OCCURRENCE – SLOW VIOLENCE
A SPILL EXCLUSIVE ALBUM PREMIERE
Slow Violence, the new double album by Occurrence that’s out today, is an in-depth statement about vulnerability and decay, about the things that terrify us and liberate us. Bandleader Ken Urban (electronics, synths & beats), Cat Hollyer (vocals, flute) and Johnny Hager (vocals) have created an album that reveals the “slow violence” that accrues over the course of our lives. After a pandemic-imposed separation, the band stretched out and experimented, repurposing previous recordings to craft an evocative album that captures both the bliss of falling in love and the pain of failure slapping you in the face.
The band describes their music as “experimental electronic pop with a nostalgic bent.” Based in New York City’s Washington Heights, Occurrence formed when Ken reached out to college friend Cat on Facebook after not seeing each other for twenty years. Ken was in New York working as a playwright and Cat lived in Lawrence, Kansas, working as a writer for Hallmark. Ken asked if she would sing on new tracks he was writing. She agreed, and the two embarked on a now six-year collaboration. When the duo began to perform live, they invited Ken’s romantic partner Johnny to join as a second vocalist, completing the band.
Their latest project Slow Violence also features guest appearances from Kip Berman of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Christian Frederickson of Rachel’s, actor Peter Mark Kendall from TV’s The Americans, plus Johnny Hager’s dad on trombone and Alexander McCabe on saxophone. Long-time band associate Daniel Kluger (Tony-nominated composer) contributed additional production on three tracks. The album was mixed by Kiri Stensby, who makes music as Hara Kiri, and mastered by GRAMMY-nominated engineer Jessica Thompson.
Q & A with Occurrence:
Can you tell us a little bit more about the inspirations and influences behind the album, both lyrically and sonically?
After being separated for two years, we were finally reunited in our studio in 2021 and I think all that time apart gave us a creative kick in the ass. All these songs starting coming. We also happened to catch the 2021 Jasper Johns retrospective at the Whitney Museum. The way he repurposed materials inspired us to do the same with old vocal tracks, which Ken reworked and effected to create new soundscapes and glitchy melodies. Also, we’re musicians who are older than most and have seen some shit. Hence, we’ve all been through more relationships and have been formed by more experiences than most younger musicians, so we have a lot to draw from, thematically and lyrically. The idea — our lives are the result of the slow violence that accrues over time — felt especially relevant after the events of the last few years.
Given the project’s impressive line up, what was the most rewarding part about working with such an expansive and impressive group of musicians and artists? Is there a track on the album you think highlights that the most?
This week, along with releasing our album, we also open our dance-theater piece Slow Violence with choreographer Dan Safer and student dancers from MIT, Boston University and Harvard. It’s been an immensely rewarding and eye-opening journey. Being able to incorporate elements of dance, theater, lighting, projection, costumes into our music has given us a new perspective on what our live show can be. It’s a real rollercoaster of a show, set in a haunted hotel. It brings out all the themes of the album.
We’ve also been to incorporate more live instruments into our work, which is thrilling since we’re primarily an electronic band. This time around, we collaborated with guitarist Kip Berman (from THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART), guitarist Peter Mark Kendall (from television’s THE AMERICANS), instrumentalist and Tony-nominated composer Daniel Kluger, saxophonist Alexander McCabe, and trombonist (and Johnny’s dad) John Hager Sr. Cat plays flute on several tracks, too—another first for us.
Can we expect anything else from Occurrence in the near future? What do you hope for with Occurrence moving forward?
We’re already working on new songs and hope to release an EP or a few singles before the year is over. And now that we’ve experimented a bit with our live show, we hope to keep incorporating different creative elements into our work. Maybe puppets? But for now our eyes are really making this show the best it possibly can be, and just really excited and terrified to release this massive album to the world.
Occurrence
Slow Violence
(Archie & Fox Records)
Release Date: April 7, 2023
Slow Violence Track Listing
Blossom Forth
Universe Moves So Fast
Fudge
Survive, Die Faster
You’re Not A Miracle
This Isn’t What I Imagined
Heels Over Head
The Future Pt. 1
Everything I Had Then/Slow Violence 1
Love Is Love (Until It’s Not)
November 30, 2014
All My Days (Final)
The Remote Past Tense
Messiah Longing
Slow Violence II
Depression Water
Water Into Ocean
Dissolve
Anonymous Data Call
God Wound/Slow Violence III
I Fucked The World To Get You To Love Me
Prepare My Body For Sleep
Artist Links
Background Photo Credit: Cameron Scoggins
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