A Chat with Mutual Shock (30.06.25)
Mutual Shock is the solo project of Dan Powers. Building on the critical foundation of 2024’s debut EP Stimulus Progression, his first full-length album, Nervous Systems, delves even deeper into the brooding sonic and emotional terrain that defines the project’s distinct voice. We spoke with Dan Powers about his new album and much more.
OSR: Nervous Systems feels like a meditation on modern disconnection. At what point during its creation did you realise that was the core of the album?
Powers: I guess I’ve always known that was the subject – it shaped my previous EP as well. In a lot of ways, that is what this music project is about. Mutual Shock is my vehicle for addressing my more pessimistic thoughts about the world in a way that I think fit the music’s aesthetic. You probably won’t find me writing a love song or anything particularly sunny under this moniker.
OSR: You’ve described the record as being shaped by “the slow erosion of self under late capitalism.” How do you personally experience that erosion, and how did it shape your writing process?
Powers: When I came to Seattle I transitioned from working in a technical function for a non-profit to working in a technical function for a corporation, and I’ve seen first-hand the way tech companies are basically a willing handmaiden to every part of the private sector (and even the government) that wants to automate, automate, automate and eliminate jobs done by humans. Unless they hit a wall with the current generation of AI, I don’t think that shows any sign of stopping. So I’m in this position (a very fortunate one, but also one that feels pretty dystopian) of building the systems that will make me irrelevant.
OSR: There’s a precision in the album’s sonic minimalism that feels intentional. How do you approach space and silence in your music?
Powers: Earlier in my solo projects, I had a tendency to overload tracks with these big arrangements, that if I’m honest, I didn’t have the skill to pull off, not really having a composing/production background. So with Mutual Shock, I’ve tried to listen more critically, pare down and be pretty intentional. With each new part I’m adding to a song, I try to ask myself if it’s adding something – movement or a hook or something else. Beyond that, I’m a solo act currently so I try to be thoughtful about which parts I’ll play live and what will be on the backing track, and how to make sure it won’t sound muddy or overdone. Artists today are lucky that we absolutely could sound like we have a 20-piece band behind us, but I’m not sure I’d want to or that it would be all that convincing.
OSR: The album feels visually evocative, like walking through a shadowy, half-lit urban landscape. Do you visualise your songs as environments or scenes when you’re composing?
Powers: Not always, but the music video for ‘Destroyer’ really gave me a chance to do that, with the director Caleb Young from Handcrank films. It forced me to think about references for style and feel – I remember mentioning Darren Aronofsky’s Pi as something that I thought had a really cool, grayscale, unsettling vibe to it, and that and other ideas that we compiled shaped the aesthetic.
OSR: Who or what shaped your relationship to the coldwave and post-punk aesthetics that underpin Mutual Shock?
Powers: It’s a world that I think I just continuously fall in love with. A lot of my exposure started with classics of the genre like The Cure and Echo and the Bunnymen, and revivalists like Black Marble and Molchat Doma and Soft Kill, and the more I go back to sort of the first wave with acts like the Chameleons and Clan of Xymox I just get more and more enthralled. I’ve never liked to be led by the algorithms too much, so a lot of what I find comes from research (Allmusic’s writeups are great for this), or playlists that I get from my friends or my partner or musicians I like.
OSR: Was there a particular moment, musical or otherwise, that triggered the emotional urgency behind this album?
Powers: I left a creative partnership in December. I think about half of the songs kinda cohered after that, not necessarily about the creative partnership ending, but it was just this moment of reflection.
OSR: Mutual Shock seems to blur the line between emotional vulnerability and aesthetic detachment. How do you strike that balance in your work?
Powers: I was never a frontman in previous bands/projects that I was a part of, so some of this is me finding my voice. But I think it’s also a bit naturally where I feel most at home – I’m a baritone and can get up into tenor ranges somewhat comfortably, or into a bass range but not especially deep, so this style of singing feels like it fits my sweet spot as well as the vibe of the music.
OSR: The textures across Nervous Systems feel simultaneously analogue and digital, nostalgic and futuristic. Was that dichotomy intentional?
Powers: I think in some ways, yes. I’m not interested for the most part in making music that is a pure pastiche of the 80s like some synthwave is, and I’m not an authenticity purist when it comes to gear (having the exact hardware synths, drum machines, etc. that were used in 1982 by band X…). I try to play with textures that I like and think sound good together. A lot of the warmth comes from the Roland System 8’s emulations of classic Juno and Jupiter synthesizers, and a lot of the coldness comes from the Roland SE-02, which is also analog, but can have quite a harsh character to it.
OSR: How do you see the album functioning in the world? What do you hope it does for people who hear it?
MS: My hope is always that the music and lyrics will resonate with people, for whatever message they take from it. That’s something I find beautiful about music – once a song is out in the world, it’s no longer fully yours; listeners can interpret your verse in ways that you’d never anticipate. If it makes people feel less alone, or gives them some comfort, or allows them to process some of their own pain and loneliness, I’ll have done my job. I also hope it can get other people to find their creative/artistic impulses. I have some music education but not a ton of formal training, and basically none with electronic instruments – I want everyone who feels inspired or moved to create to feel like they can pick up an instrument. Synths, especially software synths, have never been more accessible!
OSR: Do you see Mutual Shock as an ongoing character or vessel for this kind of expression, or could it evolve into something entirely different in the future?
Powers: I have all sorts of ideas for other musical projects. I have some seeds of ethereal folk song ideas in the vein of Nick Drake and Jessica Pratt. And I’d also love to develop and build out a loud, fuzzed-out, Dinosaur Jr. style project. But those will almost certainly be other projects. You can expect Mutual Shock to still be the vehicle for my sorrowful, introspective electronica.
Find out more about Mutual Shock on his Instagram, Facebook, and Spotify.
