Somethin Outta Nothin, S.O.N for short, is on the verge of something big. His new album, The Bastard Son, will finally be released into the world this Sunday, March 9th.
S.O.N first announced The Bastard Son all the way back in June of 2023, the same day that he was officially announced as the latest signee to the Long Live Evil record label. Since then, fans have been feverishly awaiting the album’s release. Throughout 2024, S.O.N held three special “ritual” shows that birthed King Umbra, The Bastard Son himself. After the final ritual last October, it was just a waiting game.
The first domino toward The Bastard Son’s release was The Legion Realm Holiday Special, ostensibly an Adult Swim style comedy special that is haunted by something darker. A sinister energy lurks within the special, seemingly coming directly from King Umbra.
Next we received the album’s first single, “Sulfur” and its accompanying music video. The video opens with S.O.N turning over an hourglass. What does this signify? We’ll likely have to wait for the album for that answer. From there we are given the imagery of S.O.N looking into a mirror, the image flashing between him and the various members of The Hive(a loving term for S.O.N’s audience, or those who deeply connect to and see something of themselves in his art). The title and chorus of the song’s mentions of “sulfur” immediately bring to mind the sulfur sigil that doubles as the Legion Realm symbol. Also, why does it look like this video takes place in the same space as the Holiday Special?
The imagery and easter eggs in these two pieces of media are dense and likely won’t reveal themselves until The Bastard Son has been given some time to breathe. On the eve of the album’s release, I sat down with Somethin Outta Nothin himself to ask a few final questions before we are have the full Bastard Son album to sit with and ponder. The following is our discussion.
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DIFTUG: Before we get to anything else, there are less than 48 hours between now and the time of the album’s release. How are you feeling? What are the core emotions and thoughts you have going into this moment?
Somethin Outta Nothin: I'm just ready. Sitting here, listening to what this project is and remembering the days that went into it is unreal. Those days were dark. Some were beautiful. All were necessary. The energy shines through the work. I'm excited to share it with the hive.
DIFTUG: Your first album, Grant Us Eyes felt like it just grew and grew indefinitely for almost four years. How does it feel to be releasing a body of work into a situation where there are more expectations and more anticipation from the audience than there was the first time around?
S.O.N: Honestly, for a while after Grant Us Eyes I was nervous. I felt a pressure to make something of greater value. It wasn't until I was actually in full production of The Bastard Son that I realized, I don't make art with concern of how it's going to be perceived by anyone but myself. I make this from my heart for my heart and it resonates with who it needs to resonate with. I look at each project as like the piece of work for that time period of myself and I don’t believe they are in competition with one another. The difference here this time isn't the attention of the audience, it's me knowing my formula better than last time. So in short, it feels incredible, but that's not determined by the expectations of the audience.
DIFTUG: You've said that you learned things about Grant Us Eyes after it was released by talking to other people about it. What are some things you know now about Grant Us Eyes that you didn't know in 2021?
S.O.N: Not to be vague, but I feel like it's better left unsaid. I don't want to steer anyone's interpretations or views on the work. That's your personal conversation with it and I have my own that is changed all the time by hearing you all’s experience. I don't want what I know to change anything for the traveler. That wouldn't be fair.
DIFTUG: Fair, fair. Let's move toward The Bastard Son, then.
You first announced The Bastard Son, and revealed the image of King Umbra, at Camp Xul 3, in June of 2023. That same weekend you played a new song that seemed to be called "Afterbirth". To my knowledge, that song is not going to be on the final version of the record. What was the state of The Bastard Son at that early date? Was there an earlier version of the record in the works and did any of that material make it to the record that will release this Sunday?
S.O.N: So, originally I had started the music for The Bastard Son at that time. A lot was going on in my personal life and to be transparent with you, I was falling apart. I had lost myself creatively and didn't like the music that came with it. So, it got scrapped and the ideas got turned into songs that are now on the final cut.
I'll say also, I didn't lose anything, truly. I was being molded for who I was to become today, and the me that stands here today is bigger in every way and so is the art.
