Ten years can mean many things to a band. It can be a reason to look back, celebrate familiar songs and revisit the moments that helped shape a musical journey. For Occurrence, however, their tenth anniversary became an opportunity to do something considerably more interesting. Rather than simply putting together a collection of their biggest songs, the experimental electronic pop trio decided to return to the early stages of their catalogue and ask a different question: what would these songs sound like if they were being made by the band they are today?
The result is ANNIVERSARY, a five-track release that reaches back to material from Occurrence’s first three releases, The Past Will Last Forever, Everyone Knows the Disaster is Coming and If He Were Here. But this is not an exercise in nostalgia. The band approached the songs almost as unfinished ideas, giving themselves permission to rethink arrangements, re-record vocals, introduce new sounds, remove elements and take familiar material somewhere it could not have gone a decade ago.
The idea began during a conversation in March 2025, when Ken, Cat and Johnny were discussing how they might mark ten years of Occurrence. A conventional greatest-hits release was considered, but the idea did not sit comfortably with them. Instead, they landed on a more creative challenge: treat some of their older songs as though they were demos and ask how they would finish them now, with everything they had learned since those original recordings.
That decision says a lot about Occurrence. There is a clear awareness of their history, but there is no desire to be trapped by it. In fact, the process seems to have reminded the band of something that was already present in their earliest work: a willingness to take strange ideas seriously and follow them wherever they lead.
In this conversation, the three members speak openly about that evolution. Cat describes the band’s early material as evidence that they were “very weird,” while Ken points to the freedom that often comes with being new and willing to take risks. Johnny, meanwhile, brings a more personal connection to the songs, particularly “If He Were Here,” a ballad whose meaning has changed for him with the passage of time.
The reworking process itself became a six-month exploration. Some decisions were subtle, with certain performances deliberately preserved because they still captured something essential. Others involved much more significant changes. “My Days and Nights Belong to You,” for example, retained Cat’s original vocals while receiving new energy through updated drum programming and synth work. “Shiver Bed” was reconsidered structurally, while Johnny returned to the vocals on “If He Were Here” with the experience of having performed the song live behind him.
Perhaps the most dramatic transformation came with “I LIKE YOU MORE WHEN YOU’RE STONED.” According to the band, the song took the longest to develop and ultimately became one of the strongest examples of what they hoped the project could achieve. Ken describes the new version as finally reaching an idea he had imagined from the beginning, combining the heaviness and experimental spirit of Sunn O))) with the accessibility of pop. The result, in his view, turns the song into something much closer to the original vision.
But ANNIVERSARY is also a story about trust.
Occurrence’s origins stretch back to Ken and Cat reconnecting after two decades through Facebook, at a time when both were going through significant changes in their lives. What began from a vulnerable and deeply personal place eventually developed into a creative partnership that has now lasted ten years. Cat describes the early collaboration as an environment where both could openly pour themselves into the music, while Ken identifies the increased trust between them as one of the biggest differences between then and now.
Johnny’s arrival added another dimension. Initially becoming involved with the live incarnation of the project, he eventually became an integral part of the trio’s vocal and creative identity. His more pop-oriented instincts bring another perspective into the band’s experimental world, while his chemistry with Cat gives Occurrence an additional vocal dimension that has become central to their sound.
That chemistry is particularly interesting because Occurrence do not appear to begin their sessions with rigid ideas about what the finished music should sound like. Johnny explains that the three rarely spend much time discussing genre while recording. Instead, they respond to whatever the others are doing in the studio. It is an approach that helps explain how the band’s music can move between electronic pop, indie, shoegaze and more experimental territory without sounding as though those influences have simply been assembled according to a formula.
After a decade, the phrase “experimental electronic pop with a nostalgic bent” still feels relevant to the band, although their current direction is increasingly embracing shoegaze. Cat offers an even more succinct description: “sad and sexy bangers.” Between those two descriptions is much of what makes Occurrence interesting: music that can be atmospheric, experimental and emotionally vulnerable while still possessing enough energy and immediacy to connect with listeners.
The band’s journey has also taken their music beyond conventional independent music spaces. Their work has appeared in podcasts, radio shows and audio dramas, while their music has reached platforms and events including the BBC and Tribeca Festival. A particularly important experience came in 2023, when their album SLOW VIOLENCE became the foundation for a dance production. For Cat, seeing their music transformed through another art form demonstrated just how far Occurrence’s work could travel outside the traditional expectations of a band.
