As WARGASM return with breakbeat-metal scorcher Vigilantes, Sam Matlock and Milkie Way tell Kerrang! about taking back control of the band, how smashing up LEGO sets embodies their new chapter, and the 30 new songs they’ve got in their locker…
Since dropping Spit. in 2020, WARGASM have barely stopped for a breather. Fusing rap-metal with rave-punk, garage and plenty of monstrosity, the London duo comprising Sam Matlock and Milkie Way have been a mainstay on the festival circuit, in between touring – and collaborating – with the likes of Corey Taylor and Limp Bizkit.
When killer 2023 debut LP Venom landed, it confirmed WARGASM’s trajectory as assuredly upward – on the cusp of exponential, perhaps. That’s the exact shape that Sam tries to draw with his hand across a Zoom screen, speaking to K! alongside Milkie.
“We were doing this thing, and it was resonating,” he reflects. “And then we started working with some [people in] suits, and that stopped. I feel like someone might have sat in our chairs. We would like our thrones back, please.”
Newly independent and free from the industry machine, WARGASM have returned with a breathless single titled Vigilantes. They even dropped the music video one day early, because that’s the type of move you can pull when you’re back in the driver’s seat. “I am the captain now,” Milkie reminds the world…
How’s the mood in camp WARGASM as you unleash Vigilantes?
Milkie Way: “Well, it also happens to be our first single as a now-independent band-”
Sam Matlock: “Again. Back to being independent.”
Milkie: “We are so back, baby! It’s exhausting but gratifying, and it feels good to be in control again, and not have to deal with so much red tape bullshit.”
Sam: “It was time for WARGASM to evolve. There was some stuff holding us back, and sonically, we wanted to go to a different place. We were always in control of the music, but now we're in control of fucking everything again, which is wicked.”
You emphasise ‘again’ – are you resonating with the band’s earlier days, and the reason why you started WARGASM in the first place?
Sam: “We started WARGASM because we were bored with how everything sounded, and I guess it kind of aligns with something that’s happening in music at the moment. Don’t take as us people that are like, ‘Fuck everything,’ because there’s a lot of cool shit happening [too], but there’s only so many digital amplifiers playing a one-note riff on a fucking drop B guitar that I can listen to.
“We need something different. This is the UK, for God’s sake – we had Bowie, the Sex Pistols, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Underworld. We invented fucking dubstep in this city [London], come on. Stuff needs to progress. I’m feeling like that at the moment, and that’s lining up with WARGASM being back in control of everything behind the scenes.”
What specifically prompted you to take back ownership of the band and go independent?
Milkie: “I would just love it if people did their jobs [properly]. I wanted to get back to the point where people were doing their jobs. There’s that old saying, ‘If you want something done right, you’ve gotta do it yourself.’ Say less.”
Sam: “Maybe it’s best that Milkie doesn’t share her opinions on the music industry…”
Milkie: “I’ll save it for my press conference!”
Sam: “I’m into burning less bridges, at the moment… I saw something online that I always [used to think] was just Tumblr rubbish, like, ‘The bridges you burn don’t light the way – the smoke just obscures the path.’”
Milkie: “Sounds like a Fall Out Boy lyric.”
Sam: “We’re not looking for any confrontation anymore, we just want to exist and do our own fucking thing. If you’re not with us, get the fuck out of the way.”
Is Vigilantes about your ambition to take risks, particularly given the lyric ‘Every now and then you gotta break a bone to grow’?
Milkie: “It feels nice to have this little expression of what we’ve been through coming out into the world. One of the main things that we wanted to get across is that you can never really predict what WARGASM is going to do next.”
Sam: “The track is trying to package the energy that exists between Milkie and I… it’s not easy to bottle that shit, but it turns out it is quite easy to record it and program some breakbeats to it. Did you ever have LEGO as a kid? Sometimes, you’d smash [two LEGO sets] up and then make one mega LEGO set. You have to break things to grow – one step back, two steps forward. That’s evolution.
“I don’t think you can move forward without taking a bit of yourself, breaking it, and reshaping it. Some artists are shiny, they’re clean. We’re made from the scraps of broken things. When we play shows, you can definitely see it in the audience: it’s not for the mainstream. We’re not trying to fucking headline Glastonbury. It’s for the freaks and the weirdos, the people that feel like they’re on the outside.”
Does the world ‘vigilante’ resonate with the WARGASM mindset?
Sam: “The Prodigy had [1994 song] Their Law, and the vigilante is someone who takes the law and takes control into their own hands. If The Prodigy are saying, ‘Fuck ’em and their law,’ I guess our angle is that we’re not even considering their law. This is our law now.”
Milkie: “I am the law.”
Sam: “You’re the little Judge Dredd. You’re not very scary for a Judge Dredd…”
Milkie: “People tell me I’m scary all the time.”
Does Vigilantes indicate where you’re headed next?
Sam: “Vigilantes is the only song I’ve ever worked on that I can still listen to and enjoy after going through the whole recording, producing, writing, mixing and video process. But I will say that it’s actually quite normal compared to the rest of the shit that’s happening. It’s all getting a bit bonkers, really.”
How are those other new tunes sounding?
Milkie: “Lots of weird electronic sounds and very irreverent lyrics – they’re definitely going to rub people up the wrong way.”
Sam: “Sometimes you sugarcoat things too much. I don’t need to hear another fucking song about someone’s broken heart on TikTok or Instagram – there’s other things we want to talk about… the world feels a bit fucked up. I’d like things to sound a bit more fucked up.”
Milkie: “Fan the flames.”
Will Vigilantes be part of an album or a wider project?
Sam: “We’ve been ducking in and out of the studio. When you’re with a label, you’re not really meant to record other stuff… but it’s a strange one for artists like us who [write] a little bit in the bedroom here, a little bit in the kitchen. There’s probably 30 tracks cooking. How we choose to present that, after how this release goes…”
Milkie: “Only time will tell.”
Sam: “Ironically, we’ll probably know by the end of the week.”
What else is planned for the rest of the year? That Electric Callboy tour and Slam Dunk both look particularly exciting…
Sam: “We’re also doing some shows with Pendulum, which is great. Rob [Swire] is fun to hang out with in the studio… I think it’s about time we do our own weird show, potentially in the capital – but stay tuned on that. I think it’s time to reimagine the WARGASM live experience and see how hard we can come out swinging. It’s going to change people’s perceptions of what we’re capable of.”
WARGASM’s new single Vigilantes is out now. Catch the band at Slam Dunk Festival next month – get your tickets now.
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