Damaged Bug Interview: John Dwyer on “ZUZAX”
Interview & foreword by Beau Croxton
photo courtesy of Damaged Bug/John Dwyer
If you are familiar with John Dwyer’s music, it's highly likely that your introduction was through one of the 29 studio albums by his psych/garage rock/punk-leaning project —Osees (fka Thee Oh Sees).
But Dwyer’s other music taps into another side of his prolific creativity in a compelling way. Damaged Bug is a solo project that allows the listener to feel like a fly on the wall of Dwyer’s mad scientist experiments. The project also showcases Dywer’s wide variety of gear and his many moods, while accessing the additional corners of his psyche that are less explored– all of which is vastly appreciated by his most die hard fans.
Over the last 7 years, Dwyer collected over 40 potential Damaged Bug songs and refined 11 of them in unconventional ways to create the fantastic fifth Damaged Bug album— ZUZAX.
The ZUZAX era kicked off in February with the supremely catchy lead single, “END OF THE WAR” — the track finds Dwyer leaning into his gloriously off-kilter take on sugary “pop beats” (as he calls it). The cheerful and traditional sounding harmonies sing dark lyrics that trade the spotlight with a cranky synthesizer that sounds like an angry robot that's starting to short circuit. It’s infectiously catchy, delightfully odd, and perfectly Dwyer.
Today, Damaged Bug releases the glistening ZUZAX centerpiece “OVER-EXPOSED”— it's a true gem of the record, and an essential Dwyer track.
“OVER-EXPOSED” is a heavenly and hazy slow-burner that features Dwyer’s own unique take on doo-wop vocal tactics that are used in songs like The Flamingoes “I Only Have Eyes For You”. Dwyer also utilizes a similar crooning approach on this song that recalls the Osees’ Intercepted Message closer, “Always At Night”— it feels like a synthy sibling track that's a bit more dapper, glamorous, and dreamy.
The track builds a cinematic vibe with its smooth saxophone segments and ethereal synths that loom over the track like a heavenly fog. It feels like the perfect stoner soundtrack for walking around a big city after dark– its shimmering touches feel like the audio equivalent of neon lights against the night sky.
Speaking of Dwyer releasing new music…. it must be said that his prolific band Osees surprise dropped a killer new EP today as well, titled Cara Maluco— because of course they did! (You can check that out here.)
On Friday March 20th, the entire canvas of Damaged Bug’s ZUZAX will be revealed, and it's one brilliant picture indeed. The rest of the record further expands Dwyer’s delightfully odd take on catchy music, but as expected, it also explores plenty of zany grooves and raw, experimental moments.
“SIKE WITCH”is a haunting highlight that weaves harmonized twin basslines and eerie slide guitar in an incredible way. “HOAK” is a frenzy of funky drums and raw energy, “FRIED HANDS” adopts a childlike enthusiasm to tell a tale of a killer, and the eruptive drums of “MOZZY ROOVES & MORE”carry a furious Buddy Rich-like flair over escalating pandemonium.
I recently caught up with John Dwyer for an interview on ZUZAX, Brigid Dawson, influences, Osees and much more.
Check out the interview below!
INTERVIEW
John Dwyer by Titouan Masse
BEAU CROXTON: What does your process usually look like for a Damaged Bug record, and how do you normally separate your Damaged Bug ideas and Osees ideas?
JOHN DWYER: This process was totally backwards this time and took forever. I usually start with drums for Damaged Bug, then add bass, and then build slowly from the foundation up. It’s a pretty standard process I think. But this time around I got very close to the finish line on a huge pile of songs and had no lyrics, no vocal melodies. The face of the songs were missing. It took years of waiting for the world to get bad enough to be inspiring again, haha. I broke the songs back down to drums and bass mostly, and sort of started over from the bottom up and found the path finally.
As far as which song is for which band– it really is just a whim, but mostly, Osees will work on stuff together for a while, or I’ll bring demos and we’ll hash them out as a band. These songs for Damaged Bug are just worked on in my house at my own pace alone for the most part.
