Taking as much from metal and straight up
noise as they do from punk and good old fashioned psych rock Ex Nuns are just
about as good as it gets these days. 
Hell any day really!  The rhythm
section on th Dead of Zero single is destructive, seamlessly combining all the
best parts of hard rock and heavy and metal with the furious fills and non-stop
attack of the Ex Nuns punk rock roots. 
And by the way it is so nice to be able to hear a bass track in a song
that words can hardly describe my elation! 
Not only is the guitar ridiculously catchy with some sweet tones, but
the bass actually sits high enough in the mix that it’s audible for once.  Ex Nuns are a band that aren’t ashamed to
show off every aspect of their sound, even the intentionally buried vocals aren’t
a garbled mess or lost in the drums. 
They’re strutting their stuff with their debut single Dead of Zero and I
don’t blame them; this is some seriously killer punk rock here.  There’s metal, there’s noise, there’s some
gnarly punk and garage, there’s psych and even some of that good old fashioned
rock’n’roll thrown in there for good measure! 
And it’s all intertwined so skillfully it will make your head spin.  Simply put this is good music.  If the Dead of Zero single is any indicator
as to what a full-length album from Ex Nuns is going to be like I not only hope
they somehow release an album by the end of this week, but that the band lives
long and prospers because I am already frothing at the mouth for an album and I
only picked up the single a few weeks ago! 

Listen
while you read at:
http://25diamondslabel.bandcamp.com/album/dead-of-zero-b-w-crash-meditation-7

What’s the band’s lineup?  Is this
the band’s original lineup?

Ian: 
Currently, our lineup consists of Joram Livengood (bass guitar), Jeffrey
Truckenmiller (drums) and Ian Littleson (guitar/vox).  We originally had a second guitarist but we felt
that for us to progress as a band it would be better to work as a trio.

Are
any of you in any other bands?  Have you
released any material with any other bands? 
If so can you tell us about it?

Ian: 
Jeff and I are in a side-project called SKYFATHER.  Jeff and I put out a four-song EP with our
old band Heirloom.  Jeff has put out
multiple releases with various metal/hardcore bands including LAW and
Castle.  Joram has been in various
hardcore/metal bands with WLVS and Jonathan Harker.

Was
your household very musical growing up as a child?  Were your parents or any of your relatives
musicians or very interested in music?

Ian:  Ex
Nuns all come from very musical families. 
Joram grew up learning how to play various instruments in jazz band
through the public school system.  Jeff
grew up learning how to play classical instruments, but his life started
deteriorating when he heard feedback in his brother’s room (laughs).  I also ruined my life when I discovered Led
Zeppelin.  I had also learned how to play
drums, guitar, bass and sing at an early age as well.

What
was your first exposure to music?  When
did you decide that you wanted to make your own music and what led you to make
that decision?

Jeffrey: 
My first exposure to music was through growing up with my brother’s in
the early-nineties.  My dad showed me
Neil Young Unplugged, Led Zepplin and Eric Clapton.  My brother’s showed me bands like Pearl Jam,
Nirvana and the Smashing Pumpkins.  I’m
still a huge Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins fan. 
The original lineup, nothing past Machina for the love of all things
holy!

Joram: 
The first memory I have is my mom bringing home a boombox and some CDs
of contemporary Christian bands; The Newsboys and DC Talk.  I know that I had been listening to music
before that, but I couldn’t even begin to remember band names or song titles.  It all came off the radio before the
boombox.  My dad was who got me into more
aggressive music.  He showed me Rammstein
and Slipknot.

Ian: 
Led Zeppelin, b also ro!

Can
you tell us who some of your major musical influences are?  What about the band as a whole rather than
just individually?

Jeffrey: 
First and foremost Queens of the Stone Age.  That band is so brilliant.  Every record they rediscover and reinvent
themselves.  Also, I listen to a lot of
nu-gaze and classic shoegaze at the moment. As a whole, we are totally into Pissed Jeans,
Death Grips, Code Orange Kids and various local bands that we’ve had the
pleasure of sharing the stage with.

