<\/p>\n
Emerging from the shadowy intersections of post-punk, industrial experimentation, and avant-garde electronics, Scissorgun<\/span><\/span> continue to redefine sonic unpredictability with their latest release, Scream If You Wanna Go Faster<\/em>. Formed in Manchester in 2016 by Alan Hempsall and Dave Clarkson, the duo have built a reputation for fearless improvisation, fractured electronic textures, hypnotic rhythms, and emotionally charged soundscapes that blur the line between chaos and control. Drawing from decades of musical history tied to the legendary Manchester underground and Factory-era innovation, Scissorgun channel influences ranging from Miles Davis<\/span><\/span> and Throbbing Gristle<\/span><\/span> to Kraftwerk<\/span><\/span> and The Stooges<\/span><\/span> into something uniquely their own.<\/p>\n In this conversation, the band dives deep into the creative philosophy behind improvisation, the making of Scream If You Wanna Go Faster<\/em>, their relationship with Manchester\u2019s rich musical legacy, and why embracing risk, imperfection, and experimentation remains essential in modern music.<\/p>\n Interview with Scissorgun on the Chaos Engine, Improvisation & Post-Punk Memory Scissorgun formed back in 2016, built around the idea that everything must come THE NEW ALBUM \u2013\u00a0SCREAM IF YOU WANNA GO FASTER<\/p>\n This album has been described as \u201cNorthern electronic shanties\u201d and \u201csnapshots of a CREATIVE PROCESS & IMPROVISATION FOCUS TRACKS COLLABORATION & VISUAL COMPONENTS (DC) The improvisational backbone enables freedom for us to add extra icing on the cake or INFLUENCES & SOUND HISTORY & CONTEXT You\u2019ve opened for Wolfgang Fl\u00fcr, Wrangler, Eric Random, and more. How have these TECHNICAL & PRODUCTION THEMES & MESSAGE THE FUTURE OF SCISSORGUN CLOSING
\nSince forming in 2016, Manchester duo Scissorgun have carved out a singular space
\nwhere improvisation, experimentation, and instinct collide. Built from the combined histories
\nof Alan Hempsall and Dave Clarkson\u2014figures rooted in post-punk, industrial textures, and
\nFactory-era innovation\u2014the project thrives on unpredictability. Their new\u00a0\u201cScream If You
\nWanna Go Faster\u201d pushes even further into a world of tension and release, blending dub
\nrhythms, fractured electronics, noise, spoken word, and hypnotic atmospheres into
\nsomething that feels both chaotic and strangely human. In this conversation, Scissorgun
\ndiscuss the freedom of improvisation, the making of the new record, their relationship with
\nManchester\u2019s musical legacy, and why creative risk remains essential.<\/p>\n
\nfrom improvisation. What sparked the project, and what made this creative
\nphilosophy feel essential to you?
\n(AH) In the summer of 2016 Crispy Ambulance were on hiatus, and I had an itch I couldn\u2019t
\nscratch. I suggested a jam session just for fun and we liked what we heard. Our insistence
\non improvisation isn\u2019t particularly unique, but it is where we come from and what we know.
\nWhen we\u2019re both on a roll that \u2018seat of the pants\u2019 sensation is hard to beat.
\nYou both came from influential Manchester and Factory-adjacent musical
\nbackgrounds. How did your history with Triclops, White Cube, and Crispy Ambulance
\nshape the DNA of Scissorgun?
\n(DC) Triclops and White Cube bare resemblance to Scissorgun in the fact of trying out
\nunusual musical genre hopping, twists and turns. White Cube were an eight-piece band, all
\npulling in different directions, so the songs were a mix of different styles and ideas. Triclops
\nwere an electronic trio and the gigs we played improvised out of loops, instruments and
\nsamples. Triclops produced no studio work or released any records (apart from small
\nquantities of live recordings) because the nature of the band was improvisation in a live
\nsituation and not based on the general career-based mechanics of how a band usually
\noperates. The live shows were collages of sounds – a bit of an electronic based musique
\nconcrete type sound.
\n(AH) There\u2019s no comparison between Crispy Ambulance and Scissorgun which, for me, is
\nkind of the point. The thrill of the new, you could call it.
