New York's Led Er Est have developed a mesmerising, haunting, and powerful new sound. Wierd Records released the band's first full length "Dust On Common" in November 2009 and ever since then, the buzz has only gotten louder. Welcome to the soundtrack for the end of the world.

Dazed Digital: How much of an influence does John Carpenter have on your sound/music?
Led Er Est: I think that's hard to quantify specifically. "A decent amount"? Theinspiration we draw from his soundtrack work should be readily apparent in some of our songs. His films have inspired us, but in significantly less tangible ways.

DD: What are your songs about?
Led Er Est: The normal things that most songs are about - love, death, aliens, etc.

DD: Are you interested in creating soundtracks for sci fi/horror films?
Led Er Est: Absolutely. We plan on doing some soundtrack work for several projects this year.

DD: If you could score a John Carpenter film which would choose?
Led Er Est: That's a confusing question. I would love to do Assault on Precinct 13, but the mere though of re-scoring that film, with its flawless soundtrack, upsets my stomach. Its really a heretical notion. I like the idea of re-working the Big Trouble in Little China soundtrack in full-on Sino-EBM fashion, with blaring digital synth guitar and cliche Asian melodies.

DD: Does you use of electronics inform your post apocalyptic aesthetic?
Led Er Est: "All our needs fulfilled. All our passion killed. Tell me what will become of us. If you show them a sign that you know your own mind."

DD: You'll be meeting dr. Terminus-
Led Er Est:
Tech-no-logical world. Tech-no-logical world. Automatic satisfaction guaranteed. But the flags of doom unfurled. On tech-no-logical world. On tech-no-logical world."

DD: What are your thoughts on the relationship of blues idioms and the sci-fi aesthetic of John Carpenter’s films?
Led Er Est: Class struggle and oppression are recurring themes in many of Carpenter's films. They Live, one of his finest works, is a paranoid meditation on Reaganomics and the crumbling facade of late capitalism. Simple blues riffs pepper the film's acoustic space, grounding the almost comedic, otherworldly narrative about magic sunglasses and
alien mind control in the grittiness and desperation of urban reality. In Carpenter's hands, the blues riff is transformed from a self-pitying dirge into a triumphant cry of autonomy and opposition to the status quo.

DD: How has NYC made your lives for better or for worse?
Led Er Est: Low-grade drinking problems, empty bank accounts, etc.

DD: Do you think “Escape from NY” is an allegory for living in NYC?
Led Er Est: Not specifically, but it is certainly a critique of America at large, and borrows from early 80s NYC mythos. The somewhat underrated sequel, Escape from LA, takes a much more interesting and extreme stance (even if it is ultimately a far inferior film). While Carpenter weds a rugged, individualistic American ideal of masculinity to neo-Ludditism, he also shamelessly displays some of the most garish and tacky cinematic spectacles this side of Bollywood - a deathmatch basketball game, a surf-chase scene down the LA freeway, and a script consisting of nearly entirely of one-liners. "Welcome to the human race", indeed.

DD: What are you most looking forward to on your European tour?
Led Er Est: Casu marzu.

Led Er Est and Xeno & Oaklander will be kicking off their European tour together in London on April 13 2010