BEAU: In a 2024 interview, you mentioned there were a lot of different (and amazing) drummers on this upcoming Damaged Bug LP– I have to agree, these beats are incredible. Who are all the other guests on Zuzax?
JOHN: Nick Murray, Paul Quattrone, and myself play all the drums. There’s also some sampling. Brigid Dawson sings on a handful of the songs. Tom Dolas put all the finishing keyboard touches on. It’s mostly me, which made it very boring– so I needed Tom's alternate brain in here to bring out the finale.
BEAU: “Over-Exposed” is absolutely incredible. That track really spoke to me– what was the process like for that tune?
JOHN: Thank you. That is the last one I wrote for the record, so that’s the most recent one. And it’s the second single, so it’ll be out soon. That one started with a sample, and then me and Paul and Tom reworked it until the sample was no longer needed. And obviously everybody is a little over exposed, it was sort of low hanging fruit, inspiration-wise.
It’s about keeping your chin up in the storm. Life is funny, where every time you feel like you can’t take another hit, sometimes you get a breath of air.
photo courtesy of John Dwyer
BEAU: “Sike Witch” is totally killer as well– what can you tell me about that track and its process?
JOHN: That one was more old-school Damaged Bug, and definitely was sort of phonetically sung, and then I built it from the chaos into a form. There’s some instruments on that one that I rarely get to play, like a really old Philicorda organ from the Netherlands that’s great… I brought it all the way home from Europe. It’s the same type of organ the band The Monks used.
BEAU: Do you have any personal favorite songs, or other interesting stories about some of the tracks on Zuzax?
JOHN: I think the most interesting thing is that it just wouldn’t reveal itself until years later— which is very rare for me. I would more likely throw an album away, then come back to it like I have.
BEAU: What gear was crucial for making Zuzax?
JOHN: Definitely the 1957 Kay Bass, that thing is all over this record. Nice and thumping, very Paul McCartney-style bass sounds. The 60s Ludwig drum kit is a big voice on the record as well. Recorded really rough and tumble. A lot of Realistic MG-1 (analog synth) as always. And the new piece of gear I got for this one was an Oberheim OBXA (synthesizer).
I got a crazy deal on one from a guy who just needed to sell it online and swore up and down. It was gonna work, and it did. I’m fucking surprised. The same synthesizer that “Jump” by Van Halen was written on– haha. It’s a very weird and beautiful synthesizer. I got that towards the end, and mostly, it’s Tom playing it cause he’s good at it.
BEAU: Is there any chance of a limited run of Damaged Bug shows in the near future? I’ve seen you express interest in the idea, and there is a very massive fan interest in it as well.
JOHN: There have been talks. It seems like time is fleeting away.
John Dwyer by Chris Searles
BEAU: Your influence and range between all of your projects is impressively wide. What bands (new or old) are you finding inspiration from these days?
JOHN: Mauskovic Dance Band, Exek, Robert Hood, Matthew Bourne…
I mean, the list goes on and on. There’s been a ton of death metal as well, hahaha. Tomb Mold, Toxic Holocaust, etc etc. My mood changes every day, so I’m always listening to different stuff.
BEAU: It’s very exciting that Brigid is joining Osees for the tour this year– what can you say about how that came together?
JOHN: It was just time. And frankly with her, I don’t have to scream every night, so it’s a little bit less heavy lifting. It’s been really fun and she’s gotten really good at improvising over the years, and I forgot how enjoyable that was between the two of us. And everybody loves Brigid.
BEAU: Is there anything else in the 2026 pipeline for you or Osees?
JOHN: We got some stuff coming up which I can’t divulge here, but fear not.
BEAU: You have amassed such a dedicated fanbase over many years from all your projects. What words of wisdom or advice can you share to young, aspiring artists at the moment?
JOHN: Stay strong, be good to each other and fight the real enemy. And good luck out there.
Damaged Bug’s new album ZUZAX is out everywhere Friday March 20th, via Deathgod records.
You can preorder limited editions of ZUZAX on bandcamp here, or on Rough Trade. Indie variants are available from Levitation and beyond.
John Dwyer’s Osees will be touring with Brigid Dawson this year, performing old material— get your tickets here.
And you can listen to Damaged Bug directly below!