In SOUND CHECK, we check in with some of our favorite musicians.
Slimy, slithering, crawling—not often do you hear these words describe a person's voice, but they perfectly encapsulate Robert Alfons' signature sound. We've been enchanted with the artist known as TRUST ever since 2012, when he (along with former bandmate Maya Postepski) produced an excellent OC mixtape and relased their full-length debut album. Now a solo act, Trust is no less busy; last week for SXSW he bounced around Austin for a feat of five live shows. Earlier this month, he released a new album, Joyland. Critically acclaimed for grimy and creepy yet wholly catchy melodies, Joyland combines dancy electro beats with soulful vocals. Hoping to learn the source of this fascinating and distinct music style, I was able to catch up with the Toronto-based artist last week in Austin.
William Nixon: Tell me a little bit about the cover art for Joyland.
Trust: It’s a picture I took. I don’t want to give away too many secrets of where it is but yeah, I kind of just wanted to see it on a vinyl and fly through the image.
Do you have any favorite visual artists who inspired that image or the soundscape of the new album?
A friend of mine [who I] am a huge fan of, Kristie Muller. She’s based out of Toronto; I love her photos to death. And another friend, Petra Collins, I think she’s in New York now. Both those girls’ photos are huge inspirations to me.
I feel like Joyland recalls a really distinct world and physical place. Are there any specific spaces that inspired it directly?
Absolutely. I was able to travel a lot in the last few years. A bunch of the songs were written in Argentina; in arcades playing video games; [or] some of [them] on the side of a volcano.
Were there any video games in particular that you were playing?
Lots of arcade stuff, but I’ve always been a fan of the Zelda games. I’m just sort of catching up because I haven’t played many video games in the last ten years. But even the newer ones are still so good. The music is so important for me in video games and Zelda is always dead on with it.
What were some musical influences for your new stuff?
This guy Liar who’s out of Romania. I’ve been a huge fan of his. This girl Sleep ∞ Over who’s actually based in Austin, she’s amazing. And there’s a really hilarious Canadian artist named Sarina Paris from like the late 9
Slimy, slithering, crawling—not often do you hear these words describe a person's voice, but they perfectly encapsulate Robert Alfons' signature sound. We've been enchanted with the artist known as TRUST ever since 2012, when he (along with former bandmate Maya Postepski) produced an excellent OC mixtape and relased their full-length debut album. Now a solo act, Trust is no less busy; last week for SXSW he bounced around Austin for a feat of five live shows. Earlier this month, he released a new album, Joyland. Critically acclaimed for grimy and creepy yet wholly catchy melodies, Joyland combines dancy electro beats with soulful vocals. Hoping to learn the source of this fascinating and distinct music style, I was able to catch up with the Toronto-based artist last week in Austin.
William Nixon: Tell me a little bit about the cover art for Joyland.
Trust: It’s a picture I took. I don’t want to give away too many secrets of where it is but yeah, I kind of just wanted to see it on a vinyl and fly through the image.
Do you have any favorite visual artists who inspired that image or the soundscape of the new album?
A friend of mine [who I] am a huge fan of, Kristie Muller. She’s based out of Toronto; I love her photos to death. And another friend, Petra Collins, I think she’s in New York now. Both those girls’ photos are huge inspirations to me.
I feel like Joyland recalls a really distinct world and physical place. Are there any specific spaces that inspired it directly?
Absolutely. I was able to travel a lot in the last few years. A bunch of the songs were written in Argentina; in arcades playing video games; [or] some of [them] on the side of a volcano.
Were there any video games in particular that you were playing?
Lots of arcade stuff, but I’ve always been a fan of the Zelda games. I’m just sort of catching up because I haven’t played many video games in the last ten years. But even the newer ones are still so good. The music is so important for me in video games and Zelda is always dead on with it.
What were some musical influences for your new stuff?
This guy Liar who’s out of Romania. I’ve been a huge fan of his. This girl Sleep ∞ Over who’s actually based in Austin, she’s amazing. And there’s a really hilarious Canadian artist named Sarina Paris from like the late 9