\nAlan, your connection to Factory Records and the legendary Joy Division stand-in
\nmoment has become part of post-punk lore. How has that experience followed you
\ninto your work today\u2014if at all?
\n(AH) It doesn\u2019t at all. I suppose I\u2019m very future facing. It was all invaluable experience but
\nthere\u2019s a great deal to be said for stepping out of your comfort zone and taking a few risks. A
\npast comes with baggage and can be quite restricting, creatively speaking.<\/p>\n
\ncity at night.\u201d How would you describe the emotional or atmospheric world of this
\nrecord?
\n(AH) They were actually quotes from a Mojo review of our first album. We should probably
\nupdate our testimonials. I would describe the general mood as one of tension and release.
\nWhat does the album title\u00a0Scream If You Wanna Go Faster\u00a0signify? Is there a
\nconceptual thread running through the tracks?
\n(AH) We thought it captured some of the zeitgeist and it had that fairground barker
\nconnection. It just seemed to fit. There is no overall concept.
\nThis project blends pastoral dream-like passages, explosive noise, dub elements, and
\nurban electronica. What does your creative process look like when you\u2019re navigating
\nsuch wide sonic territory?
\n(DC) Our creative process is simply that all genres of music are put through the Scissorgun
\nportal and what comes out is our interpretation, often with genres being mixed or overlayed.
\nWe wouldn\u2019t hesitate to try a collection of samba-based percussion against a noise piece or
\na dub bass part against an exotica style marimba part.<\/p>\n
\nYou\u2019ve said that improvisation is your starting point and that the music finds
\nyou\u2014not the other way around. Can you walk us through a moment on this album
\nwhere that philosophy led somewhere unexpected?
\n(AH) For me it happened with Cubanos Nocturne. It was very hypnotic when we first played
\nit and we\u2019ve managed to capture that on record without \u2018over developing\u2019 the idea.
\n(DC) The gates are open to all styles and genres. They form the palette we draw from and
\nthen we experiment taking them to another place. A moment where we entered an
\nunexpected area can be found on Late Night Bento which evolved from a soundtrack type
\npiece to a grittier and grimier track accompanied by prose.
\nHow do you decide whether a piece remains raw and improvised or evolves into a
\nstructured song?
\n(DC) We feel there\u2019s something alchemical about it and have a mutual understanding for
\nwhen a piece is completed. Our improvisation and jamming sessions will naturally take a
\ntrack towards a structured song if the key elements are there.
\nWhat role do \u201caccidents,\u201d serendipity, and found sounds play in shaping the final
\nrecordings?
\n(DC) This is a really important area, I think. We both have in common a strong desire to
\navoid flawlessly arranged quantised recordings. We prefer imperfection and warts and all.
\nCreativity and innovation are more exciting when it is the result of accidents and discovery of
\nnew languages of sound. The repetitive nature of practice and rehearsal are often the death
\nof music, squeezing every bit of creative juice out of the music.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cSeven Bells\u201d opens the album. Why was this the right track to set the tone?
\n(DC) We wanted the first track to be a statement of intent and together with Fresh Hell, they
\nare the most immediate sounding ones. It\u2019s also a \u2018countdown\u2019 opener with the striking of 7
\nbells throughout the track. It\u2019s a heavy and dark opener which builds, and we thought that
\nwas the best way of attracting initial attention to the album.
\n(AH) It has all the right ingredients. It\u2019s a really good live set opener as well.
\n\u201cGone Rogue\u201d began with an electro bass line and a conspiracy-theory quote. How
\ndid that unusual combo end up becoming such a propulsive, politically tinged track?
\n(DC) It\u2019s another comment on world paranoia and the extremity of human misinformation.
\nThe tempo and propulsive bass and edge sharp guitar sound fit the madness and confusion
\nof the found source material.
\n(AH) There was such a frantic feel to Dave\u2019s rhythm section that made it the perfect vehicle
\nfor some polemic.
\n\u201cBad As Bingo\u201d has a go-go beat, glitching bass lines, barking dogs\u2014truly a sonic
\ncollage. How did this track evolve, and what makes it stand out for you personally?