Joram: 
In the words of Jeff, I am “unforgivably myself” as far as my musical
influences/taste goes.  It’s very
eclectic but I mostly listen to a lot of hardcore and metal like Every Time I
Die, The Dillinger Escape Plan, and The Chariot.  I also enjoy pop music and some good hip-hop.  I really like local rap group Doomtree and
I’ve been diggin’ the new Justin Timberlake record too.  Collectively, I agree with Jeff but I’d like
to add Metz.  That band rules.

Where are you originally from?

Jeffrey: 
I was born in Rock Rapids, Iowa. 
My parents moved to Sioux Falls, South Dakota and I grew up there until
I moved to Minneapolis in 2006.

Joram: 
Born and bred in Iowa.  My
hometown, Clarinda, is about ten-minutes from the Iowa/Missouri border.  I moved to Minneapolis in January of 2008
with my bandmates in Jonathan Harker.

Ian:  I
was born in Detroit, grew up in the Carolinas and ended up in Georgia.  Basically, I’ve lived all over the south.

Where is the band currently located?

Ian:  We
currently reside in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

How
would you describe the local scene where you are at?

Jeffrey: 
Our scene is fucking phenomenal dude! 
Really, it is.  There is so much
talent and people we know tour the world. 
It’s very inspiring.  There’s a
lot of amazing punk/post-hardcore/noise acts that are generally under the
radar.  I feel very inspired by what
bands do here.  A lot of them are close
friends as well and we help each other out. 
I honestly don’t want to be anywhere else at this current moment.

Joram: 
Yeah, Minneapolis is killin’ it musically; so many sweet bands.  It’s really nice to know musicians who play
music because they have a passion, not that stupid “I wanna be in a band to
make money” horseshit.  Everyone I know
plays music because they enjoy it, not because it’s cool.  It’s encouraging to be surrounded by
likeminded musicians.

Are
you very involved in the local scene?

Jeffrey: 
I feel very involved with the local scene.  You can always find us at random house shows
or whatever.  I also have the opportunity
to book bands from time to time which I feel is exciting, I’d like to do that
full-time someday.

Joram: 
Absolutely.  Whether it’s going to
shows, playing shows, or even just picking up some local band’s record at the
record shop down the road, I love music and I try to involve myself as often as
possible in whatever way I can.

Has
it played a large role in the history, sound or evolution of Ex Nuns?

Jeffrey: 
Absolutely!  I feel like a lot of
bands rub off on us in a good way.  Older
people in the scene give us really awesome advice, like how to sound better,
what we should do to have a better live show etcetera.  We wouldn’t be a band for very long if people
weren’t so supportive.  People are always
giving us chances and I feel like this pushes us to get better and better and
also, with our genre, we get the amazing opportunity of playing with a wide
variety of bands.  Therefore we are
always exposed to cool shit.

Joram: 
Living in Minneapolis has definitely had an effect on me personally as a
musician which then translates into me as part of Ex Nuns; so yes, definitely.

When
and how did you all meet?

Jeffrey: 
Ian and I used to play in a band called Heirloom.  He moved up here because of his ex-girlfriend
from Atlanta, Georgia.  I ended up
homeless for five months and slept on his floor during some hard financial
times.  That band broke up but we got to
know each other very well.  We had been
trying to start a band for some time and had met our old guitarist after a Cold
Cave show and decided to start a band while we were all very intoxicated.  Honestly, it was sort of a drunken/drugged
out decision, but one that I don’t regret.

Joram: 
When Jeff and Ian started this project they practiced in my
basement.  I was trying to start a
punk/hardcore project at the time but they asked me if I would like to play
bass and I liked what they were doing a lot so I sold all my guitar gear and
bought bass gear; I kept my guitar though, ha-ha.  I’ll never sell my Telecaster!

What
led you to form Ex Nuns and when was that?

Jeffrey: 
Our drive to make music, start a band and put out records.

Joram: 
I’ve always had a personal philosophy that I won’t make music that I
wouldn’t listen to as a fan and I really liked what I heard when the other
dudes were practicing so I joined up on bass.

