Inside the abrasive structures and textures of the new album from Electronic Substance Abuse.

Transmission 267: Interview with ESA

J Blacker is a British electronic musician who records under the name ESA (Electronic Substance Abuse). In his compositions, he has concentrated on abrasive electronics, uncompromising rhythmic structures, and manipulated vocal layers. Since the project’s inception in 2004, his work has adhered to the aggressive standards of hard industrial, power electronics, and EBM.

Title: Sounds for Your Happiness
Artist: ESA
Genres: EBM, Electronica, Industrial Music, Techno
Label: Negative Gain
Description: An interview with J Blacker of ESA on "Sounds for Your Happiness," a 75-minute dystopian industrial assault released by Negative Gain.

His latest album, “Sounds for Your Happiness,” released on July 5, 2025, adopts the language of a corporate simulation, referencing dystopian fiction such as ‘Severance’ and ‘Soylent Green’. The album presents ESA Technologies Ltd as a faceless entity that harvests listeners’ emotional responses as an energy source. The 75-minute recording threads together EBM, industrial, black metal, dark ambient, powernoise, punk, techno, and Goa trance, maintaining a high level of density without concessions to melodic passages.

What made you start creating music? What records or live experiences made a lasting impact on you early on?

The first time I picked up a guitar was because I fell in “love’ with an older girl when I was around 13. She loved heavy metal and I wanted to be able to play the music that she idolised. I think that might be a more common impetus to start down this path than some male musicians might care to admit haha. I saw Iron Maiden play live with my dad around the same time and that further compounded the fact that music was going to be my ‘thing’. It was so powerful and brought so many people together. It felt a little like I no longer had a choice in what my life path was going to be after that. I played in metal bands up until I saw Sonar play at Infest festival in UK around the year 2000 or so. That was the second big live event that was the catalyst to making certain music direction choices. I was blown away by the wall of hypnotic sound and wanted to be able to make the audience feel how that experience made me feel.

You began in black/death‑metal before 2002. What triggered the shift from extreme metal to harsh electronics?

Certainly the above answer was the main reason. But also seeing music videos from bands like Frontline Assembly and possibly listening to the soundtracks from movies. I wanted to move into a direction that was less inhibitive.

How did the idea behind ESA Technologies Ltd come together? Was it built gradually or all at once?

It actually became a major part of the album concept around 2/3 of the way through the writing process. I always try to link tracks together in a way that makes the album a cohesive product but more recently have looked to create almost an entire personality within the album itself. From the artwork to the track concepts to the promotional techniques to the live visuals. For me, it works better when everything is homogenous and speaking to each other. I started watching a series called Severance and it really captivated me. The writing and cinematography was so compelling that it set my brain alight and allowed for me to create a back-story for the album. I owe that series a lot.

Did the corporate-dystopia concept come before writing, or emerge while working on the tracks?

Well Designer Carnage was also based heavily on the idea that ESA is represented by a Corporate company. I was able to create a small universe that mirrored what we see in today’s society and that felt quite empowering. With Sounds for your Happiness, this was a continuation of that concept whilst at the same time, ushering in the ‘simulation’ and ‘alternate reality’ ideas. As mentioned above, Severance played a big part in that story development.

Do you write albums concept-first, or does the theme emerge while producing?

With this one, the concept came in a little later but it can be the case that I already have a fully fleshed out concept for the albums story before even sitting down to write. It really depends on what is influencing me at the time.

What’s the most unlikely influence that’s crept into your work?

That’s a good question and I’m really going to have to scratch my brain on that. There’s obviously quite irregular musical influences that have helped me to make ESA a little less rigid and more interesting. Those being classical / hip hop / Drill / Jazz / Swing etc. I’m not sure I could be more specific than that. I just soak up other genres and styles in order to keep it interesting for me and allow me to push ESA into areas that maybe other might not think or want to try.

What piece of gear or software feels like it’s been central to the ESA sound?

Well I use Ableton as my DAW for structuring. I use Serum as my main Synth VST and I use Trackspacer for assisting in production and mixing. If I lost any of those, it would make my writing journey a more difficult one.

How did touring and audience reaction influence the choices you made in writing this album?

I know what works live now. So if I’m writing a track that already feels like it’s going to sit very comfortably in the live roster, I will push further to make sure that track works as well as it possibly can live. For me, the live show track selection is extremely tough. With so many albums, it becomes hard to represent each period of time. But my main ethos is to play the harder tracks that I know will fire up the audience, whilst making sure to still include as many of the ‘hits’ as I can.

What role do your visual collaborators play in developing the connection between sound and narrative?

So I create all my own visuals and music videos. I have a trusted cinematographer and Co-Director that I have worked with since approx 2015 (Myles Fearnley) and he has invested a lot into the journey, to which I will always be thankful. However I script, produce, direct and edit my own music videos in order to retain complete control and to make sure that the message between the music and the visuals is as connected as possible. I would say that at this point the visual side of ESA is just as important as the actual music. ESA has become less of a music project and more of its own small universe, which has always been my intention. I want to create a world for those people that seek a little more from their favourite artists. Something that they can immerse themselves fully into.

What are you working on now?

I have just finished the filming for a music video for one of the tracks from SFYH which I will begin to edit very soon but will also be releasing a music video / short film for “Pound of Flesh” before the middle of October (with any luck). That one is certainly something quite special and I’m looking forward to sharing it with the world. Definitely one for fans of Asian cinema.

Photos courtesy of ESA

Matteo Damiani

Matteo Damiani is an Italian photographer and author. Curator of the sites Retrofuturista.com; weirditaly.com; china-underground.com and others