From left to right: Pursley (She/Her), DB (He/They) and Eric (He/Him). Picture Credits: Pete Conroy @pete_conroy on Instagram

We had the immense pleasure of sitting down with DB (bass), Pursley (vocals, drums), and Eric (lead drummer) of NO MEN to discuss the formation of this staple Chicago band, their thoughts on modern events, and dissecting their point of view of their shows which are known for both their fun and intense energy. NO MEN was formed ten years ago in Austin, Texas through a Craigslist ad DB, searching for like-minded people after having just moved there.

“The ad had a picture of the original Destiny’s Child,” Pursley says. “That’s how I knew!” After seeing Destiny's Child on the ad, Pursley reached out and soon the two got together and began playing music, thus kicking off the early version of what would be the band NO MEN that we know today. However, Austin wouldn’t hold their interest forever. DB and their partner moved to Chicago in 2015 and Pursley decided to move up with them. “I had nothing going on in Austin, and had never been here before,” she explains.

In the spirit of new adventures, NO MEN moved to Chicago (dubbed “the best city in the country,” by DB later in the interview) and began looking for another member of the band. Relying on the failsafe tactics used once before, they put out an ad on Craigslist with a picture of Destiny’s Child. “That’s how I met them,” Eric says with a laugh. “Through Craigslist. At the time, I hadn’t played in a band for several years and was just practicing the drums in my basement. I finally was like ‘I need to do this again and get out of the basement.’ I answered a few ads, but nothing really gelled. Then I saw their ad with a picture of Destiny’s Child, but it also mentioned The Jesus Lizard, Fugazi, and just being minimalistic, essentially just drum, bass, and vocals. Within the first few practices we gelled right away and I think even started writing some of our first songs in those first two or three jam sessions.”

Pursley singing on stage at their show at The Salt Shed in Chicago, IL on August 24th, 2024. PC: Pete Conroy @pete_conroy on Instagram

“When we had started in Austin, it was really a lot of songs I had written and getting people to play with me,” DB says. “Once it was the three of us together, we were writing songs together and our music just totally evolved.” DB later ads. “Some of the songs on our first album were riffs I had been working on back in high school, middle school. Then you start working with other people and it’s, like, Eric is playing a different drum beat than I had in mind and I’m like; ‘Oh, this is cooler!’ It’s cool working with other people and getting out of the bedroom. It’s a lot of back and forth. Someone has an idea and we just bounce it off each other. Pursley always hears a different melody than I have in mind and it’s always like; ‘That sounds cooler!’ I think we all hear things in different ways, it’s super collaborative.”

“DB and I will normally get together in his basement for, like, three hours for a session,” Eric says. “He riffs, I play, we jam with multiple recordings going on.” This process of theirs goes on to prove how important it can be to record everything you play and create. “Often times we’ll come back to something a year later and realize this riff goes with a different riff we wrote,” DB says. “There’s something to just having a box of toys to pull from.”

DB grills at the Raging Opossum HQ for Pursley and Eric. Picture Credits: Pete Conroy, @pete_conroy on Instagram.

“Sometimes I’ll be at home and just hear a melody or riff and send it to DB,” Pursley says. “It’s just really fun. We write really well together. Everyone’s all so receptive, it’s great.” And their music has continued to evolve. NO MEN’s first album Dear God, Bring The Doom came out in 2016 whereas their most recent one, Fear This, was released in 2023. Reflecting on their long tenure as an active band, I was curious about the evolution they felt both with their music and with themselves as musicians.

“We were so young when that first album came out,” Eric acknowledges.

“I sounded like a little baby,” Pursley says. “Now I’ve built a lot of confidence though. I mean, that happens when you play a lot of shows, though I still get nervous.”

“Dear God, Bring The Doom came together really quickly, I feel,” Eric continues. “The second album, Hell Was Full So We Came Back, was the difficult sophomore album everyone goes through. We tried to experiment a little bit more on that.”

“Yeah, we spent a lot more time in the studio on the second one,” DB adds. “There was a little more effects and trickery. With the third one, it was really good. Just quick, live, not too much overdubs or anything.”

Solemnly, Pusley adds; “Shoutout Steve Alibini.”

NO MEN onstage at The Salt Shed; Pursley sings hauntingly into the mic as DB shreds. PC Pete Conroy @pete_conroy on Instagram

And, truly, shoutout Steve Albini. At the time when we conducted this interview, the news of his passing was recent. Albini was a cornerstone to not just alternative music, but the Chicago scene with a prolific list of albums he had worked on. For Fear This, NO MEN had the chance to record with the legend himself, which they took full advantage of. “It was everything I had hoped for and more,” Pursley continues. “It was just amazing.”

