He’s already shared the delirious “The Gate,” and accompanying the news today is the jittery single + video “Tarantula.” 

He says,“This song is about uninvited recurring irrational thoughts and fears. I decided to make a little fable where a tarantula is whispering bad things into your ear.”

Dungeon Master, Englehorn’s Secret City Records debut, is an outsider opus that sparkles with Dada spirit — a playful juxtaposition of isolation, alienation and mildish OCD. Surprising, paranoid, and studded with synths and strings,Dungeon Master is deeper than a cellar and blunter than a club — a shivering introduction to an artist who’s finally arrived. “I let my subconscious do the driving,” Gus admits, and as you listen to these 10 tunes, it’s difficult not to do the same: to sit back like a dog with a two-legged daydream; like a fisherwoman with her net; like a snowboarder with a mouth full of powder.

Dungeon Master is probably the cutest, heaviest, strangest record you will hear this year, loaded with refreshingly weird Dadaist, outsider rock in the style of Daniel Johnston or Frank Black and early Pixies records. Along with 2020’s Death & Transfiguration it’s a sound that’s dark and delightful, fun and demented, packed with dynamics and the chug of a hysterical guitar. 

Englehorn will also be playing this year’s SXSW as an official artist — tour dates here

Tell us about the genesis of your project. How did you get to where you are now?

I spent a long long time writing songs in my room, maybe 15 years, before I came up with anything I felt like releasing. I eventually honed my process down to just writing on an acoustic guitar. I find that limitations are very helpful to me. Once I figured that out, I started writing stuff I liked. I released my first album Death & Transfiguration in 2020 and I’ll be releasing my second album Dungeon Master on April 29th 2022. 

What should a song or piece of art communicate in your opinion?

Really anything you want it to. There are so many different ways to make something worthwhile. I think that’s what is fun about art, seeing all the different approaches and how they all can be equally as powerful.

Who were your top 3 artists last year?

I’m like a weathervane when it comes to artists. But I always kind of hover around Frank Black, John Fahey and Daniel Johnston.

What do you do when you’re feeling uninspired?

I usually watch movies and basketball. If I’m home in Alaska, I climb mountains.

What are your 2022 projects and goals?

We’ll be going on our first US tour. I’d like to write another album, continue learning about filmmaking and I would also like to learn how to play the piano and sing like Elton John.

Favorite movie?

The Big Lebowski

Tell us about your latest release and how it came about.

I wrote Dungeon Master in a cabin in the countryside outside of Québec city. It came about through my obsession with writing songs. There are so many possibilities when it comes to songwriting and I find it intoxicating. I’m drunk on the possibilities of music and now with cinema as well. Now my entire process has become: write a song, make the arrangements, record the song, and then use the song as a little script for a short movie. 

What is something you would want to change in the music and entertainment industry?

I don’t really know enough about the industry to know what I would change. But it does seem like a lot of influential artists, like The Pixies or The Velvet Underground for example, are ignored during their time and have trouble getting recognition until many years have gone by. I wish there was a way to avoid that kind of thing. 

Can you outline your creative process?

Walk around playing my little black guitar for 8 hours a day until something comes out. I also do write in my notebooks everyday and that’s where a lot of the lyrics come from.

Who inspires your style and aesthetics?

The surrealists like Jean Cocteau, Louis Bunel, Salvador Dali and David Lynch, outsider artists such as Bill Traylor, Daniel Johnston and the Dada movement.

What is the achievement or moment in your career you are the most proud of and why?

Perhaps when I got signed to Secret City Records because it gave me hope that a band like us could potentially find an audience. We were always interested in being accessible and inclusive. We hope that everyone can get some joy out of our music.

What do you think an artist should sing about nowadays?

I can’t speak for others, but I believe art should be like a big playground. A place to let your imagination run wild. A place to escape the mundane.

Do you have any regrets?

Regrets, I’ve had a few but then again too few to mention. 

What is some piece of advice you would give to yourself right now?

No more ice cream