Today we’d like to introduce you to Othering .
Hi Othering, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Isai: I tell people we met in middle school, really. It was later on, though, that I was in a band that needed a guitarist. We linked up at a diner, and that’s when [Bryan] told me about Othering.
Bryan: Yeah, ‘cause we didn’t really connect much through high school, even though we went to the same school—which I didn’t know until later. It was some years after that I was starting this project, and I hit you up for it. It seemed like you were at a point in time when you wanted to do this kind of stuff, so it went on from there.
Isai: During COVID, too.
Bryan: Yeah, we kind of just started off, because people gave us some opportunities. The first Othering show was at Rubber Gloves in Denton; it was just me, though. They were doing a first-timers thing for bands who’d never played there. Through that, we met other bands and got the chance to play other shows. As we kept on developing relationships with more bands, we started organizing our own shows working with this community. A year and half later, here we are: releasing more music, more shows, performing with more bands.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Isai: With me, a vehicle. Vehicle issues all the time.
Bryan: But that didn’t happen until this year, right?
Isai: There was a period where I fucked up other cars before, so being in limbo was a challenge. Another thing when starting this project, I hadn’t used my gear and equipment in so long which made the sound rough. I was in bands before, but the kit wasn’t up to shape. So I was just getting the money to get the pieces. I didn’t have a lot of these cymbals at the time.
Bryan: I always liked how it sounded very punk.
Isai: They’re just raw drums that have been through a lot, but yeah those are the obstacles that come to my mind.
Bryan: For me, the main obstacle has been organizing shows. Trying to get a bunch of bands, a bunch of venues and people together for a certain date—I’ve never done that before until this project. I didn’t realize how much work managing these things could be, but it’s taught me a lot for sure.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Bryan: I play guitar, mess with electronics, do vocals.
Isai: I play drums. My approach to the drums is I try to not have stuff written down. Seeing a lot of live drummers, you can kind of tell the rehearsed parts, which, there’s value to that, but that’s one thing I keep myself on my toes about every show. I’ve kind of smoothed it out more and more. People will hit the drums with the sticks, but they’re not fucking playing the drums. They’re not getting the sound out of the drums.
Bryan: Yeah, I love the way you improvise and make it flow through a set. I think that’s what makes this project sound like Othering. We play through backing tracks; that doesn’t change. What changes are the transitions and how the sounds are manipulated through an effects processor. Then, we play our instruments on top of that, which I’ve felt adding live drums on top of recorded drums really just brings some depth to the songs.
Any big plans?
Bryan: We have a tour coming up in July with our pals Sucio and a lot of other great bands. We’ll have new merch available at these shows. We’re working on having some more music out. We just released a new song called “Best Intentions.” We’ll have a music video for it out on May 27. We’ve been working on it with Dallas-based filmmaker Erick Chavez, who we met at one of our shows earlier this year.
Isai: Hopefully bigger tours. It’s always cool meeting bands out of the state.
Bryan: Yeah, we’ve met a lot of nice, interesting people along the way. You also learn a lot from the different setups they have, which I guess is another change we’ll have: equipment and setup. It’ll be more minimalistic and straight to the point.
Isai: And easier to use, it seems. Possibly more audio effects.
Bryan: Definitely. So come see the changes.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/othering
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/otheringothering/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/otheringothering
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@othering_
- soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/otheringothering
- Other: https://othering.bandcamp.com/
