Protomartyr rightly get a lot of attention for frontman Joe Casey’s lyrics, but musically there is a lot going on as well. New album Formal Growth in the Desert brings a new level of sonic depth to the equation, with guitarist Greg Ahee adding layers of synth and more to their sound which can go from delicate and atmospheric to very heavy. The album also features pedal steel player Bill Radcliffe, who helps give these songs a cinematic, almost orchestral feel at times. Read our review, and listen to it below.

We talked to Greg about the Formal Growth in the Desert, how it almost didn’t happen (it was a tough pandemic for the band), and what music inspired him and brought him back to playing again. One of those inspirations: listening to Ennio Morricone in a dog park. He sheds a lot of light on the album and you can read that below.

Yasuaki Shimizu
I started listening to yasuaki shimizu pretty heavily sometime during the pandemic. I started with Kakashi and then Music For Commercials and then his stuff with Mariah. I think because I was so stuck in my own head during that time I was drawn to music that fully engulfed me….stuff that would take me out of me world and into its own. I felt trapped and these are records that invited me into their orbit.

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L’Rain
Around the same time my friend Matt introduced me to the music of L’Rain. I hadn’t listened to much of any new music in a long while and when I put the two L’Rain records on they had the same effect on me as the Yasuaki Shimizu albums did. They felt wildly complex but somehow still cohesive. There was so much happening but nothing felt out of place, everything felt like it had a purpose.

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Ennio Morricone
During all this I couldn’t write any music. I mean I probably could’ve but I didn’t want to. I remember thinking I might never try to write another song and feeling ok with that. I ended up taking a couple of jobs scoring short films because I was bored and needed the money. I started watching some spaghetti westerns because they were on tv and by this point I let the tv choose what I’d watch since streaming involved too much decision making. I remember watching The Good, The Bad & The Ugly and being fascinated by how much Morricone’s score dictated the mood. I started walking around listening to that score. I remember being at a dog park and hearing “The Strong” and nearly being moved to tears watching a golden retriever take a shit. I think that’s when I decided I wanted to write again.

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Emma-Jean Thackray
Sometimes when we start to write an album I look for some sort of theme musically to keep it on track. If I start listening to an album a lot and I feel connected to it I’ll use that as a jumping off point. For Relatives in Descent I tried to bring in elements of Odyshape by The Raincoats. For Ultimate Success Today, it was The Jewel in The Lotus by Bennie Maupin. Making Formal Growth in the Desert felt different. It was our first time writing an album after taking a break and not playing any music for well over a year. When I finally starting writing again I didn’t want one reference point to focus on. I wanted as many as I could find. I wanted to put everything together and blend it up and still have it feel cohesive. It’s one of the reasons I wanted to work with Jake Aron, he mixed those L’Rain albums.

I remember reaching out to Scott when I first went to New York to try to start writing new stuff with Alex. I asked him what he’d been listening to. He sent a few things and at the top of the list was Emma-Jean Thackray. He sent the song “Rain Dance / Wisdom.” I was floored by that change up half way through. We started writing right after and ended up with the music for our song “Rain Garden.”

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Songs: Ohia – The Magnolia Electric Co.
By the time we were ready for the studio our album had taken shape quickly. A decent amount of the album was written in the week or two before we were set to record. It felt chaotic but it also felt exciting in a way that I hadn’t felt in a long time. We were writing quickly and I was piecing together songs on my computer and my phone. I remember looking for musical themes to tie everything together. Earlier in the process I kept trying to figure out how to bring out the emotions I felt while watching that dog take a shit while listening to Morricone. I decided on pedal steel because it could mix warmth with desolation. An album that always felt like it wore those two colors well was Songs: Ohia’s The Magnolia Electric Co. I used to listen to “Farewell Transmission” on repeat but never tried to take influence from it. I remember the way that lap steel hit me the first time I heard it. I wanted to try to bring that to what we do.

