I Have No Mouth: Hampshire College screamo then and now

I Have No Mouth has come full circle. Formed after its band members bonded over screamo quartet Orchid, they’ll be releasing a debut EP recorded by Orchid’s guitarist, Will Killingsworth. I Have No Mouth formed at Hampshire College, a small liberal arts school known for its countercultural norms. They’re just one example of the burgeoning hardcore scene that occupies Western Mass, and have had a wild ride to where they are today. From opening to their heroes six months after they formed, to delaying their EP nearly a year due to a sudden shoulder injury, vocalist Jay Sugden, guitarist Levi Ebnit, bassist Nathaniel Baron, and drummer Ben Becker have quite a lot to tell. 

The group were kind enough to let me interview them after they closed. I closed a two day festival in nearby Easthampton. Here’s what they had to say.

You’ve been teasing an EP since the Spring of 2024. What took so long?

Jay Sugden: Life happened. 

Levi Ebnit: Yeah, money, and then I had a shoulder injury where I couldn’t play right before we were going to record our EP, and that was like really funny looking back. … I was lifting weights, being stupid, and my shoulder came out. 

Sugden: Dislocated. 

Ebnit: Yeah, it was crazy. So it would have been out a year ago probably.

How long did it take you to get back to guitar? 

Ebnit: Like in two weeks. 

Sugden: It was to sit down playing. 

Ben Becker: … I guess also … we really didn’t like some of those songs that we originally wrote. Sound changes and evolves, so that’s kind of why we waited. We tried.

Sugden: I’m still glad we did it now. 

Ebnit: We just had songs that… we think didn’t represent the band anymore. I feel like we’re going into more of an emotional, melodic type of zone. I think we were just playing dance parts to play dance parts.

You opened for Orchid’s first show in over twenty years. How much of an insider’s perspective did you have into their reunion? 

Sugden: We got the message in February to open for them, and had to keep it under lock and key until the show got announced. … February to May, we had to zip it shut, and that was a hard one to keep, I was too excited! … we would just giggle together … 

Ebnit: [singsong] We have a secret! We can’t tell you! 

Ebnit: Orchid was even generous enough to give us a pre-sale code … they wanted like the current lovers of this kind of music to be at the show, which I thought was really, really cool. Incredibly nice. 

Why do you think they picked you guys to be their first act after twenty years?

Sugden: We went to Hampshire College. They went to Hampshire College.

You’re backstage, lights are on, Orchid’s show is about to start. What’s going through your head? 

Ebnit: Oh, vomit coming out. 

Sugden: I was either like … I’m going to throw up, or I’m the happiest I’ve ever been in my entire life. [laughs] 

Becker: I remember we did a huddle. 

Sugden: It was scary, I remember you tying my tie, and I was like, don’t make it too tight, I’m scared. [laughs] 

What was Will Killingworth’s production style like? 

Sugden: Hands off. We did live recording for them [Ebnit, Baron, and Becker] … and then I went and did vocals after the fact … I know Bubble Scary did it all together live. But he offers different ways of doing it, just to split our sound the best, and honestly, it worked out fantastic.

Becker: It was really helpful to have Nathaniel here who has a music production background … he knew how to talk … producer lingo … I’m terrible at that. 

If Nathaniel wasn’t there, what would the EP sound like? 

Nathaniel Baron: Probably the same. 

Becker: I don’t know, man. 

Baron: I thought I got a wicked tone. Maybe you would have had a worse bass tone. But it didn’t matter. 

Becker: That’s important. 

Baron: Maybe we would’ve just moved on. 

Sugden: You know the technical words. I just use a bunch of fun adjectives to describe the answers.

Baron: I don’t think I did anything … maybe in terms of mixes, but I think I used the amp that Will set up … I think I had more … specific thoughts when we did Mixer Visions, but I’d like to think those are probably things you guys would have picked up on as well, even if you didn’t use the exact words. 

Becker: Fair enough.

The alternative scene in Western Mass is “very up and coming.” I’m wondering how you’ve seen it evolve in the past two years. 

Jay Sugden: I think we personally saw the resurrection of a hardcore scene, per se … Western Mass is a wonderful place, and it’s cultivated so many different scenes and artists for so many years. We’ve got the Pixies and Dinosaur Jr. and the Breeders out of it, like holy shit … when we were starting a new hardcore venue had opened, and I know that scene was kind of recently in the dip down. That’s what I’ve heard … We saw the rise of hardcore coming into the area. I know Bubble Scary had been playing for two years longer than we had even been around from UMass. … I think this area really cultivates art very well. 

How do you view yourselves in relation to Orchid? 

Sugden: They have put a very big influence on my life, personally. I just remember like the summer before I went up to college, I was so bored, I was taking like two hour walks and listening to their whole entire discography over and over, and I would go home and watch their old videos on YouTube… I randomly came across [their] Wikipedia page, I saw they went to Hampshire College and I was like, ‘Oh my God, that’s crazy.’ And you know, never expected that when I came out to Western Mass, I would start a band and then meet Will and form a nice relationship and then have him record our album … So it’s kind of just a crazy turn of events for a band that has been one of my favorites for a long, long time. 

Ebnit: When I was really annoying in high school, I’d listen to them all the time … I was so mad to take the SAT and I listened to them … and I did so bad on it, and then I played with them and I was like, you know what, fuck the SAT.

Do you view yourselves as successors to Orchid? 

Ebnit: No, [laughs]…I just don’t think we’re good enough. Wait, sorry, how do I put this professionally? 

Becker: I had never even heard of them until [we played with them], so no. Ebnit: I just feel like we’re a little different…we could think of it as a family tree. Sugden: Yeah, a family tree. Orchid up here, maybe down in the corner I Have No Mouth is there. 

Ebnit: I feel like we’ve ripped off a bunch of bands I really enjoy, but maybe successor isn’t the right word. 

Sugden: Also just one more comment… everyone in Orchid is so nice. They’re just wonderful, wonderful people… I also did cry during the Orchid set… I think honestly at the time I felt like that was one of the strongest sets we played. I was just so happy.

I Have No Mouth will play an EP release show at the Prescott Tavern in Amherst, MA on
September 27th. You can follow them on Instagram: @ihavenomouth413.