“He greeted us right away at 10:00 AM sharp,” Eric tells us. “He helped us carry the gear in. He just knew what he was doing. There was minimal set up, he knew how to set everything up and dialed us in pretty quickly. We had gone in there with the intention of recording sixteen songs, and at first he was a little apprehensive about it. We only had three days with him, and he didn’t think we could do it.”

“He was also just so professional and down to earth,” says DB. “I thought I was going to be fangirling out the whole time because he has recorded so many of my favorite albums. After, like, two minutes though it really was like; ‘This is just the nicest dude.’ He was the opposite of pretentious. It was also funny because he’s famously said he doesn’t want to be a producer, he’s just an engineer, so I’d ask him; ‘Did that sound good?’ and he would just look up and shoot back; ‘Do you think it sounded good?’”

“We recorded it at the end of 2021 though,” DB laments. “There was a lot of Covid precautions to abide by for safety. The only thing I regret is that we couldn’t be as close as we wanted to.”

“We never did get to have a fluffy coffee,” Pursley adds in with agreement. “It’s apparently a thing that’s known there, but they weren’t serving them because of Covid.”

With musicians as dedicated to their craft as all the members of NO MEN are, it’s always interesting to know what drew such creative individuals to music in the first place as a medium to express themselves.

DB, Eric, and Pursley in Raging Opossum Press HQ PC: Pete Conroy @pete_conroy on Instagram

“It was never really a choice for me,” DB says. “It’s been part of my life since before I can remember my life. I have very little visual skill. I’m confident in my ability to evaluate sound, but if I see a sculpture or a painting or something I’m like; “Oh, that’s cool.’ I don’t see how it represents something though, unless someone explains it to me. Music just speaks to me. I can feel the emotion viscerally.”

“Well, I’m the elder of the group,” says Eric, laughing. “So, for me, MTV. MTV was always on. Van Halen, Guns ‘N’ Roses. Seeing those videos as a child and air drumming along to them...I knew I had to do this. I remember being a kid in my room air drumming to Iron Maiden.”

“It was the whole community behind creating music that drew me in,” Pursley explains. Music, especially with how these three approach it, is naturally a very collaborative thing. Music community blossoms from this in a beautiful way as talented artists share the merits of their work, and create new work, together. NO MEN’s sound is also very unique. While it’s fast moving and heavy, it is accompanied by rhythmic undertones that make even the angriest song one you’d want to dance to. Each song breaks away from how we normally define music within genres. For NO MEN, why did they start creating this kind of music?

“It’s fun to play, honestly,” DB says. “It’s [uniqueness is] purposeful. I want to make music to make something that doesn’t already exist. There’s a lot of noise rock that I like that has kind of an off-putting masculine energy where sometimes I don’t want to hear this guy screaming. That’s part of it, as well as loving the energy of our live shows.”

“We’re not really just a punk or a metal band,” Eric says. “There’s influences of house music, of funk, of electronic, DJs. I like playing funky beats that make people want to move around. We try to make our own sound. If something does sound too similar, we can it.”

“We have cool fans who like to have fun at our shows,” Pursley adds on. “There’s just lots of good energy. For me, it wasn’t intentional like; ‘I want to be in a punk band.’ It just sort of happened and something comes over me on stage.”

“I love a melodic, crunchy riff,” Pursley continues. “Like Deftones. I really like Chevelle as well. I’m just drawn to good riffage. I’d put Screaming Females in there as well for influences.”

“Deftones for me too,” Eric says. “Russell Simons from The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion is a huge influence on me too.”

“Screaming Females was actually responsible for getting me back into guitar,” DB says. “I can point to them and be like; ‘That had an influence on me.’ Before that, I was into more electronic experimental stuff. I had played guitar, but didn’t think I could play more shreddy stuff. I didn’t think it was cool anymore, and then I heard Screaming Females and I was like; ‘Oh, this is super cool.’”

They say never meet your idols, but Pursley and DB did when NO MEN played with Screaming Females right before the pandemic. Their verdict on their meeting of this influential band? Amazing. “They were amazing,” Pursley says in awe.

NO MEN has now played roughly 170 shows throughout their career. With so many shows under their belt, we were curious what they’re favorite was. “We played a 4th of July in Washington D.C. at Black Cat, I thought that was fun,” DB says. “I think if we had to pick though it would be that wild show at Quenchers.”

“RIP Quenchers!” Pursley says. “There was a topless lady mosh pit. I thought that was pretty cool.”

“Yeah, and then Eric broke his drum stick there,” DB continues. “Eric chews through drumsticks, but that night the tip flew off of one and hit our friend Nicole in the throat and she just had throat surgery. She started bleeding from her neck. There was a nurse in the crowd that fixed her up with super glue. She still said the show was awesome, but she literally got the short end of the stick.”

