AAWKS | Interview | New Album, ‘(((((Heavy on the Cosmic)))))’
AAWKS is the product of four acid casualties united by a love for high fantasy, psychedelics and heavy rock music, alongside some guest musicians who wander in to add their own flair.
Their latest album, ‘(((((Heavy on the Cosmic)))))’ is fuzzy stoner rock, with lots of psychedelic touches.
What’s the lineup in AAWKS right now? Is this your original lineup or have you all gone through any lineup changes since the band started?
Currently we are Roberto Paraíso on guitar, Randy Babic on drums, Dan Trickett on bass and vocals and Kris Dzierzbicki on vocals and guitar. Claire Fitzgerald sings harmonies with us on our album and live on occasion and our good friend Todd Connell plays some synths on our album. Our original drummer was a fellow named Nate MacTaggart. He was with an earlier version of the band that was more garage, hardcore, noise focused from 2016-2017. Jen Stringer was on bass and vocals with us from 2018-2019. Jen is on our first EP.
Have you released any music with anyone else in the past? If so, can you tell us a little bit about that here?
Kris Dzierzbicki: AAWKS released a 2 song EP in late 2019. We recorded 3 songs but I was unsatisfied with the third song so it will remain vaulted. I’d been writing more garage rock meets the Pixies style songs at the time but was never really happy with the results so we ended up releasing ‘All is Fine’ and a song called ‘Summer Haze’. My parents exposed us to a lot of great music growing up; lots of good 60’s and 70’s stuff. We grew up near the Michigan border and my Dad and uncles would go and watch Motown bands and later stuff like the Band, Bob Seger, Ted Nugent and the MC5 so that played a big role in my musical upbringing. I can still vividly remember being 4 or 5 and hearing Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd for the first time and it rewiring something in my brain. Regardless, after our first EP I decided to follow my heart and go full force into more heavy, psych, fuzz rock like the stuff I grew up with and that’s where the songs from ‘(((((Heavy on the Cosmic)))))’ came from.
What was the local music scene like where you grew up? Did you see a lot of shows or get very involved in that scene? Do you feel like it played a large role in shaping your musical interests or the way you perform at this point?
I grew up in a pretty small town in Southern Ontario. There were a few local bands that we would see here and there but no real underground scene to speak of. We definitely spent a lot of time going to see bigger shows with touring acts in nearby London and Toronto and various places in Michigan. I remember seeing Alice in Chains in 1993 and it being a pretty awe inspiring performance that I still think about often to this day. They had such a unique, magical quality with the tight harmonies contrasted with the heaviness and Layne’s voice was so powerful and interesting; the whole show just pulled me into another place. When I moved to Barrie in the mid 90’s I joined my first real band; we used to play a lot of classic rock, Southern rock and fusion flavoured stuff. There wasn’t really much of an underground scene in Barrie either at the time so we played a lot of covers that we’d turn into long improvised jams. I played in bands with Dan Trickett (our current bassist) and our good friend, guitarist Ian Ross, definitely two of the most talented musicians I’ve ever played with. They have a really cool way of elevating the playing of everyone around them and our jams were the first time I could just play without thinking; where you’re communicating with each other almost telepathically, which is one of the best experiences a human can have in my opinion.
What led to formation of AAWKS?
I’d been playing in a band in Vancouver BC called Cow with my friend’s Alberto Centurion (Stone In) and Greg Valou (New Age Doom, Stone In) when my daughter was born. This led to the decision to move back to Ontario from Vancouver to be closer to family. I was looking to put a band together and I’d played in bands with Roberto Paraíso over the years and knew that his sensibilities and unique perspective would be a great match for what I was hoping to do; plus he’s a great all around musician one of the funniest people I’ve ever met so that helped. Bob and I started writing and playing and after a few lineup changes we locked in with the current lineup and things started to flow.
You recently released, ‘(((((Heavy on the Cosmic)))))’. How long did you work on it?
We started writing what would eventually become ‘(((((Heavy on the Cosmic)))))’ around the beginning of 2019. We’d been playing shows locally in Barrie ON in 2019 and were just getting off the ground when the lockdown forced us to cancel everything. Once COVID started to lift we had a good batch of songs ready and we reached out to a Toronto promoter named Ryan Hilton (Palehorse Promotions and Black Throne Productions) to help us book some shows outside of Barrie. He dug our stuff and introduced us to his business partner and recording engineer Zack Horvath from Z Hollow Studios. We recorded with Zack in the Fall and Winter of 2021 and then dropped ‘(((((Heavy on the Cosmic)))))’ in June 2022.
“I get inspiration from psychedelic and occult culture and fantasy art”
Would you like to share what’s a typical process for you when it comes to songwriting? Are you more keen to jam or do you all come with ideas to the rehearsal and take it from there?
