STONED JESUS
Kyiv's STONED JESUS have long been known far beyond Ukraine, and founder and frontman Igor Sydorenko openly admits that "good old stoner" reviews annoy him more than a bad one would. We talked about Songs to Moon — the band's gloomiest record and, in Igor's words, one of its most experimental — the second part of the Songs to… trilogy, out October 16 on Season of Mist. We covered why he revealed the whole trilogy plan up front, "Syzygy", the first instrumental in the band's history, and the hidden melodies that stitch the three albums together, how "Velvet" finally got its chorus, reviews that read like AI, and Igor's own past as a music critic. We also talked about the war and the "music is outside politics" messages, the donation jar at every show, the festival that dropped CELESTE, a tour invitation from CULT OF LUNA, friendship with IGNEA, the 15th anniversary of Seven Thunders Roar and IRON MAIDEN-style era tours.