Interestingly, the trio have no intention of becoming a conventional touring band. Ken explains that touring is not practical with their lives, but there is also a deeper point: it is not the life they are interested in pursuing. Instead, Occurrence continue to explore alternative ways of reaching audiences and allowing their music to exist in different environments.
That spirit carries directly into what comes next.
While ANNIVERSARY looks backwards, the band see it as part of the process of moving forward. A new album is already being developed, while the studio where they record is also being reworked. For Ken, revisiting the earliest material has reawakened some of the strange and experimental impulses that helped define Occurrence in the first place.
There is also a greater awareness of time.
Ten years of Occurrence has given the band enough distance to look at their beginnings differently, but it has also made the limited nature of time more apparent. Ken describes the moment as one in which the band’s more ambitious and unconventional ideas should no longer remain ideas they simply joke about. If there are things Occurrence have always wanted to try, this may be the time to actually make them happen.
That makes ANNIVERSARY more than a celebration of where Occurrence have been. It is a conversation between the band they were and the band they have become. Five songs from their past have been opened up, questioned and rebuilt, revealing how much can change when experience is brought back into contact with instinct.
And perhaps that is the most fitting way for Occurrence to mark ten years: not by standing still and celebrating what has already happened, but by going back into their own history, finding the strange ideas that were waiting there, and carrying them somewhere new.
ANNIVERSARY marks ten years of Occurrence, but rather than simply compiling the band’s greatest hits, you chose to return to the early material and completely reimagine five songs. What made you feel that revisiting the past through new recordings was the right way to celebrate this milestone, and what did you discover about the band you were when you first made those songs?
Ken: One morning back in March 2025, the three of us were sitting around drinking coffee, discussing what we might want to do to celebrate our ten-year anniversary of being a band. We made a list of our favorite songs from our early releases, talked about releasing a “greatest hits.” But I have always been wary of looking backwards. It can lead to nostalgia of the worst kind.
Plus “greatest hits plus one new song” also reeks of a record label trying to extract money from a corpse. Over this long conversation, we eventually landed on this idea of what if we approached some of older songs as if they were demos, or incomplete recordings. How would we finish them now?
Cat: As corny as it sounds, we’ve learned so much as a band over these last 10 years and gotten so much better at writing together, so it only felt right. We knew we could add new things to these songs and make them more ours as a band versus three people creating separately.
Johnny: I was into the idea. I can’t believe it’s been 10 years. The passing of time is kind of awesome when you see all we’ve done. For me, singing is life, and the fact that we can revisit songs and still be friends, it’s the best.
The five songs were selected from your first three releases, The Past Will Last Forever, Everyone Knows the Disaster is Coming and If He Were Here. What did those particular songs reveal about the energy and identity of early Occurrence, and were there any songs that initially seemed like obvious choices but ultimately did not make the EP?
Cat: It definitely revealed that we’re very weird! And that each of our individual versions of weird matches up very well with each other.
Ken: The initial idea was just to do 3 or 4 songs. Riffing on what Cat just said, I do think you take more risks when you first start out. So it was exciting to bring what we do now to the weirdness of our earlier stuff. But we definitely chose songs we loved but felt like they could benefit from a rethink.
Johnny: I wanted to go back and rework “If He Were Here.” That song means so much to me thanks to the passage of time. It’s one of our best ballads. If “who” was here? You decide. We’re always longing for him, for that, for her.
Reworking music that listeners may already know can be surprisingly difficult because there is always a tension between preserving what made the original special and giving yourself permission to change it. How did you decide what elements of each song needed to remain recognizable and what could be completely transformed?
Ken: I listened to the originals and asked, What do I wish we did differently? The goal was to change what was worth changing and keep what was already working. Like Cat’s vocals on “My Days and Nights Belong to You.” I knew those shouldn’t be touched, but the drum programming and synths could use new OOMPH. Cat knew if we thinned out the chorus of “Shiver Bed,” we could really nail the interplay between the verses. Johnny really wanted to go back and
re-record the vocals on “If He Were Here” because he felt like he could better fit his voice into what I was doing, especially after playing that song live a few times.