\n(DC) It evolved from an older archived track that was dusted down and reconfigured to push
\nit into the direction it ended up being – via band improvised sessions. We\u2019re both fans of that
\ngo-go sound so that we\u2019d take the rhythm idea and introduce it to more abstract and minimal
\nelectronic sequences, all mixed into a traditional song-based structure.
\n\u201cFace Deflector\u201d and \u201cFever Dream\u201d push deeper into electronic and atmospheric
\nterritory. What stories or visuals informed these compositions?
\n(AH) Face Deflector was written during the civil unrest in the summer of \u201924 shortly after
\nLabour came to power. It\u2019s all broken glass, fire and fury. Fever Dream is a far more subtle
\naffair. It came out of Dave\u2019s synth on portamento. It had an almost nauseous quality to it
\nwhich felt comforting at the same time.<\/p>\n
\nAdrian Ball provides visuals and projections for Scissorgun. How does the visual
\nelement inform the sound\u2014or vice versa?
\n(AH) Ade\u2019s work is very much in the moment. He has some things prepared but it\u2019s very
\ninstinctive and \u2018on the fly\u2019.
\nWhen performing live, how does that improvisational backbone interact with lighting,
\nprojections, and the energy of the audience?
\n(AH) If I\u2019m honest I very rarely see what Ade\u2019s doing. I\u2019m too wrapped up in the moment.<\/p>\n
\neven further layering of sound. The energy of the audience often dictates the intensity of the
\ntracks depending on mood or movement.<\/p>\n
\nYou draw inspiration from an eclectic mix\u2014Miles Davis, Throbbing Gristle, Kraftwerk,
\nFaust, Brian Eno, The Stooges. How do these influences manifest in your music
\nwithout overshadowing your identity?
\n(DC) They are just the tip of the iceberg of influences. Artists interest us, not just in what they
\nsound like, but also in their approach to making music. For instance, the music on many of
\nMiles Davis\u2019s 1970s records was a patchwork quilt of passages recorded and compiled into
\nlarger tracks. Similarly, Faust and Throbbing Gristle adopted this approach. Our influences
\ndon\u2019t overshadow the identify because the Scissorgun identity is always established from the
\nequipment and ultimately the \u2018voice\u2019 of us as a collective, which is the DNA which runs
\nthrough all our music.
\n(AH) Blocking out your influences is a pointless exercise. You tend to find they seep out like
\nwater anyway. It\u2019s actually quite difficult to copy someone outright.
\nScissorgun seems to sit at the intersection of post-punk sensibility and modern
\nelectronic experimentation. Do you see yourselves as continuing the Factory lineage
\nor forging an entirely new path?
\n(DC) I would hope that we are forging a new path. Also, as a key label more in post punk
\nmusic, Factory didn\u2019t produce as much modern electronic experimental music as other labels
\naround at the same time such as Mute and Fast products. A lot of our electronic influences
\nare taken from a broad church which includes early industrial music, modern German glitch
\nmusic, 20th century avant-garde and shiny and sleek techno, to name a few.
\n(AH) Factory were a great label to be on but they were very much of their time. It\u2019s hard to
\nsee how that maverick approach would work in the current industry landscape. People seem
\nto be a lot more risk averse. That\u2019s why we like our new label, Dimple Discs. They have a
\nsimilar approach in that artistic input is unfettered by commercial considerations.<\/p>\n
\nYour previous albums\u2014Assault Two,\u00a0All You Love Is Need, and\u00a0Psychological
\nColouring Book\u2014all explored different sonic territories. Where does\u00a0Scream If You
\nWanna Go Faster\u00a0fit into the evolution of Scissorgun?
\n(AH) What you\u2019ve just described is simply progression. I\u2019m certainly a more competent
\nguitarist than I was eight years ago. You find yourself constantly refining.
\n(DC) I think the latest album has a more immediate, dynamic and wider sonic palette. The
\nwider range of musical genres are reflective of the global themes and a world of information
\noverload and forces constantly fighting for your attention. Scissorgun are currently grabbing
\nthese signals and feeding them into the mix!<\/p>\n
\nlive experiences shaped your approach to the studio?
