{"id":195469,"date":"2026-04-01T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/?p=195469"},"modified":"2026-03-31T11:54:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T17:54:44","slug":"localized-runestomper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/music\/interviews\/localized\/localized-runestomper\/","title":{"rendered":"Localized: Runestomper"},"content":{"rendered":"

Come get electrified at this month\u2019s SLUG Localized<\/em>! Dive into the digital cyberpunk world of synthwaves, as you indulge the 16-bit vibes of Cathode<\/strong><\/a>, the Tron-like experience of Runestomper<\/strong><\/a> and the futuristic club sound of Jandro<\/strong><\/a>. Come to Kilby Court<\/em> <\/a>on Thursday, April 23 for a night of sensory overload! Buy your tickets here<\/a>!<\/p>\n

\n

I stepped away from the gorgeous, sunny day outside and into the dark, neon-tinged Quarters Arcade Bar<\/em><\/a> in Sugarhouse to find Chris Herrera<\/strong> and Lizz Blount<\/strong><\/a>, the duo behind Runestomper. Clad in matching black bomber jackets and looking like they stepped out of a cyberpunk movie, it was they who actually asked the first question: \u201cWhat kind of music do you like?\u201d I said I\u2019ve been listening to a lot of The Killers<\/strong><\/a>\u2019 Hot Fuss<\/em><\/a> lately, and they immediately nodded in agreement and started talking about how much they love that album before listing off their favorites that go from Periphery<\/strong><\/a> and Kendrick Lamar<\/strong><\/a> to Ozzy Osbourne<\/strong><\/a> to HIM<\/strong><\/a> to Elvis Presley<\/strong><\/a>. It was clear the two loved music deeply, and that came through as well with how they got their starts in music.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy setback is when I record vocals. I get very nitpicky to the point of being a perfectionist.\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"Two
Runestomper got their start with a background in DJing. Photo: Logan Sorenson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been playing guitar since I was 10, then I found electronic music back in 2015,\u201d Herrera says. \u201cI didn\u2019t have a band. I was going to college and needed something to work on. I had my laptop, I knew Ableton<\/strong><\/a>, and I decided electronic music was dope. So I got into Carpenter Brut<\/strong><\/a> and wanted to make music like this, where it then snowballed into all of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blount\u2019s path was a bit different. \u201cI started making music when I was 11 and 12 years old on CDs on the old desktop with dial-up. It was a challenge, but I still did it! I never stopped writing, and I sang in choirs and musicals. I became a DJ in North Dakota, and I never stopped writing lyrics. Chris reignited that passion for making music, and then being able to write my own lyrics with the music is the ultimate healing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t have a band. I was going to college and needed something to work on. I had my laptop, I knew Ableton<\/strong>, and I decided electronic music was dope.”<\/h3>\n
\"Two
Runestomper has a wide selection of music taste. Photo: Logan Sorenson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Runestomper fully came to be when the two first met and became a couple, with Herrera initially shy to show Blount the music. She really enjoyed it and began to encourage him to make more. Blount took on a managerial role, posting to social media, handling shows and doing more backend work while Herrera focused on the music and performing side. It wasn\u2019t until their song \u201cSpectral Webs\u201d that Blount was on a track with her own lyrics. \u201cOne day she told me, \u2018I want to be up on stage with you.\u2019 I was like, \u2018Hell yeah, but once you do this, there is no turning back. Once in, you won\u2019t want to quit.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

At this point, the arcade truly buzzes to life, with all different people playing the pinball machines, the Pac-Man cabinet whirring and a couple furiously and loudly throwing basketballs into hoops. It\u2019s enough to make us all laugh as they talk about their setbacks and how they overcome them. \u201cWe just love each other\u2019s company, and I will get frustrated with him sometimes but only musically \u2018cause we have both been doing our own things for so long.\u201d Herrera replied. \u201cAll arguments are not against each other; they are just petty arguments and disagreements.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI make her take a break, and I produce the vocals a bit in order to show her how amazing her voice is.\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cMy setback is when I record vocals. I get very nitpicky to the point of being a perfectionist,\u201d Blount says, to which Herrera responds, \u201cI make her take a break, and I produce the vocals a bit in order to show her how amazing her voice is.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it came to the local scene, both of them lit up and began to rattle off like winning prize machines. Herrera especially talked about his time with the people from the SLC Synth Alliance<\/strong><\/a>. Among their local loves were Advent Horizon<\/strong><\/a>, Arsenic Addiction<\/strong><\/a>, Judicator<\/strong><\/a>, Proxy Wars<\/strong><\/a> and Cathode, the last of whom they\u2019ve collaborated with for a new song dropping soon. They also talked about a new album they have planned for early fall that is going to take a more fantasy and epic approach to their synth sounds as opposed to their usual industrial and cyberpunk scene.<\/p>\n

Read more of past Localized<\/em> features:<\/strong>
\nLocalized: Gracemaker<\/a><\/strong><\/em>
\nLocalized: Seeking the Sun<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I stepped away from the gorgeous, sunny day outside and into the dark, neon-tinged Quarters Arcade Bar in Sugarhouse to find the duo behind Runestomper. … read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":195688,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","_expiration-date-status":"","_expiration-date":0,"_expiration-date-type":"","_expiration-date-categories":[],"_expiration-date-options":[],"_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":null,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"default","_threads_share_type":"default","_google_business_share_type":"default","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[13054,323,355],"tags":[2915,13748,31379,29459,23666,29576,30837,32070,24728,1831,29458,21826,32071,20028,15908,17013,22563,2757],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195469"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195469\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}