Most of the world knows Ezra Miller as the Obscurial Credence Barebones in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and for his portrayal as The Flash Barry Allen in the DCEU. But if that’s all you know, you’re missing out on a big part of his career, because when he’s not behind the silvers screen, he’s devoting his artistic energy to his band Sons of an Illustrious Father.
The trio, which also includes Josh Aubin and Lilah Arson, describe themselves as a personal, political, queer group that combines glam rock sparkle with the full-throated spirit of Bruce Springsteen and the folk instincts of Neil Young. By fusing these inspirations into spear-sharp anthems, they hope their art helps “overthrow patriarchal frameworks.” They’ve got their work cut out, but we’re already used to rooting for Miller.
To offer some insight into the music that helped them through the recording process of their new record, Deus Sex Machina: Or, Moving Slowly Beyond Nikola Tesla, the band assembled a Spotify playlist full of spiritual relatives of their own sound. It includes songs from Oliver Ignatius, Sam Buck, Lola Kirke, Cornelia Murr, First Aid Kit, and more. We recommend queuing it up in your car, rolling down all the windows, turning the volume way up, and driving nowhere important.
The playlist sounds like Sons of a Illustrious Father in conversation with their contemporaries, and listening to their new album right after makes you feel like your hearing a private discussion. As the days get longer and warmer, maybe more details inside the music will become clear.
We know we know, you’re a huge Ezra Miller fan and you can’t believe you didn’t know about this band before now. So to help introduce you to the trio, we had a few questions for them about how they got together, what they hope to accomplish with their music, and how Miller’s renown affects the band dynamic.
How did you guys meet and figure out that your chemistry worked?
Lilah and Ezra mixed in the beaker of middle school. Josh was a quark ascending through the cosmos. He collided with the Lilah/Ezra admixture and combustion occurred, creating enough dark energy to power our song.
My favorite Youtube Comment on the video for “Extraordinary Rendition” is “this looks like some weird emo wizard shit, I love it?” Does that sound right to you?
We love it?
Your music is politically minded, but was that the goal initially or did it develop along the way?
We believe that everything is inherently political including art and we always strive to make work and decisions as a band accordingly.
Is Ezra’s career onscreen something you guys leave alone, or does that ever come into the music or music videos?
Josh was huge fan of Jurassic Park growing up and often pokes fun at Ezra for his role.
Favorite thing on Netflix right now?
3%.
What’s your favorite track from the band? What about from their playlist? Tell us in the comments below.
Images: Artist