DIFTUG: Do you think that material is gone forever or is there a backlog we could see in the form of a S.O.N rarities collection or something one day?
S.O.N: Who knows? Maybe one day I'll share these things, but that day is not on the horizon any time soon.
DIFTUG: There's a song on The Bastard Son called "Fire Walk With Me". Obviously, this is a reference to Twin Peaks and David Lynch. How did Twin Peaks inspire The Bastard Son and how has Lynch influenced you overall?
S.O.N: Whew. First off, let me say “rest in peace” to the legend himself, David Lynch. Interacting with Lynch’s work and watching him from a distance confirmed for me that my way of making art was always exactly how I was supposed to be doing it, and that's intuitively. Twin Peaks is, in my opinion, the best, or at least, my favorite piece of spiritual cinema to ever exist. A good piece of art is entertaining and full of meaning, but leaves room in between for the audience to fall into and find their own personal meaning. The vibe of "Things are not what they seem" isn’t something that’s just over a fictional town in the Pacific North West. It's a mystery that is over our very lives. Twin peaks isn’t just there to entertain you. It's there to tell you something about yourself at your core, and I'd say The Bastard Son is the same in that aspect.
Also, you can expect a big budget video for “Fire Walk With Me”, completely Twin Peaks themed at some point in the near future.
DIFTUG: The new album is called The Bastard Son, which is obviously in reference to King Umbra, but until now you've been known to the public as S.O.N, or Son to some. Does the title hold a double meaning there? Are you embodying Umbra for this album or anything of that nature?
S.O.N: Umbra and me are one in the same in one sense, and then in the other we are two separate entities. He’s like my child, almost. His characteristics were carved from my own story, my own heart. I’ve cried Umbra’s tears of empathy. I've also played his game and bled in the process. It's a paradox but it's the way things are.
DIFTUG: Does this relate to the birthing rituals of 2024, during which you held your former mask on a stake, as if you had beheaded the old version of yourself to bring Umbra into this plane?
S.O.N: It's all connected, my dear friend.
DIFTUG: Speaking of connections, how does the recently released Legion Realm Holiday Special tie into the larger Bastard Son project?
S.O.N: A holiday special, that dropped in February, that also seems to double as a map for this illusion reality? Oh. I feel I’ve said too much. Guess you are going to have to get the album and piece it together yourself!
DIFTUG: Ugh, FINE! Let’s end on some quick hit questions about the album that the fans are dying to know.
"What's That Noise?" was an early fan favorite from Grant Us Eyes. Will we be getting any story telling songs of a similar nature on The Bastard Son?
S.O.N: Absolutely, and a lot more of it. This record in my opinion is a proper evolution of that story telling horror music we all love. This is “Doom Bap” now, and me and Billy Obey are pioneers of the sound. You will get proper evolutions of “What's That Noise” and “The Bridge”. The formula has been perfected more and it shines through this whole project.
DIFTUG: What's the song on the album that you think will become the live show favorite?
S.O.N: My money is on "Where Fear Lives" "The Rot" and "Thy Will Be Done".
DIFTUG: Hell yeah!
Okay, final question: You have already teased that the next member of The Council of 9, following King Umbra, will be a woman. Are the member's of the Council connected to each other directly or are they completely separate ideas?
S.O.N: They are all connected. Brothers, sisters and lords. Her time will come, but this is Umbra’s era. Who knows, though? Maybe you'll hear her sing out on the album. Only time will tell.
DIFTUG: Time will tell, indeed. Thank you for your time. This has been great.
Any final words for The Hive before we wrap this up?
S.O.N: We have been waiting lifetimes for this moment. Allow your heart to open. Stop being so hard headed and allow the process to take place. Our free will is used for one decision and that is, if this path is going to be hard or not. You are in control of it all. Everything you think curses your life is only there because, on a deep level, you will to experience it. This is where that ends. To the inner circle that is already there, I say, “Welcome home, initiate”. To the hard headed that have a ways to go, I'm sorry for what he has to do.
I love you all, eternally. It's time to remember exactly what you are.
DIFTUG 2025. PHOTOS BY IN THE PIT PHOTOGRAPHY.