Perhaps best known as one of the founding members of the iconic French music act Dirtyphonics, Spag Ruckus is the latest incarnation of multidisciplinary artist Matheo de Bruvisso aka Thomas Desbouvrie.
While for some the modular synthesis-based meditations that Thomas explores under his new moniker may seem light years away from the anabolic beats of his Dirtyphonics days, the full scope of his forthcoming album project, Ghosts of Perversion, is perhaps best realized with the third single to be released from the LP. The tune is called “Autopanic” and features an exquisite collab with the multi-faceted Regal Standard that refuses to be bound by genre and media conventions.
As Thomas tells it, the modular synth-world that the album explores is “like a new birth for me . . . I feel like I finally found my instrument.” But perhaps more than just the instrumentation at the core, it’s the feeling of experimentation that channels the industrial-electronic-punk ethos of Ministry or NIN. The darkness at the heart of the tune is accentuated by the vocals of Regal Standard, which serve to ramp up the anxious and restless core of the tune proper.
Originally conceived as an instrumental backdrop to a video Spag Ruckus made in an art workshop, it was a chance encounter with the tune that inspired Regal Standard to craft some lyrics tat instantly caught the attention of Spag and led to a formal alliance. “It was an immediate match,” Spag says of the lyrics, “[and added] a new vibe to the music.”
When asked to reflect on the lyrics and what sort of headspace they emerged from, Regal is quick to point out, “I always write from a subconscious place but the song title was already there so I embraced that. To me, ‘Autopanic’ is a sudden feeling of anxiety or the fight or flight response.” It’s an emotional state that the song and the album in many ways are sure to conjure in listeners.
“My aim with Spag Ruckus is to experiment without a format, to feel free to do what I like. I want to explore unexpected structures, weird ideas, bizarre melodies and ambiances, have fun and surprise myself. I want the room to do all the things my previous collaborators didn’t want to hear about. Spag Ruckus is my freedom playground.”
With ‘Autopanic’ there’s no denying that he’s succeeded on all fronts.