“Hangxiety” Isn’t the Same as it Used to be for Bass Drum of Death Frontman John Barrett

"Nerve Jamming" rings out as the band solidifies their soundcheck. The noise leaps

over fences and plows through nearby walls as the outside venue is filled with the energy of another concert. The backyard stage can only accommodate 1,200 but the energy of the band could've had thousands of fans cheering. At the front of the stage, stands Bass Drum of Death vocalist and rythmn guitarist, John Barrett, sounding exactly like the recording. It's clear the authenticity of their sound isn't just for the studio. Barrett, who founded the band as a one-man band in the 2000s, explores that authenticity, "hangxiety," and their new album, Six, before their show at Ferris Wheelers in Dallas, TX.

Bass Drum of Death before their show at Ferris Wheelers in Dallas, TX on Nov. 1st, 2025

In previous interviews, you've talked about evolving your sound with each new record. Do these evolutions come naturally? what are some of the biggest challenges you've faced with these evolutions?

John Barrett: I think it's a little bit of not trying to write the same song over and over and trying to spice it up and do some different stuff. It's a little bit conscious, but sometimes you have to just go with what feels good. So, you don't want to spice it up too much or get too crazy. A lot of it has to do with production choices. So, there's a bunch of different ways. But, yeah, you know, I think we're constantly trying to improve and get better at the thing that we do.

I remember listening to your original album and thinking this is raw, gritty. How have you kept that raw grit, as your production value keeps going up?

I think it's been kind of a struggle sometimes mainly to communicate that to producers that we want the vocals to sit down a little bit and it's kind of tricky to be honest. I think the one thing that I try to do is demo things how I've always done it, which is just at home, and get them to sound as close to how I would ideally want it to sound as possible. Then try to turn that over to the producer and be like, ‘this is what the vision is let's take this and then elevate it.’

Have you ever had any problems with producers when you’re doing that strategy?

It has been tricky. Engineers especially have a hard time with vocal levels and effects I like. I like to push everything to the max, and they have certain standards that they like to uphold. Let's just put it that way. It's always worked out well, and I think we've taken some different swings in terms of having vocals more up front. So, I think it's still one of those learning processes to where I think there's something cool that comes out of all of the situations that we've kind of found ourselves in.

John Barrett of Bass Drum of Death on Nov. 1st 2025

There's a quote in an article by Andrew Paul that says, "long-haired bad-boy punk John Barrett. it's all part of the Bass Drum of Death brand, the cigarettes and denim, the fuck you motifs and the washed-out promo photos." Do you still carry that image for Bass Drum of Death; and how do you deal with the expectations that come along with that image versus back then?

That never was a super calculated image or anything like that. I mean, I definitely used to party a lot, way more than I do now. I can't do it like that anymore. I've never really thought too much about the image part of it. I've just tried to make sure we work with photographers and stuff like that, that I love and respect and kind of trust them with the whole vision.

As a self-described garage rock band, how do you think the genre has changed, and do you think it's time has passed?

I feel like it passed a little bit, but music changes so much. It changes with the wind. It's honestly kind of hard to keep up. There's all sorts of really awesome new stuff that's coming out that I would classify under that umbrella that maybe other people wouldn’t. So, that's a tough one, because, you know, music or what's super popular, changes so quickly. So, I have a hard time kind of keeping up with it sometimes.

Ian Kirkpatrick, drummer for Bass Drum of Death, on Nov. 1st, 2025

Coming from Mississippi, how have you maintained that Southern influence in your music, and has it changed since you moved to New York?   

I live in Nashville now. So, i'm not in New York anymore, so we're kind of all scattered around. I think it's just something like you grow up in a place and you're surrounded by the music of that place. So, it kind of seeps in, you know, whether you want it to or not. So, it's more of a subconscious thing now, but yeah, there's all sorts of stuff that I take influence from. So, it's never too far away, that's for sure.

What sort of influence have you derived from Nashville; and why Nashville?

Well, my wife got a job in Nashville, so that's the main reason. It's also a great place for me. It's just Nashville is really cool because, there's all sorts of people and in music everybody there is so good at what they do. So, it's really inspiring to be around people all over the place that are really good at what they do and have really good taste. It's been really cool to be in that kind of zone.

Who are some artists that you found who are either from Nashville, Mississippi or New York that you really latch onto in terms of either inspiration, or you just love what they're doing?

I've always been a big [The] White Stripes and Jack White fan. I know he's not from Nashville, but he lives in Nashville, and I think he's a great part of the scene, like he's at DIY shows and all sorts of stuff. So that's really cool. As far as Mississippi, I don't really know. There was a band called Colour Revolt. That I kind of grew up listening to, they were from Jackson, and I ended up being good friends with them. So, they were one of those bands that I really looked up to when I was first starting out. Yeah, then in New York, there’s so much. I love, [The] Mystery Lights and Dirty Fences, those are two bands in New York that I adore.

Jim Barrett, Bass Drum of Death guitarist and John's brother, on Nov. 1st. 2025

You mentioned Jack White is still involved in the DIY scene. Are you involved in the DIY scene?

Yeah, my buddy runs a kind of a DIY show space called Soft Junk. Most of the shows that I go to are usually there, and inside, it's kind of just chill. It’s a mix between a house show and an art space. It's just really welcoming; and it's where we filmed the video for “Do Nothing.” So, it's cool to rock up there. I pretty much go to every show that they have going on even if I don't have any clue what it is, and it's just a really cool spot.