\n(AH) Put bluntly, they haven\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\nDave, you handled production, engineering, and much of the instrumentation. What
\nchallenges or breakthroughs did you experience while shaping this album?
\n(DC) Challenges are always the same for producing every album\u2026things like muddy mixes,
\ncreative blocks and avoiding contrived or comforting trends. Generally, separating
\nfrequencies and preventing clashes between sounds is always a challenge if the density of
\nthe sound is made up of too many stems. I tend to avoid this by focussing on stripping out
\nsounds surplus to requirement and using as little reverb or echo as possible throughout the
\nparts. Breakthroughs come by gaining more technical knowledge in the studio and using the
\nrequired tricks to apply. We don\u2019t seek out purity in the sound or spend huge amounts of
\ntime finding the perfect solution. Instead, we prefer a mix which displays immediacy and
\nimperfection and strive to capture those moments of syncopation, serendipity and accidental
\nharmonic overlaps.
\nHow do you approach mastering, field recordings, and tape manipulation to maintain
\nboth warmth and experimentation in your sound?
\n(DC) Mastering of our albums has so far been performed by Peter Beckmann at Technology
\nWorks, who does a sterling job in making the overall production mix sound broader, louder
\nand crystal clear.
\nField recordings are used to add identification to the tracks when required. They are often
\nrecorded using a Zoom H2 recorder or simply an iPhone, depending on the nature of them.
\nThere is no tape manipulation involved in the process.<\/p>\n
\nMany of these tracks feel like commentary on modern chaos\u2014social media noise,
\nattention wars, isolation, fragmentation. How much social commentary is intentional,
\nand how much emerges subconsciously?
\n(AH) It was intentional. It\u2019s cathartic to vent your spleen but I tried to strike a balance. I didn\u2019t
\nwant it to come across as preachy. It\u2019s not as though I\u2019ve got any answers. Anyway, now it\u2019s
\ntaken the form of an album we\u2019ll probably move on.
\nWhat do you want listeners to feel when they experience this album from start to
\nfinish?
\n(DC) It would be great if the listener arrived at the feeling that love is the radical weapon
\nagainst hatred and isolationism.<\/p>\n
\nWill improvisation always remain the core of your process, or do you foresee
\nexperimenting with more structured approaches in future projects?
\n(DC) Nothing is ever ruled out, but our hearts are in discovery, serendipity and the lost
\nchord.
\n(AH) I can\u2019t read or write music so it\u2019s all I know. It\u2019s where I come from.
\nAre there plans for additional live shows, videos, remixes, or collaborations following
\nthe album\u2019s release?
\n(DC) We chat about all these areas a lot. Live shows are a definite. Remixes and
\ncollaborations could be possible on condition that they would result in something worthy.
\n(AH) Everything is considered. Right now, our new album is taking shape in some quite
\nunforeseen ways. It\u2019s going to be another version of us.
\nWhat excites you most creatively as you look ahead to Scissorgun\u2019s next phase?
\n(DC) For myself it\u2019s the prospect of finding musical ideas and input which are challenging
\nand beyond my own comfort zone.
\n(AH) One influence we both share is Miles Davis. His approach to innovation in the sixties
\nand seventies was to just forge ahead and disregard those who chose to disown him in the
\njazz fraternity. It\u2019s the attitude we\u2019re trying to emulate. That\u2019s very liberating and very
\nexciting.<\/p>\n
\nFor fans who are just discovering Scissorgun, what\u2019s the one track from this album
\nyou\u2019d recommend as the perfect entry point\u2014and why?
\n(AH) I\u2019d go for \u2018Bad as Bingo\u2019 because it\u2019s probably one of the most \u2018instant\u2019.
\n(DC) After much thought, I\u2019d probably choose Late Night Bento as it is a collage of urban
\nelectronics and street prose, which as well as incorporating all the instrumentation we use, it
\nis also evocative of the overall subject matter of the album and offers unlimited
\nimprovisational opportunities when played live.
\nFinally, what message would you like to send to longtime listeners, Factory-era fans,
\nor those following your journey from post-punk to electronic exploration?
\n(DC) We\u2019d like to thank them for their interest and support of our music and promise more
\nexciting records to come.
\n(AH) Well done for making it this far.<\/p>\n