“Yeah, she’s been injured at several of our shows,” Pursley says. “She’s the only one too!”

“Pete from Let’s Pretend Records was at that show,” says DB. “I think he saw that show and was like; ‘This band’s awesome! We need to make a record.’ I don’t know if we played particularly well, but the energy was there.”

DB shreds at The Salt Shed on August 24th. 2024 PC: Pete Conroy @pete_conroy on Instagram

With NO MEN being a band that has been in the Chicago scene for around a decade now, we were super excited to hear what they thought of the Chicago art and music scenes and what makes them unique. “There’s no shortage of amazing bands here,” Pursley says. “It’s really inclusive and kind.”

“It’s really supportive too,” says DB. “There’s not a lot of scene politics. We’ve played with a lot of different bands in different genres. The DIY shows especially in Chicago are good at bringing a lot of different bands together and different, overlapping fan bases. There’s a lot of community building in that way. It’s big enough where there’s tons of different things, but small enough where you can’t just go to one type of show, or genre, over and over. There’s a lot of cross-contamination.”

“We try to contribute to that,” Pursley adds on. “Whenever we’re headlining, we try to put a little mix of everything on there.”

“Chicago street festivals are also a good example of that,” DB says. “Over the course of a weekend, you get to see so much different stuff.”

On the uniqueness found in Chicago, compared to other cities, DB had this to say; “Chicago’s just a hard working city. That’s what I appreciate about it. There’s no pretension. It’s just like; ‘Get it done.’ People really just work hard [at art] here–not that they don’t anywhere else–but in Chicago you really get what you put into it. If someone has a vision of what they want to do, they can achieve it here.”

“Chicago’s the best city in the world!” Pursley calls out.

Performing in front of crowds of people like the members of NO MEN do is exhilarating as well as nerve racking. “For me, there’s excitement as well as nervousness [before a show],” Eric says. “We all have day jobs too, which keep us busy. I’m always really nervous before the show, but excited too. I’m normally just hiding out before the show though. If I go out and hang before, I may get caught into some deep conversation and then be like; ‘Oh, shit! I’ve got to play.’ So, I just prefer to hide out.”

“Eric and I are in the green room just stretching and being like; ‘Oh, God!’” says Pursley. “It can be sensory overload before the show. You want to say hi to everyone, but you’re also about to be on stage. Day of the show for me starts off like any other day though; get up, smoke some weed, then go.”

“For me, I don’t really get anxious before the shows,” DB says. “I’m more socially anxious. When I get on stage, it clicks and I’m like; ‘This is how I express myself.’ We’re also always stretching. It’s important!”

“There’s been a few times the day after a show I have, like, a bad bang-over,” Pursley says. “Stretching’s really important. Gotta have proper form.”

“Yeah, like when we opened for Lydia Lunch at the Chop Shop, I was so excited,” says DB. “Lydia Lunch is awesome, so I went all out, then I had to lay on the floor of the green room the rest of the night as she played.”

Pursley wields a shovel PC: Pete Conroy

“I had an embarrassing moment at that show I don’t think anyone saw,” Pursley reminisces. “I was playing drums, then finished that part so threw my drum sticks towards my kit and they ricocheted back and came right at my head. Luckily, they went past me but I was like; ‘I hope Lydia didn’t see that.’ Also. luckily Nicole wasn’t in the crowd behind me!”

Another thing that contributes to the uniqueness of NO MEN’s sound is that both Pursley and Eric play drums during the shows. “I’ve always liked playing drums,” Pursley explains. “I used to play drums in Ringo Deathstarr. I wanted to play drums still, but didn’t want to commit to a full kit at that point. It’s something we’ve talked about though. [Standing up] and playing is great. There’s more movement, and it’s just fun. It was part of the vision.”

As we do with everyone we interview, we asked Pursley, DB, and Eric what element their music would be and why, and what element out of earth, water, wind, and fire each of them would be and why. Due to the speed and ferocity of their music, it’s no surprise what element they found fitting for their sound. “I think it’s pretty obviously fire,” Pursley says. “I would go fire again for me. There’s a lot in the world to be angry about, and I feel this need to always get it out. I will say, I am a fire sign as well. I’m an Aries.”

“For me, I think I would be earth,” says DB.

“Is iron an option?” Eric asks. After much discussion, the band decided that Eric’s elements were actually iron, earth, wind, and water making him, elementally, the strongest person we have had in the Raging Opossum HQ.

Now having released their junior album Fear This, what else could be in the future for NO MEN? “Well, we’re already writing new songs,” Eric says. “We’re stockpiling them. I feel like we have five or six new musical ideas, only some with-”

“Now, don’t give away all of our secrets!” Pursley says with a laugh that everyone joins in with.

