The word most commonly associated with A Place to Bury Strangers is “loud.” More than just another reverb-loving shoegaze revivalist act, the Brooklyn noisesters push the boundaries of what a “wall of sound” can be. Frontman Oliver Ackerman went as far as creating his own pedals and founding the effects company, DIY studio, and performance space Death by Audio. Currently recording their third album, A Place to Bury Strangers will release a new EP, Onwards to the Wall, on February 7th. Recently, Consequence of Sound caught up with Ackerman to discuss the band’s aesthetics, opening for Nine Inch Nails, and the new EP – which you can stream, in full, below.

So what direction are you going with your new EP, Onwards to the Wall?

We’ve just been focusing on sort of honing in on what A Place to Bury Strangers is all about. Just kind of perfecting what we’re doing as much as we can to get that sort of extreme sound coming across.

What does A Place to Bury Strangers mean to you?

For me, I don’t know. I guess it depends on what context that question maybe is in. I mean, to me it’s an outlet for my music, but I guess it’s also kind of an outlet for something that represents that whole kind of music completely, which is, I don’t know, I guess kind of really messed up pop music.

Any sort of stylistic changes on Onwards to the Wall?

Definitely. You sort of get tired of what you were doing in the past and always want to move forward to something new and exciting that’s kind of different from what you’ve ever heard before. Also, on this EP, a lot of it was written when Dion Lunadon came in – [it became] more of a collaborative effort.

What does Dion Lunadon bring to the mix?

He comes from a garage kind of background, and so I think he’s a really good player and just someone I can shoot back and forth ideas with. I can work on things with someone with a different perspective. He didn’t grow up listening to, I don’t know, Ministry or The Jesus and Mary Chain and whatnot, maybe what I grew up listening to. So, it’s sort of taking a different element and kind of music and combining it with the stuff we’ve been doing in the past. We’re still going for the same kind of goals, but it just adds a whole sort of weight to the whole thing.

A Place to Bury Strangers have been hailed as the “loudest band in New York.” That’s saying a lot considering the competition.

I guess people say that. Sometimes we’re louder than other times, and we play each show sort of differently, and then sometimes you can be as loud as you can. It’s not necessarily for the sake of being loud. I don’t know what it’s like going to loud concerts, but I do kind of work on what we’re doing with A Place to Bury Strangers so that it’s a beast; it’s intense. To build up that intensity, sometimes you use volume, and we’re not afraid to get crazy loud if that’s what seems appropriate at the time.

Does this reputation draw attention away from the other aspects of your music?

I think so, but if you’re a music listener and not someone who is totally paying attention to what you read and actually listen to what’s going on, I think that you should come up with your own conclusions. Hopefully people are liking music that they actually like and not just because someone told them it was going to be cool or something. You know, whatever. If someone says that’s the best techno band in the world and they’re an awesome reggae band, whatever, it doesn’t matter. It’s hyped up. It’s all talk and maybe that gets people hyped up; that’s kind of cool, I suppose. It’s not, like, the focus of the band at all.

I notice there’s quite an unpredictable aspect to the music, and there’s complexity to and beneath the loudness.

Definitely, yeah. We’re just trying to focus on making stuff that we think sounds really cool, so especially the sound aspect and what it sounds in a live sort of sense. It’s just too big–something that’s kind of otherworldly, awesome, and sort of transforming. I guess that has to do with volume at times.

Your live shows are intense, and there’s an improvisational aspect to the wall of sound manipulations. Does this factor into the writing and recording process?

Definitely. I think a lot of what we’re doing is constantly experimenting and trying to do new and exciting things and come up with new ways to record. Since we’re recording everything on our own–we have our own studio–we have the luxury of creating something with tools we don’t always know how to use, and we’re always even creating tools that we’re using, so it’s kind of constant experimentation. And I think that a lot of times [it’s] much more awesome than something you can exactly plan out and something that really happens out of an accident. You just have to be constantly listening. It’s like, you can almost try to make some sort of sound exactly, but that’s not as exciting as when something sort of pops up out of nowhere.

More organically?

Yeah, definitely. I think it’s kind of like you give in to those moments beyond your control, and using those things to work towards your advantage, and that makes it cool, I think.

So what was it like opening for Nine Inch Nails? I understand their crowds are notorious for not wanting to hear any openers. How was that experience?

It was pretty awesome. There was definitely a lot of people who would seem like they were pissed off right when we started, but for the most part, people were pretty into it once the show started going on. I remember one moment when someone was giving me the middle finger out of the crowd, and I stared this dude down, and then he turned his middle finger into the devil horn rock sign, so who knows.

Sophie’s Choice time. Death by Audio or A Place to Bury Strangers: Which do you save?

You know, it’s going to make me look bad to my friends, but I guess I would have to choose A Place to Bury Strangers. I mean, that’s kind of even why the effects pedal company was started a long time ago. It’s just sort of an augmentation, or that’s kind of a way for me to further create the music that I wanted. I started building effects to make music. Ultimately that’s what I wanted to do: to create music. I guess the effects pedal company I feel really good about because it’s kind of helping people create the music that they want to do. I don’t know. Maybe it would be smart to go with Death by Audio to help out more people make music and not be concerned with my own music, but I don’t know. I guess the thing I would be most passionate about is to create music, so I would go with the band.