Spend a minute on Google and you’ll find dozens of think-pieces on why this influx of new blood has taken place. The crossover with art and fashion has dragged the scene away from bunker-dwelling meatheads, they’ll say, and into a cool new light. The visibility of new faces (Outbreak 2023 features surely the most ethnically diverse line-up for a heavy festival in the UK, ever) has had a snowball effect, picking up new sounds and fans as it gathers momentum. For Aaron, it comes back to finding an energy you can’t get anywhere else.
“Lock people in a house for two years and they build up a lot of kinetic energy. They’re sitting at home, unable to go anywhere because the whole world has shut down, sending each other videos of people going apeshit bonkers jumping off things and into each other. It created this want, for lack of a better word, to feel alive. People want that invigorated feeling. They want that dopamine. And they’re going to get it at our shows, or Turnstile’s shows, or Knocked Loose’s. They step into that room for the first time and feel that same feeling we felt. Then they tell all their friends who tell all their friends, and here we are.”
Playing on bigger and bigger stages affords bigger opportunities, too. Of the Jesus Piece collective, Luis has the most obviously ostentatious side-hustles: drumming for pop superstar Charli XCX, modelling for fashion brand NOAH, performing as electronic alter-ego LU2K. Aaron – who put in a spell on bass for NOTHING himself – stresses that the openness to develop is key to JP’s forward direction.
“I want my brothers to grow. I want everybody to be the best version of themselves. Maybe that’s the dad in me,” a momentary switch to his best fatherly voice, “but I’m just so proud of everybody. I want people to be themselves, to take credit for what they do and what they’ve done. Luis is a very hard-working person and I want to give him props for that. He built that for himself. And I want JP to help with that if we can. Likewise, I’d like to think that anything I do would have the support of my friends.”