The Big Sonic Heaven 7 – Letting Up Despite Great Faults

The Big Sonic Heaven 7 is 7 questions we ask our favorite bands.
This time we asked Letting Up Despite Great Faults…

1. Where are you from/based?
Started in Los Angeles. Currently based in Austin, TX.

2. Give us a brief history of the band.
I started with an EP but it wasn’t until 2009 when I released the self-titled full length and met Kent (bass) in LA where I felt this was a real thing. A few years later we moved to Austin and found Daniel (drummer) and Annah (guitar, vox). We came out with our third album in 2014 and then we took a huge hiatus to figure out life. Well, we figured it out and realized this was the thing that was missing so we’re back!

3. What are your influences and/or describe your sound.
Influences range from obvious ones like New Order and Lush to the likes of Alan Braxe and Boards of Canada. DJ Shadow and Daft Punk were a huge influence in how I learned to create music from inside a box/machine instead of an organic instrument. Liz Phair and Juliana Hatfield taught me how to write meaningfully with just a couple power chord progressions. Cornelius taught me how to sample a guitar and make it sound like something completely different. Lou Barlow and Velocity Girl taught me how to make super sad songs disguised in an upbeat way. The list goes on and on. I owe so much of my joy to so many musicians.

4. What is your current release? Tell us about it.
The first two singles of the new album are “Gemini” and “Corners Pressed.” “Gemini” is a noisy story about being friends and lovers until the very end and how almost impossible that’s actually is. “Corners Pressed” is a much clearer story in sound but centered around our memories and wondering if how we remember things are actually the truth of the past. The new album comes out next year and is filled with these stories of growth, loss, maturity, and remorse.

5. Tell us something funny or shocking about the band.
All 3 guys have seen each other naked multiple times (we went to a few Japanese bathhouses on tour :))

6. What’s the best thing about being in a band?
For me (Mike), it’s being able to feel like I can be creative but also have it mean something. I’m not in a bubble just making music for myself. When someone truly enjoys something of your making, it lends this incredible sense of purpose to your life.

7. What’s next? Are you touring?
We wanted to play it covid-safe for this year so we’ve been working on a special live video, releasing soon. Early next year we will drop the new album along with US and Japan tour dates. Hopefully, UK dates soon after.

Darren Revell
Big Sonic Heaven Radio

Big Sonic Heaven is a 24/7 Internet radio station dedicated to the ethereal sounds of shoegaze, dream pop, post-punk, trip-hop, etc. Listen to the artists featured on the blog and discover more by downloading the app for iPhone and Android or listen at bigsonicheaven.com.