With a new album on its way and live shows planned for later in the year, it seemed the perfect time to catch up with Evan Von Berg of Rubbish Party to find out how it all came about, what’s happening in their sonic world, and where it all goes next.
Rubbish Party has an interesting back story, one that is based around the coming together of reincarnated Germanic Lords and Englishmen with names that suggest that they are characters from an Oscar Wilde play. Could you elaborate?
Yes, I would love to indulge you and your audience in our wonderful backstory. Let’s start with the Crimson Creep and Me; we met in high school when I was in algebra class, and the Crimson Creep saw me writing in the runic language (Elder Futhark). He was able to decipher what I was writing about, which was my hatred of the school and my longing for my past life. It sparked an immediate friendship between us.
I found that I was a reincarnated Germanic Lord when I viewed some ancient Germanic artifacts at the age of 14. Ever since that day, I’ve had visions and extreme past life recall. When I met the Crimson Creep (Samuel Cummings), to my surprise, he told me he had been experiencing something similar. It is, in our minds, without a shadow of a doubt, that we are reincarnated Germanic Lords from the migration Era, around 500 A.D., in southwest Germany. We believe we were Alemannic Lords specifically. I myself descend from German nobility, hence “Von Berg,” and I believe in reincarnation; you must reincarnate into the same or very similar bloodline.
As for the British part of the ensemble, They met in art school, and while the name Alfred Lavender, albeit a little goofy (no offense, Al), it is indeed his real name, stemming from the old French “lavendier”. He actually traced his ancestry to the Norman invasion, which is often a source of debate amongst the band members (some of us side with the Saxons, some of us with the Normans) 1066 is a pivotal year in English history, and we will have some songs come out about it.
J. Edwin Galloway, Alfred Lavender, Edward Clutterbuck, and George Hammich all met in art school and formed a friendship. Edward Clutterbuck is a stage name; he prefers to be anonymous and mysterious for reasons I’m not yet at liberty to discuss. Anyways, The Crimson Creep and I actually met Edward on an online forum about Germanic Paganism, and it sparked us to chat a lot and find out we all liked similar music, and thus, we formed the Rubbish Party; that’s our epic origin story.
How would you describe your sound and what people can expect from your second release, Love and Decay?
I would describe our sound as classic British indie rock, incorporating timeless elements that induce nostalgia but also with a new twist. When you have as many people as we do in our band, it can create a clash of visions, and Culinary Vendetta, our debut album has a different sound than Love and Decay. Culinary Vendetta was my vision completely, and Love and Decay was more of Clutterbuck and the Crimson Creep’s style, which I also love. Our new album will be a mix of all our styles. We will see how it is received.
How does the sound on this EP differ from that of your self-described “homage to cannibalism,” the debut album Culinary Vendetta’?
It differs greatly in many ways; as stated Culinary Vendetta was my vision. I wrote the whole album, and it was very much going for more of a punkish, garage rock vibe, and I think we achieved that. Love and Decay is more of an 80’s / 2010’s classic indie rock feel, and it’s not nearly as raw and unrefined as Vendetta. We have recorded 27 songs in a two-and-a-half-year span, and Vendetta was the first song we recorded. Not nearly as polished, and we decided to keep it that way. I think it has a unique flare to it, although the subject matter (cannibalism) scares some people away. It is essentially a huge revenge fantasy of mine in which I cook and eat my enemies, as well as serve them them to other people.
Given that the band is the product of two countries, how does this impact how you make music?
First of all, it’s very difficult and costly for us to all meet up and record music, so that’s taken a huge toll; other than that, we are able to blend visions very well; however, although we are part of the wider anglosphere, obviously Americans and The English have many differences, though we share blood. We’ve had some clashes of opinion, and in our recent album, we have a song coming out called “Here I Stand in England.”
I wrote it, and it’s about some of the things I have observed happening in England. My English bandmates were not happy and didn’t want me to comment on their country as I don’t even live there, but ultimately, they let me keep track, and we will see how it’s received.
And given that distance, are there plans to play live?
We do plan to play live, and actually, because of the cost of travel, I have hired some people who can play the English members’ parts. Guitar, bass, etc. They will be touring with me and the Crimson Creep in Colorado, and we will be doing the vocals that Lavender and Clutterbuck do. It won’t sound the same, but we will see how it’s received. Due to things I’m not at liberty to discuss again, Clutterbuck actually cannot leave the U.K. for the foreseeable future, so we needed to figure out a solution for when we play in America.
Are there any regular themes running through your songs, any dialogues you want to start, or points you want to make?
Well, as stated Culinary Vendetta was a revenge tale, and Love and Decay was about failed relationships and betrayal. In our new album, there are themes we wanted to put out. One of those for me and the Crimson Creep is that we are reincarnated Germanic Lords, and being reborn in this day and age that is so foreign and strange has taken a massive toll on us. We have a song coming out in the new album called “I Am a Ghost.” Because we are ghosts, it hurts.
J. Edwin Galloway took the helm of much of this new album, and he is making points against capitalism, the modern music industry, and, as he stated, “every ism” mankind has ever created. That’s a bit of a stretch, but it’s a slam of the critics and society as a whole. I’m eager to see who agrees with it and who hates the message because some of it is not very popular.
What influences, musical and otherwise, have you taken inspiration from?
For me, it’s Modest Mouse; I love them with all my heart, them and The Smiths, The Pixies, Future Islands for their synth elements, and many others. For J. Edwin Galloway, it’s Gorillaz as well as the other indie bands I listed, but he takes inspiration from many different artists. The Crimson Creep’s influences are much like mine, and so is the indie rock genre as a whole. Inner Wave, bands like that. Clutterbuck is a complete Morrissey and The Smiths fanboy and I think you will see that a lot more in the new album.
What current bands do you think are doing important work at the moment, and for what reasons?
Unrelated to our genre, but Wardruna, the Nordic folk band. The reason is that they are bringing back ancient instruments, like the Tagelharpa, which I’ve learned to play. While we can’t say for sure what Viking music, or Germanic music as a whole, sounded like in the ancient age, it’s nice to hear such ancient instruments be played again. It brings back past life recalls for me, to hear a Tagelharpa played again.
And another band, if it’s not too narcissistic of me to say, would be us. Rubbish Party. I think we are revolutionary and could be the new face of Indie.
And what is next for Rubbish Party?
We have an album coming in September, and we are planning some live shows in Colorado, albeit with fill-ins and not some of our most vital members. I think this album will be revolutionary and incredibly received. Very emotive, poignant, 13-song album. As I stated, over a two-and-a-half-year span, we recorded 27 songs, and we have been sorting them and releasing them. We’ve saved some of the best for last I think
Thanks for taking the time to talk to me, and best of luck with the new album, the shows, and everything else you have planned.
