I had the pleasure of speaking with online indie-melodic post-punk artist i am the unicorn head, an eclectic band taking on increasingly interesting themes to address in their music. Besides being a delicious earworm, the track really resonated with me as it draws attention to the post-truth landscape that I have no idea how we’re gonna overcome. A short conversation with the Dragon Lord Apocalypse and Kid A is excerpted below!
Your first track tells me you guys met on the internet, sometime during the pandemic. What brought you guys together?
Dragon Lord Apocalypse: As any good duo might say, fate brought us together. We share similar musical interests and both have a high drive for being productive in the realm of music. I like to think that we each bring out the best in each other.
Kid A: I put out a band member request on Reddit, and DLA replied. The best thing that ever happened to me musically, as we love creating music together, and our joint creations are so different to anything would would have made by ourselves.
You guys have been hip-deep in cinematic rock soundscapes from the very beginning but this one is the most psychedelic yet. What would you say are the styles you find yourself borrowing from?
DLA: Obviously we are both big fans of indie music…but we also have a high appreciation for progressive rock and electronic type styles that we like to touch on but not entirely adopt. Indie music is such a wide soundscape to find yourself in and it gives you a lot of freedom to move around.
KA: I like the idea of constantly surprising our listeners, and genre hopping from song to song, and often even in the same song! I love everything from punk and garage rock through to math rock and prog rock. Nothing is off limits as far as we are concerned, as long as we both like the final result. That is the only criteria we use!
The band’s name & aesthetic are fuckin sick. Are there any stories there?
DLA: We bounced around a few ideas for band names but since we are a remote band, it is hard to really land on an aesthetic that would feel organic. It made sense to us to go in the exact opposite direction of that and try to be quirky and fun. Though, even in my musical projects where I am a member of an in-person band, I really don’t like the whole taking band photos and trying to have a certain look. Something about a bunch of dudes standing in a field looking grumpy just turns me off haha. Nothing wrong with those who are into that, but I am not good at being something I’m not…unless of course its a fictional anthropomorphic unicorn.
KA: As we live in different parts of the world, we have a lot stacked against us. We can’t play live like most bands, and are never in the same place for photoshoots or music videos. We tried to turn our unusual nature to our advantage by trying to find an unforgettable band name and visual image. We’ve had a lot of positive response so far, which we are very grateful for!
Themes of Falsehood become ever more real and terrifying in our physical lives. What motivated this track?
DLA: Sometimes there are truth within the lies, sometimes there are lies within the truth. The song is a testament to this. At the time of writing the lyrics I was going through exactly this and getting it out into song was therapeutic and had a big role in accepting some things happening in my life that I couldn’t change. You can’t make people tell the truth, they have to want to do it.
KA: We seem to live in a post truth society, for which I blame dishonest politicians and world leaders. However, we are all partly to blame for simply accepting this scenario. Don’t forget that if you live in a democratic country you can keep liars out of power by wisely using your vote!
I love the stuff you guys post surrounding your song releases, it truly feels like a very pragmatic way to do music and associating it with people’s lives. How did you find that visual style?
KA: Again, as we can’t perform live we have to find another way to connect with people. We’ve made some great friends along this journey so far, including some really cool other bands. We love chatting to people on social media, so drop us a comment on any of our posts, and we’ll always get back to you!
What’s on the horizon for the band? You guys mentioned an upcoming album, Future Dinosaurs?
DLA: We’ve got one more single to release from Future Dinosaurs and then the rest of the album will probably be released with it. We’re already working on album number two, which is a concept album following the Unicorn on a solo journey through space. We are also recording some collaborations with other artists who we love and enjoy and I’m very excited about it.
You guys hop styles and influences from single to single, each an intricate patchwork so unique from the other. What kind of genres would you look to explore further?
DLA: I’ve been practicing some jazz drumming the last few years and would love to record something that includes this style of drumming. I am also a big fan of heavier music and wouldn’t mind putting out something with a little meat to it.
KA: We actually formed over a mutual love of Porcupine Tree, so maybe something along those lines. Although I wouldn’t be averse to a foray into synth pop as well. We set absolutely no boundaries on what we do, other than the fact we both need to be happy with the results!