"We wanted to make as much noise as we could with just two people, says Goddard. But we never wanted to be limited by that. A trilogy of EPs, Conditions, forged the intensity; their just-released debut album, Crystalpunk, is where the fuse finally meets the charge."
"Crystal being beautiful, the electronic side of things, but also quite sharp and destructive, Goddard says of the title. It helped us figure out the sound; after that, it couldn't be named anything else."
"Guitarist and synth player Goddard, with an English father and Irish mother, grew up between Monaghan in Ireland and Armagh in Northern Ireland. In England, he is Irish; in Ireland, he is English. What was my identity the whole time? he asks, not entirely rhetorically."
Chalk is an electronic duo formed by Ross Cullen and Benedict Goddard, who met studying film at university in Belfast. Over five years, they developed a live show combining rave beatitude with industrial menace, drawing from Belfast's rich musical heritage including punk and electronic scenes. Their debut album Crystalpunk represents the culmination of their creative journey, with the title reflecting both beauty and destructive sharpness. The album explores identity crises emerging from post-Troubles Belfast, particularly addressing the experience of cultural displacement. Goddard, with an English father and Irish mother, grew up between two regions and countries, experiencing constant identity questioning. The album's eight-minute centerpiece, Beal Feirste, examines feelings of belonging in a city where traditional symbols fail to represent hybrid identities.
#belfast-electronic-music #identity-and-displacement #crystalpunk-album #post-troubles-culture #electronic-duo
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