Author & Punisher: "I prefer to put the energy into music and support causes directly"

Tristan Shone rarely appears without the mechanical creations that complete his musical identity. Under the name Author & Punisher, he has spent over twenty years crafting a sound that began as guitar-driven doom-industrial, evolved into drone, and has since returned to its roots. What makes Author & Punisher truly unique is that he has always built his own instruments - for him, creation was never about pressing buttons, but about designing functional machines that produce sound through movement and mechanical components. His professional and academic background in mechanical engineering nurtured his ideas into real, working contraptions that became his personal sonic arsenal.

With the release of his new album, "Nocturnal Birding", we sat down to talk with Tristan about music, life as a musician after the pandemic, his interests, and the importance of staying human in these dark and turbulent times. Despite all difficulties, he reminds us that no matter which land we come from, we are all the same - mere borrowers of this planet from its flora and fauna. If you haven’t discovered him yet, step into the world of a brilliant and deeply creative mind; and if you already love his music, here are a few more reasons to keep doing so.

So, we’re here with Tristan, the real name of the person behind Author & Punisher. How are you doing today, Tristan? Where are we catching you?

I’m actually at work - on the UCSD campus at the medical school. I’m supposed to be working right now, but I’ve stepped outside for the interview.

Oh you’re an engineer? Everything makes sense now!

Haha, yes doesn’t it?

Everything happening with immigration right now just adds to the stress

So we’re finding you on the job! How have you been? How’s your summer going, and where’s your music career at these days?

Man, summer’s almost over - although with climate change it feels like it’s shifted. September and October are the hottest months now. It’s been a stressful time because of the Trump administration’s cuts to science funding. My lab studies Alzheimer’s and brain research, and a lot of our funding comes from the NIH. Those budgets have been slashed, partly as punishment toward universities that protested the Palestinian invasion. So yeah, we’re losing half our funding this fall, which really sucks. And honestly, everything happening with immigration right now just adds to the stress.

Yeah, we’ve been watching everything from over here in Europe, honestly in horror. It looks really tough.

I know. It’s been rough, but luckily, I’ve got music. Working on the new album has been therapeutic - getting back into heavy music and preparing for tour gives me something positive to focus on.

Let’s turn to that, then - something brighter. You’ve got a new album coming called "Nocturnal Birding". I’ve listened to it and it’s incredible. But first, what does Nocturnal Birding mean to you? It’s the first Author & Punisher release without that stark industrial artwork, so it feels like a different approach.

Yeah, totally. I think it comes from hiking a lot more these past few years. During the pandemic, I was outside constantly since I couldn’t go to the lab or tour. I’m 47 now, and I guess I just wanted life to slow down a bit. Hiking gave me that - being present, listening to birds, putting one foot in front of the other. Eventually, I started noticing rhythms and melodies in bird sounds while writing the album. I had a guitar player now, and I wanted to make this one more guitar-focused.

I was actually going to ask about that.

Yeah, I started mimicking some of those bird sounds on guitar - they had such beautiful, sometimes heavy qualities. It planted the seed for the whole album. Every album starts that way for me, with some little spark or natural idea that grows into something bigger.

That’s what "Nocturnal Birding" is: a live, physical, organic record

Since your last record, you’ve leaned more into guitar-driven sound. Do you feel more comfortable there, or in your earlier drone and industrial material?

It’s really a mix. Author & Punisher started as a guitar-based industrial project - my first few albums were heavy on guitar before I went full drone-machine mode. The machines have their own power, but there’s a rhythmic, visceral side to guitars that I missed. Playing live with Doug, my guitarist, brought that back. Industrial music has become kind of static for a lot of artists - one person behind a box, pressing play on the same tracks every night. I wanted something alive, like old Ministry or Godflesh - unpredictable and different every show. That’s what "Nocturnal Birding" is: a live, physical, organic record.

For people who might not know, you actually build your instruments from scratch - engineering them yourself. How does that process feed into your creativity?

Honestly, it started out of necessity. There just weren’t any instruments that let me perform electronic music with my whole body. I didn’t want to stand still pressing buttons - I wanted to move, to hit and drag and push the sound physically. That’s why I build human-sized instruments. It’s about motion and connection.

So instead of pressing a button, you’re playing the machine.

Exactly. And it allows for imperfection. Real bands breathe together; they slow down, speed up, mess up - that’s what makes it human. I wanted to capture that in industrial music again.

I’ve always been drawn to the mechanical and sci-fi side of things

A friend of mine who saw you live said it felt like watching "Tetsuo: The Iron Man".

(laughs) Hopefully minus the giant drill phallus (e.c. - if you ignore the movie, research with your own discretion)! But I love that movie. I’ve always been drawn to the mechanical and sci-fi side of things - "Aliens", "Blade Runner" - and I work with machines in my day job. When I started machining my own metal parts, I realized how satisfying it feels when a knob has real resistance, when steel feels cold in your hand. That tactile experience inspired how I design my gear - real metal, real weight. It needs to feel alive.

I read that you built a mask that reacts to your breathing - but it’s… not exactly safe to use live yet?

(laughs) Yeah, that thing’s in Indonesia right now. It was part of a collaboration with the art group Future Laundry. It’s basically gas-powered with little RC airplane engines and propellers that move when you bite down on the throttle. The idea was to create this physical, breathing interface - but we needed a flameproof hood in case it exploded. They’re still working on that part!

