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The Cover Story
PRESIDENT: “I’ve sat with these feelings for a long f*cking time… Writing these songs takes a lot out of me”
A true whirlwind success story for heavy music this year, PRESIDENT are about to firmly cement themselves with debut EP King Of Terrors. From the absolute DIY nature of the project to it becoming an important vehicle to ask deep and uncomfortable questions, we meet their masked leader to find out how he’s built a breathtaking band worth believing in…
- Words:
- Luke Morton
- Photography:
- Gobinder Jhitta
When you’re hitting the campaign trail, there’s no room for mistakes.
“The night before, I was having panic attacks. I was really not in a good place, I was freaking out so much. Most of the time you play your first show and it’s something you control, you’re in a venue with friends and family, and it’s fine if it goes wrong. This couldn’t go wrong.”
The anonymous head of state known only as President is recounting his inaugural address at Download Festival this summer. A landmark moment amongst a weekend of stellar performances, four masked men pulled tens of thousands of curious voters to the Dogtooth Stage, with rows upon rows forced to crane their necks from outside, rivalling the crowd that Parkway Drive’s secret set garnered 12 months earlier.
It was clear that the electorate was demanding change. They wanted a new administration, and a new leader to take heavy music into a glorious new age.
President has since seen aerial photos that show the true scale of what happened on that Sunday afternoon, as more and more bodies heaved into the marquee, waiting for something special. Phones held aloft were livestreaming on TikTok before anyone had even taken to the stage. But you didn’t need an opinion poll to see that something was happening. Something big. And something completely unprecedented for a band with just two songs to their name.
“Over the past few years I’ve grown this desire to put myself in really uncomfortable positions,” our faceless host considers. “I went through a time of playing it quite safe, and I think that once I started doing things that scare me a bit, or make me feel nervous, often good things happen in those moments.
“I got to the back of the stage and I just remember it being so hot. We were in this Portakabin, and I had this thought that there’s no going back now. It was about stepping into the unknown, and I can honestly say I’ve never been more nervous about anything in my whole life. The show was a bit of a blur, but I remember at the end when the crowd were chanting, it just hit me like a fucking wall. I had tears in my eyes and it was a moment I’ll never forget.”
But this landslide victory wasn’t confined to Donington – the regime change was already in motion. A month and a half later, PRESIDENT played their first headline show (or rally, as they’re known) at The Garage in London, which sold out instantly. Their UK and Ireland tour next year also sold out in a matter of minutes, including the 2,300-capacity O2 Forum Kentish Town.
“Once I started doing things that scare me a bit, or make me feel nervous, often good things happen”
The rapid ascension and rabid attention is actually quite unbelievable. It’s hard to wrap one’s head around why an act who barely even existed until four months ago have managed what achieve what some bands take decades to make happen. As you might expect in a time where we question the validity of everything we see and hear, the authenticity of PRESIDENT has been high on the agenda of the voting public.
“I see this word ‘industry plant’ chucked around a lot, and I find that a really bewildering phrase,” muses the mystery frontman. “It’s ironic in a way that we’re called PRESIDENT because I see a lot of misinformation put out about this band. People can’t get their head around the fact that a band can be selling out a tour because it doesn’t make any sense. I can’t answer those questions, but what I can absolutely, categorically answer is that it’s nothing to do with this big machine pushing it. I self-produced this record, I played every instrument, and I put it out without a label. We got some friends to help us make a video and put it up online. It couldn’t be more DIY if it tried.”
As well as facing down accusations of being part of some machine that can magically generate fan interest and sell tickets, PRESIDENT have had to contend with rife speculation about who the band members (President, guitarist Heist, bassist Protest and drummer Vice) actually are.
“It doesn’t bother me at all, man. That was obviously going to happen,” offers our incognito host. “But I’m hoping that over time, who is in the band will become far less relevant and it’s more about the artform. If anyone thinks that one day there’ll be an unmasking, there won’t. People can talk about it as much as they want but it’s not going to change anything.”
He can see that even in such a short space of time, fans are already over “the speculation part”, much like the self-policing that exists within the Sleep Token community, assuring that Vessel and his cohorts’ identities are never revealed (it remains as rule number one on the band’s subreddit). Because, really, what would be the point? Why look behind the magician’s curtain when you’re so enraptured with his tricks? Just enjoy the moment.
But there’s more to the secrecy surrounding PRESIDENT than world-building; the fact its frontman remains faceless also provides a degree of separation and the freedom to say things he felt he couldn’t share previously. Sometimes no matter how deeply we feel something, like it’s written through our bones like a stick of rock, we still cannot reveal our true nature to the world.
“I wanted to be shielded in a way where I can say what I want because it’s not my face that you’re looking at. I felt like I could be more honest with myself if I didn’t have to worry about the aftermath of what people thought of me. I could be more vulnerable.
“People might criticise that, but I don’t give a shit.”
