Feature / One Question Interviews / What's That Noise?
So Hideous

Words: Loren • December 22, 2021

So Hideous
So Hideous

So Hideous (Brandon Cruz)

SPB: What instrument (or instrument combo) was the hardest to capture in the studio when recording None But A Pure Heart Can Sing?

Cruz: We’ve used strings on every single one of our releases but it was particularly challenging on this album as we tried a different methodology. On the last two records we used increasingly larger ensembles so paring it back down to a quartet with SEVEN) SUNS was a nice kick to the head because there’s no faking it, no one is buried.

It’s all very upfront and naked… every bow and every pluck. The energy of the songs and our wonderful new rhythm section also drove the orchestrations on a more jagged and immediate path than our older, more lyrical stuff – less Olafur Arnalds and more Bernard Herrmann.

Sure, we still sneak a weepy Italian opera part in there for good measure but it was a really fun, vexing, rewarding task to look in different directions and stretch our capabilities a bit.

Loren • December 22, 2021

photo by Sean Ageman

So Hideous
So Hideous

Series: What's That Noise?

One-question interviews with artists where we find out about the gear and equipment they use to achieve their sound.

More from this series

Related features

Mike Huguenor

One Question Interviews / What's That Noise? • July 8, 2025

Mike Huguenor Tell us about the primary guitars you used making Surfing the Web with the Alien? Read more

Six Below Zero

One Question Interviews / What's That Noise? • January 22, 2025

Matthew Brammer (Six Below Zero) SPB: Can you walk us through your studio or recording set-up to get a glimpse of how a one-man band works for Six Below Zero? Brammer: Since I don't play live anymore, I'm pretty much 100% "in the box" these days. Especially since a lot … Read more

Distants

One Question Interviews / What's That Noise? • May 23, 2024

Steve Brewer (Distants) SPB: Did you choose your name before the band members were located in different cities? Brweer: Yes. Everyone who was in the band when it started lived in Chicago. When I joined the band in 2019, Zach and I would carpool the distants from Michigan to Chicago … Read more

Faulty Cognitions

One Question Interviews / What's That Noise? • April 1, 2024

Chris Mason (Faulty Cognitions) SPB: Was the mic’ing of your kit for the recording of Somehow, Here We Are fairly straight forward, or were there some techniques or experiments used to capture the sound? Mason: We didn't do anything too fancy. I do remember that we didn't mic the toms … Read more

Stephen Hamm Theremin Man

One Question Interviews / What's That Noise? • March 4, 2024

Stephen Hamm Theremin Man shows off his theremin magic. Read more

Related news

The return of So Hideous

Posted in Records on October 24, 2021

New song from So Hideous

Posted in Bands on August 21, 2015

More from this section

God Bullies

One Question Interviews • July 16, 2025

Mike Hard (God Bullies) SPB: Have you played any familiar locations that survived since your last tour and, if so, what struck you on revising them? If not, is there a city or highway that gave similar "flashbacks" or surprises? Hard: The first city that comes to mind is Dubuque … Read more

Cheap Fix

One Question Interviews • July 14, 2025

Cheap Fix SPB: What’s the most MacGyver-esque workaround you’ve made to connect different bits of equipment? Chad Nichols (guitar/vocals): You'd think with a name like Cheap Fix, we'd be all over this question. But I'm the least handy of the band members, so I've got next to nothing. All my … Read more

Mike Huguenor

One Question Interviews / What's That Noise? • July 8, 2025

Mike Huguenor Tell us about the primary guitars you used making Surfing the Web with the Alien? Read more