You've mentioned in previous interviews that you derive a lot of inspiration from nights out. So, walk me through how you're inspired by these nights out.

 I think it's just, bad decisions and, waking up and being like, oh shit, what did I just do? I think a lot of them are kind of written from the perspective of 'hangxiety', and just like that feeling when you wake up and you just question everything. There's quite a bit of material like that, and since I don't really party that much anymore, I'm gonna have to shift and try to find some new stuff to write about, because I think that well has run dry.

What's been the major inspiration behind your newest album then?

I think it's kind of all over the place. I think it's just kind of moving around a little bit, getting older and figuring out that you can't really do it like you used to in all aspects, but still mentally feeling like you can. Mentally, you're like ‘Oh yeah, I can still, run it like this, but then physically, and otherwise, you're like, oh, maybe not.’ So, it's just a little bit of that feeling, like getting older, but still thinking you can, and you still have that energy.

Bass Drum of Death performing at Ferris Wheelers in Dallas, TX

Do you have a personal favorite from the album?

I think it's probably “Night Ride,” the last one, we've never really gotten that jammy, and it's pretty jammy there towards the end, and it's really fun to play, and it was really fun to record as well. I think it's one of those things that was very different for us, but it was also super familiar. So, it's always, kind of fun to find that, especially after 60 something songs.

How was the writing process different with “Night Ride?”

When I was writing it, I had kind of the verse and the main part of it, and then I think I just put some drums down and I just kept going towards the end and sped it up. I was like, ‘well I don't want it to be a slow song.’ Then I just kept layering stuff. I think the idea was to take stuff out, like, refine it once I got to the end. Then once I got to the end, I was like, ‘oh, this is actually pretty cool, even though it's so long.’ I just kept going and never really stopped to take anything back out.

Is that your normal process that you just start going, and then it just keeps rolling?

A lot of times, I'll have a pretty defined idea of a verse and a chorus, and then we'll work a bridge or some sort of switch. So a lot of our songs have a pretty defined structure, and on that one I was like, ‘Yeah, let's just see what happens.’ I just knew I didn't want it to stay that quiet or that slow for the whole time.

The end of the Bass Drum of Death show at Ferris Wheelers

What's the significance behind the name of your first album GB City? I heard that you stopped smoking weed  soon after that release. How'd you come to that decision?

Yeah, well, it's funny. GB city is kind of an inside joke that whenever people would come over to my house they were coming to GB city, which is gravity bong city, because I’d make a gravity bong out of, a Gatorade bottle, and I kind of stopped because I was smoking this awful weed in mass quantities, and it was giving me massive anxiety. There were multiple times where people came over to my house and would have like, panic attacks and have to go home. I thought it was really funny. Then, of course, it happened to me. So, I just kind of cut it out there for a while. I actually started smoking again quite recently, and it's kind of fun. I'm such a lightweight, so I won't go near a GB.  

What's your method of smoking now?

I just have a little one hitter. I tell my friends that give me weed, I’m just like ‘I need your least potent shit. I don't want anything crazy.’ I just want a little, little easy buzz.

If you had to soundtrack your life with corresponding core memories, what would that soundtrack sound like?

As a kid, I really loved Everclear. Then, like the live Nirvana record, Muddy Banks, those are big ones. Then, later on, stuff like The Marked Men was one of my favorites, and the Raveonettes, that's burned into a whole time period. Those are some ones from maybe earlier. In high school, is a lot of Sonic Youth and Smashing Pumpkins.

Do you have any specific stories associated with any of those bands or songs?

 I got really into the The Marked Men and Kiss when I first started touring, because Colin, the original bass drummer, he was super into those bands. We were in my Corolla, so I didn't really trust him to drive. So, I drove the whole time, and he would just play DJ. So, I got really into Kiss and The Marked Men, because we just kind of wore those records out, even the later Kiss records, like Carnival of Souls. The other ones are just early memories of playing air guitar in my room to Nirvana records and knowing that that's what I wanted to do.

Was Nirvana a huge inspiration when you first started out?

That was probably the first band that I was super enamored with. One of my favorite movies is The Year Punk Broke, which is them and Sonic Youth on their European tour, I think it's right after Nevermind came out, and so they still hadn’t truly blown up just yet. They were just on the edge. So that's one I would grow up watching every spring and summer, and it would get me super stoked to try to play shows wherever.

When you were first starting out with only a drum and a guitar, how did that make you more versatile or was it more of an obstacle?

No, it was just a way to get out and play shows without having to bother anybody else. I could just go by myself. I think it established, sort of a rhythmic thing between the guitar and the drums, which I think still carries over to our stuff now. I think my guitar playing is very rhythmic, rhythmically based, thankfully, because I have pretty good rhythm, but I'm not very good at guitar, so I usually kind of stick to the thing that I know.

Are there any shows from the beginning when you were first playing concerts that you remember the most?

I remember we played a house show somewhere in Arkansas, and I just remember this guy, it was just a crazy DIY house that was just not in good shape. I remember there was a kid that was crowd surfing with Cheetos, and so Cheetos were going everywhere. I also remember playing a South by Southwest show in a parking lot outside when it was about 35 degrees outside, and so at that point, we were playing like 20 minutes sets, because we didn't have very many songs, and because it was Southwest. So, we got through our set that day in about 11 minutes, which I think was a record, because we were just like, ‘let's get the fuck out of here.’