The Black Queen, the LA-based electronic alternative outfit featuring The Dillinger Escape Plan’s Greg Puciato, Telefon Tel
Aviv/NIN’s Josh Eustis and programmer/guitarist Steven Alexander, will return to the UK this September for 3 shows. The band
released their debut album, F ever Daydream in January 2016 to mass critical acclaim.
Fever Daydream was written and recorded in what the band has described as a hollowed-out, roach infested Downtown LA warehouse
that they also lived in during recording, with Justin Meldal-Johnsen (Beck, M83, The Naked and Famous) executive producing.
“Originally, we had envisioned this project being something much more gauzy and probably guitar-oriented,” said Eustis in
an interview with Rolling Stone. “At some point it just took a left turn and became very electronic.” In the same interview
Puciato joked, “It was rare to
find someone else who I could talk about Death, L eprosy, with as well as a New Edition song.” It was those seemingly disparate
influences that brought the three musicians together, from Puciato’s teenage years of watching MTV’s 120 Minutes while simultaneouslyknowingallofJodeci’slyrics,Eustis’affinityforKraftwerka
nd NewEdition, and Alexander’s childhood home which championed as much metal as they did R&B.
Rolling Stone premiered the video for “Maybe We Should”
( watch here), which continues The Black Queen’s integration of striking, Corbijn-influenced visuals into their work. The clip, which is
set in downtown Los Angeles, a location that has proved to be a major influence on the band’s music, was filmed by Jesse Draxler
and The Black Queen.
“The overall aesthetic to me is as important as the music,” explains Puciato, of the thought and attention that goes into
all of the band’s imagery including the two previously released videos:
‘The End Where We Start” and
“Ice to Never” . “We care about every detail of everything involved, and treat every aspect as an opportunity for expression. To make everything
intersect. In that way, this feels more like an art project than a band. With the record just happening to be a form. There’s
a lot of freedom in that approach, as well as pride and care that develops from it. Caring and attention to detail reinforces
itself. ”