Glasgowist: Interview with Ezra Miller’s Oddkin ahead of their Glasgow gig

Before all that, Ezra and long-term musical collaborator Lilah Larson will bring their band Oddkin to the stage at Drygate in the east end on Monday December 6.

It's an opportunity to introduce their shimmering, ethereal, playful, boundary-pushing genre-queer band to a Glasgow audience. Previously known as Sons Of An Illustrious Father, the duo started writing music together in 2011 after they became friends at school. This makes Ezra more of a lank-haired garage-band singer turned franchise-leading actor rather than the other way round.   

They released a debut EP Sons in 2015. Their latest release was 2018’s Deus Sex Machine.

I was told I could interview Oddkin ahead of their gig. The original plan was a phone or video call. Word came back that Ezra was filming and email would work better.

Would it though? Essentially an email interview is sending some starting topics out into the ether without any context, in the hope that the answers that come back involve more than a short collection of words and in some way tell the story. The results feel at times like a surrealist experiment.

Let’s see what happened.

Musically, how does Oddkin differ from your previous and current music projects? What's the story of how this band emerged? 

L: It is both completely the same and entirely different. As with the rest of the world we got sort of jumbled up and shaken about in our little container over the course of the last couple years, and this is what came out when tentatively things settled a bit.

E: I like the word emerged. I feel all bands and beings emerged at some point either from the darkness of space or from caves.

Creativity can be difficult to pluck from the void, with the lack of external experiences during lockdown what has your relationship with music been like during the last two years? Have you listened to more music or had a chance to work on more tracks? 

L: I got to spend a lot more time with my record collection, rather than my phone and headphones in a tour van, so that was a quite lovely shift in the way I listen to music.

E: I’ll say this because I know it’s unique - lockdown did not change s*** for me. Dead up. Changed nothing except for the wearing of masks and the constant lancing of my nose and throat. 

L: One of the few things on which we don't relate.

Is music something that travels with you or is this something that you commit to for certain periods of time around other work?

E: If I’m somewhere, music haunts. Only in the nucleus of nothing is there no music. Nothing rests.

L: Nothing rests.

When people mention your band they often reference Brooklyn, how much do you feel you are part of a local scene there and does that influence or inspire the music?

L: Literally not at all. Neither of us live there and haven't really for a long time. Even when we did, our community has always been more diffuse.

E: But we love Brooklyn and yes that is one of the scenes made of people with whom we make Oddkin. 

Note for Reader: The band’s Drygate listing says they are a Brooklyn band, from this answer we can see that any place-specific element of their music is part of what has been left behind as they evolve.  

Glasgow and Scotland has exported a lot of music to America over the years. Are there any Scottish artists on your own playlist?

L: Cocteau Twins of course. The Vaselines. I've always loved Donovan even though he's not cool. And technically David Byrne is Scottish.

E: I am a devoted servant of both [director and writer] Lynne Ramsay and [comic book writer] Grant Morrison, who are both better than everyone else as people and artists, so I don’t really compliment other Scottish artists, especially Glaswegian artists, out loud even though I’m pretty obsessed with several. I will now though make a huge and vital exception for Sophie, long will she reign. 

Talk me about your live show, what can people expect when they turn up to see Oddkin? 

E: Oddkin turning up. 

L: Hopefully a safe and fun time with their fellow vaccinated and masked music lovers.

If people want to get into your music, what tracks would you say are a good entry point, your declaration of intent tracks.  

E: The new stuff. And Armageddon.

L: From our older catalog, yes, Armageddon does stay relevant. As does US Gay. From the newer stuff, I mean, it’s only a five song EP, I feel like it’s not that much of a commitment.

Music, acting and art… What is your favourite form of creative expression and are there any mediums you are still thinking about exploring in the future? 

L: I'd like to be much better at woodworking. I'd like to be much better at everything, actually, but that's the first thing.

The Glasgow band Mogwai have had some success recently in television and film soundtracks, is that something that you have ever considered? 

L: I recently scored a film called Asking For It, written and directed by Eamon O'Rourke. It was an immense experience. I'd love to do much, much more of it, and would love for us to do it together.

E: Yes.

If you could play a musician in a biopic, who would it be? 

L: I think I'd make a great Lyle Lovett.

E: Lilah. 

L: You'd make a great me. I mean, you already do. I think the only other person I'd allow would be Lyle Lovett.

Your gig in Glasgow will be at a venue that is directly beside the Necropolis and Cathedral that feature in key scenes for The Batman movie, which filmed across the city.

The Batgirl film for HBO Max is also filming here at the moment. With Glasgow firmly established as the real life setting for Gotham City, is there a superhero WhatsApp group you can message to find out some recommendations for what to do while you are here?

E: Read this while breathing deeply and smiling: Gotham is your f****** soul. Get your s*** together.

L: I'll just add that people in superhero societies would obviously use Signal. At the very least.

Somewhere in the multiverse, this discussion took place after a stroll towards Dennistoun, pints in Redmond’s, maybe a pizza supper from Coia’s and some bonding over shared cultural references. As a remote interrogation, I hope it leaves you intrigued enough to venture to the gig. I feel like Oddkins music fits for a Glasgow audience. Tickets are available at drygate.com.