe not, but like all of our albums, there are threads and imagery that link our work. The "museum on the horizon" is a phrase I had been toying with as an image. It seemed to represent this idea of an inescapable past that we keep marching toward. This idea was in my mind a lot as we made this album: we are all doomed, and yet we march on. We even still visit the history museums, which are really just elaborately preserved records of all our past failures, evidence that we can't change. This image was, in part, inspired by the film "A Visitor to a Museum" directed by the great Konstantin Lopushansky.
Jerneja: There is a new musical approach with Museum On The Horizon - less punk(ish) sounds (well, some post-punk and even cyber-punk sounds are still there) and more industrial electronic, partly EBM and even trance. Is this just a "side trip", or do you intend to "explore" some of these sounds in future albums as well?
Ivan Drip: It's not a side trip - we're really interested in using electronic instruments and programming to make music. I think that the next batch of songs will be even further in that direction and hopefully, we'll have fine-tuned techniques we just stumbled upon on Museum On The Horizon.
Chris: I don't think of this album as a side trip; it feels to me like a natural evolution on this extended journey that Pop. 1280 has been on. I think, if you listen to our last record, Way Station, then you will see that we have been moving in this electronic direction more and more. I am excited by change and newness, and I think that the more excited you can be about the music, the better it will be. I think we will continue exploring electronic music - we already have some more songs written that I am very excited about.
Jerneja: Although the album features some different genres than its predecessors, the composition of the songs seems old-schoolish again, somewhere from the early eighties. How come you decided to keep your music sounding like being from that time?
Ivan Drip: I can hear some of the 80s things you mention, but to me, it's mixed with more contemporary sounds. We are not consciously trying to make throwback music. One factor could be that some of our equipment is from the 90s because that's what's most affordable right now, but it sits next to synthesizers from the last ten years too, so I don't know. What I hope is that our influences come together with our own personalities and sounds like us.
Chris: I think that many bands try to sound like they are from the 80s, but to me, it's important to be yourself: do not try to recreate the past. Use the past and make it your own; make something new. I think our composition method puts the focus on songwriting. I want these songs to be catchy. I want the lyrics to mean something. Perhaps that reminds you of the 80s, a time when people actually gave a shit about writing lyrics.
Jerneja: The production seems old-school also, but I guess, is just a logical next step...
Chris: This album was recorded all on instruments, using midi and analogue and digital synthesizers. There are no software-made sounds! If that makes it sound old school, then good.
Jerneja: Three out of ten album tracks have already been unleashed, "Noncompliant" in the middle of July, "Not Too Deep" on 9 August, and just recently "Brennschluss"; the last two also as video. How are you satisfied with the feedback on these three?
Chris: No! As an artist, I am never satisfied with the feedback. I won't be satisfied with myself until I am dead.
Jerneja: How was the album formation process, and how long did it take to finish it?
Chris: I'm not good with time. I guess it took about 18 months to finish the album from beginning to end. The formation process had much more to do with Ivan's expanding and evolving skills with midi and sequencing and drum programming. In this case, Ivan would bring a beat or a synth part or a finished song to Matthew and me, and together we would craft the songs; put the parts together. Other times, Ivan gave music to me, and I would write the vocals. Other songs came from jamming on a beat!
Jerneja: Museum On The Horizon is already your fifth full-length. Looking back, how are you satisfied with your musical opus so far? Is there any record you wish it never got released as such? (If, why?)
Ivan Drip: I'm proud of our output so far, yes. I think it's evolved and progressed and sounds different than what we were doing ten or even five years ago. I think fondly of all of our records, especially as documents of where we were as people. There's no record I regret releasing, but I think that some were stronger than others. I think if I had to pick one thing The Horror, our first LP, could have used some stronger, more diverse songs, but we did what we could on the timetable we had.
Chris: Ha...ha...ha. No, there is no album I wish was never released. I am proud of all of our albums. In a way, they tell the story of my life. I think that everything we have done is genuine, and we have never released anything that we did not believe in. But am I satisfied? Never.
Jerneja: Pop. 1280 was formed by the two of you, Chris and Ivan, though the line-up has been changing quite a lot. You started as a duo, became a quartet, and now a trio. What impact have these changes had on your music and work?
Ivan Drip: I think every person who has been in this band has influenced the sound in some way, even if the bulk of the writing still happened with Chris and myself. The biggest change has been becoming a trio with Matthew. We obviously don't have a drummer now and use drum programming, but beyond that, Matthew is a true creative with great ideas and brings a vision and song ideas that take us in different directions than other line-ups.
Chris: These line-up changes always influence our sound and songs because each person brings a different skill to the band. Matthew is a master at synth programming and synth sounds. He has a great ear for it, and he also has a keen understanding of what makes good electronic music. Working with Matthew has been huge for Museum On The Horizon, just as it was for Way Station.
Jerneja: You do everything by yourself regarding your music get released. Have you ever even been searching for a label, or you've always thought you were better off?
Chris: Not sure what you mean. All of our albums have been released through labels. We did self-release our very first 7" and we self-released a cassette called Pulse. The new album, Museum On The Horizon, will be released on Profound Lore Records on 24 September.
Jerneja: You couldn't be sure what I meant since it was a stupid question, unprofessional - not the first or the last one either... So, how is the dark music scene in New York nowadays?
Chris: It's total shit. There is no dark music in New York; the scene is dead.
Pop. 1280 links: Official website, Facebook, Instagram, Bandcamp.
Pop. 1280 discography:
The Grid [EP] (2010)
The Horror (2012)
Imps Of Perversion (2013)
Paradise (2016)
Pulse [EP] (2016)
Way Station (2019)
Museum On The Horizon (2021)
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