Cut Cult, the Latest Project from Brian Borcherdt (Holy Fuck, Dusted), Share Grimy, Groovy New Single “Dinosaur”
Nova Scotia’s Cut Cult share their newest single, “Dinosaur” – a grimy, groove-laden alt track driven by a monstrous baritone guitar hook and an experimental spirit that’s equal parts N.E.R.D. and noise-punk. Anchored in raw live energy and a loose, unconventional vocal take, “Dinosaur” distills the chaotic charm of a rehearsal tape into something big, heavy, and undeniably fun.
Cut Cult is the latest boundary-pushing project from Brian Borcherdt – founder of Holy Fuck, known also for his solo work as Dusted and the viral chipmunks on 16 speed. Reuniting with original Holy Fuck drummer Loel Campbell (Wintersleep, Broken Social Scene, Billy Talent) and longtime collaborator Matt McQuaid (Holy Fuck), the trio formed a new band to explore sonic ideas unbound by the limits of past projects. Rounding out the group is Mairi Chaimbeul, contributing psychedelic harp and synth textures.
Written and recorded in a rural cottage in Black Point, NS, “Dinosaur” emerged during late-night jam sessions, home-cooked meals, and full-band hangs. With its head-nodding 808 pulse and bassy swagger, the song quickly became a band favourite though it lacked a final vocal take. That changed when frontman Borcherdt unearthed a scrappy rehearsal recording and laid it over the session. The timing worked thanks to the shared BPM, and the spirit was just right.
Brian shares,
“We came up with this sort of lumbering monstrous baritone guitar part, something like a scary “Hella Good”-Neptunes kind of hook. We had the title “Dinosaur” due to this Godzilla vibe, but no words. I found a rehearsal tape that was perfect – it was still gibberish, but the vibe was right. Being centred around an 808 beat, I knew it’d fit. So I overlaid that take and was done.”
Cut Cult’s upcoming First Three EP was mixed by Matt Wiggins (Glass Animals, !!!, Florence and the Machine), and showcases a raw yet groove-forward sound that feels as spontaneous as it does deliberate.
First off, care to introduce Cut Cult to our readers?
Brian: Cut Cult are three current and former members of Holy Fuck, longtime friends. I’m Brian… hi.
Loel: I’m Loel Campbell, Based in Nova Scotia.
“Dinosaur” hits with a nasty groove and wild texture—can you walk us through how that
monstrous baritone guitar hook came to life?
Loel: dang, I can’t remember if that was a part before I think we just had a baritone guitar laying around and punchy picked it up and while we were starting to jam on this beat, Brian had going on the Roland TR. in these sessions, there was a lot of improvisation and just jamming happening which we recorded as we went and then chose to define things more or change structures, etc. so I think this is actually the first version of dinosaur that we recorded and still feels the best.
The groove is thick, but the attitude is very punk—did that contrast come naturally or
was it something you crafted intentionally?
Loel: I think it’s in our nature when we leave an open canvas for each one of us to find our voice within the sonic sphere, and I think we gravitate towards different approaches and different types of sounds to keep things interesting and hopefully give the music some sort of purpose or uniqueness. So I think that is our kind of punk rock, the something out of nothing. Getting your hands dirty and having something to show for it.
Brian: There doesn’t really feel like a lot of contrast between something being groovy, something being bombastic, and something being blown out, big and distorted. Not to us, I don’t think. It matches what we listen to and what we grew up playing. We gravitate towards things that have a lot of impact, being a groove or emotion. So when we hear one of us playing something that gets us on that level, we dig into it, each in our own way. My sounds are a bit blown out, due to the way I’m trying to conjure sound from simple pieces, pushing against their sonic restrictions. It’s not intentionally punk. It’s not intentionally distorted. But we aren’t afraid of that.
What was the vibe like at that Black Point cottage? Did the isolation help or was it more
about the communal, late-night jam energy?
Loel: The first session that we had was in mid summer of 2020 when we were locked down but in the eastern part of Canada, we had a bubble going with the Atlantic provinces so being that we were all based in Nova Scotia we were able to take precautions and lineup this incredibly fun weekend of recording and just making stuff up. My neighbours were having a summer bash, and there was some slip and slide Action going on, and just kind of general good summer vibes. Hot days. It felt very free and crucial in it being that I think we couldn’t imagine being anywhere else, but we also literally couldn’t be anywhere else. We went to a karaoke party when we finished the last night we were tracking, and Brian absolutely devastated the karaoke stage with a version of Cyndi Lauper’s song, I believe. It was a lot of fun and just pure creative joy happening that you could almost not keep up with, the amount of ideas that were circulating was endless. There are hours upon hours of recordings.
Brian: It was Pet Shop Boys. Ha. We were lucky to have a pretty wide perimeter of our bubble. But to put it in perspective, we didn’t join the neighbours on the slip and slide. Like classic weirdos, we just watched from the windows while we made the heaviest, strangest music. It was our contribution to their summer BBQ fun.
You’ve all got serious pedigrees—Holy Fuck, Wintersleep, Broken Social Scene, etc.
How does Cut Cult carve out a space that’s uniquely its own?
Loel: Cut Cult started because of the circumstances of the pandemic and our geographically located position on the plane,t we were allowed to get together. We’ve all worked on music together over the years. It has always happened and continues to happen. I think we’re just working with the parameters of having a studio to capture things and having my voice on the drums and Brian‘s table of gadgets and gargling goop and about load of voice memos that he had of different ideas for beats, we could use as a basis to start jams and improvisations on, Punchy’s distinct bass styling and musicality in layers and things that seem to have not yet been explored or done for any of us yet.
Brian: And on the level of friendship, we’ve always played together since we were youngsters. Loel and I were making music together, whether it ended up on albums or not. In the spring of 2019, we first started playing with this kind of intention. I was afraid that by moving to Nova Scotia, I would disrupt that creative process. But a year later, we were all there. So it was fated to be.
Tell us about working with Matt Wiggins. How did his mixing style elevate or warp the
raw material from those sessions?
Loel: I think perhaps Matt mixed one of the songs that I played on for a holy fuck record, but Brian And Matt had a really good experience with him Making the last holy fuck record and yeah, his resume is incredible and we are very pleased with the way he treated these songs.
Brian: Yeah, our first Holy Fuck albums would feature mulitple mixing engineers on different songs. Albums felt more like a mixtape or collage. Then we had Matt Wiggins mix the entire Deleter record, as it was the first time we heard someone whose approach fit everything. So, inviting him to mix these first Cut Cult songs felt logical. He gets it; he gets us.
If each of you could describe Cut Cult’s sound in one made-up word, what would it be?
Loel: Sherdafridararaoscaliptionfit
Brian: Duh