Hailing from London, UK, alternative-rock band The Ancient Unknown releases their throbbing debut release “Jesus Christ”. Although The Ancient Unknown has undergone quite a few changes to their lineup, the band has its core duo being Crispin Case-Leng (guitar/vox) and Charles Whaley (drums), while for their debut single adding Billy Webster on bass. Their debut “Jesus Christ” is said to be about the oddity of blasphemy, and humans finding a way to blame external factors for the mistakes we chose to make. Through hard-hitting rock instrumentals, The Ancient Unknown also released a music video that features the devil himself playing small pranks on The Ancient Unknown.
While “Jesus Christ” begins to play out, we’re met with rumbling electric guitar riffs and Charles Whaley’s griping drum patterns. As Crispin Case-Leng’s vocals make their sharp appearance, we can’t help but be reminded of the iconic fellow brit Robert Plant and his soaring vocals. Speaking on their music video, The Ancient Unknown takes a conceptual and humorous turn by having the devil unscrew the band’s saltshaker, slap one of them upside the head, and spilling a wine glass on Charles Whaley. While Crispin Case-Leng looks highly unimpressed for what he’s being blamed for, we’re met with the understanding of the song's message being to take accountability for the mess you made. “Jesus Christ” offers scorching rock instrumentals and an attention-grabbing video, they’ve made it clear that The Ancient Unknown will be around for a while.
You can listen to "Jesus Christ" here.
Welcome to BuzzMusic, Ancient Unknown! We’re thrilled to feature your riveting debut single “Jesus Christ”. Why did the band choose to lead their artistic path with this single?
We chose Jesus Christ as it's a bit out of the box and crazy, but still catchy enough to get inside people's ears. Some of our music is crazier, some more mainstream, so this one that seemed to us, to fit in the middle of the park seemed a good call to share first.
Speaking on your single “Jesus Christ”, Ancient Unknown cleverly ties in themes of blasphemy and accountability. Could you expand on where the band found inspiration to write about these conceptual topics for “Jesus Christ”?
Crispin is a lover of the English language and is often fascinated by idioms, sayings, and phrases in everyday use. Finding it interesting how people can utter 'Jesus Christ' when annoyed at oneself/others, even without being religious, and the unintended offense this can cause, got him thinking, it would make a fun lyric in a song! Something which everyone says, but its literal meaning is not often considered. We also find it interesting that people living a more religious path find the phrase so offensive when it isn't intended that way. It's strange how the utterance of a name can cause such grievance- especially, as we said before when the literal meaning is not really regarded in a moment of annoyance/upset.
In regards to the music video for “Jesus Christ”, Ancient Unknown brings in humorous imagery with the devil pulling some pranks on the band. How did you want the music video to portray the message on “Jesus Christ”?
The music video is supposed to show the idea that this external force could exist that is influencing our lives and our mistakes, but the fact the devil is in invisible to the band shows the ambiguity of its existence- is it actually the devil/a demon, or is it, in fact, a part of our conscience that provokes there's bad actions. Perhaps it's neither- just complete chance and our desire to put meaning to even little mistakes is in fact the only thing that makes us see demons.
We’ve heard that Ancient Unknown’s live performance is said to turn heads with the band's eccentricity. Could you speak on what makes Ancient Unknown’s show so appealing and interesting?
Oh we are pretty nuts on stage. Our shows are full of energy and have lots of unexpected, alien-like theatrics to keep the crowd entertained. One time our old key player, Beaven, who is still a great friend, decided to haunch down and pray during our performance of Jesus Christ- some people in the audience enjoyed it so much they ran on stage and took a pew next to him! We loved that our spontaneity inspired others to be that way themselves. The world is much more fun with a little randomness in the mix.
What can we expect to see next from you?
We have two more tracks ready to release in the next few months and then are hoping to get back into the studio for some further recording of what we regard to be our best material yet. They should be coming out as singles over the next year and then hopefully an album in late 2021, we also have a very special secret project in the works, but it's been put on hold by the lockdown. We would love to have some industry backing for both the album and the secret project, because we think they are gonna be big, bold, and, colorful, which could well be needed in these strange times.
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