Interview: Le Big Zero bursts at the seams

Le Big Zero slithers like chameleons. With their new three-song EP, they permit themselves to play around and tinker with their typical sound. Opting for explosives and soul-igniting drums and guitars, the band, anchored with songwriter/guitarist Michael Pasuit and singer Carolina Aguilar, have tapped into something almost primal. It’s as though they’ve cast all inhibitions to the wind and morphed into another creature altogether. With “a lineup change, a new dynamic, and then writing again with just one guitar,” notes Pasuit, the process burst before them, and they had to rediscover who they were and why they make music to begin with.

With a full-length album in the works, Le Big Zero made a specific intention to write atypical songs that could shake up their creativity. “We thought of this EP in a more old-fashioned sense: We’re still here. Here’s some really cool stuff while you wait,” adds Pasuit. “I think the EP says a lot for only having three songs. It’s a pretty wide palette with a lot of new colors. Unfortunately, nothing in music is financial anymore, unless you’re selling millions. But that annual $14 check from streaming services really helped out with the recording – got us some donuts for the studio that day.”

With the EP, which feels like, in part, a “statement of purpose,” the quartet hone in on “sonically different” textures that weren’t necessarily on purpose, but “it’s probably the most ‘normal’ we’ve sounded, playing mostly in 4/4 and mostly with verse-chorus structures.”

“Funnel Cake at a Funeral” shifts gears mid-way through, jangling through stacked instruments like they have no care in the world. That aesthetic drives the EP; as it barrels ahead, the listener flies back in their chair and can only go along for the bumpy ride. “How Very” feels vintage coded, while “Cheap Men in Fast Cars” hammers convention down to size. Three songs slot together like a game of Tetris. Each piece exists as its own creation, but together, they form a greater picture, much more stylistically sturdy than it otherwise would be.

Le Big Zero’s How to Use a Semicolon; is out now.

Below, Pasuit and Aguilar discuss dark matter, cohesiveness, and more.

With Carolina’s return, did the chemistry fit back together pretty naturally?

Aguilar: Michael and I were friends first – so that’s easy. And through the band I’ve become so close with Ben and Lukas that it’s fluid and funny and judgment-free. I missed them. And they need female energy in the room to step up their game.

How does that differ from previous projects?

Pasuit: When we knew we were “going small,” it let us be a little loose on what we wanted to include and get a little erratic with style and textures. A longer listen may beg for more of a throughline, and honestly, I’m a sucker for full-lengths having a complete thought. This one is more of a short sentence. A brief statement in what is otherwise a longer conversation – hence the title of the album.

“Funnel Cake at a Funeral” brings a bit of levity to darker subject matter. Is that how you often deal with heavier themes and the state of the world in your everyday life?

Pasuit: Much of our previous album “At Arm’s Length” dealt with much heavier themes with the world still reeling from the aftermath of Covid, the Supreme Court stealing bodily autonomy. Little did we know this EP would be released with yet another shitshow on tap. “Funnel Cake” actually is the complete opposite. As a writing exercise, we started with a bonkers title and worked the song from there. Purposely levity and playfulness.

Sometimes, humor makes things easier to swallow. Would you say that’s true?

Aguilar: I actually think humor enables us to talk and write about much heavier topics, including personal things within the band. We’re all pretty good life-troubleshooters for each other, and there’s always a good joke or two in that process even if it’s dark.

Pasuit: Making light of things is our default state by nature. And while it can be comforting, if all you ever do is make a joke, it lends itself to others questioning you, like “what are they hiding?” That’s not the intent here. It’s not like we’re a parody band. We take our music very seriously. Ourselves – not so much.

“Cheap Men in French Cars” bursts with a wall-to-wall of sound, courtesy of guitars and percussion. How does this crashing of sounds serve the song’s lyrics?

Pasuit: With this one, the music came first in trying to achieve a wall of sound as best as possible with a smaller lineup. Bands like Swervedriver, Ride, and Dinosaur Jr. were certainly front of mind. Carolina and I had talked about the lyrics as being cinematic.

Aguilar: It’s cinematic, and it’s got a lot of “motion,” and I thought the same was true of Tamara de Lempicka’s self-portrait in the green Bugatti I happened to be looking at a lot at the time, so it all came together. I’ve always been jealous of people with synesthesia; this felt a bit like what I imagine that lucky phenomenon to be like.

How do these three songs fit together as a whole?

Pasuit: I think the disparate nature of the songs is oddly the link. Each of the three previous albums had throughlines when it came to vibes. This one is a bit of a stew while still being us.

Aguilar: Mmm. Stew.

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