Joe and I never really discussed any “themes” for our records, but when we were in the studio we realized that this one would start in a desert and end in a garden. It felt nice to finally make an album that ends in a more hopeful place than it starts.

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Protomartyr are on tour starting June 13 including two shows at NYC’s Bowery Ballroom on June 15 (tickets) and June 16 (sold out). All dates are below:

PROTOMARTYR – 2023 TOUR DATES
Tue. June 13 – Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern – SOLD OUT
Wed. June 14 – Montreal, QC @ Fairmount
Thu. June 15 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
Fri. June 16 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom – SOLD OUT
Sat. June 17 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s – SOLD OUT
Sun. June 18 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
Tue. June 20 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat
Wed. June 21 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
Thu. June 22 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West
Fri. June 23 – Nashville, TN @ Blue Room
Sat. June 24 – St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway
Mon. June 26 – Oklahoma City, OK @ 89th Street
Tue. June 28 – Tucson, AZ @ 191 Toole
Wed. June 29 – Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room
Sat. July 1 – San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel
Sun. July 2 – Santa Cruz, CA @ Moe’s Alley
Wed. July 5 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
Thu. July 6 – Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre
Fri. July 7 – Seattle, WA @ Crocodile
Sat. July 8 – Spokane, WA @ Lucky You
Tue. July 11 – St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club
Wed. July 12 – Madison, WI @ High Noon
Thu. July 13 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
Fri. Aug. 4 – Genk, BE @ Absolutely Free Festival
Sat. Aug. 5 – Haldern, DE @ Haldern Pop Festival
Sun. Aug. 6 – Frankfurt, DE @ Zoom
Mon. Aug. 7 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
Wed. Aug. 9 – Brighton, UK @ Concorde 2
Thu. Aug. 10 – Nottingham, UK @ Rescue Rooms
Fri. Aug. 11 – Cardiff, UK @ Clwb lfor Bach
Sat. Aug. 12 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
Mon. Aug. 14 – Eindhoven, NL @ Effenaar
Tue. Aug. 15 – Hannover, DE @ Indiego Glocksee
Thu. Aug. 17 – Copenhagen, DK @ Loppen
Fri. Aug. 18 – Bodo, NO @ Parkenfestivalen
Sat. Aug. 19 – Trondheim, NE @ Pstereo
Thu. Oct. 19 – Galway, IE @ Roisin Dubh
Fri. Oct. 20 – Limerick, IE @ Dolan’s Warehouse
Sat. Oct. 21 – Dublin, IE @ The Button Factory
Mon. Oct. 23 – Manchester, UK @ YES (The Pink Room)
Tue. Oct. 24 – Bristol, UK @ The Trinity Centre
Wed. Oct. 25 – Birmingham, UK @ Hare & Hounds
Thu. Oct. 26 – London, UK @ Electric Ballroom
Sat. Oct. 28 – Rouen, FR @ Le 106
Sun. Oct. 29 – Antwerp, BE @ Trix Club
Mon. Oct. 30 – Groningen, DE @ Vera
Tue. Oct. 31 – Hamburg, DE @ Banhof Pauli
Wed. Nov. 1 – Leipzig, DE @ UT Connewitz
Thu. Nov. 2 – Berlin, DE @ Hole44
Sat. Nov. 4 – Athens, GR @ Gagarin 205
Mon. Nov. 6 – Munich, DE @ Strom
Tue. Nov. 7 – Zurich, CH @ Bogen F
Thu. Nov. 9 – Paris, FR @ La Station
Fri. Nov. 10 – Lyon, FR @ Marché Gare
Sat. Nov. 11 – Annecy, FR @ Le Brise Glace
Mon. Nov. 13 – Bologna, IT @ Locomotiv Club
Tue. Nov. 14 – Torino, IT @ Spazio 211
Wed. Nov. 15 – Marseille, FR @ Le Makeda
Thu. Nov. 16 – Montpellier, FR @ Le Rockstore