Over the course of the band’s 18-year existence, Northless was one of the loudest and most pummeling projects to ever come out of Milwaukee. However, the act best-known for its unmatched volume and intensity has gone uncharacteristically silent since late 2022. It’s no coincidence that the band’s hiatus coincides with Northless founding member, vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter Erik Stenglein relocating to Rhode Island.
Since making the move out east in December 2022, Northless hasn’t played a show or released any new material (unless you count the 2014 live recordings they put out on cassette in 2023). Beyond taking time to settle into his new home, Stenglein experienced some health issues that put both the fate of Northless and his ability to ever play music again into question. Thankfully, that scare is behind Stenglein and he’s finally able to revive Northless—which he and his bandmates will do on Tuesday, October 7 when they open for Thou at Cactus Club.
Prior to next week’s long-awaited return to the stage, Milwaukee Record asked Stenglein about life in New England, what (if anything) is ahead for Northless after next week’s show, non-music plans he has during his upcoming Milwaukee visit, and what’s happening with his other project Syrictus.
Milwaukee Record: Since the last time I interviewed you, a lot has changed. You’re now living in Rhode Island. How’s life there at the moment?
Erik Stenglein: Life definitely has changed. I live here with my partner in Providence. Rhode Island is totally an underrated state as far as I’m concerned. I know most people’s awareness of Rhode Island basically begins and ends with the fact that it’s the smallest state in the U.S., but there’s a lot more to it than that. The food here is awesome. The pizza I’ve had here and in New England in general has been basically top-tier. The people here are awesome. I don’t know where the perception that New Englanders are unfriendly came from. I don’t feel that at all, as people here have been so welcoming and accommodating.
I also feel like I encounter a lot of people here that are like-minded and aligned with my personal values and interests. I’m lucky to get to see different bands that don’t play the Midwest as often more regularly, for example Churchburn who are labelmates with Northless and feature my pals Ray McCaffrey, who played in Grief, and Dave Suzuki, a literal musical prodigy who some might know from his time in Vital Remains. Some also may know the band Dropdead, who are one of the best heavy hardcore bands of all time. They’re from here and still active. Providence has a strong history of punk, hardcore, and DIY ethics, and an incredible art and music scene.
MR: Though you’re no longer in Milwaukee, Northless thankfully lives on. What has the band been up to lately? Are you writing new material?
ES: We were on basically a hiatus for a while, but things aligned in such a way that we felt it was a good time to crawl back from the sewers and remind people that we exist. Even though my bandmates now live like 1,500 miles away, we’ve kept in touch regularly. I had proposed different scenarios for how we would continue to be active while being geographically separated.
However, I unfortunately got sidelined by an injury that occurred in 2023. I don’t really know how to describe what happened. One morning I woke up and just had horrifically bad numbness and tingling in both of my hands and legs, and also incredibly bad neck and back pain. I had some scans done and they didn’t really show anything super conclusive. Being a bigger guy, my doctor strongly recommended that I lose some weight and change my diet to reduce inflammation to see if that would help. So I’ve lost about 40 pounds and changed my diet a bit, and that certainly helped. I also did some physical therapy and while I was doing physical therapy, they determined that I have some kind of injury in one of the vertebrae in my neck. I most likely sustained this when I was weightlifting at the gym. I’ve since held off on lifting heavy weights to avoid exacerbating my injury.
The relevance of the injury was that for about a year, I was unable to play guitar or drums. There was one point where I basically concluded that my musical career was over, but I wasn’t ready to announce it. However, I’ve made some good strides and while I still have some definite issues, they are nowhere near as debilitating as they were a year and a half ago.
Northless will definitely have another record. I have been mapping out the concept and for the first time ever, I’ve actually been working in advance on lyrics and themes prior to songs being written. I’ve felt compelled to do this because I’ve really become accustomed to songs having a narrative arc as opposed to just being about singular topics. So the concept for the new record is pretty well fleshed out. And I’ve been accumulating riffs as usual for years. I have a ton of stuff saved up from the last year or so, and also I have a riff vault that is full of ideas going all the way back to the beginning of the band. Every time I do a new record, I go back and listen through and see if there’s anything that speaks to me more now than it did previously. There’s actually a tune on our latest record called “Carried” that has riffs in it which I probably wrote back in like 2011, but that I just never found a spot for until then.
