Fascination: The Buzz Kull Interview

It was in a different life. I was on the back deck of a house I lived in, doing some chores and listening to Sydney community radio station FBI. This track came on. A droning synth followed by pounding drum machine and a haunting voice talking about dreams. I wanted to know more, waiting for the DJ to back announce and eventually they came on and said it was Sydney darkwave artist Buzz Kull. Who was Buzz Kull? Why did their music speak so profoundly to me, someone brought up on no wave guitar bands and stoner rock? 

I bought the track on iTunes, I am guessing it was 2015/16 and when Buzz Kull’s debut album, Chroma, came out, I quickly jumped on board. Electronic music seemed like the future. 

 

So now it’s 2023. Buzz Kull – Marc Dwyer – has released two albums since Chroma – 2018’s New Kind of Cross and, just last year, Fascination. Being a fanboy, I wanted to catch up with Marc / Buzz Kull and find out what makes him tick. 

 

“Buzz Kull had a very soft start in 2011,” Marc says. “I never intended for anyone to hear the music I was making at the time; it was more of a personal challenge and therapy for myself.”

 

Finding an audience for those early recordings was organic. Marc uploaded his work to SoundCloud, and the algorithm leaked the songs out. Call it digital serendipity. The SoundCloud demos came out of a period in his life when he says his confidence was near zero. It was Christmas time, and instead of going home to his family and casting a dark cloud over proceedings, he started making music. “I stayed in the city, woke up every day at 7am and began experimenting with sounds and concepts.”

 

But not a huge amount of thought went into what Marc would call his recording persona. He says the name Buzz Kull was made up on the spot when he set up his SoundCloud account. “Once the songs had been heard by an audience, the name was established.”

 

Being an indie artist

 

Marc can’t support himself full time through his music, despite having a substantial audience in Europe. When he’s at home, he works in the film and television industry, but with constant touring, earning an income is tricky. “It’s been a struggle for productions to have me come and work for them,” he says, “but there are some lovely people who stick their neck out and try and make it work.”

 

Juggling touring and full-time work when he’s home means the creative process for new Buzz Kull material is tricky, but Marc says he’s constantly taking notes for concepts and ideas, be it a title, chorus or concept.

 

“Once I find the opportunity, I try to get the simple skeleton of the song down, including drums and bassline and then continue to fill it out over time and experiment with effects, filters and hooks.”

 

Europe is a second home

 

I haven’t been able to see Buzz Kull perform. He recently supported Boy Harsher on their Australian tour but, to my great regret, I could not get along. I also follow Buzz Kull on Instagram and one thing I noticed is he’s often touring in Europe. The audiences seem bigger and more receptive over there, a point Marc agrees with. 

 

“Europe has been a second home for some years now for me,” he says. “I found it hard to establish myself here in Australia, so I took my chances on pursuing the project further overseas.”

 

He says he has learned a lot from performing in front of bigger crowds and in larger venues. “They suit what I want to steer the project towards.”

 

Marc’s audience tends to vary depending on where he’s performing. In Paris, it’s a younger crew from the art, fashion, and music scenes, while in Germany, the audience tends to be part of the goth scene and, as Marc says, ‘they are very passionate about the culture within it.’

 

Touring in Europe is one thing, but for independent Australian artists, making a living from your art is almost impossible. You need to be able to cover expenses like flights, accommodation, transport, merch and then still be able to cover your rent at home, he says.

 

“Australian festivals and radio stations tend to champion the same artists on rotation for years, which limits opportunities for artists taking new sonic directions,” he says. “This leaves Australian audiences unaware of all the artists exploring innovative concepts and keeps the country at a cultural standstill.”

 

Having said that, community radio has supported Buzz Kull – I would never have heard his work if it was not for FBi, which demonstrates the importance of community radio for getting new voices heard and exposing artists who fall outside whatever bullshit triple j thinks it is these days. Speaking personally, when triple j started playing top 40 artists, I knew it was no longer a place for someone interested in new, exciting music. Which is sad, but hey… don’t scare the kids, right?

 

Marc says he’s been recording new material and, with the current actor and writer strikes in film and television, he’s had the opportunity to record “instead of stressing out about my financial situation.

 

“I am not sure where it will lead, but I am hoping it will be another step forward in the same way Fascination felt.”

 

I also asked Marc where he’d like to be in five years, and he said he’d love to continue what he’s doing now: recording, touring, and working in film without being tied to living in a city. 

“Ideally,” he says, “I’d like to be near somewhere I could go fishing every day.”