Feature: peejmudd Decodes “Nobody is Coming to Save Us”
How does “Nobody is Coming to Save Us” reflect your growth as an artist?
I’ve always been drawn to EPs and albums because they give me space to build arcs, to let songs expand, collapse, and return again. This year I’m stepping onstage for the first time as peejmudd, so I’ve been weaving older songs into a live narrative, shaping them into a story that connects my past work to what I’m doing now. “Nobody is Coming to Save Us” came out of that process. It’s one of two new tracks written specifically for the show, and it feels like the piece that makes the rest of it click. I’m excited to see how these arcs play out live, how the songs shift and interact in a space that’s alive with people.
Could you discuss the lyrical themes or messages conveyed in “Nobody is Coming to Save Us?”
The message is blunt: Nobody is coming to save us, we have to save ourselves. We wait for some cure, some savior, some perfect switch that makes everything go back to normal. But there is no normal. There’s no pill that takes us back to who we were before. The song sits with that truth and says that if we want to move forward, it’s on us. It’s harsh, but there’s freedom in it too, a strange clarity that comes from knowing what’s ahead depends entirely on the steps we take ourselves.
What do you like the best about this track?
I love the collision of sounds. Glitchy beats sparring with cello that feels like it’s breathing under the floorboards. Horns that echo and glow against snares and hi-hats that stay dry and unfeeling. It’s like throwing nature into a machine and seeing whether they fight or find a way to dance. What keeps me coming back is that sense of imbalance, the tension between warmth and coldness. Sometimes it leans one way, sometimes the other, but it never completely settles. That push and pull makes it feel alive in a way a more perfectly recorded song never could.
How do you see the future of this genre evolving, given current musical trends?
I’ve been calling this “cinematic electronica,” even though it’s a broad term. For me it’s about pulling together neo-classical sounds, electronic rhythm, and post-rock energy. That mix can be powerful, but it’s also easy for the genre to get stuck in something generic, especially now with AI making it simple to build tracks that sound smooth but kind of empty. What excites me is when music still feels human, when it carries scars and imperfections. I think the key lies in destruction. Destroy the sound until it’s not pretty any more, and maybe you’ve created something unique.
Are there any upcoming projects or releases that you’re particularly excited about?
I released an album, ‘fight to keep from sinking,’ in March of this year, and I’m still riding the energy from that. Right now I’m most excited to perform this new song at the Legacy Stage Fringe Festival in Chico over Labor Day weekend. It’ll be the first time peejmudd steps outside the studio and into a live space, and I’m curious to see how it lands. After that, I’d love to keep building toward more shows, especially around the Pacific Northwest. I don’t know yet what shape that will take. Maybe with a collaborator, maybe with a live band, or maybe just me on my own, but there’s a wide-eyed feeling of possibility in it. I might be 45, but right now I feel like a 24-year-old kid with his future opening up again, the horizon suddenly wide and full of sound.
