ALGORERHYTHM combines heavy metal intensity with punk's raw energy to craft unique, socially charged music. Their latest single, "Social Genocide," explores the dark impact of social media through fierce lyrics and DIY ethos.
1. Can
you tell us about the origins of ALGORERHYTHM? How did the three of you come
together and decide to form the band?
ALOGORERHYTHM was founded from the ashes of our previous bands: Los Exeter and
Bipolar. Both bands were long tenured acts that had some overlapping band
members near the end. When these projects dissolved in 2018 and 2019, we all
got together with the intent of forming a new band at the beginning of 2020.
Then when the world shut down during the pandemic we found ourselves with more
time to really dial in the songs that became the “Not Dead Yet” we self
produced and released in July of 2021. Since then we’ve consistently been
putting out new music, music videos, streams as well as gigging in our local
and regional markets. Our approach has always been pretty DIY, as bassist Tom
Nieves produces all our music videos and social media content, Guitarist Skarlett
Christenson has handled all our self-produced releases, and drummer Brian Hanks
has produced nearly all of the apparel we have for sale at shows and on our
merch store: Store — ALGORERHYTHM
2. "Social Genocide" tackles the negative effects of social media.
What inspired you to explore this theme, and do you have personal experiences
that shaped the song's message?
The lyrics of “Social Genocide” were born of the innate pressure we put on
ourselves trying to regularly put out quality content. This combined with the
increasing amount of negative things we’d been seeing: things like cries for
help, death threats, and even full blown suicide notes. That’s where the lyric
“Socialized Suicide” stems from. That led us to explore the concepts of life
and death and how both are being affected by the increasing use of social media
platforms. It’s also a social commentary on what social practices we as a
society are “killing” as we become more and more enamored with what social
media has to offer. These themes can be explored in the lyric video we produced
for the track on our YouTube channel.
3. The single reflects a mix of influences from the big four of American
heavy metal and underground punk. How do you balance these two genres to create
your unique sound?
We try not to put ourselves in any boxes, musically speaking. That said, we
never set out to write a “metal” or a “punk” song. Everything happens pretty
organically in our camp. Historically, we’ve all been in metal bands and that
will always be evident in the delivery of our music. But we’ve only recently
received the “punk band” moniker, and we think that has more to do with our DIY
approach, combined with the “less-than-serious” personalities we portray in our
content. At the end of the day we always try to subscribe to the mantra: “If it
isn’t fun, what’s the point?
4. This release was self-funded, which is a big step for any band. What challenges did you face during this process, and what kept you motivated?
Honestly, the fact that this release was self-funded made it exponentially easier than our past releases. We worked hard to play a lot of gigs in 2023 and used the funds from those shows to record the track in the studio. That made the songs go from rough ideas to the final product you hear today much quicker than if we were to do everything ourselves.
5. Cody Leavitt at Asteroid M Records played a key role in bringing this
single to life. How did you connect with him, and what made him the right fit
for this project?
First off, Cody is a legend in the local Las Vegas music scene. Few people are
as invested in their local markets as he is, and the fact that he’s also a
phenomenal engineer is just the cherry on top. That said, we’ve been friends
with Cody for a long time and were super excited when we finally got the funds
together to record with him. He pushed us harder than anyone ever has to ensure
he could capture the best performances from all of us, and I think that really
shows in the end result.
6. Can you walk us through the recording process? Were there any moments
that stood out as particularly memorable or challenging?
Cody’s approach is simple but effective: keep doing it until it’s right. He
said several times throughout the tracking process, “sounds like you've finally
warmed up,” a sentiment that was equally as frustrating as it was encouraging.
But all in all, everything flowed pretty smooth throughout the production of
the track.
7. Being based in Las Vegas, a city known for its vibrant entertainment scene, has your location influenced your music or your journey as a band?
Las Vegas is this crazy little entertainment macrocosm in the middle of the desert, and it’s full of so many incredibly talented artists. That being said, it’s really easy to draw inspiration from your peers when the local talent pool is full of so many talented people who all take their craft seriously.
8. What do you hope listeners take away from "Social Genocide"? Is there a specific message or emotion you want to resonate with them?
Honestly, the best message is in the lyric:
‘What ya gonna do? But take a look in the mirror and see the product is you’
We’re more hyper connected than ever before, and the consequences of that are equally as great. We live in a time where everybody is trying to be in your face with their content, and as such it’s extremely hard to get people's attention in both the digital and physical worlds. As the saying goes “if you’re not paying for the product, you are the product.
9. As this is your first studio release, how does it feel to transition from years of honing your craft to finally putting something out into the world?
We’ve always worked really hard at our music, but it does feel good to finally have a true ‘studio’ release. Everything up to this point has been self produced or done ‘live-in-studio’ and there’s a certain amount of imperfections you become okay with in those settings. This release feels like us, and the best version of us to date. That alone is extremely satisfying.
10. Looking ahead, what’s next for ALGORERHYTHM? Are there plans for a full-length album, more singles, or live performances?
There will be another single produced by Asteroid M dropping in early 2025, and we're simultaneously working on another one that will be released later next year. We’ve also got over a dozen new songs we’re looking to finalize and start recording in 2025.
11. If you could perform "Social Genocide" on stage with one of your biggest influences, who would it be and why?
That’s a difficult question, because there's hundreds of artists that we’d be thrilled to share a stage with. The why is the more compelling question because we’d love to share our art with any audience that resonates with it.
12. Finally, how has creating and releasing "Social Genocide" helped you grow as musicians and as a band?
We’re constantly in competition with ourselves. We want our next release to be stronger than our last, as well as everything that goes along with that: the songwriting, music videos, content, shows, ect. I think the release of “Social Genocide” has checked all those boxes for us. As long as we’re constantly raising the bar for ourselves, we know that we can trust the direction we’re heading in.
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