Their lyrics curdled your blood, their noise loops impaled your eardrums, and now they’re here to make you groove. Back in 2010, three independently ambitious guys just wanted to make some noise and share their excitement for music with those around them. Fast-forward to 2025, the eclectic experimental hip-hop trio known as “clipping.” drops their fifth studio album, Dead Channel Sky, under Sub Pop Records. The name “clipping.” is derived from the term describing distorted audio from over-loud levels, aptly branding their music as abrasive and deafening before you’ve even heard it. While typically known for their harsh sound and horrorcore motifs, they’ve recently deviated to a more rave-like soundscape, utilizing elements of club-heavy electronic music such as acid basses and break beats.
Though they modestly deny it, clipping. has engineered an entirely fresh sound by fusing together genres from different corners of experimental music. In doing so, the group has attracted a noticeably divisible fanbase attracted to each of their different facets: Arguably the largest segment of their supporters are the experimental hip-hop-heads, followed by the less notable yet still existent noise fans, and lastly, (and certainly least), there are the Hamilton fans.
Right outside of NBC’s famed 30 Rock, the bourgeois-indie record store Rough Trade partnered with Rockefeller Center to bring iNDIEPLAZA on Record Store Day in April. The all-day festival has occurred annually since its inception in 2022 and is entirely free and open to the public. Their curated lineups feature a wide range of musical acts but typically stay within the sphere of electronic, indie rock, and alternative hip-hop. A good friend of mine had just come back from interviewing several acts at the Ende Tymes noise festival in Brooklyn, including harsh noise wall pioneer The Rita who had previously worked with clipping., so I brought him along to come chat with the group about this connection they have to noise music.
We showed up to find one of the most mixed crowds we had ever seen; From the obvious music nerds to NYC’s typical tourists, all of Rockefeller Plaza was about to get noisy. Pedals and feedback loopers were placed on a foldable table from Staples, a quintessential sight for any harsh noise fan. As rain began to pour, the group took the stage, each sporting all black coats. The crowd went silent as Daveed began rapping acapella-style against an escalating wall of noise. Once the short set wrapped up, we started heading to the back to meet the trio as they took their gear offstage. Daveed, the star of the show, came down the stairs out back and turned around almost immediately as we started yelling his name. We assumed he had heard us and thought we were Hamilton paparazzi here to pester him, but we were proven wrong after finding him stepping into the crowd up front to sign merchandise and take pictures with fans. Jonathan Snipes, the group’s DJ, soon came down the stairs to put away his stuff. Although Jonathan was preoccupied with handling equipment, he was willing to grab his co-producer William “Bill” Hutson for the interview, who is essentially the root of the band’s harsh noise. To my surprise, Daveed appeared next to me, and I was now standing behind the stage with two-thirds of clipping., who were more than willing to participate in a short interview about the influence of noise on their music.
I was just speaking to Sam McKinlay, [aka] The Rita, yesterday, and I was interested on how y’all met. What do you think of Sam’s stuff, and why did y’all even decide to add kind of a harsh noise wall aspect to that track, “La Mala Ordina”?
Bill: Let’s see. I met Sam in 2005, maybe? I have known him for a long time. I wrote an article about him in the late/mid-2000s that was only published in this Swedish academic journal. Anyway, we’ve been friendly ever since. We had always had this idea that he would process new lyrics. Like, he would ruin a Daveed verse so that people would never be able to learn the words to that ‘cause it was going to get completely pummeled. Since that track sort of ended up, like, having this sort of Eurotrash film theme, it seemed like Sam was the one [to work with], ‘cause it’s named after this Italian crime movie, and that’s kind of his vibe, haha. I just wrote to him and asked if he’d be willing to do it, and he was down.
From when I interacted with him, Sam seems to be a real sweetheart. With clipping. and that noise influence, what makes noise so integral, and why did you decide to go in that direction for production? Why is there so much noise in y’all’s music?
Bill: I think part of it is that we formed the band based on the three of us wanting to tour together? I made noise, Jonathon had come from like a very noisy electronic music project, and Daveed was a rapper. It was more to do with, what do the three of us do together? We backwards-invented the music based on what our strengths were. I come from noise. That was my scene, those were my people. It wasn’t as conceptual as maybe we’ve become. At the time, it really was, what do we do?
Daveed, how do you think noise and rap work together as genres?
Daveed: We weren’t setting a precedent for any of this stuff. It’s like the Bomb Squad’s production with Public Enemy, we reference it all the time. Like, there’s always been a lot of really noisy elements to rap music. I think the scenes share a DIY ethos, and also a revolutionary potential also. It tends to be music that is good for riling people up. It’s good music to get amped for whatever your deal is.
There are a lot of transgressive and divisive themes ina lot of noise music, a lot of power electronics and whatever else, and I can really feel that in what y’all do. I’m just wondering, on your latest album, you touch on more house-y, danceable songs, songs like “Mirrorshades Pt. 2” and “Dominator.” Are you planning to pursue that direction on your future projects?
Bill: We never do the same thing twice. We got the next three albums planned out, and they’re all very different, so, haha, we’ll see.
Daveed: Yeah, cosign.
Sam suggested that when you’re coming to Vancouver later in your tour, he might be doing some sort of collaboration with you. Is there anything that you want to say? He didn’t want to give away too much, so let me know.
Bill: Haha. Yeah, no comment. We’ll see.
Daveed: Haha, yeah.
Bill: Just come to the show.