What
does the name Ex Nuns mean in the context of the band’s name?  How did you choose that name?

Jeffrey: 
We chose the name Ex Nuns because we were scrolling through our iTunes
collection and came across this song by Some Girls, off of their record called
Heaven’s Pregnant Teens.  The song’s
called Ex Nuns/Dead Dogs.  To me it was
just something that sounded cool and kind of humorous but it also means living
with the absence of religion in any context or form.  So basically, I guess it defines me having
grown up very religiously but coming to terms with my atheistic qualities.  It was a personal challenge to say the least,
but a lot of it has to do with defining my own meaning and reality through the
art of sound.

Joram: 
I think we all have some sort of religious background so there’s also a
sort of irony in the name, ha-ha.  But as
far as relating to us musically, I think that the name Ex Nuns sort of gives
off a “we’re aggressive” vibe.  It fits
us as people and as a band.

Let’s talk about Ex Nuns songwriting process a little bit.  Does someone write something like a riff and
bring it to the rest of the band to work out or is there a lot of jamming and
discovery in that sense?

Jeffrey: 
Ian will go into our studio and churn out some ideas and show them to us
when he’s ready.  Then he’ll tell us what
he had in mind, I’ll show him what I have in mind and Joram will show him what
he has in mind.  Personally I help with
transitions or, say, if something sounds too wanky.  Sometimes we’ll have to axe a song completely
which is brutal, but I would rather personally call us out on a shitty idea
than anyone outside of the band.  It’s
better to be your own harshest critic in my humble opinion.

Joram: 
It kinda all starts around one guitar idea that Ian brings to the table
that evolves into a group effort.  I
guess you could say Ian lays the first brick and the band builds around
it.  We offer each other ideas and constructive
criticism when necessary, and sometimes one of us will write something that
will force the other two to work around that idea.  It’s a process of give and take.  In the end, we force each other to be the
best musicians we can be and write the best music we can.

What
about the recording process?  Do you do a
lot of preparation work before heading into a studio or just kind of play it by
ear?

Jeffrey: 
For our first 7” we had to axe two of the songs.  We made the mistake of not doing any
pre-production.  That was a learning
process.  The most important part of
going into the studio is having all of your parts perfected.  I nailed all my parts in one or two takes
because that’s how much we practice.  My
philosophy is that you have to practice your instrument whether you feel like
it or not.  I wasn’t a drummer prior to this
band, so I guess I have the most to prove. 
What it comes down to is that you’re spending a shit ton of money being
in a band, all of your savings and even going a little bit in debt.  On a certain level these recordings are what
people will know you by all over the world and being in a studio is how all of
this is going to translate.  This is how
someone is going to hear your music so the best way of going into a studio is
by being over-prepared and knowing the right engineer, an engineer that knows his
shit and has nice microphones and a relaxed studio.  Recording is the most exciting and
nerve-wracking aspect of being in a band.

Joram: 
Man, just be fucking ready.  We
don’t ever wanna record some half-assed track because we settled.  We play our songs over and over again and
perfect them.  By the time you’ve played
a song fifty plus times, if you can’t nail it in the studio, well…  You aren’t ready to record it.

Do
you all enjoy recording?  I’m a musician
myself and while I love the final result there’s a certain sense of dread that
rises up in me when we talk about heading into a studio as it can get so
tedious and repetitive sometimes.

Jeffrey: 
I only enjoy recording when I feel I’m prepared.  Hearing everything come together and seeing
your bandmates smile is one of the most satisfying things in the world!

Joram: 
I focus too much to enjoy it or feel a sense of dread.  When I plug in to record my parts, that’s all
there is to me, just me and my bass.

In
July of last year (2012) you released your first track I’m aware of Dust, via
your Bandcamp page.  That song has since
been taken down from the Bandcamp page but didn’t appear on the Dead Of Zero
single although according to initial reports it was supposed to be
included.  Can you tell our readers about
the recording of that track?  Who
recorded it?  Where was it recorded?  When was it recorded?  Are there any plans to release the song again
physically or via any digital outlets like Bandcamp or iTunes?  Why didn’t it make the single?