I get inspiration from psychedelic and occult culture and fantasy art, mostly like Frank Frazetta, Roger Dean, John Berkey and Roger McGinnis to name a few. The songs also usually have some kind of metaphor related to an experience or personal thing I might be working on or an interesting concept. Usually, I come up with the basic song structure and lyrics and then we flesh them out and arrange the nuances over time as a band.
Can you share some further words about ‘(((((Heavy on the Cosmic)))))’?
There’s a trick that I use to reframe things when the world seems too overwhelming and intense and negative where I take a bird’s eye view, or maybe rather an astronaut’s eye of the world, the earth, floating in space around a giant ball of gas and I think about how it’s all travelling thousands of miles per hour further and further away from some far away centre point. When I do this I find that all the little things that I am so concerned about suddenly become small, absurd and much less powerful. I think most of us are trying to deal with varying degrees of “the suffering of existence.” Hurt, pain, regret, depression, overconsumption is everywhere and sometimes we escape with chemicals or shopping or gambling or some other distraction but the suffering is really a big part of the overall experience and can be a way to more fully experience the opposite. The light within the darkness or opportunity within the tragedy. And, I dig 60’s and 70’s culture so the term “Heavy” is a throwback to something being meaningful and intense but from a whimsical, cool angle.
Is there any sort of mantra that the band shares?
We definitely have our own language and a family vibe in the band. Bob has a very unique and specific lexicon that tends to seep into the group of people that he’s near. It’s a mixture of small town Ontario, Canadian, blue collar with some French thrown in and something entirely his own. His knowledge of small town Ontario culture is unrivalled. So, while there’s no specific mantra, there are many secret words and phrases that we have. That coupled with Randy’s unique energy and Dan’s brain and talent makes for a special melange that seems to work and be something of a savoury microcosmic poutine as it were.
Do you all like to take a more DIY approach to recording?
I’ve tried my hand at recording and mixing over the years and always despise the results. It’s a frustrating and arduous process for me and I always seem to overspice the stew and end up with something very unpalatable. I’ve learned that giving the task to someone else allows me to keep enjoying the songs rather than want to throw them through a wall or out the window never to be heard again. Zack did an excellent job capturing what we were hoping to achieve. I find it much more enjoyable to co-produce and let the people who have a real passion for the recording, mixing and mastering process do they’re thing.
Tell us about the gear, pedals et cetera you are using…
I play a whacky guitar my dad and I built using Warmoth parts. It’s part Jazzmaster and part Telecaster with pawn shop/no name humbuckers but a sweet Mastery bridge and tailpiece. I call it the Hobbyhorse Dadacaster after my Dad but also the Dada art movement which I really dig. The Dadaists made assemblages of found objects so I consider my guitar to be an assemblage of sorts; also, I have a chamber in the back that I plan on epoxying my daughter’s baby teeth into. My amp is a Marshall JCM2000 DSL100. I only play through the classic gain channel with a touch of gain and I tend to roll the presence and highs off and boost the mids and lows a bit. My current pedal board is pretty basic. I run a Korg PitchBlack Tuner>NYC Big Muff>Big Muff (Tone Wicker)>Earthquaker Data Corrupter>Xotic EP Booster>Ibanez Weeping Demon>TC electronics Flashback2>EHX720 (for triggering samples).
Roberto mostly plays his Ibanez Iceman and is always changing up his pedal configuration. I know for amps he uses two combos; a Roland Jazz Chorus and an AC15. As far as pedals, I think he’s got a Frost Giant Massif and an EHX Cockfight and then a whole smorgasbord of modulations and overdrives that I can’t keep track of. His playing and tone are so vital to our sound. It’s funny, another friend of mine kept asking me how I got my sound on our record and then when he came to see us live he said, “oh sorry, I realized it wasn’t your tone, it was Roberto’s that I was talking about”, made my day.
What are some future plans for the band?
We’ve got a tour with Sons of Arrakis in the works for next spring and we’re in talks with a few other bands for a fall 2023 tour. Otherwise, I’d be happy to keep writing and playing as much as possible.
Let’s end this interview with some of your favourite albums. Have you found something new lately you would like to recommend to our readers?
Anything by Windhand.
Anything from Mephistofeles.
Anything by Monolord.
Jeff the Brotherhood’s ‘Magick Songs’.
Yesterday I came across a song called ‘Army Dreamers’ by Devil’s Witches. Can’t stop listening to it.
Hell’s album ‘Hell’ is great.
Anything by Hazemaze.
Magmakammer’s ‘Mindtripper’.
Anything from Electric Monolith.
Cosmic Reaper’s Self Titled is excellent.
…there’s so many I could mention but that’s my current list.
Thank you. Last word is yours.
Be kind. Go out of your way to make someone’s day great. Listen to understand. Love as much as you can and picture and accept your death daily… it’s definitely coming and it will be here before you know it so live your life now for fuck sakes.
Klemen Breznikar
Headline photo: mgmphotoco
AAWKS Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Bandcamp
