“Operator” by FORMING delivers a high-voltage fusion of raw punk energy and pulsating electronica, with spoken-word vocals woven into the mix. Can also be appreciated via a glitchy video call.
Read our discussion below!
Describe your sound in 3 words
Dystopian Melodramatic Dance
“Operator” explores different eras of communication breakdown—what inspired this concept, and how did you translate it into sound?
The sonic structure of the ringing telephone came about fairly early on. We both grew up with the landline; the entire house erupting in a cacophony of ringing, with no particular recipient projected by the sound. So it was a sound and routine we knew. Getting home and checking the answering machine, rewinding the tape.
A ringing phone is still one of those social contracts, barely. The phone rings, and eventually somebody is going to answer (or block you). It is pre-packaged like a song; a verse for ringing, a chorus for talking. Lengths to be determined, bonus parts all around. “Operator” takes this a step further as it, like many phone conversations, becomes increasingly agitated as time goes on. It reflects something of the current capacity for dialogue when communication is increasingly fraught and misleadingly codified. We reminisce, a little bit, back to a time of even older communication, but when we dial back to the radio in “Operator,” it is already a post-apocalyptic voice. We still want to have a good time but the song builds as it moves toward the final explosion, and the elusive calm of a dial tone layered with the white noise of an empty radio signal.
The War of the Worlds reference in “Operator” is intriguing. How do classic sci-fi and historical events influence your songwriting?
Both historical (Octavia Butler, Ursula K. Le Guin) and contemporary (N.K. Jemisin, Liu Cixin) science fiction inspires our creative milieu. It’s not necessarily something that we discuss during the song-writing process, but rather something that ferments and inspires us in deeper and more inextricable ways. Orson Welles’ radio broadcast specifically reflects the power of mass media, even though it happened almost a century ago. The media reports we receive are essentially the same apocalyptic hallucination as the original broadcast event.
A feminist, environmentally oriented, celestially accessible future is an incredibly helpful toolbox with which to nurture hope for the future in increasingly dark and soot-filled times. These parallel realities – not necessarily some alien and distant world, but one that is strikingly similar to the one we currently inhabit, with some key fundamental shifts in understanding – are the frames that drive the aggression in our music. We really do have hope, and love for community, but there is a deep-seated frustration that we navigate in our music too. SF is a gateway… a cult without the membership fees or Nike sneakers.
Your sound is heavy on syncopation and industrial aggression. Are there any specific artists or genres that influenced you?
So far, we have only quoted directly from one of our biggest mutual inspirations, the American three-piece Trans Am, often credited as one of the originators of “post-rock”. We’ve covered their self-titled track, from their self-titled album, since the beginning. They have more members than we do though, so that was the challenge and reward for us in covering it as a duo. If we ever open for Trans Am, we will know that we’ve made it.
Beyond that, we’ve both played in several bands together over the years and share a lot of the same musical references. Battles and Holy Fuck are two bands that we often get compared to – humbly. We made it out to the last Jesus Lizard tour not too long ago and got some crowd-surfing tips from Yow.
FORMING grew out of two independent electronic explorations. What was the turning point when you realized this needed to be a full-fledged project?
One of us had just lost an award at an event. Unbeknownst to either of us, it was the same event that the other was professionally documenting. We hadn’t seen each other for a while, so we retreated to a nearby dive bar to catch up and share our recent musical excursions. Up until that point, neither of us had spent much time experimenting with electronic music, but by some strange coincidence, we had both recently purchased our first electronic-music making gear (a sampler and sequencer respectively) and had made some headway in learning how to use them on our own time. This conversation inspired us to develop a musical project that was danceable and somewhat more accessible, so we have been trying to blend our heavier, prog-rock tendencies with deep dance groove and trap hats ever since.
If the music of FORMING was a book, which book would that be?
Parable of the Sower.
Considering your music is very riff-driven, give us a riff from any song—past or present—that you wish you had composed.
Darryn: La Villa Strangiato. Book of Saturday. Jerry was a Racecar Driver. Babylon Sisters. No Quarter.
Danny: Karpis by Jesus Lizard, It’s Catching Up by No Means No, Take on Me by A-ha
Would you reveal each other’s funny habits?
Darryn: Not unless you’re in the band.
Danny: It’s true, we made a blood oath early on in the washroom of that dive bar.
Thank you!
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