Jeffrey: 
That recording of Dust is just not who we are by any stretch of the
imagination.  Our label wasn’t excited
about it and we weren’t excited about it either.  I think the last time we played Dust was
because we headlined a show and had to play like a half-an-hour which is
something we don’t normally do. 
Recording that track was a nightmare because it was nearly impossible to
track and mix those guitars.  Our
engineer at the time, Tom Davoux at Cosmic Carrot Studios (his attic), had a
frustrating time mixing Dust.  I kind of
like the Queens of the Stone Age vibe that it has, but it just simply is not
who we are anymore.  Our sound is now is
becoming much darker and more complex comparatively.  Honestly, I don’t think we ever pulled it off
live.  We don’t plan on releasing it in
any capacity.

Joram: 
Dust just wasn’t up to par with the tracks that we put on the
single.  It’s not that it was a bad
song.  It just wasn’t as good as the
other two in our opinion.

I
mentioned it before but let’s talk a little bit more about the Dead of Zero single. 
Who recorded those tracks?  When
were they recorded?  Where were they
recorded?  What kind of equipment was
used?  Who put that out?

Ex Nuns: 
Our friends Tom Davoux recorded Dead of Zero and Taylor Floyd did the
final mix, Dan Randall at Mammoth Sound did the mastering.  We started recording on Memorial Day of
2012.  The guitars were a Fender Jaguar
and a Fender Jazz Master through a Fender Twin Reverb and an Epiphone Thunderbird
bass through an Ampeg head and a Marshall cab. 
We all play a bunch of different pedals. 
There were Tama drums and Zildjian cymbals.  For vocals we used a Shure Green Bullet
microphone run through a miced Fender Twin Reverb.

You
played did an in-studio performance for Radio K on Record Store Day back in
April this year (2013), you debuted a couple of new songs.  It was all taped and archived at
http://www.radiok.org/instudios/exnuns/. 
Did you enjoy that?  Was it nerve
wracking playing in front of camera men or have you done stuff like that in the
past?  How many new songs did you play
then?  Had those songs been in your live
repertoire for a while or were they relatively new at that point?

Jeffrey: 
Radio K are some of the nicest and most professional people I have met
at any musical institution.  For me
personally it was a little nerve wracking considering that when we went on air
the final mix in my headphones was completely fucked.  There were camera people in my way and I
could not make eye contact with Joram but our meticulous practice schedule paid
off and I feel like we nailed it.  It was
a very rewarding experience because none of us had done an in-studio and I
really hope we get to do it again.  We
played three new songs.  We’re not
putting all those songs on our full-length due to the context of how we are
going to lay out the album song-wise. 
The full-length is going to have a very post-hardcore tone and not all
of those songs are going to be appropriate. 
However, we are considering doing a split cassette tape for Eskimo
Brother if any bands are willing.

Joram: 
It was a barrel o’ fun.  Everyone
at Radio K was super cool and laid back. 
They made it feel almost like we were just practicing.  But they added a bunch of cameras.

Are
there any plans for any follow up releases or a full-length at this point?  Dead of Zero was killer and left me longing
for an album!

Ex Nuns: 
Yes, we are doing a full-length on our label 25 Diamonds.  No name yet but we are literally working
almost every weekday night on it and I couldn’t be more stoked to put this baby
out and then hit the road.

Where’s the best place for our U.S. readers to purchase your music?  With the recent international postage hikes
where’s the best place for international readers to get stuff from?

Ian: 
Here’s a current list we have of where to pick up our record:

25 Diamonds Records
(http://www.25diamonds.com/). 

If you live in Chicago, you can pick up our
7″ here at Permanent Records Chicago. 

If you live in Brooklyn, you can pick up our
7″ here Insound.

If you live in Minneapolis, you can pick up
our 7” at Electric Fetus or Extreme Noise.

