Interview with HEALTH

Between the meme and melancholy: HEALTH and the sonic violence of “not trying.”

There are few bands that manage to capture the schizophrenia of our era like HEALTH. They are capable of being the most hilarious and cynical guys on the internet, and at the same time, the architects of an emotional brutality that leaves you empty. There is no middle ground, or rather, the middle ground is chaos.

Taking advantage of his imminent landing in Mexico for the tour with Pierce The VeilI sat down to talk with Jake Duzsik (voice and guitar) to try to decipher what is going on in the head of a band that seems to be writing the score of modern collapse.

Sound evolution: Faster, sadder

who listen RAT WARSwe know that HEALTH It is no longer the same noise rock band from its beginnings. They have mutated. And according to Jakethat mutation is far from over. When talking about their most recent material and how it connects to what we already know, they were clear that they are not interested in nostalgia:

We are an industrial music band, but in a more modern sense. We use parts of pop, hip hop and sub-bass. We're not doing it in a sense of the past, we're not trying to make a sound like Ministry in the '80s, but in a modern industrial sense.”

This philosophy is materialized in what is to come: CONFLICT DLC. Jake It confirms to me that this new stage works almost like a spiritual “double album” of his previous work, but with a different injection of adrenaline. It's not a B-side, it's a dystopian expansion of its own battlefield.

“The production style is the same as RAT WARSthey are basically together (…) But there is a big change: we wanted to make those sounds in a more fun way. The songs are faster. It's sadder and funnier at the same time.”

The tribe of the broken: Anime, video games and depression

One of the great mysteries of HEALTH It is its duality. On the one hand there is the shitposting constant, led by bassist John Famiglietti, and on the other, the lyrical depth of Jake. I asked him how these two worlds coexist and his answer was a perfect, and almost sociological, diagnosis of his fan base:

In the past we thought that people who really like memes, video games and anime were a type of fan. And on the other hand, those who have problems with mental health… But we discovered that they are the same. Those things fit in the same person.”

It is a powerful statement. HEALTH He has understood that his audience is not fragmented; It is a generation that uses digital irony and evasion geek as a defense mechanism against trauma. Jake sums it up best. “Our fans have parts of me and John. But in the band, John and I are very separate, and I think in some ways that works.”

The “6-7” generation and the language void

We talked about how digital language—the one where absurd terms like “6-7” become a trend—is eroding the meaning of reality. Jakewith its background in literature and philosophy, took it to an unexpected existentialist level, citing Derrida and Foucault to explain why his lyrics feel so empty and full at the same time.

“Reality is something that language constructs (…) Right now there are so many things that are losing meaning. There are not so many things that mean 'being human', understanding what it is like to have thoughts and feel pain. They are all things from our fucking mobile phones… We are losing the way of knowing who we are.”

“Don't Try”: The irony of being alive

Perhaps the highest point of the talk was when we played the mantra that closes their latest album: Don't try (Don't try it), a direct reference to the epitaph of Charles Bukowski. Far from being a defeatist message, Jake He explained to me that it is an almost Zen posture in the face of the anxiety of wanting to control everything:

“It is expressing the irony of being alive. We are always trying to control life, or go to the past or think about the future, and that is why we are not in this moment (…) It is letting go of that need to control things, because it is impossible.”

But Jake reminded me of a crucial detail about that grave: next to the phrase “Don't Try,” a boxer is engraved.

It is the duality of life. “You can’t try, you can’t change it, but you have to fight to keep your dignity and being human.”

HEALTH x Pierce The Veil: The must-see date

That fight for dignity, between the sound and the fury, is what we will see live. HEALTH returns to Mexican soil as special guests on the tour of Pierce The Veila combination that promises to be devastating. Jake recognizes that the connection with Mexico is different from any other place; There is a fine tune between our intensity and your proposal.

“Last year we were in Mexico City, we did a DJ Set at the Real Under. This will be a totally different experience. we have the show live, and we have many surprises planned; “We will be very happy to meet and share with all our Mexican fans.”

It's not just a concert, it's a necessary shock therapy to close the year. If you feel part of that tribe that finds comfort among anime and industrial darkness, this is your place.