Weird Noise Meets Spaced-Out Doom in Devilish New Project HYDE PARK

Every so often, I’ll share a rough demo in these pages because the source material is strong enough to warrant it. That or it’s just so damned fascinating I can’t resist. Case in point: HYDE PARK. This is the new project by one Jaromy Craig Barker, who is joined by his friend, Taylor Joos. His previous project was Wahupta and it spanned two countries, the United States and Australia. That project issued ‘The Great Passover’ (2017) over the summer, which the band described as a “heavily saturated furiosity of slow and depressing doom.”

In contrast, Hyde Park seems destined for the stars, opening with several minutes of freakish noise that sound like an intercepted message from a distant satellite. Then, about three minutes in, we’re introduced to a fuzz-soaked bass that comes crawling in lower and lower to the ground, gradually stirring up a fuss, like a great plume of smoke around a space shuttle, until the frenetic energy is too much and the ship blasts off for the skies – space-bound or bust.

About this track, what on God’s green earth are we listening to?

Jaromy: This track was recorded in Taylor’s basement with equipment he had bought over the years. The drums and bass were mic’d into an interface and recorded live. The bass is running through four different kinds of distortions and/or fuzzes that are balanced out to work well together or alone, it creates a massive sound coming out of two 4x10 peavey towers ran by an acoustic 320b head. In the recording we’re also running a direct signal from the pedals and using an Orange CR120 head and Marshall 1960b cabinet to boost the mid-upper range of the bass, since we’re not using guitars.

How’d the two of you meet?

Taylor: We started jamming mid 2017-ish with the hopes of getting a lineup for Wahupta, and couldn’t find anyone to play bass for us. So Jaromy got a bass setup so we could search for guitarists that there are lots of. We’d been going to the same shows for years, but didn’t meet until we started jamming with mutual friends, James from Conditioned One and Joe from Northlander. Then Jaromy hit me up to jam. In the midst of that, this song was created and the idea to create a bass heavy two piece called Hyde Park.

I’m hearing some definitely doom influences here, but also touches of space rock and ambient noise.

Jaromy: This music is heavily influenced by slower tempo heavy bands with a lot of feeling. Stuff like Sleep, Neurosis, Om, Disembodied, and Starkweather that isn’t so much music that’s made to be as pleasant as it is to be contemplated and understood. For me, when I hear these bands I get the feeling that my own emotions aren’t fought alone, that there are more people out there that feel depressed or have dealt with loss and such things. It’s more of a spiritual way for us to acknowledge that noises can help others out in ways that exceed what we ever expected to achieve in music. I think that’s why it’s kind-of starting to take on more followers. People are starting to open their eyes in the morning and feel that something is missing and for whatever reason this is what helps most.

What kind of subject matter are you exploring in Hyde Park?

Jaromy: Our songs’ lyrical concepts are basically like short mantras, stuff that you want to say but don’t get the opportunities to. It’s kind-of a mystical way of releasing negative vibes. I’m still new to vocals that aren’t just screaming but I feel like I’m starting to adapt as a vocalist. As for Taylor, well, he just wants everyone to know he loves death metal!

And all this leads up to an album. What can you reveal about your debut record at this stage of the game?

With our new album we’re hoping to capture something that hopefully hasn’t been done before, but overall I guess we’re looking to capture a heavy opening into a long line of work. We both love pushing the boundaries and extending the song lengths, so it could boil down to only two more songs to create the full-length, hopefully. I’m really into the whole “follow the riff” ideas when it comes to performing, I would rather not talk between songs and spend as much time as possible in that certain groove.

I think what can be expected to say the least is that it will be one worth picking up, as our intentions are to create something that continues momentum and these songs will be a strong beginning to a long road of memories. Once we get a van we’ll be ready to go on touring and will hopefully be playing abroad by mid-2018.