What President does give a shit about, however, is what happens after we die? It’s a question that has plagued and perplexed humankind since we first looked up at the stars, and we are still no nearer a definitive answer. Many have tried, over thousands of years, to answer this and other mind-mangling questions through religion and the words of a higher power, many of which are still present in society. It’s this notion that consumes President, one which became an obsession to detrimental effect, ruminating for hours and days on-end about how stories and ideologies written millennia ago continue affect our lives.
“Every idea of right and wrong is governed by religions,” he says. “They carved out those ideas of what’s right and what’s wrong because of this idea that we’re all going to this place after we die. Those are fundamental cornerstones of our society and no-one thinks about it. No-one fucking thinks about it because it’s uncomfortable.
“I’ve sat with those feelings for a long fucking time and it drove me to a really dark place. I got to a point where I was struggling and I was looking around me and no-one else was thinking about it or cared, and I felt so alone. It’s all-consuming – I had to go and see a fucking therapist about it. Is it just me or is no-one else thinking about it? All these questions started coming. And the only way I really know how to vent these questions is through music and PRESIDENT was the vehicle. I started writing these songs before the whole mask concept came up, it was just a creative outpouring.”
Growing up in what he describes as a religious background, the man known as President held on to his faith like a “security blanket”. He was confirmed around the age of 14, his father was a born-again Christian, and he knew theology teachers. It governed his life from what he says was a very impressionable age, forming an “understanding of everything” around him, but would eventually let go.
Bestowed with a knowledge of key tenets, teachings and texts, the frontman channelled what he describes as his “religious trauma” into PRESIDENT’s upcoming EP. Even the record’s title, King Of Terrors, is a biblical term for death.
“I think largely all this stuff in my head was rooted in death anxiety,” he explains. “Everything that I did, every moral that I had, I lived my life by this code. But if none of that was true – I’m not saying it’s not, but if it’s not – then death really started to play on my mind. Like, if there’s nothing, then what’s the point in anything?
“I think that what happens when we die would hugely impact the way we live our lives because if people knew that there was nothing, for sure, we’d live in a very different world. There’s lots of religions and ideas, but I just think people sometimes think of it as a children’s story and, ‘That might happen or that might happen…’ What the fuck are you talking about?! It’s such a hugely important part of our existence and I sometimes I feel like fucking screaming!”
It’s this perceived religious governance and interconnection of church and state that lies at the heart of PRESIDENT’s visual aesthetic, as he believes that a president, ultimately, represents “the link between humanity and religion” and “the idea of power going all the way up the chain”.
Rather than making himself look like any recognisable President of today, however, the unknown man opposite Kerrang! decided to adopt a more universally accepted facsimile of the leader of the free world from a bygone era, telling us that he wanted something to “feel dark but also hopeful” from an eerie world that’s also filled with beauty.
“I didn’t want it to be a horror thing,” he says directly. “This is not an anti-religious project, it’s not an anti-government project, it’s not an anti-politics project. It’s about dealing with inner questions. It’s really interesting watching people on YouTube listening to the songs and almost going through the same stuff I went through when writing them. Writing these songs takes a lot out of me mentally because I’ve never been this forthcoming with how I’m feeling in music, especially about these kind of subjects. So it’s been heartwarming seeing other people’s reactions and their struggles in the same way.”
The first song that YouTubers and new converts alike heard from this fledgling project was In The Name Of The Father, released in May, which has already racked up 11 million plays on Spotify. In it, President calls out to the Father, begging to hear and feel him near, contemplating his loss of faith like ‘a fool, a sucker for a fantasy,’ and how we are all just tying to find hope in a meaningless world.
He also casts his gaze on the indoctrination of children into religion, screaming, ‘scare them, scare them, make them worship’. Literally putting the fear of god into a younger generation.
“If you read the bible, it’s not like, ‘Oh don’t worry about it, I’m sure it’ll be fine,’ it’s, ‘You will burn in Hell!’ It’s the idea of, ‘If you don’t do this then there will be consequences.’”
Repeating that “I am not anti-religion,” President notes that, “A lot of blood has been spilled over religion, probably the most blood ever spilled across humanity was done in the name of religion – but humans are the problem. Humans are wonderful, but we have our problems and it really bugs me when the negative elements of the human condition are then abused in the name of religion.
“As a teaching, religion is actually very worthwhile, it has a lot of positive elements and there’s a lot of great stuff in the bible that I think is really helpful to live your life by. But it’s not about the religion, it’s about the truth. What actually is going on?”
“It bugs me when the negative elements of the human condition are abused in the name of religion”
But what if God is real? And President is going out of his way to not only question His existence but ultimately ruin his chances of making it through the pearly gates when the time comes.
“If God’s there, I don’t know what he thinks of me right now,” he jokes. “I used to feel bad even thinking these fucking things, let alone saying them, and now I’m putting records out about it. But I’m thinking about it and evidently it’s making other people think about it, and if God’s there I’m hoping that He thinks it’s a good thing.
