Esh & the Isolations are gifting an incredibly well-timed new album, Idiot Fingerz, to those of us forced to stay inside with today, May 1st. The album is a potent mix of proto-punk and rap that’s musically ambitious and lyrically pertinent, a complementary mix of humorous boasts and prescient lyrics about isolation and anxiety.
Esh takes his inspirations from old school legends, running a gambit from ODB to Iggy Pop, and the raw power (pun intended) of these legends is palpable on Fingerz. The choppy synth rhythm of “Better Off Dead” sounds like a combination of New Order and El-P, while the bouncy rhythm of “Every Rhyme” sounds like a new genre of indie-rap all on it’s own.
Idiot Fingerz complements the diverse musical influences with a comprehensive set of lyrics, touching on topics like isolation, self-identity and income inequality with both humor and urgency. “Life’s an expensive bastard, but not with anonymous benefactors,” he jokes on “Rich Parents,” only minutes after the decidedly serious and analytical “Costanza Wallet.” Esh proudly boasts through “Chef Kiss” while also recognizing his own anxieties on “I Am Nothing.” He’s also written – unintentionally or prophetically – the isolationist anthem of the quarter in “Don’t Freak Out!!!,” a track about social anxieties that parallels perfectly with our current stay-at-home conditions.
We spoke to frontman Esh, via email from the comfort of our homes.
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Allston Pudding: Your record blends influences from punk and rap, which as a combination is somewhat untapped. How do you see these two genres coexisting, in either a general or personal sense?
Esh: Historically and personally, there have always been parallels between Rap & Punk. For me, they are both a refusal of the status quo by the disenfranchised – an artform with ten middle fingers that would rather piss on the walls of a museum than hang there. Proud trash.
That’s the heart and soul of Idiot Fingerz. The idea that you don’t need a chamber orchestra to make something meaningful. You just need your 10 stupid digits and whatever means are at your disposal.
AP: Who (or what) were some of your main influences on this album? And how would you say you incorporate those influences into your music?
Esh: I tried to make a rap album in the spirit of proto-punk pioneers like Lou Reed. His album Transformer goes from rock song, to piano ballad, to cabaret, fluidly. It’s rejection of identity is its identity. I wanted to make something that couldn’t be easily characterized; something experimental that chased its mania yet steeped itself in indie rap tradition.
AP: It’s a very well-rounded album, switching from very serious to very funny on a dime. What experience do you want a listener to ultimately take away from it?
Esh: I’d like to inspire people to really be themselves. The album is both serious and funny because I am both serious and funny. Artists shouldn’t feel the need to stick to a script or worry about being “on brand.” The human condition is infinitely complex. I’d be doing a disservice to myself if I didn’t express all sides of my personality.
AP: You’ve compared the album to the infamous Max Headroom television hack, do you think the media world could use more bold, disruptive statements like that?
Esh: What I love most about the Max Headroom incident is that someone hijacked the most powerful mode of communication to act like a fool for minute and a half. Nothing more. There is no agenda, and the identity of the hacker was never discovered. There is beauty in its nihilism.
I think media has been thoroughly disrupted. It’s weird to think about a broadcast signal being hacked when everyone has the platform to broadcast. Maybe someone should hack Oprah’s Tik Tok. Does Oprah have a Tik Tok?
AP: Some of the lyrics on the album are centered around wealth and economic inequalities. What role do you think something like music has for those many of us who feel the negative effects of this?
Esh: Music can play a number of different roles for poor folk – and by poor folk I mean anyone who isn’t filthy rich. It can build communities, offer escape, and make you want to fuck so much that you spawn a small army of left-wing radicals who eventually grow up and overthrow the government before succumbing to the temptations of absolute power and start the cycle over again. I guess that counts as community building.
AP: I didn’t want to write about COVID-19, but it feels apropos since your album deals with the topics of identity & isolation – do you think our current ‘unique circumstances’ will alter the way people engage with media? Isolation & identity are two topics that are suddenly very interwoven, what can people learn about themselves from a period of isolation?
Esh: The Rona has altered the way we engage with everything forever. Best case scenario, it will be a sobering moment for mankind, exposing all society’s deepest flaws, forcing people to really confront them. Will that happen? I don’t know. One thing it has exposed is how essential to the human spirit the entertainment industry is, yet it still seems extremely undervalued monetarily with no bail out in sight. Artists are basically busking via livestream.
I think people will learn a lot about themselves in isolation. It brings everything to the surface. I made most of Idiot Fingerz alone in my apartment during an eight-month period in which my mother-in-law died, my wife’s oldest friend was murdered, I lost my job, and my father died. That type of compounded trauma is a very lonely experience. It changed my life completely. I had to re-evaluate who and what really mattered.
I realized that how I’d been making music was making me not like making music, so I started over from scratch. After years of working with other producers I relearned how to make beats, record myself, mix myself, etc. It’s a tough process, but extremely fulfilling. It also provided a necessary distraction from grief-soaked existence.
Isolation can breed depression, bitterness, and resentment, but it can also be the cocoon to your metamorphosis. I hope collectively we choose the later.
AP: And, because these questions have been kinda heavy, who would you most like to perform with/have on as a feature?
Esh: In true lonely curmudgeon fashion, I hate collaborating with people. It rarely feels comfortable. There is a select few who I will fuck with forever, but that’s pretty much it. That being said, I’d love to produce another rapper’s album if the situation was right. Also, I want to do a show with Ezra Furman once shows are allowed. He likes Lou as much as I do.
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Every song Esh assembles is designed to make you get up and move, whether you’re home alone or at a live show. Esh has also claimed that he can “out-punk any punk band” and “out-rap any old-head purist.” It’s a slight irony that a project with the name the Isolations can boast such a great live show, but when we’re all allowed to go see live music again, Esh is going to use that tantric energy to give these songs the exhilarating live renditions they deserve.
Idiot Fingerz and an interactive video project will be available on vinyl, cassette and digital streaming sites inside your place of isolation on May 1st. You can watch the Max Headroom-inspired video for “Lou Says” here.