John Dwyer is relentless. The sole continuous member of LA-based garage-rock experimentalists Osees, since 2003 Dwyer has put out an astonishing 29 full-lengths under the name and its various permutations. This incredible run has been sustained by his band’s ability to continuously find hidden rooms and secret passages within their established sound, allowing them to mutate at a steady but inexorable pace.
Pre-pandemic, Osees put out a pair of prog-minded albums (2018’s Smote Reverser and 2019’s Face Stabber) that felt like a maximalist apogee. Since 2020, their prolific-as-ever output has become increasingly tighter and more pared-down. Previous full-length Intercepted Message was packed with sharp, bouncy synth-rock, while 2022’s A Foul Form offered up a raw 20 minutes of scratchy punk. Their latest, SORCS 80, fuses the two—a catchy, oddball synth-punk jaunt recorded on samplers and without guitars. It’s unmistakably still an Osees record, but one that’s been sent on a sci-fi quest to a madcap, synth-laden parallel universe.
Ahead of the LP’s release this Friday, we spoke with Dwyer about his use of creative parameters, SORCS 80’s ambitious recording process, the influence of Dexy’s Midnight Runners, and more.
You’ve called this album a “pivot” and “something to kick in the creative flow.” Why did you feel like the band needed this at this time?
We switch gears all the time, but this one was a bit off-kilter because we were changing instruments, which we don’t do that often. We had to work with something we’d never done before. It was more just for fun, not out of strict boredom. Changing it up is like role play in the bedroom. It’s something a sex therapist would recommend, and our band is an old married couple.
Is this philosophy of setting yourself creative parameters to work within something you’ve utilized in the past, or is it something you’ve more recently developed?
I think early on things would happen inadvertently and ratchet up as people’s skill levels developed—like unlocking little Easter eggs, writing a proggy song because someone can play the fucking keyboard or whatever. In the past we’ve added things on purpose, or I’ve gone in with a theme. But the way my brain works is that I’ll often have an idea and not be able to pull it off, or just do it completely differently. So it’s kind of become our MO to have an idea and just run with it, and if it changes in course, that’s fine.
“Changing it up is like role play in the bedroom. It’s something a sex therapist would recommend, and our band is an old married couple.”
I feel like your discography has become increasingly precise and pared-down. Is that a fair assessment?
Yeah. For a while we were into the bloated, gratuitous stuff, which I love. I like prog and big production like Yes, Scott Walker, even Broadway. This is over-the-top in a different way. It’s more tightened up and screwed down. But that doesn't mean we won’t go in a different direction next time. I’ve booked time in a studio next year, and if we’re all still here, we’ll see what we come up with. We might be writing the soundtrack for some marauders across a wasteland by then.
Can you talk a bit about this album’s construction and your use of samplers?
Basically I wrote the demos at home using a synthesizer. I did it on a four-track cassette, which was really fun. Every song was just drum loops, bass, keys, and vocals. One day, me and Tom [Dolas, keyboards] sat down and picked a sound each. I picked a thin, aggressive tone and he picked a more round one with less attack. Then we took those tones and ran them into Pro Tools and into a three-octave keyboard. Then we loaded the songs I’d written into these Roland SPD-SX’s so we could play them like drums, but tonally. The idea initially was that all four of us could be on stage playing them, with Tim Hellman holding down bass guitar. There is bass on the record, but I’m not playing guitar. I originally wanted Tim to play sampler, but we ran out of time for this stupid idea we were running with. But it was interesting to write an entire record using just one sound, but affecting it with guitar amplification.
I’m imagining you playing it live all lined up like Kraftwerk.
I want to, but honestly the samplers are kind of a pain in the ass. They’re more for, like, a cowbell sample or a backing track. They start to get a little wiggy if you’re playing aggressively across an entire set. On the live record we just did, they’d literally just turn off. But me and Tom are currently hammering out a system that should be fun to watch.
To what degree does the finished SORCS 80 resemble the thing you imagined when you were writing and recording it?
Actually it’s pretty close this time, which has only been the case with a few records. This was fairly well-hammered out when I brought it to the band—I already had the sound and they just made it better, because they’re all better at their instruments than me. A lot of records change between catalyst and finish. This one was pretty spot-on. I knew it would be rough, which I’m fine with. Nothing’s more boring to me than a band coming up with a safe recording after years of brutal music. I think I landed this one on the side of too-shitty instead of too-polished, which is OK by me [laughs].
“Nothing’s more boring to me than a band coming up with a safe recording after years of brutal music. I think I landed this one on the side of too-shitty instead of too-polished, which is OK by me.”
I liked a quote from your press release where you talk about how “people continue to surprise” you. Can you elaborate on that?
I’m almost 50 now, and in my life I’ve been on both sides of the fence. I’m more cognizant of my behaviors now and, mostly, I think people do change. I think people often try to change, but it can be hard to turn the ship, especially later in life. But often people will surprise you by taking the high road. On the flip side, I’m also amazed by how shitty people can be. But there’s a lot of love in the world, still. My favorite thing is meeting people’s parents and you can understand all of their successes and tribulations. Even my own mom surprises me. She’s become very self-aware in her old age, which is really funny. She’ll be talking about something then just be like, “Ah I’m just being a bitch” [laughs].
Has conveying observations about humans through your lyrics become more important to you as you’ve gotten older?
I often think your gut is right. If you’re unsure if you want to do something, 90 percent of the time that means you don’t want to do it. When I was a kid I’d often write lyrics before the songs. Then, starting when we were doing the prog records, I began to just sing stuff off the cuff to find my pitch and cadence. On this one I knew that greed and fear would feature a lot. As an American, I see it everyday. People are scared, there’s a lot of rapid change. I can’t imagine being a 90-year-old right now. My grandad can’t even set the fucking clock on his VCR.
“If people don’t want to listen to it, I don’t give a shit. This shit isn’t going to stop unless I’m murdered in the street or something.”
I wanted to ask about some of the influences you namechecked for this one. I hadn’t heard of Von LMO before, but they’re awesome.
Right? I think it was either Larry [Hardy] from In the Red Records or Weasel Walter [who first] gave me one of their records. He became friends with Von LMO and mixed a couple of their live records. They’re so fucking good. This record definitely rips them off. They were like the Sun Ra of the proto-punk world. Just really cool sci-fi punk.
The other one was Dexy’s Midnight Runners.
Oh yeah, man, they’re great. Whenever I would DJ I’d play “Geno” and people would be like, “What the fuck is this?” I love a horn section. Horns added a whole other dimension to our record. I’m so thankful for our baritone and tenor players, because it now sounds so fucking good.
With the Osees, do you ever feel any pressure to not retread old ground, or is your process so organic you don’t really think about it?
I don’t think about it. If people don’t want to listen to it, I don’t give a shit. This shit isn’t going to stop unless I’m murdered in the street or something. But it’s fun when fans are excited, when people are like, “Fuck I didn’t expect this.” These are fans that always buy our records, and it makes me happy when they’re happy. I’m doing all this for myself, but I’m also so thankful to our fans for having the attention span. FL
