During times of collective social stress, an artistic response can point a new way forward. The bubonic plague gave rise to the Renaissance, World War I paved the way for surrealism and World War II set the stage for abstract expressionism.
Historians will surely study the effects of COVID-19 on art, but those of us living through the pandemic have a front-row ticket to emerging styles, many of which recall a better time and place, and look to a virus-free future with hope and purpose.
One musician on the forefront of that pandemic-driven movement in Las Vegas is John Stapleton, better known as electronic producer and singer Hogtrucker. His newest single “Doubts” drops December 18, and Stapleton will follow that up with his first solo EP, Diskogoth, on January 8.
“It’s mostly about everything that’s happened since quarantine started,” the singer says of the EP, which he describes as a “quarantine story in four songs.”
With baritone vocals that conjure Depeche Mode’s Dave Gahan, Stapleton’s penchant for ’80s electronics evokes further influences from groups like New Order and Pet Shop Boys, repurposed and reimagined for a generation growing up amid very different conditions.
There’s “a little bit of indie goth stuff going on in there,” Stapleton says, with nods to underground queer pop and, of course, Lady Gaga. “She’s always going to be my No. 1 inspo,” he concedes, though the influence of emerging LGBT electronic artists like Rina Sawayama is also detectable on Diskogoth.
Stapleton wrote and recorded the dance-fueled demos in his bedroom studio, then worked with local producer and musician Elliot Garfias to fine-tune the sound. “I mostly move from my bed to my couch, which is 5 feet away, and then back [to my bed] at the end of the day,” Stapleton says with a laugh.
Originally from Amherst, Massachusetts, Stapleton began writing classical music in high school before getting into modern pop and goth. From there, he created the synth duo Conversion Therapy and embraced his alter ego, sinister diva Chlamydia Razordick.
“Around last year I was like, ‘Let me do something personal,’ and I dropped the whole character that I was doing,” Stapleton says. The result was Hogtrucker. “I was like, this fits; this works for me.”
A natural performer—Stapleton often hosted and performed as Razordick at Oddfellows’ monthly club-kid event, Bodywork—the singer looks forward to a day when he can return to the stage. “As soon as the pandemic is over, I’m going to be harassing everybody to see me live,” Stapleton says.
For now, recordings will have to suffice, as the musician continues to work on new sounds that stoke dancefloor desires. “Ideally, I want to do this a few more times before I release a full album,” he says. “I want to be able to put out as much material as I can.”
HOGTRUCKER soundcloud.com/hogtrucker899; hogtrucker.bandcamp.com