Europe: http://www.perkoro.com/19069 or
http://www.hhv.de/shop/en/item/ex-nuns-dead-zero-324194. 

Japan: http://www.watersliderecords.com. 

And you can also order from Ebullition
Distribution http://www.ebullition.com

or Revolver Distribution
http://www.midheaven.com. 

What
do you have planned as far as touring goes for the rest of the year?

Ex Nuns: 
We are going to be playing various local and out of town gigs.  We are way too focused on writing and
financing the production of our full-length, I guess you could say that’s where
all our energy is going as of right now.

Do
you have any funny or interesting stories from live performances that you’d
like to share with our readers?

Jeffrey: 
The most laughable story I have is when we played a show at Hell’s
Kitchen Underground.  The sound engineer
kept telling us to turn down and Ian was pretending to turn down because he
didn’t want to compromise the tonality of his amplifier.  In between each song the engineer kept
telling us to turn “way the fuck down”. 
So before our last song, he turned on the house lights and said we could
either turn down or get off of the stage. 
So Ian just threw his guitar down and walked off the stage.  Then the sound engineer came up to us and
told us we sound like shit and the manager of the place came up to us and was
asking us why we did what we did.  I
didn’t really talk to anybody and it was super awkward.  Also, if you want to load out of Hell’s
Kitchen you have to move all of your gear up through an elevator on to a
parking garage.  It takes a half-an-hour
to forty-five minutes to load up all your stuff while the staff is on our
ass.  It was laughable because we had
played there twice before that with all of the same gear and had no issues with
the sound engineer.

Joram: 
Oh man, we played a show at this restaurant/bar a bit ago.  We didn’t know much about it except the time
and place.  We pull up to realize it’s an
outdoor show with a sitting crowd.  I
immediately felt uncomfortable about it given the previous, “Ex Nuns is Too
Loud” episode at Hell’s Kitchen, and we all predicted getting shut down ha-ha,
sure enough, third song in.  They allowed
us a fourth song though.  Sit-down crowds
are some real troopers, ha-ha.

Who
are some of your personal favorite musicians you’ve had a chance to share a
bill with?

Jeffrey: 
Iceage, KEN Mode and Code Orange Kids.

Joram: 
All those and bands that we’re friends with.  It’s so fun being able to play with your
friends and basically turn the whole night into a party.

Where’s the best place for our readers to keep up on the latest news
like album releases and upcoming shows from Ex Nuns at?

Ian: 
https://www.facebook.com/exnuns 

Do
you have a music collection at all?  If
so can you tell us a little bit about it?

Jeffrey: 
I just picked up the newest Queens Of The Stone Age album.  All I can say is this album is fucking
serious.  Josh Homme is my personal
hero.  I’m a fan of 7”s primarily
though.  Our label, 25 Diamonds, has put
out some awesome 7”s by Violent Bullshit and Optional Body.  When I see bands I love picking up their 7”,
there’s something about the brevity and lack of bullshit involved with a
7”.  But I have everything from Combat
Wounded Veteran to The Depreciation Guild.

Joram: 
Um, the last record I picked up was King of Jeans by Pissed Jeans.  I was browsing around the record shop and saw
it and thought to myself “I love this record. Why don’t I already own it?”  And now I do.

Ian:  I
recently picked up Metz, The Soft Moon and the newest Code Orange Kids LP.  Killer!

I’ve
got a serious problem.  It’s a nasty
addiction to physical music!  While I do
love digital copies to take with me whenever and wherever I might like there’s
something inescapably magical about physical music to me.  Having something to hold in your hands,
artwork to look at and liner notes to read all serve for a more complete and
interactive listening experience; at least for me.  Do you have any such connection with physical
releases?

Jeffrey: 
I love the physical aspect of albums man.  While I’m personally guilty of downloading
music, I love the excitement of going out to pick up a record that I have been
waiting to purchase.  I don’t buy an
insane amount of records but I love the bonding experience of drinking with
friends and putting on vinyl.  It’s very
engaging and the physical aspect of vinyl enhances this experience.  So much more rewarding than just pressing a
button, ya know?

