Interview by John Wisniewski
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, Jim Semonik and his band Rein[Forced]) were opening for KMFDM. As fate would have it, Lee Lauer of the band Aslan Faction was there to see the show. The duo would meet that evening, quickly discovering that they shared innumerable interests in common. Not long after, Lee approached Jim with the idea of starting a project together, which ultimately led to the formation of Red Lokust. In 2016, ‘The Repercussions of Shedding Your Skin’ would be their illustrious debut album. Recently, Red Lokust released their third album ‘Hope is the Last Refuge of the Dying!’ on Jim’s Distortion Productions label. The new album shines with a heightened level of production and leaps forward with a new pounding Industrial energy. In support of ‘Hope is the Last Refuge of the Dying!’, Red Lokust has already performed at Mechanismus Festival (Seattle), Dark Side of the Con (New Jersey) as well as shows in Madison, Brooklyn, Tampa, Pittsburgh, Washington, DC and Philadelphia. M.K. Ultra Magazine recently chatted with Jim Semonik about the world of Red Lokust and how he manages to juggle running a record label.
Bandcamp:
https://redlokust.bandcamp.com/album/hope-is-the-last-refuge-of-the-dying
- So while you are known for your band Rein [Forced], can you tell our readers how you came to form Red Lokust?
Rein[Forced] had an opening gig for KMFDM back in 2015. Lee Lauer of Aslan Faction was at the show and approached me at the merch table after the set.
We like some of the same bands and I liked his old band so there was natural chemistry. Rein[Forced] was waning at the time so Lee stepping in and wanting to start a project with me…well, the timing couldn’t have been better.
- Please tell us about the process, collaboration and meaning behind the new album ‘Hope is the Last Refuge of the Dying.’
Lee and I live far away from one another so we collaborate however we can. I’ll go to Scranton, PA to mix the album but he’ll essentially send me rough tracks to work on. For this album, our songwriting is a lot tighter and less free form. There are more hooks and the subject matter
stems from interpersonal relations, politics and mortality. I write a lot about my cancer experience for instance.
- What about the surprising cover of the classic 1980s Dramarama song “Anything, Anything”?
Yeah, I love that one. It was so fun to do. We were playing a road gig, Madison I think, and I pulled that song up and suggested that it be the cover
for this album. I was a huge Nightmare On Elm Street 4 fan and that song is prominent there. It’s a song I loved as a kid, so if you look at the soundtrack releases we’ve done on Distortion (Lost Boys, The Crow, Transformers 86) it fits right in there. Lee’s wife is a big fan of that song too so we had to be careful not to fuck it up too much haha.
- What are the Red Lokust live shows like? Will you be playing any live dates or touring soon?
We like to give the audience our all. Leading up to this release, we played a number of festivals like Dark Side of the Con and Mechanismus in Seattle.
But playing Tampa was amazing, Philly, D.C., Pittsburgh, New York, New Jersey etc, it’s all good. We’d like to get back to Richmond and do some west coast
gigs too but we both have day jobs which makes it harder. But, yeah, live shows are the best part.
- Jim, you are of course the vocalist of Red Lokust and Rein[Forced], while also being the owner of the label Distortion Productions. How do you juggle and balance all of those roles?
Very carefully. Time management is very important. Having a day job that takes up 10 hours of your day, you have to find time to pack orders, spend time with family, friends, have a relationship, work on the next ES boxset. I mean, it’s a lot. You must have the drive, love and passion for it because no one in their right mind would do it otherwise. I love my artists to death. They are trusting me with their music so I do my best not to let them down. I’m happy with the results.
- Are there any current emerging Goth or Industrial bands that you find particularly intriguing?
Not sure if this counts but I really dig the band Gunship a lot. Eva X is throwing a lot of heat. Pittsburgh band Dichro is working really hard. I have some bands from North Carolina that I love like Solemn Shapes and IIOIOIOII. We also have some exciting signings coming up that you’ll hear about shortly.
- When you were first coming up in the music scene, what were some of the artists that you admired or were influenced by?
I tell people that the 3 most important bands in my life are probably Nirvana, Hocico and Chemlab because they have elements that I combine and like to put into the Lokust stuff. The angst of Nirvana, the energy, aggression and beats of Hocico and the presence of Chemlab.
- What inspires you to write your music?
Usually every day experience. I’m very influenced by the things that I see happening to other people in the world. I’m inspired by negative things usually like sickness, loss, disease and the like.
- I know the highly successful Electronic Saviors compilation series is very close to your heart, can you tell us a bit about the series and any future plans with it?
Saviors was born simply out of me getting cancer and almost dying so that project is the most pure thing i’ve ever been involved with. I’m so happy to tell you that we have donated and helped thousands of people through that cause. $113,500 at this point. I’m not even sure if that’s accurate but it’s at least that. Vol 7 should be out next year if everyone comes through with their tracks. The problem is that it is very dependent on that but we’ve never missed a deadline so we’ll see next June. It’ll be tremendous if it all comes together. Vol 1 and 6 are sold out physically and vol 5 is very close to selling out. ES went on a hiatus so that Distortion could grow as a label because like I stated before, I’m just one guy and bandwidth is a huge issue. But if 7 does what it is supposed to, you’ll see Vol 8 & 9.
- Any plans and projects for you and Red Lokust that you would like to mention?
We are going to do a song for a Die Warzau tribute and a new song for ES7 but other than that, hopefully more shows, and we’ll get writing on the next one next year. Bug your promoters if you wanna see us.