Exclusive video premiere of ‘Erase My Mind’ by Hot Garbage, taken from the upcoming album, ‘Precious Dream,’ out January 19th via Mothland / EXAG’ Records.

Hot Garbage melts into a heavily volatile yet undeniably palatable amalgamation of sonic elements. Calling on the driving rhythms of dark post-punk and motorik krautrock, the Toronto-based outfit seamlessly works shining melodies and swirling textures into deliberate, brooding arrangements. Fans of Sonic Youth, Broadcast and 70’s era Iggy Pop should no doubt find a familiar pull into their raw sound, which draws inspiration from a wide and eclectic range of musical genres and art forms.

Following the release of EPs ‘Max Blonda’ in November 2017 and ‘Coco’s Paradise’ in April 2019, Hot Garbage entered the studio with Juno-nominated producer Graham Walsh (of evil experimental Toronto supergroup Holy Fuck) in early 2020 to cut a selection of tracks live off the floor. The result was a blazing standalone single, ‘Easy Believer,’ and the group’s debut long play offering, ‘RIDE,’ composed of 33 reverb-soaked minutes to be pressed to vinyl and released on Mothland in October 2021.

Aside from studio endeavours, Hot Garbage have toured extensively throughout Canada, the United States, Europe and the United Kingdom, bringing their intense live sets to festival slots at LEVITATION (Austin, TX), SXSW (Austin, TX), Treefort Music Fest (Boise, ID), Freakout Fest (Seattle, WA), Sled Island (Calgary, AB), Sappyfest (Sackville, NB), FME (Rouyn-Noranda, QC), M for Montreal (Montreal, QC), and Pop Montreal (Montreal, QC) as well as on tour with L.A. Witch and Frankie & The Witch Fingers. They have also shared the stage with Osees, Ty Segall, JJUUJJUU, Mdou Moctar, Wand, Kikagaku Moyo, and Dead Meadow. After catching them live, Ben Lemieux at Quip Magazine concludes that “the band understands the theatrically implied expectations of the genre, striking a perfect balance between the gossamer vocal quality of early shoegaze and the cranked-up, guitar pyrotechnics emblematic of the 60s and 70s rockers.”

The quartet now returns with ‘Precious Dream,’ a sprawling collection of songs written in isolation and brought together in studio in late 2022 with visionary producer Graham Walsh (METZ, Preoccupations, Holy Fuck, !!!) at the helm once again, offering an exhilarating new breath into the world of post-punk and modern psychedelia, a listening experience that is equally cathartic and introspective. Hot Garbage’s sophomore album is set for release on January 19, 2024 via Mothland (NA) and Exag’ Records (EU/UK).

“‘Erase My Mind’ is an alluring slow jam about clearing your head from unwanted thoughts. Fueled by a solemn drum loop, and featuring minimalistic guitar voicings as well as what could very well be a Casavant Frères organ run through a 10-story high Leslie cabinet, this monumental cathedral of a song promises to melt the heart of hopeless romantics and cynics alike…A psychedelic tearjerker for the ages.”

“The songs were brought to a much more complete form”

‘Precious Dream’ is due in January, are you excited to have it out? Are you planning to hit the road to promote it?

Yeah, very excited to put it out into the world. We’ve got a bunch of touring lined up in Canada, the US and Europe / UK in the coming months.

The album was produced by Graham Walsh. What was it like to work with him?

Being in Graham’s world is really fun, things take unexpected turns and he’s super open to off-the-wall experimentation. It’s cool to see how he interprets our songs. He’s a creative person and there’s an artistic side to his input, so in that sense he is never seeking absolute perfection but rather leans into energy and feeling. He’s also just a really funny, positive, and supportive person – the vibes in the studio are always good.

Would love it if you could talk about the tracks off the upcoming album and which ones are your favorites?

I think everyone would have a different answer to this but I’d go with ‘Snooze’ because it’s simple and heavy and effective. Graham’s production adds a level of chaos to the recorded version that I really like, and it’s really fun to play live. I also like ‘Sarabandit’ and ‘Erase My Mind’ because it feels like they traverse new sonic territory for us and give the album depth.

Can you share some further words about the recording process of your latest album?

We spent a couple of weeks at Toronto studio Palace with Graham to get it all done in one stretch. It was mainly recorded live off the floor with very minimal instrumental overdubs. We went in, ripped a few beds a day, did vocals, then spent the last few days tweaking and adding some final touches. We really did eat an impressive amount of candy over that time as well.

Your band has been going for a couple of years now. How do you see your previous releases in comparison to your latest one?

This one is different because the songs were brought to a much more complete form by whoever wrote it before we got together to flesh it out because of the lockdowns and restrictions. Our writing process for the previous releases was always fairly organic and collaborative. So, on this album the songs have more individuality and explore themes that reflect the strange and unfamiliar situation we were all in at the time.

On that note, what would be the craziest gig you did so far?

Craziest, I don’t know…that could mean a lot of things. We recently did a hometown Halloween show at a small venue called Houndstooth that had a very wild and spooky energy. We’ve also had the opportunity to play with some great high energy bands over the last couple of years like Frankie & The Witch Fingers and Osees, the audiences at those shows are always very active and receptive.

Do you consider yourself as a part of the Toronto local scene?

Definitely, we have a very tight-knit scene here. Aside from playing and going to shows, some of us have worked in venues and in the live music world in various capacities over the years. There is no shortage of talent here and it’s very inspiring to watch each other grow as artists. Even in the face of rising rent prices and the cost of living getting way out of hand, artists are doing their best to support each other and people are still out at shows and buying records. On the ground level, people appreciate it and want it to sustain.

What are some of the latest records you like to listen to and what are some that inspired the latest album?

Right now I’m listening to the new Upchuck record, I’ve also been grooving on Freak Heat Waves’ entire discography and taking a weird deep dive into some soft rock like Gerry Rafferty, Steely Dan and Paul McCartney / Wings which has always been intimidating to me because there’s a such wealth of material and so many albums to go through but there are some real gems in there. During the writing of this album, some albums that stick out in my mind are Spirit of the Beehive – ‘Hypnic Jerks,’ Lee Paradise – ‘The Fink,’ Anika – ‘Change’ and Brian Eno – ‘Another Green World’.

Klemen Breznikar

Headline photo: Laura Lynn Petrick

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