Joram: 
Art dude.  You don’t get album art
when you buy music off iTunes or some shit. 
I’ve downloaded music but when it’s a band that I love, I gotta have it
in my hands man.

With
all of the mediums available to musicians at this point I’m always curious as
to why people choose the various methods that they do.  Why a 7” vinyl release as opposed to CD,
cassette or something?  Do you have a
preferred medium of releases when it comes to releasing music?  What about owning/purchasing music?

Jeffrey: 
Essentially, our label proposed the idea of a 7” single.  I personally prefer 7”s, so that’s pretty
cool all in all.  I like owning
vinyl.  I think it’s a trend that won’t
go away.  It’s an artistic artifact of
society and a very engaging musical process. 
I think most people feel like it’s a romanticized prospect.

Joram: 
Vinyl is just sweet.  I like my
vinyl more than my CDs for sure.  I can’t
explain it.  When I listen to vinyl I
actually sit and listen all the way through, you can’t hit a skip button on a
record player.  You experience the whole
album.  But at the same time my iPod goes
with me everywhere, that record better have a download code in it, ha-ha!

As
an artist in the reign of the digital era there seems to be a few varied ways
of looking at digital music.  Some people
see it as a good way for independent bands to be seen while others view it more
as a conversion of music into a disposable experience laying waste to decades
of infrastructure inside the music industry. 
What’s your opinion on digital music and distribution?

Jeffrey: 
It’s the evolution of technology. 
It affects everything. 
Fortunately, I still see bands putting out vinyl and people purchasing
it.  I think time has proven that certain
things will never actually disappear in the digital age.  DIY subculture is awesome and I think people
take things less for granted.  It’s
awesome because bands can reach a global audience in the digital age but it
sucks because there are less fiscally supplemented aspects of being in a band.  Touring is very expensive and a lot of bands
get fucked over.  You are essentially,
against all odds.

Joram: 
We live in a technological era and digital music is just the natural
progression.  It’s a love/hate thing for
me.  It’s opened up so many opportunities
for bands to release their music for little to no money, which is great because
being a band is a fiscal struggle.  But
at the same time, all of a sudden, there are hundreds and thousands of other
bands that you sound like and now everyone has access to them as well, so your
band is just another fish in the sea.

I
try to keep up with as much good music as is humanly possible.  I spend hours every week scouring the
internet and local shop for good music! 
Who should I be listening to from your local scene or area that I might
not have heard of before?

Jeffrey: 
Weakwick, Buildings, Animal Lover and Deleter.

Joram: 
Those and Congorats, Sonic J, Bongonya and Huge Rat Attacks also.

Ian: 
Yeah, these are bands we frequently love playing with.

What
about nationally and internationally?

Jeffrey: Nationally: Ringo Deathstarr, KEN
Mode, Tamaryn and DIIV.  Internationally:
Blacklisters (UK), Röyksopp (Sweden), The Horrors (UK) and Serena Maneesh
(Sweden).

Joram: 
Nationally: Pile, FIDLAR, O’Brother and since you’re in Illinois you
probably already know but Russian Circles from Chicago is my all-time favorite
band.  Internationally: Celeste (France),
Dead Swans (UK) and Vanna Ignet (Sweden).

Is
there anything that I missed or that you’d just like to talk about?

Jeffrey: 
The amount of positive support that we have received has made everything
worth it.  I just want to personally
thank everyone that‘s come to a show, booked us or bought a 7” from us.  That shit rules and makes all of this a much
better experience.

Joram: 
I dunno, fuck it.  We’re doing
what we love, in the fashion that we want to do it.  If you like it, that’s awesome, if you
don’t.  Well…  I guess we’re just not your thing.  We’re not playing music for anyone but
ourselves and that’s what makes us, us.

DISCOGRAPHY

(2013) 
Ex Nuns – Dead of Zero – digital, 7” – 25 Diamonds Records (Limited to
300 copies on mixed color vinyl)

Interview made by Roman Rathert/2013

© Copyright
http://psychedelicbaby.blogspot.com/2013