MR: How’d the Cactus Club show come about? Were you already planning to be back in the area in October or did the chance to play with the legendary likes of Thou lure you back?
ES: Actually, I have to give credit to Cory von Bohlen. He’s pretty much the reason we’re playing the show. He told me that Thou were playing in Milwaukee in early October, and I told him that was interesting because I was planning to visit Milwaukee the first couple weeks of October and would likely go to the show. Cory basically said it would be silly if we didn’t somehow play the show too. He helped push the idea to the right people, and also helped me sort out some of the logistics for while we’re in town.
Thou are friends of ours going back to the early days. We were labelmates on Gilead Media records. We played with them in 2011 at the Borg Ward, right after our record Clandestine Abuse came out. Their singer Bryan booked us in New Orleans on one of our first tours, and we were lucky enough to play with them several other times through the years before we got sidetracked with lineup changes and other bumps in the road. They are truly legends and an incredible band. It has been awesome watching their ascent. They’re one of the best and most sincere heavy bands going right now.
MR: Beyond the Thou show, is there anything else in the works for Northless in terms of live outings—whether it’s this fall or down the road?
ES: The year 2027 will be our twentieth as a band. I’m planning to have the new record out by then and do shows in support of it in the Midwest. More to come on that in the future. For now, this is the only show we have planned. Also of note, we are playing live on WMSE on Monday, October 6 at 1 p.m. We’ll be playing some songs from our newest record, A Path Beyond Grief. Our old guitar player Nick [Elert] actually does the sound engineering at WMSE now, and it’s gonna be weird but awesome having him running sound for us instead of jamming riffs next to me. I’m stoked for him, though. He’s such an awesome human.
MR: While you’re back in town, are there any other places you’re going to try to visit? Old haunts? New spots you’ve heard about? Knowing your affinity for VHS, I highly recommend you check out the new Good Shit Video store.
ES: I am planning to visit as many places as I can while I’m in town. I’m hoping that a lot of people come to the Cactus Club show, so that way I can catch up with a lot of old friends. I will be definitely getting some Culver’s. You don’t know how much you miss a butter burger until you live in a place where they don’t have them. I also can’t wait to go to Half Price Books. I have found so much good shit there through the years. Well at both locations, really. I will eternally miss the Brown Deer Road location that closed like nine years ago. That place was a gold mine.
Speaking of Good Shit Video, I saw the article and am definitely going to check it out. I’m also going to hit up Rushmor, Bay View Books, the Value Villages, and as many rummage sales as I can find. I also do have some super duper top secret tape spots that I think are still open, so I’m gonna dig those out while I’m there.
MR: While you’re kicking projects back into gear, how about some new material from Syrictus?!
ES: It’s funny you mention that, because I actually just finished a new Syrictus record! My friend Jeff, the drummer for Northless, has been mixing and mastering the album, and just sent me a really strong mix and master the other day, which I think is the final product. It’s the first new Syrictus record in six years, and I’m ridiculously proud of it. It’s the next logical step forward from the last album. I think it’s definitely thrashier and maybe maybe a little bit more varied than the last one. I think the core influences for me will always be Gorguts and Morbid Angel, but this has some other elements, like avant garde black metal, slam death, progressive sounds like the mid- and later career Death albums. All of that is ran through my own filter, so it ends up sounding like me. I’m very excited for it. I anticipate that it will be out towards the end of this year, and I may just release it digitally, though if other options present themselves, I will definitely consider those as well.
MR: Is there anything else you’d like to say about the show, Northless, returning to Milwaukee, or anything else?
ES: Thank you as always for taking the time to chat with me about Northless and my other art, and for being so damn supportive of what I do. I also want to thank all of my friends, family, and well-wishers back in Wisconsin. So many people have supported and still support me, and it’s an incredible feeling. While I am no longer a Milwaukee resident, it will always be my first home, and I am a dyed-in-the-wool Midwesterner. You can rest assured I’ve brought the “ope”, “a horse a piece”, and long Midwestern goodbyes with me to New England. Also, fun fact: they call water fountains bubblers in Rhode Island and nearby Mass, too, and to my knowledge, those are the only places where they call them that. So now you know.
If you take anything away from this, know this: there will always be Northless, so long as I am physically and mentally able to do it. At this point, I’ve been doing that music for almost half my life and it’s hard for me to envision a life without it. For better or worse, Northless is here to stay.