Q&A: Unusual Demont Brings The Energy to Outside Lands

Q&AMusic

Aug 16

☆ BY CARSON HUFFER ☆

UNUSUAL DEMONT THRIVES ON A COMPREHENSIVE EXPERIENCE. From his sultry, energetic, and reverberating sound to his lush bubble lettered visuals, everything Unusual Demont does has a purpose.

After his self-described “bootleg Odd Future” group Unusual dissolved, Demont knew he had a sound that people still needed to hear. Paying homage to the group and rebranding himself as Unusual Demont, the now 22 year old Wisconsin native just smashed a set at Outside Lands and has a busy rest of the year ahead.

We first featured Unusual Demont back in our 14th print issue last year, and since then Demont has released his debut album HUES., featuring the smash hit “AMBER” which has received over twenty one million Spotify streams to date. This summer launched a new era for Demont with fresh releases of “Maybe Not” and “Sugar”, two sultry bass-heavy songs laden with declarations of love and flirtation.

The complex layers of slowed reverb and subtle vocal prowess are only a fragment of the Unusual Demont experience on the way with his upcoming EP. We got the opportunity to catch up with Unusual Demont while at Outside Lands, so read below to find out more about Demont’s favorite performance moments and what to expect next from the phenom.

LUNA: We had you in our 14th issue back in the spring of 2021 - feels like a million years ago and you have been booked and busy! You’ve been playing a lot of shows and of course just played Outside Lands - what have you enjoyed most about translating your music to a live setting?

DEMONT: I've realized that I really like the crowd. Having songs like mine, which is a slow groove sometimes and to be able to have people jumping around and screaming during that song is so fun. I love bringing a very chaotic energy to usually what would be chill performance.

LUNA: How does the festival setting compare to the normal venue shows?

DEMONT: I feel like the difference is that it is outside and everybody that comes to a festival. comes prepared. They're willing to give more. I think that there's definitely more crowd participation and nobody's afraid to dance and have fun.

LUNA: Has there been a track you've been the most surprised by the audience reaction?

DEMONT: "Maybe Not" probably has the biggest crowd reaction. When I first started performing it live it was amazing.

LUNA: Have you developed any pre-show rituals?

DEMONT: I take pre workout before I hit the stage. That's pretty it, I've done that since day one. I don't text people until after the show - I usually try to like make sure I don't jinx having a good show or something.

LUNA: This summer you’ve had 2 new singles out from your upcoming EP, so how would you compare the feel of rest of the EP to what we’ve heard so far?

DEMONT: I plan on this one being more lighthearted. I feel like "Hues" has a slight melancholy around it, which was the project before this. All the songs are really good but they have a deeper something, whereas "Sugar", the most recent single, is literally a love song and nothing else like I've ever written a song like this. So doing that has allowed me to create more feel-good fun songs.

LUNA: Is that the theme or narrative you've been drawn to?

DEMONT: Yes. I just want to keep it simple while having the melodies do a lot of the work.

LUNA: Definitely. Your visuals have always been really on point and seem to be just as important as the music - what can we expect visual-wise from you in the upcoming months?

DEMONT: We're basically in think tank mode right now, figuring out how we want to wrap everything together. I have this giant group of songs, so it's figuring out what is cohesive about it all. What is it about "Sugar" and "Maybe Not" that makes them similar? Then we have our creative director Nicole, who is so good at what she does, so it's giving her the idea and then letting her do what feels right. It's a lot of trust - that's been a very big thing about me is just trusting what Nicole's idea is. I know that I make music and I want to be creative, but I can definitely make the vision better by giving trust to somebody who really does have these artistic visions.

LUNA: What intentions do you have for the rest of the year?

DEMONT: I want to put out my project and make cool songs!

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We couldn’t be more stoked to have Suriel Hess as our new headliner for our upcoming LA show 🤩 🫶 Not gonna lie, us & Notorious Noise kinda went OFF with this line up & you’re not gonna wanna miss it - ticket link in bio 🎫