Okay, that’s wild. I hope we get to see it someday.

Yeah, it’ll happen eventually.

Back to "Nocturnal Birding" - you’ve got some amazing collaborations: the Indonesian project Kuntari, France’s doom legends Fange, and Megan from Couch Slut. How did those come about?

The Kuntari collab started through Future Laundry in Bali. We planned a video, then decided to make it a musical collab too. They sent me loops from their recording sessions, and I built a track around one of them. When I played in Bali, we performed it live together - it was wild.

With Megan from Couch Slut, my manager Bob introduced us. I had this heavy track, "Mute Swan", and wanted a vocal part that sounded like a warning broadcast - almost cinematic. She did a spoken-word piece that nailed that eerie, evacuation-message vibe.

And with Fange - I saw them live at Rock in Boulogne, and they blew me away. We’d talked before about instrument design, so we decided to make something together. I sent a track, they sent it back, we went back and forth, and it came out great.

You also worked with some new people on production and visuals this time - Will Putney and Lucille Zoli.

Yeah, Will mixed the record. He’d mentioned "Krüller" in an interview once, and when I looked into his work - like that Heriot record from the UK - I loved his punchy, massive drum sound. I hit him up and the process was super smooth; his mixes were almost perfect from the start.

Lucille came in through Roadburn - I’d seen her tattoo and art work, very Dark Souls, Elden Ring-inspired. I reached out about the album’s bird migration concept, and she got it immediately. She’s still designing visuals and merch for me - amazing collaborator.

Americans act like this land is ours, but it’s stolen indigenous land. We’ve destabilized so many regions, caused climate change, and then we refuse to help the people displaced by it

Speaking of themes - you’ve mentioned migration, nature, existentialism. Are the bird and migration motifs tied to what’s happening in the U.S. right now?

Yeah, definitely. The link between bird migration and human migration felt natural. A few years ago, we were volunteering at what they called a "welcome table" near the southern border - handing out water and noodles to families who’d been walking for days. I remember hearing a meadowlark sing nearby, and that became the first riff on the album. It just hit me - migration is natural. Americans act like this land is ours, but it’s stolen indigenous land. We’ve destabilized so many regions, caused climate change, and then we refuse to help the people displaced by it. It’s heartbreaking.

I’d rather put that energy into the music and support causes directly

That’s powerful - and you channel that through art instead of preaching onstage.

Yeah, exactly. I’m not great at talking politics at shows - I’d rather put that energy into the music and support causes directly.

Let’s talk inspiration. Who are your biggest influences - musical, cinematic, or otherwise?

I’m big on dystopian sci-fi - writers like Octavia Butler, N.K. Jemisin, Ursula Le Guin. Lately I’ve been gaming more than watching films - "Elden Ring" and "Death Stranding" especially. That world-building and isolation connects with what I do. Musically, I’m still a doom guy at heart - YOB is probably my favorite band. I love The Bug, Ghost Dubs, and the new Fange record too.

Any newer artists you’d recommend checking out?

Definitely Big Brave, Blood Incantation, and a group called Fitness - they’re opening our album release shows in L.A. Also Black Magnet - live industrial with a real drummer, not just sequences. I love seeing that live energy return to industrial music.

Sometimes the best songs come from limits, not abundance

That ties to something I wanted to ask. With AI everywhere - in writing, music, production - do you see any creative uses for it, given how much you work with machines?

Yeah, I can see it being helpful for tedious stuff - generating samples or textures quickly. A friend I collaborate with made an AI plug-in where you can type something like, "a kick drum mixed with the sound of rain," and it creates it. That’s cool. But I don’t think AI will make better music - just faster music. Sometimes the best songs come from limits, not abundance.

A lot of people dismiss metalcore, but those bands are doing wild sound design

True. And it’s interesting how electronic and heavy music are blending again - you’ve got artists like you, Perturbator, and Carpenter Brut playing metal festivals now. Why do you think that shift happened?

I think quarantine played a part - people had more time to experiment with sounds at home. And I love that newer bands are pushing guitar tones with digital tools, making them sound alien and expressive. A lot of people dismiss metalcore, but those bands are doing wild sound design. And yeah, someone like Igorrr - he’s been doing that hybrid thing forever, always innovating. We were actually supposed to tour together once, but it fell through during the pandemic. I still hope it happens someday.

That would be an incredible pairing. So, looking ahead - what’s next for you?

Honestly, I’m not thinking too far ahead. Each album takes everything out of me - writing, recording, touring. Right now, I just want to focus on playing well and being present. There’ll be more Author & Punisher for sure, probably until I’m seventy, but right now I just want to enjoy this run.

We’re finally getting close to releasing some of the instruments I’ve been building through my company, Drone Machines

Fair enough. I’ll see you on tour - I managed to grab a ticket for the UK show. Any final words for the listeners and readers?

Yeah - we’re finally getting close to releasing some of the instruments I’ve been building through my company, Drone Machines. I’ve got a great team working with me - circuit designers, UI people - and I can’t wait to see what other artists do with these controllers. Whether they’re techno producers or doom bands, I think they’ll bring something new to the stage.

That’s awesome. Thanks so much for your time, Tristan.

Thank you. See you on tour!