Underrated, but hopefully not underrated for much longer, the brilliant Erotic Secrets of Pompeii are gearing up for their debut album Mondo Maleficum’s release on January 25th. In the madness of the band’s preparation for the album, vocalist Thomas Hawtin was kind enough to answer a few questions about the album, creative processes, what inspires them and more. Pre-order the album.
ATN: For newbies to the wonderful world of Erotic Secrets of Pompeii, how would you describe your sound in five words?
TH: Grotesque, Kafkaesque, carnivalesque, death obsessed.
ATN: That does perfectly describe ESOP, wow did the band come together?
TH: On the wings of a moth, the croak of a frog, and the back of a crisp packet…Through friendship and fortuitous turns of events.
ATN: Speaking of events, with your debut album Mondo Maleficum on the horizon, how are you feeling about it being out in the world?
TH: We’re very excited! We’ve worked hard on every aspect of this album and can’t wait to release it. It contains ten potent spells – and we hope they bring joy and wonder and intrigue and confusion and an indelible mania to all who hear it!
ATN: It’s set a high bar for other albums of 2024 to beat, what are you willing to tell fans about Mondo Maleficum?
TH: Hearing is believing.
ATN: What song(s) are you most excited for fans to hear?
TH: We’re really proud of the whole album, from front to back. ‘Osiris at the Large Hadron Collider’ and ‘The Wheel, the Spade, the Stars in Motion’ are personal faves and both of those tracks have already been released as singles. Putting those two to one side, I’d say ‘Bad Weather at Beachy Head’ and ‘Faustina Filmed in Psychorama’ are both tracks we’re really happy to have on the album – both could have easily been singles, too.
ATN: Faustina would have been a fabulous single. The visuals for the album, from singles to album artwork and videos are very contextual, was this planned as part of the writing and creating process?
TH: The songs came first, then we built the visuals around them. We knew that the songs existed in a specific world, so we made that world a reality, building it through costume, artwork and videos.
ATN: What is the creative process like within the band?
TH: One or two of us will put a demo down, take it to the rest of the band and then build on it from there. I’ll do the words, the guys working on their respective parts, and we’ll all share our ideas throughout the process. Now and again we’ll work on something from scratch in the live room. Tom (Hackwell guitar/synth) and I will tend to have late night sessions cooking up ideas for visuals and take these to our collaborators to realise. We’re lucky to work with some excellent people who get the ESOP way of life. Huge shout out to Saul Knight for his recent music videos, Alexander St Odd for the outfits and Mia Phillips for the utterly superb ‘Utterly Rudderless’ make up.
ATN: What’s the hardest or easiest process about creating music?
TH: Making music as a band is fun, cathartic and feels like a vocation. But whatever feels like the easiest or hardest parts of the process can change daily! When we’re all in the room vibing out a new song – sometimes that can feel effortless. It can be emotionally draining putting something out into the world not expecting what will come back.
ATN: The videos for “Osiris at the Large Hadron Collider” and “The Wheel, the Spade, and The Stars in Motion” kind of end in cliffhangers, will their stories continue on in future?
TH: We love an ambiguous ending! We don’t have any plans to revisit the videos, but never say never! Maybe one day they could conclude in graphic novel form…
ATN: Yes, please on a graphic novel. I find it fantastic that Mondo Maleficum covers a myriad of subjects from myths to conspiracy theories to omens and more. Is there a subject you guys won’t write about?
TH: We love to read all kinds of things – the world of omens and magic is something that definitely permeates deep into our work. And we’re always experimenting with different topics. We love to build worlds with our songs… who knows what’s next!?
ATN: I say this in my review of Mondo Maleficum that’s coming out next week, but I don’t think I’m smart enough to appreciate all the finer points of Erotic Secrets of Pompeii. Do you guys realise how much of a cerebral band you are? Is that intentional or are you guys just sheer geniuses?
TH: We just like to make music and do our thing really. I love Bob Dylan circa 64-66 – when he was obsessed with TS Eliot and the Beats, packing a lot into each verse.
On a surface level, we hope that the music is sufficiently catchy and quirky to generate intrigue for even the most casual music-lover, but there’s a multitude of deeper levels if people want to descend deeper into the heart of our world. It’s cool that people have taken an interest in the lyrics with our recent singles, and it means a lot to us!
ATN: What’s in store for Erotic Secrets of Pompeii in 2024?
TH: We are touring Mondo Maleficum in March and May. And we’re back in the studio in April to start on a follow-up to Mondo Maleficum.
EROTIC SECRETS OF POMPEII TOUR DATES
- 08 Mar – Crofter’s Rights – Bristol
- 20 Mar – Shacklewell Arms – London
- 21 Mar – Voodoo Daddy’s – Norwich
- 22 Mar – Old Bus Depot – Nottingham
- 23 Mar – Aatma – Manchester
SAME 3 QUESTIONS WE ALWAYS ASK
ATN: Artist / band that you feel is the most underrated and why?
TH: Here’s two for you:
Nina Hagen – she is an elemental force, transcending punk, opera and everything in between – this is a great clip where she effortlessly moves from guttural goblin to operatic soprano to…a clucking chicken. She really is something else.
Stump – the long forgotten Irish absurdists, arguably heirs to Beefheart’s signature otherness. A few years ago only a few tunes were online, more recently there is more to find – which is great.
ATN: Artist / band that you would like to collaborate with and why?
TH: It would be great to do something with Amanda Palmer – from her dark cabaret to her solo output – she’s great! We love her outlook on music and community.
ATN: Artist / band that you would like to tour with and why?
TH: We’d love to tour with The Hives. The energy! The stamina! The tunes! Love those guys!
