Ever since Exsufflation posted his first thread on the witch-house forum about "Dream Life", I've been following his growth as an artist. Two years, two albums, and three EPs later, I'm thrilled to finally feature him here. This is easily one of my favorite interviews I've done for the blog. Rob was also kind enough to hook Mutant Zones up with new drag mix entitled "WER4SAKEN", which you can stream and download here. Turn it up and enjoy the read!
Is there a story behind the name Exsufflation?
Yes and unfortunately it’s a dumb story. I stole it from a shitpost video of Lebron James warming up before a game. I saw the word “Exsufflation” and thought it sounded cool. I maybe should’ve thought about that name in the long run, but I think it fits the project now.What were your earliest inspirations, and what made you want to start producing?
My earliest inspiration was actually rap. Me and a friend used to make dumb meme songs in middle school. We’d download a type beat off YouTube (ex. Travis Scott type beat, A$AP Rocky type beat etc..) and rap about stupid shit over the beats. But as I got older, I really wanted to learn how to fully produce my own songs. During lockdown I got really into experimental music, electronic music & hyperpop. I was one of those kids that would go to every Zoom rave, every URL fest & every Minecraft concert. I don’t want to share the names of my previous projects. But they took a lot of inspiration from artists like 100 Gecs, Venetian Snares, Machine Girl, Aphex Twin & Lightning Bolt.I always find it amusing that the witch house scene is a melting pot of people who found it through various genres. Coming from hip-hop myself, what were you listening to back in the day?
The first bit of rap music I liked as a kid was Wu-Tang Clan. But 2010’s trap & drill are my fav and the most influential for me. My older brother showed me Chief Keef, Young Pappy, G Herbo, Lil Bibby, A$AP Rocky & Waka Flocka Flame. And I found Tyler, The Creator / Odd Future through Loiter Squad being on TV at the time. Then when I was around 15 I discovered Three 6 Mafia & Lil Ugly Mane. LUM is still my favorite rapper.So how did those early experiments lead to Exsufflation?
The reason Exsufflation exists is because Rosa Banshee introduced me to Salem in 2022, and I fell in love with Witch House. I cannot thank him enough for that. The biggest influences for Exsufflation are Salem, Crim3s, Crystal Castles & the EARLY Sematary (like Grave House - RB3 only. I don’t like any of his new stuff)
Can you share more about the place you’re from? Boston is a major city, do you have a local underground scene?
There IS an underground scene but it caters more towards Rave / EDM culture which really isn’t my thing. There’s some WH adjacent artists but I’ve seen more like minded artists in the other New England states.The best scene in New England is the Hardcore scene though. Not Happy Hardcore / Digital Hardcore. Real Hardcore. I’d say my top 5 for current New England Hardcore is Quick To Judge, Neolithic, Step First, Can’t Lose & Far Too Late.
You play guitar, right? How did you first get into playing, and do you play any other instruments?
I started off playing bass. I come from a metal & punk background. So I wanted to learn songs from bands like Crowbar & Misfits. Crowbar was too difficult for me as a beginner, but I learned them Misfits songs! Guitar came after for the same reason, just wanting to play along to my favorite songs. But once I got into creating music, I wanted to incorporate it into what I was writing. I also play drums and a little piano. Although I’m not very good at piano, and learning that was just to learn how to make melodies for electronic music / witch house.I have a vague recollection of reading somewhere you played in a band, is that right?
Sorta! I had a short-lived band named Carpathia with my friend Zella. I was the one to call the band quits because I’m not very good at writing the kind of music we wanted to do. We wanted to mix a bunch of different shoegaze / indie rock influences, but I’m just not good enough at songwriting yet to write songs like that. We wanted to make music inspired by bands like Julie, Have A Nice Life, Ethel Cain, Carissa's Wierd, Slowdive & LSD and The Search For God. But it just didn’t pan out. I now produce Zella’s solo music because I still wanted to work with her in some way. She’s a great friend and collaborator. But Carpathia is not FULLY dead. I’m still open to bringing the project back in the future, once I become a better songwriter.Any plans to play in a band again?
I’ll be playing bass in a hardcore band soon. I’ll post on my Instagram once that starts up.What’s your current setup?
A computer that was originally built to be a gaming PC, FL Studio 21, Behringer U-Phoria UM2 interface, Shure SM58 microphone, M-VAVE MIDI Keyboard, Yamaha PSR-E273, a no name acoustic guitar I got on amazon when I was like 14 & a used Ibanez RG7321 with the thickest string removed (just made it a regular 6 string, tuned to standard.)What’s your creative approach when making beats?
Melodies come from a variety of places. I’ve pulled from bird calls & the chime of my washing machine. I also will sometimes just plug in my midi controller and press random notes until something sounds good. Another way I’ll find melodies is by humming along to a song I like. I’ll hum to it, change a note somewhere, and say to myself “that’d sound sick.” I’ll never rip something off note for note though, because that’s some scummy shit. I’ll just sometimes play around with where a note will fall in a melody. Drum patterns honestly are kind of me placing stuff in the grid and seeing if it sounds good.Has this process changed over the past two or three years?
The process hasn’t changed much. I do tend to stay original lately instead of drawing inspiration from pre-existing things."Channel 0” is both deeply sad and hopeful. Could you talk about the events that shaped the record and how making it helped you navigate those darker moments?
