When aspiring drummer Nick Munos placed an ad on Craiglist searching for a band to join, he wasn’t sure who would respond. However, when Avi Ghosh — noted for his solo work and former musical project Defy — replied to the ad, Art Versus Industry was born.
“I placed the ad on Craiglist because I needed a band and wasn’t impressed with some local stuff,” Munos said. “Avi responded. I listened to his stuff, and I was really impressed.”
After recruiting guitarist Matt Gruber, a longtime Ghosh fan, Art Versus Industry booked its first show at Club Mix on Halloween.
“It wasn’t anything major. There was only, like, eight people there,” singer Ghosh said. “But it was still cool, and it was a good first show.”
While the show didn’t draw a huge crowd, it solidified Art Versus Industry as a full-fledged band.
With diverse musical backgrounds, each member has his own specialty. Ghosh started playing piano at a young age and eventually took up violin and bass guitar. Gruber took an interest in the dynamics of nu metal and industrial music in middle school. In high school, Gruber discovered Ghosh’s solo album, Twelve Degrees of Loneliness, and was certain that this was the type of music he wanted to create.
The band relies heavily on industrial aesthetics, drawing inspiration from Depeche Mode, The Cure and Nine Inch Nails. Its new single, “Devour,” sounds like a distorted adventure into the world of trip-hop with some new-wave tendencies.
Although they’ve been together for less than a year, the band members’ brotherly affection for one another shows that they’re in it for the long haul.
“We started the band because it works,” Gruber said. “And I think it’s great that Nick is in the band because you don’t really see a lot of crazy, innovative drumming in this style of music. He’s such an excellent drummer.”
Recently, Art Versus Industry has focused less on playing live shows, with the intention of writing and recording its first full-length album. The result is an EP titled Lapse, which is set to hit shelves in September, as well as an album the band members hope to have out by the end of the year.
“We kind of did two separate movements,” Ghosh said. “The first is more challenging and not easy to digest, while the second one is more minimal and definitely more hook-oriented.”
“The hardest thing about describing the sound of our EP is the fact that we take from various genres,” Gruber said. “It definitely has avant-garde electronica with punk, super-gritty industrial but also with a chill hip-hop, alternative feel to it.”
The band is set to perform at the Crystal Castles aftershow, giving Austin crowds a glimpse at an up-and-coming band that emphasizes both music and theatricality.
“It’s going to be a fun time. But if you have epilepsy, be careful,” Gruber said. “I would encourage you to face the back of the venue.”
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WHAT: Art Versus Industry at the Crystal Castles aftershow
WHERE: Stubb’s Bar-B-Que, 801 Red River St.
WHEN: Tonight at 10
HOW MUCH: $8