“It’s spreading questions, it’s not spreading opinion, because I am searching for it myself. That’s the thing with PRESIDENT – it’s a search that we can have together. That’s what brings the community together, which is a beautiful fucking thing to be happening.”
And therein lies the duality of PRESIDENT. For a project that goes to great lengths to question the motives of religion and what it represents, he now stands as a venerated figure with thousands of followers, who are all looking for hidden meaning in his words and symbology.
“That is interesting and I hadn’t really thought about that,” he muses. “I am in no way preaching to anyone, and that’s really important. I’m not saying I’ve got the answers, but what I do have is music to share with people, and this idea of raising questions, which I think is wholly positive. But what I’m dealing with at the root is a real pain and an inner struggle, and I know there are people out there that have the same thing. I think the idea of people coming together is a really beautiful one. If they do that listening to the music I’m making then I’m honoured by that.”
It’s a curious thing that bands who refuse to show their faces can foster such loyal communities. Ghost, Sleep Token and Slipknot have some of the most dedicated and ravenous fandoms within all of music, connecting with their devoted followers on a level most acts can only dream of. It’s mostly down to the quality of the music, of course, but the veil of anonymity also allows listeners to put themselves into the picture. Without a focal point to attribute lyrics and stories to, they become our own. President is an entity, not a frontman. Merely a, ahem, vessel for our own ideas and questions.
“It’s part of the magic of music and art in general,” he says. “When you look at a painting I might take away something different than what the painter was actually trying to put across. A line from a song can mean something different to you than it means to me. I think that’s positive because people experience their own lives and you’re not experiencing the life of the person who wrote it – you’re experiencing your own life. You take the words and adapt them to your situation.”
Indeed, on the surface, King Of Terrors is what President refers to as a break-up record but about religion. Destroy Me reckons with his lowest ebb and wanting to escape, Dionysus (named after the god of wine and ecstasy) urges a higher power to speak to him, Conclave discusses ideas of the afterlife… But these meanings only exist if you know they’re there. For many of the millions who’ve heard PRESIDENT’s music, they will have derived their own interpretation and perhaps been inspired to make art of their own.
Such was the case with recent single RAGE, which takes its cues from Dylan Thomas’ Do Not Got Gentle Into That Good Night, a poem originally written for the author’s dying father.
“‘Do not go quiet’ is the line that resonates with me the most,” the frontman begins. “I felt like I’m shouting and screaming about all this stuff, and I that’s really what I drew on that poem for. Do not go quiet. Rage into the dying light. Rage into death asking questions and trying to fucking figure it all out.”
RAGE also stands as a prime example of President’s manifesto pledge to not have his music be one thing. Sure, there’s an overarching metalcore, djent-y feel to the EP, but the creative mastermind credits the likes of Icelandic dreamscapers Sigur Rós and John Hopkins’ album 2018 ambient album Singularity as pivotal in his pursuit of incorporating electronics and heaviness in a way he hasn’t heard before. By blending this disparate elements, the power of minimalism accentuates the cacophony to create something wholly unique that befits their world – something fresh yet familiar.
“What’s been really nice about making this record is, for the first time in a long time, I do not give a fuck what anyone else thinks of it,” he grins. “It’s not about the song, it’s not about the structure, I want to create something that I feel is what I’m trying to convey because this is a completely emotional project for me. It gives me the strength and courage to not care what anyone else thinks about it.”
But people do like it. Hundreds of thousands of them if social media and streaming stats are anything to go by. Take a cursory look at the comments on latest single Destroy Me and you’ll find, ‘This band only has four songs and I'm already here for them for life,’ ‘This band is already an all-time favourite’ and ‘I can’t get enough of this band.’
Rather than basking in the glow, however, President is already planning his next move in the campaign. With the debut EP coming next week, he reveals that he’s already working on the full-length album.
“There’s stuff happening at the moment,” he teases of where the world will go next. “I don’t want to give too much away, but I want to tell more of the story of President as a character. He will have a story separate to me, but our stories are intertwined. I’m interested in telling the origin story of President and we are facilitating ways of telling those stories, but that’s all I’m going to say for now…”
As the in-character story continues to unfold, the horizon is filled with opportunities for spread the message in the real world. A sold-out UK and Europe tour, dates in the U.S., and a headline turn at Takedown Festival provide ample time and space to address voters en masse.
So what does the President want people to take away from his rallies?
“I want people to come with a sense of community and asking questions that they feel uncomfortable about,” he smiles. “I’ve felt very alone in asking some of the questions that’ve come into my head, but I’d love for people to come together in that one spirit, to ask these questions together, and to make them feel less alone.”
Get your exclusive and limited-edition PRESIDENT vinyl, art print and zine now.
King Of Terrors is due out on September 26. PRESIDENT head out on their sold-out UK Campaign Trail in April 2026.
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