First meeting back at a 2016 screening of The Greasy Strangler, lyricist Christian Crow Petty and instrumentalist Jonathon Lopez are the songwriters and faces behind Provoker. Based in Los Angeles, the post-punk band combines horror iconography with experimental, captivating synths for immersive auditory experiences that will take you on a journey. From subtle guitar distortions to lyrical nuances, Provoker shows a profound attention to detail. Perhaps one of the most exciting examples of this is the fact that they are releasing their new album, Demon Compass, on Friday the 13th.
Released via the prestigious Stockholm label YEAR0001 and following their debut album, Body Jumper, their sophomore project is truly Provoker at their best. Introspective and dynamic, the tracklist covers themes of desire, loss, and growth, telling a comprehensive narrative that looks to the future in both its lyrics and its experimental soundscape.
Speaking to Wonderland, Christian Petty reflects on the band’s debut album, takes us through the new project, and looks forward to the bright future ahead.
Presave Demon Compass here.
Watch the video for the single “Valley Ghoul”…
Read the interview…
What are your origins as a band? How did you meet and start performing/writing together?
Jonathon and I met through my older brother, Alex. He asked me “do you want to sing in my friend’s goth band?” and I was like of course. From there I remember going with Alex to a practice space in Oakland to meet Jonathon and Wil. After that Jon sent me an instrumental titled Sex With My Ex and that was the first song I wrote in Provoker. After that Jon continued to send me instrumentals he had on his computer and the process just repeated that way until we had enough songs for the Dark Angel EP.
For live shows It was super loose in the beginning like most of the songs in the set didn’t have lyrics yet so for the first couple of shows I was just singing gibberish.
What influences you?
My influences are kind of all over the place and I can kind of get down with anything. It’s all very mood dependent but generally if I think the melody’s are interesting I probably like it. If I like a song and it has vocals, the lyrics determine whether i think it’s great or just good.
When it comes to writing I’m heavily influenced by movies, video games and even static images. I like blending fiction and nonfiction together. Placing real emotions in a fantasy world.
How did you shape the sound that is uniquely yours?
Im not really sure, I think because what I like is so scattered and unfocused I’m not trying to sound like a specific thing. when it comes to writing music I have no knowledge of music theory I just make whatever sounds good to me in the moment. A lot of times it all feels accidental.
What about YEAR0001 drew you into signing for them?
When they approached us we would have been the first US based band they would have had on their roster and thought that was really special. I like all the music they put out and it just made sense. Also, they are just the best people, super fair and have great ideas and let us do whatever we want creatively.
How do you feel reflecting back on your debut album?
We had the whole album finished before signing a record deal but putting the final touches on everything from opposite sides of the earth was pretty challenging. We had to do all of the mixing and creative conversations over video calls. I’m really happy with how it turned out, it was the first time I’ve ever had to think about what an album means and how seemingly random songs written over the years can be linked together. It was a great learning experience that made putting Demon Compass together a lot easier.
Congrats on the sophomore LP! Talk us through the making of the new record?
Thank you so much, this record was pretty similar to the last record where we finished most of the songs just us two but the difference is we came out to Sweden 4 different times to make some tweaks and shoot the music videos. After Body Jumper we had a lot of time to hone in on Demon Compass. We got to build an entire universe and buried so much lore into it. We picked apart every song and had to think about what we can add/ take away. A lot of the songs I write have characters/ stories built into them so we just had to find ways to connect them.
How does the forthcoming album differ from your debut LP, thematically and stylistically?
I think it’s just bigger in every sense. Lyrically, much like Body Jumper, Demon Compass has songs written about both imagined worlds and personal recitals. The themes are very different though. Body Jumper was more sci-fi themed and about escapism while this one is more horror – fantasy and about staying put and dealing with both the ugly of reality, and finding beauty in tragedy. A lot of songs on this one are about loss and attempts to capture a response in an endings wake.
What do you want listeners to take away from the record?
I want listeners to take away whatever needs to be taken away. These songs are meant to pull you into another world while also staying grounded in reality. At the end of the day I love writing catchy pop songs so if that’s all it is that’s totally cool too.
Where do you want to take your artistry?
As long as making art is all I have to do that’s good enough for me. I just want to continue to put out as much art as I can and build a body of work that will live beyond me.
What’s to come from you this year?
Album 3 is being made as we speak and we are approaching it in ways we haven’t in the past. It’s been exciting to branch out and try new things creatively.
Other than that we will be touring a lot for Demon Compass and we are finally dialling in the live sound and it’s sounding great. I really want to get the live show as best as it can be and I’m excited to build a bigger production.