Multidisciplinary artist Richie Culver returns as Quiet Husband with a 5-track techno release on Industrial Coast.
// A RAGING HABIT AND IT’S COUSIN, THE COMEDOWN, IN PURE SONIC FORM //
Over the years, music had played an important role in British artist Richie Culver’s work. Often intended as audible counterparts to his striking visual pieces, the self-taught artist has amassed a somewhat extensive catalogue that has seen him work with some of the finest underground talent, such as Michael J. Blood, Rainy Miller, Blackhaine, and Space Afrika, to name a few.
Visually, his art features witty anecdotes of lived experiences or political commentaries presented in a minimalist and often humorous fashion. Sonically – sitting somewhere between the ambient and noise genres if it can at all be labelled – his music follows a similar minimalist fashion, with harsh foreboding soundscapes and overlapping spoken word dialogues of life around Hull.
Once again, this time through Quiet Husband, he is drawn to his past with a collection of forgotten music created decades ago. This EP represents an important part of his story, transmitting some of the energy and feelings Quiet Husband experienced in the early years of his journey. His captivation for artistic expression was, after all, romanticised at an afterparty whilst immersed in the culture of his first true love, Techno.
Raging Habits channels the intensity of Quiet Husband’s youth across its five tracks. The EP features three blisteringly paced techno tracks that he juxtaposes with softer, beatless ambient ones, seemingly stopping the momentum in its tracks. It’s an unusual proposition for a Techno EP that’s rarely seen outside of the album format. Intense, sobering, brutalist, gentle, Raging Habits plays with your head. Maybe it’s because of Quiet Husband’s incredible creative acumen, or maybe it’s because he – for the most part – exists as a nomad of sorts, disengaged from the mainstream electronic music sphere, left to wander through his own creative landscape devoid of trends, scenes, and genre-based norms. There is no need to compete or copy when you’re in a lane of your own.
How did your Quiet Husband alias come about? What was happening in your life during this time?
It came from my view of men and their incapability to show emotions.
What was the inspiration behind the project?
I have been sitting on files from an old MPC for decades. This Techno aesthetic was too far from my musical output as Richie Culver, so I decided to use the alias. This will be the only alias I have.
You once said in an interview that timing is everything in life. Why was it time to release this album?
I make music like I have a terminal illness. I guess its to make up for the decades when I didn’t release anything. I need a decent catalogue of my stuff before I die – as a reflection of the person I am. I don’t feel my visual work always reflects that.
You probably view rave culture differently to when you first began expressing yourself as Quiet Husband. What is it about this world that still fascinates you?
I live for it. Always have. Always will. It runs deep through every inch of me. It’s who I am. I’ve always been too much of an outsider to be part of something – even rave culture I couldn’t infiltrate or make a living from. That was always my goal.
Decades later – and nearly 10 years sober and clean – it’s kind of a comeback around. The landscape has changed.
I prefer it now. I’ll never allow myself to be one of those cats that always talk about how great things used to be. I want to learn from the new artists. That’s who inspires me.
How did you end up releasing on Industrial Coast?
I met Industrial Coast via Drowned by Locals who I released with last year as Richie Culver. Both labels above are, for me, a true reflection of the underground in this day and age.
I remember the days when I’d go to Rough Trade to find my treasures –
That’s kind of like HMV now. At first, I thought Quiet Husband would sit well on a Berlin Techno label, but I love how it sits amongst the Noise releases that Industrial Coast put out. I also love how Industrial Coast only do physical releases, no digital, so I did that for the Quiet Husband release.
I’m a collector of Noise and Power Electronics tapes and records, and Industrial Coast are the best in the UK, in my opinion. I only want to head into those kind of spaces regarding labels, etc. I don’t look upwards – I look down into the abyss. That’s where it’s happening.
How important is Quiet Husband in the story of Richie Culver?
Probably fairly important. Let’s see ..
What’s next for the Quiet Husband?
I played Tresor in Jan, with a few other bookings in the pipeline. I’ve just finished the second Quiet Husband record, the follow-up LP. It’s much harder – basically Industrial Techno with harsh noise. I’m really happy with it!