Cat: And from a tactical perspective, we didn’t have the same equipment back then that we do now. Ken has added his collection of gadgets quite copiously over the years, and we were able to take full advantage of that on this release.
Johnny: Yes to all of that. It was very important that the original vibe was preserved. Cat rocks it on “My Days and Nights Belong to You,” so I agree that her vocals shouldn’t be touched.
The process involved re-recording vocals, adding new synth parts, removing certain elements and spending six months developing the updated versions. Can you take us inside that process? Was there a particular song that changed the most from its original form, and was there ever a moment when you realised you had taken a song somewhere you never imagined when you first wrote it?
Cat: I think the one that changed the most was I LIKE YOU MORE WHEN YOU’RE STONED. We really came together on that one vocally in a way the original didn’t have. Johnny’s epic vocals sealed it.
Ken: Agreed. That journey took us the farthest and took the longest. It was hard to convince Johnny it was worth working on that song. He just felt like he couldn’t do it and was unhappy with the original. But now this song is one of my top favorites we’ve ever done. It really shows that this was a venture worth taking. Because we made that song a real banger and like Cat said, his vocal performance is amazing on this new version. I had always imagined that song as what if Sunn O))) made a pop song, and the original didn’t achieve that. This 2026 version does. Though I imagine Sunn O))) fans might disagree.
Johnny: Am I supposed to say something here? You’ve said it all. I love when that happens.
Occurrence began when Ken and Cat reconnected after twenty years through Facebook, at a time when both of you were experiencing major changes in your lives. Looking back at that unlikely beginning, what do you think allowed that first collaboration to develop into a decade-long creative partnership, and how has your musical relationship changed since those early sessions?
Ken: That’s a hard one to answer for me. Maybe, there’s just a lot more trust.
Cat: Definitely. We knew we were both in a vulnerable state when we were first recording together, and that equal playing field allowed us to really pour out our souls. And when you do that once, each subsequent time just becomes more and more meaningful.
Johnny eventually joined the live version of the project as a second vocalist, completing the trio. How did adding another voice change the musical and emotional possibilities of Occurrence, and what does each of you bring to the band that would be difficult for the other two to replicate?
Cat: Even though Ken and I had known each other for a long time before that first album, the combination of the three of us is what unlocked something. When I first met John, I felt like I’d known him for years already. So it was easy to open myself to collaborating with him right away. And vocally, he and I do very different things that complement each other very well.
Johnny: I know my tastes are more pop than Ken’s and Cat’s. So I bring that to the conversation. Though over the years, they’ve converted me to more experimental stuff.
You describe Occurrence as “experimental electronic pop with a nostalgic bent,” while your music has also been described as bringing together indie pop, electronic music and shoegaze. After ten years of making music together, do you feel that description still captures what Occurrence sounds like, or has the band’s identity evolved into something that is harder to define?
Ken: Yeah, I think so. Though I think we are really leaning into the shoegaze with some of our new songs that we’re working on now.
Cat: I like to think that we make a combination of sad and sexy bangers.
Johnny: Funny, I think when we are recording songs, we don’t spend much time talking about what it will sound like. We just get inspired by what each other is doing in the studio.
- Your music has found its way into podcasts, radio shows and audio dramas, while also reaching platforms and events such as the BBC and Tribeca Festival. What has it been like watching these songs move beyond the traditional idea of where an independent band’s music is supposed to live, and have any of those unexpected uses changed the way you think about writing or producing music?
Cat: In 2023, we were part of a dance production set to our then-new album SLOW VIOLENCE. Seeing that come to life and being a part of such an epic collaboration showed me that we could take this music so much further.
Ken: We will never be a touring band. It’s just impossible with our lives, but also not a life we are interested in. So finding new ways to perform and reach audiences is something we think a lot about.
As you celebrate ten years with ANNIVERSARY, what does the future of Occurrence look like to you? After spending this much time looking back at the band’s earliest work and reimagining it, do you feel that the EP closes a chapter, opens a new one, or gives you a completely different perspective on where the band can go next?
Ken: It definitely closes a chapter while also helping us write the next one. We are in the middle of working on a new album and re-doing the studio where we record. Revisiting our earlier work is helping me tap back into that weirdness and experimental impulses again. I also feel more acutely that our time is finite. We won’t be doing this forever so it’s now or never. All those crazy ideas we’ve joked about? Time to do them before Occurrence leaves the building.
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