“But, yeah,” continues Eric as the laughter subsides. “We’re still thinking of how to release it. Do we want to do a full album? Do you even need to put an album out nowadays? Is it all singles, all seven-inches?”

“It’s changed,” Pursley agrees, nodding. “Some people release only singles and get tons of plays from them. It’s different in that way.”

“The wise, business move, seems to be releasing a slow trickle of songs,” DB says. “Which is not really our first concern. Though it is fun to release more songs.”

“It’s just fun to share,” Pursley says. “It’s fun to show it as opposed to holding it all in. Like; ‘Look what we’ve done!’”

“And that’s a thing that has changed,” Eric says. “You can record a song and have it released later that week.”

“Yeah, now that streaming is more important than physical releases basically it seems,” says DB with a long sigh. As everyone who has read our articles knows, we like to ask bands their thoughts on streaming and how to support artists more in light of Spotify’s monopoly on streaming and the little it pays. The question is always; “How can people ethically consume music in light of this, and how can people support you?”

“Get to the gig,” Pursley says. “Buy the physical merch.”

“Bandcamp too is so helpful,” DB says. “I have a lot of gripes with Spotify, but anyway you can discover music, go and discover it, that's great. But go support the band after. Go to the show, buy some merch. Unless you're Taylor Swift, musicians can’t make a living from streaming.”

“Nooooo,” Purlsey exclaims at the mention of the superstar’s name. “I was hoping we could go the whole interview without mentioning her!”

As the interview turns to lamenting the money grab of Spotify, the ethical issues of streaming, and the greed of corporate America, DB says; “The most ethical way is to pirate things. Learn how to do that.”

“I wouldn’t even care if somebody pirated our music!” Pursley says in agreement. “I don’t care.”

“If you need tutorials on how, send me a message,” says DB. “If the FBI is reading this, I’m joking! But it’s so worthless to listen to a song one time on Spotify that I don’t see why anyone would care. When I was in high school and college it was, like, the golden age of pirating and you could just download a song from a music blog. I’ve ended up giving bands hundreds of dollars from music blogs.”

In the garden PC: Pete Conroy

Pursley, DB, and Eric all lead busy lives between practicing a few times a week, a regular show schedule, working their day jobs, and still having a life outside of all those things. “It gets busy, sure,” DB says, but then looks at Eric and Pursley with a big smile. “But I like playing music with you guys. Balance is important, but there’s not a lot I’d rather be doing. It’s not hard for me to make time for music, even when it does get busy balancing life and everything.” Eric and Pursley smile just as big and quickly agree.

“It can be kind of random,” Eric adds on. “Sometimes I just text [DB] being like; ‘You wanna jam later? Sometimes on a Monday or Tuesday I’m just craving to get together to work out some new material. It’s just that connection that draws us together and makes all of us want to keep creating.”

“I think it’s important too that while we are a band, we’re also just friends too,” Pursley says. “We go on hikes, we go bowling. It’s important to cultivate that too and not just practice. We love each other. The love is real!”

“And with that, being open minded too is really important,” Eric says. “DB here will come up with really good drum ideas, things I would never even think about doing.”

“He’s a multi-instrumentalist,” Pursley adds.

With a laugh, DB says; “Well, I come up with drum things I can’t play.”

“Being open minded to criticism and not being offended by that is very important to being in a band,” Eric says.

“You can’t be embarrassed to share an idea either,” Pursley says. “They’re not all winners, but it’s important to share.”

“I just feel super comfortable with this band,” says DB. “I love other people thinking differently than me.”

NO MEN are well versed in their music and performance, and we were curious what advice they may have for new bands, in and out of Chicago. “Just get out there and do it,” DB says. “There’s no secret. Just be genuine and do it. There’s not going to be some magic signal. If you’re being honest and not just making music to make money, people will pick up on that.”

“Hang in there,” says Pursley. “And enjoy it. It’s fun. Just show up.”

As the interview came to a close, we asked the band if they had anyone they wanted to shoutout. “Thanks to all the partners and friends who have been a major support,” DB says.

“Big thank you to everyone who has listened to us!” Pursley says.

“Thanks, Dad!” Eric says. “He’s probably at home watching the Cubs.”

As a fun extra, NO MEN provided us with a list of potential band names for people to use, such as "Fat and Creamy," "Cicada Piss," "Nymphonids," "Horse Crippler," and "Hey Now." All the band asks is for a shoutout if you start a band with one of these names.

DB, Eirc, and Pursley gather around our mascot PC: Pete Conroy Article by Samuel Plauche Chief Editor, Founder, Writer of Raging Opossum Press