Thorn Bug is the moniker of Raul Starcz, a noise artist born and based in Romania. After growing up with rock and metal music, the search for more extreme forms of sounds led to the discovery of noise through artists such as Masonna, Incapacitants, C.C.C.C. and Merzbow. Before Thorn Bug, in 2018 the project Bosses Hang was born with the aim of combining past influences such as Godflesh and Swans, with the newfound world of noise. The first album, Five Meditations On Melancholy, a collaboration with Astro and ex-C.C.C.C member Hiroshi Hasegawa, was self-released in 2019. While having a very strong noise presence through the work of Hiroshi Hasegawa, the album remained very much composition based with hints of improvisation. After the debut, split releases and collaborations on various labels followed with artists such as Toshiji Mikawa, Torturing Nurse, Government Alpha, Astro, Richard Ramirez, GX Jupitter-Larsen, Vomir and Boredom Knife. With each release, the composed sounds began to take less and less of the central stage, leaving room for improvisation and noise. As such, after gaining more experience through collaborations and trial and error, a new name was needed to represent the departure from the composed sound still present in Bosses Hang and the move to a different concept.
In 2021 Thorn Bug was born, a new moniker aimed at what could be generally called harsh noise. After the change of name, a first solo cassette was released through the US based label PRESSORTAPE in June 2021, showcasing the new sound of the project, self-described as “Melancholic Harsh Electronics”. Splits with Astro, scum and Spiritual Poison followed, and the first full-length solo album My Neighbour Satan was released in February 2022 by the US based label Trust Collective. The latest release of Thorn Bug was put out in December 2023, again by PRESSORTAPE, and is a split release with none other than Incapacitants!
After doing a couple of live shows with the help of LMA Collective, a DIY collective from Cluj-Napoca, Romania, this will mark the first overseas Thorn Bug live appearance.
