After spending years in the New Orleans DIY scene, four-piece collective Special Interest are back with a newly inked deal with Rough Trade and a message of endurance we all need to hear at the moment. On their third studio album Endure, the band manage to translate the feeling of a connection and rough and sweaty mosh pit into sound. With tracks like the dark and moody “Herman’s House” and the euphoric club banger “Midnight Legend,” the band expertly blend art-rock, house, and hardcore influences to create a unique and enthralling sound.
To celebrate the release of Endure and their ongoing tour, band members Alli Logout, Maria Elena, Nathan Cassiani, and Ruth Mascelli sat down with Uproxx to talk Liz Phair, a rock ‘n roll animal sanctuary, and making a mean carbonara dish in our latest Q&A.
What are four words you would use to describe your music?
Mascelli: Urgent, heartfelt, noisey, groovy.
It’s 2050 and the world hasn’t ended and people are still listening to your music. How would you like it to be remembered?
Logout: Those influential f*ggots from the swamp that made music to move me through the exact social and ecological circumstances we are experiencing right now.
What’s your favorite city in the world to perform?
Cassiani: Barcelona. An equal balance of how good our set was and how much I love the city.
Who’s the person who has most inspired your work, and why?
Logout: Friends. Everyone just needs someone to support and listen to them. We would have stopped years ago if our friends weren’t by our side
Where did you eat the best meal of your life?
Cassiani: As a band? Maybe when the label took us to our first Michelin-starred restaurant in San Francisco.
What album do you know every word to?
Mascelli: Exile In Guyville.
What was the best concert you’ve ever attended?
Logout: ESG At San Francisco pride in like 2014 or something.
What is the best outfit for performing and why?
Elena: The key is maximum impact and minimal space taken in luggage — so i go latex or leather bra.
Who’s your favorite person to follow on Twitter and/or Instagram?
Cassiani: Amanda Lear has a great Insta. She’s a real renaissance woman.
What’s your most frequently played song in the van on tour?
Elena: “Malibu” by Hole.
What’s the last thing you Googled?
Elena: Info about the Carolee Schneemann exhibit in London… which we missed. Here’s the info so you don’t:
Carolee Schneemann: Body Politics
Barbican Art Gallery, London, UK
8 September 2022 – 8 January 2023
What album makes for the perfect gift?
Elena: Any album that is meaningful to your relationship with someone! So if I was getting an album for my bandmates it would be William Basinski’s Disintegration Loops because we saw 15 minutes of his set at Pitchfork London before we had to go sound check and we all ascended and were heartbroken we had to leave. If I was getting a record for someone I didn’t know well I’d go for a mood-setting soundtrack or compilation — I’m really into the Dark Entries compilation Back Up: Mexican Techno Pop 1980-1989. And there’s always Endure…
Where’s the weirdest place you’ve ever crashed while on tour?
Elena: A rock ‘n roll animal sanctuary in Idaho.
What’s the story behind your first or favorite tattoo?
Cassiani: I have a cute tiger that Sue Jeiven gave me about 10 years ago in NYC. It’s not that deep, I just always wanted a tattoo from her! And I don’t regret it like I regret a lot of my tattoos…
What artists keep you from flipping the channel on the radio?
Mascelli: George Michael, Donna Summer, Lipps Inc. Also love when a nasty classic rock station hits its stride.
What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you?
Mascelli: I can’t pick just one thing but I’m pretty fearful of asking for help in geney and am consistently surprised by how my friends come through when I really need something.
What’s one piece of advice you’d go back in time to give to your 18-year-old self?
Mascelli: Whatever it is my 18-year-old self wouldn’t have listened to it anyways.
What’s the last show you went to?
Mascelli: Just saw Crack Cloud tear it up in Belgium.
What movie can you not resist watching when it’s on TV?
Mascelli: Legally Blonde!!!
What’s one of your hidden talents?
Cassiani: I make a pretty good carbonara.
Endure is out now via Rough Trade. Get it here.