All of the song titles on Religious Equipment, the debut full-length album from the British artist Richie Culver’s project Quiet Husband, are named after opiate blockers or substitutions. When paired with the record’s sonic outlook—its nine tracks synthesize bleak, uncompromising harsh noise and banging techno—Religious Equipment communicates an uncompromising vision, one that looks head-on at addiction and obsession with the kind of stark clarity that can only come from blasting a harsh wall of noise. We sent over some questions to Culver; read the interview and listen to Religious Equipment below.

What prompted the naming conventions on this record? 

Richie Culver: I know most of the substances fairly well and have always wondered about this idea of naming a full album with them. There’s a conversation between the intensity and harshness of the music against titles that are designed to suppress or block. 

The music on this release is quite visceral, but it also comes with a text by the curators Charles Teyssou and Pierre-Alexandre Mateos. How do you balance these dual impulses: the physical and the cerebral?

Yes. The text is so important. Charles and Pierre are absolute heavyweights regarding curation and words. I see them more as artists TBH. One day I’d like to make a record with them as lyricists. I’ve worked with them a few times and with this project as usual they had free rein. What they delivered added multiple layers to the project and brought it to life … Gave it a pulse. 

What is your philosophy when it comes to live performance?

Improvise and just see what happens. I’m a member of AA and NA etc. so I’ve been speaking about really personal things for decades amongst relative strangers so performing has always come easy. ATM I’m enjoying leaning into the useless side of me—the needy side that struggles to change the batteries in the TV control. I like to perform as that guy. The useless one that I’ve spent my whole life trying not to be. My stepdad always used to call me useless and tut when I’d enter the room etc. It’s a kind of painful place TBH but it’s a great place to perform from.

I love that you made socks to go along with this release. What was the thinking behind this? Are these good socks to dance in? 

Me and DBL have always made strong merch. Yeah there’s a link to dancing and socks I guess. 

Are drugs religious equipment? 

Religious Equipment maybe doesn’t mean anything or it means everything. I’m still not sure. That’s what I love about art and creating—most of the time concepts come together as I’m making it, like with Charles and Pierre for instance, collaborating brings new angles. But with that title ... nothing ever came and I’m ok with that. It just sounds good. 

What does noise mean to you?

Noise to me is the ultimate art form, visual or sound based. To quote recent memes: It’s the End Boss. There’s nothing beyond it. It’s the most academic and sophisticated area of the arts by a million miles. It’s abstraction at its fullest. Pure textures that most are not prepared to find. It’s everything to me. 

Is there freedom to be found in the rejection of pleasure? 

Yes. Numb is the purest state, probably. Something I chased for decades. I dedicated my life to finding it. But there’s no freedom there. Just pain. 

I trust pain.