Buglvr3000
Can you start by telling us how you got started in music?
Music has always been a natural interest to me. Since I was a very young child I was fiddling around with sounds and constantly looking for new music to listen to. I remember probably starting around the age of five I would sit at my grandmother's piano for hours just piecing the notes together by ear. So I guess that was my first instrument, but the guitar was the first instrument I really consciously tried to learn. I started teaching myself guitar when I was about 10. I was really into Underoath and Dillinger Escape Plan back then. As I got into highschool I made other friends who were interested in music and we recorded some improv albums where we’d play really loud and yell about inside jokes. That was really fun. We were all really into Ween. I got Ableton when I was about 16, and from there I got really obsessed with recording. I didn’t really have any equipment, but I got a bunch of free plugins and I’d just lock myself in the basement and go crazy with it. I didn’t really know what I was doing at the time, but I ended up making what turned out to be sort of an experimental ambient synthpop album. It took about 3 years to develop, but that’s what really started it for me. Since then I’ve just been collecting equipment, always seeking to learn, and just spending a lot of time recording. I released my first fully realized project last October called Earthmover, and that was a pretty big deal for me. It’s a conceptual piece accompanied by a short story. It’s also my first solo release with vocals and live instrumentation. Since then I’ve only been getting better and having more and more fun.
Where does the name Buglvr3000 come from?
Buglvr is because I really like bugs. I added 3000 because it’s a really big number. Recently though, I’ve discovered even bigger numbers. There may be a change sometime in the future…
How would you describe your sound?
Probably the biggest descriptors I could put to my music would be post-punk and shoegaze, with occasional electronic elements. I like to include synthesizers quite a bit. A few bands and artists that have sort of shaped the way I look at music are Have a Nice Life, Deftones, Weatherday, Guided by Voices, Melvins, Boris, Fishmans, and Aphex Twin.
What are your thoughts on Detroit?
A depressing portrayal of economic inequality, but also home to a lot of great communities dedicated to things like mutual aid and independent art.
Any favorite local bands or artists you'd want to shout out?
Keep an eye out for Belial, really sick grindcore with a debut on the way. My other band Texas in Heaven if you want to hear some droney sludge metal type stuff. My friends in Clipboards, super nice group of guys who always put on a great show. Stations has some great minimal synthpop/new wave music. Zastava is a great Detroit shoegaze band. They played a mesmerizing set opening for They Are Gutting a Body of Water. Lava also puts on a great show. There’s lots of great music out here.
What are you working on next?
Currently I have a 5 track EP that will be releasing later this year called BUGLVR. I put a lot of work into both the music and the album inserts and I’m really happy with how it’s all turned out. Keep an eye out for that and grab a physical copy if you like album inserts as much as I do. Aside from that I’ve been making a lot of sludge metal, hardcore, some IDM, synthpop, a little bit of nu metal. I’ve just been making music. Some comics too. I’m not totally sure what the future holds. Definitely looking at locking myself away for a while and planning out my next project pretty soon though. Whatever I do I want it to be big and focused. Likely some combination of comics and music. Maybe even some animation involved.
How do you feel about the future of art/music?
I don’t really know. If you’re looking at it from a capitalistic point of view, we’re currently experiencing an artistic drought. The art industry has very little quality art to offer, because innovation no longer affects profit. Independent journalism has been convoluted and watered down by social media. The decline of physical media and the collective obsession of social media has largely removed the meaning behind the ways we consume art. There is a lot that could be said about these things. But, as always, the real quality art takes a little more effort to find. And one positive about the rise of social media, is that communication is a lot easier. There are millions of great artists to be found in every corner of the internet. People collaborating everywhere. Community has always been the best thing for art, and the internet does make that easier. So there are plenty of pros and cons when it comes to these things. One community project that I found really inspiring was A2B2 Radio. That was a really great showcase of talent that caught a good amount of traction. Artists would submit a song or a music video and every month they’d select about an hour and a half's worth and stream it on discord. Lots of great artists got their name spread from that. So I’m looking forward to community efforts like that. I have some ideas of my own. There’s always going to be people looking to express their perspective, and that’s what I live for.