The big events were the deaths of my friend Trinitee, my Nana and my dog Lily. The one that affected me the most was my nana. She died very suddenly and unexpectedly and it changed my life. I was extremely close with my Nana. She was not only so supportive of everything I did, but also helped me through so much. She legit was my #1 fan. The song "Voicemails" is only even named that because I included actual voicemails of her in the song. I wanted to immortalize her in my music.Most of the lyrics on Channel 0 pertain to dealing with my nana’s death specifically. Every thought and feeling since January was dumped into every aspect of this album. This was my biggest vent of my emotions. The song “Disease” is about using alcohol as a crutch. But that was RIGHT after nana died. I stopped that quickly and focused my feelings more into the music. I needed to make sure everything about this album conveyed everything I was feeling. It was very therapeutic to not worry about anything, and to just get everything out. I felt truly empty and lost. This album was not meant to be as harrowing as it ended up being. But I’m happy it went that way, because I felt so good after it was finished.
Exsufflation has a really distinct visual identity, from the graphic design to the logos. Both your Instagram and Tumblr are packed with atmospheric photos that take me right back to the late 2000s and early 2010s. Is photography a side hobby for you, or is it just a byproduct of being out and about?
It’s a mix of both! I love taking photos of ANYTHING I find cool when I’m on the go. But I also am constantly looking to build the dark aesthetics of Exsufflation as a whole. I went to a vocational school and I took the art course as my shop for all 4 years. I was drawn to graphic design and photography so quickly, which is why those are the biggest things I do for this project outside of music. The 2000’s / 2010’s vibes and all black & white editing are very very intentional.Do you have any favourite photographers or visual artists?
My favorite photography is everything on John Holland’s flickr.
You come from a generation of digital natives used to constant social media noise and endless ways to consume content. How do you discover new music these days?
Primarily through checking out whatever SoundCloud recommends, most of the time it’s bangers. I frequent the Witch House forum to see what new artists post their stuff, or whatever Zin posts. And my favorite way is just word of mouth. Rosa Banshee always puts me onto great artists. And I’m in some Witch House discord servers that I’ll get recs from.You mentioned Rosa Banshee, how did you two first connect and start collaborating?
We met in 2020 through the discord server of a music collective. We shared many of the same interests, we’re close in age and we both have similar personalities. Meeting him was one of the greatest things to ever happen to me. He’s shown me so much amazing music, given me production tips, helped me make songs, supported me, and given me some of the greatest moments of my life. He’s legit one of my best friends and my favorite person to collab with. Truly a kind soul and I hold him very dear to my heart.Have you had the chance to link up in person yet?
I finally met him IRL last year, as well as the rest of our friend group. It was a beautiful thing. Love all my homies, shoutout NewInnovativeProject.Is NewInnovativeProject like a music collective?
Yes. NewInnovativeProject is a collective / friend group. It consists of myself, Rosa Banshee, B. Flores, nomad, Ruenous, Greystar, Voila999, F.L.A.C.K. / Cromwell / Luci Carcass, Blood Estate & Chris from Ellla Can’t Save You. Rosa Banshee is the creator of it.Are your friends outside the scene aware of witch house?
I’ve introduced my friends to Witch House, because I wanted to show them what I make. But I’ve shown other artists too, mainly Salem & Rosa Banshee because that’s my goat.I have to ask you about the Shawty Wanna Fuck project - how did that collab come about, your remixes make this meme song sound genuinely sick…
That came from a late night discord call between me, Rosa Banshee and another friend of ours (credited as Zynthetic on the release). I had brought up another version of the song where every time he says “fuck”, a loud fart with reverb plays. We listened to the original song and thought it’d be funny to try to turn it into a serious remix. Which we honestly did. We all muted our mics, whipped something up, then showcased them all together. Then after the main remixes were done, the songs became even funnier with the idea of making a drag version as well. This was a genius idea at 4 AM in a discord call.Are there any plans to collaborate with other artists down the line, either sharing production duties or featuring guest vocalists and rappers?
Rosa Banshee, House Of Leaves, Undead Evergreen & Strfll are always on the list. I’m totally open to working with people if they reach out too!In the future I’d love to work with dancing in slow motion, sleepingprayer, unholyredeemer, e_death, Pharmacist, Three Wishes, Pale Palace & For Lunar Dust / GAN!GAN!GAO!
Have you had a chance to perform live? If so, where and how did it go?
I have not but some shows are in the works! None in Massachusetts quite yet, but New Hampshire & Rhode Island are on the agenda as of right now. But I’ve done trial runs at home and they went great.
What are your plans for the near and more distant future?
I have a new song coming out on Halloween that was cut from Channel 0. I was originally going to release it at another point. But looking back on it, it seemed like the perfect end of this era of Exsufflation. The song is completely and solely about how I’m living without my nana. The instrumental and a drag version will be released along with it.I may take a little break from releasing things to focus on some personal stuff. But I’m always working on music. I have songs already made for the next release, but as of right now they’re all just instrumentals. I feel like I’ve tapped into everything I had to offer for Channel 0, so it’ll be some time before the next EP / album. Inspiration comes in waves, and I’ll immediately chef something up when that inspiration comes.
Shows of course are a huge thing I want to get going. As well as merch. I have a couple CD’s left for Channel 0 currently, but I’ll of course reup those if the demand is there. I may even do limited releases of all my past releases. I have many clothing designs just sitting on my computer that I’d like to get made soon. I would prefer to go through a local shop, but online may be the move just for now.
Any shout-outs?
My family, my boyfriend James, my best friend Lily, Iris, Zella, Dylan, Jack, Shaine, Jake, all of the NewInnovativeProject family, Alfred, Strfll, Undead Evergreen, House of Leaves, the Witch House forum, Subvert.fm, Vertigo Cult, Boston Hardcore & the state of Massachusetts.Make sure to follow Exsufflation on Instagram instagram.com/exsufflati0n_, Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/exsufflation, Bandcamp: exsufflation.bandcamp.com and Bluesky: @exsufflation.bsky.social. Also check out his website here.