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Iguana Death Cult are as kooky as they come. Blending art-funk with garage rock, the Dutch rockers take universal emotions and grind them down with their unique blend of Latin percussion, synths and rhythmic riffs, blowing the powder into your eyes like some ayahuasca-guzzling shaman, or Ralph Fiennes in Bone Temple. Their upcoming album, Guns Out, will be released on April 10, with the title track already released. I asked the Cult ten questions to learn the ways of their reptilian overlords.

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THE ARGUS FAR FIVE

How would you describe the sound of Iguana Death Cult?

Jeroen (lead singer): 

Post-futuristic proto-punk.

Uri (drummer):

In the words of Jimmy, ’80s post-punk’. Let’s unpack it a little bit: we got a punk edge to everything, the tempo is high and the guitars are raging. The synths and percussion bring the disco shine to it, while the rhythm section keeps it funky and tight.

What are your biggest non-music influences? 

Jeroen:

I like to read. A lot of what I read at that moment inspires my lyrics, writing style or even a melody that pops up when reading a certain cadence of a sentence. Human behavior is a big one as well. How people act and interact. A lot of my daily life makes it into my lyrics.

Jimmy (synths):

Cowboys.

If you had to cover any song and put an Iguana Death Cult spin on it, which would you choose?

Uri:

‘Toxic’ by Britney Spears. No explanation, just wait for it.

Jeroen:

Haha, I’d go for ‘London Lady’ by The Stranglers. We drew a lot of inspiration as a band from the Rattus Norvegicus album and it’s still one of my favourite records ever.

Sam (bass):

I’d probably say something from the first Stranglers album Rattus Norvegicus as well. A song like ‘London Lady’ or ‘Goodbye Toulouse’ would be a good fit! Or maybe something from the orange Nancy & Lee album like ‘You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling’, a collaboration with a female singer.

What is your earliest memory of music? 

Jeroen:

I remember in kindergarten we had this African culture day and these guys would show us all kinds of different percussion instruments. I was enamoured and I think it’s safe to say that percussion was my first love and it still plays a huge role in our music.

What does 2026 have in store for Iguana Death Cult?

Tobias (guitar):

We’ll be touring as much as we can in the States and Europe. At the end of the day, we’re a live band – that’s where it’s at.

Uri:

The world is in such a fragile state at the moment, I feel the only thing we can do is play shows for you all! And pour our hearts, souls & sweat into it every single night, so people could get a moment of relief from the non-stop harshness of the world as it is.

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THE IGUANA DEATH CULT FIVE

Why are you called Iguana Death Cult? 

Jeroen:

For we will follow our reptilian overlord till death and beyond.

It’s been just over a year since you supported Jack White in Utrecht. What were your biggest takeaways from working with Jack? 

Uri:

Jack White III is everywhere, he’s me, he’s you, he’s us, he’s earth, wind & fire. Proud moment for us.

Sam:

Working with our homie Jack White was great, learned a lot from him. Cool guy, fantastic singer and artist if you ask me.

Jeroen:

All I know is as soon as we start making some money, you’ll be able to tell by our suited-up, matching-tie wearing staff.

‘I Like It, It’s Nice’ is a very playful track, and I think a large part of that is the variety of percussion. How often do you experiment with percussion? 

Jeroen:

Every chance we get.

Jimmy:

Percussion is so much fun! We try to incorporate as much of it as possible into all our songs. We have a huge collection of Latin American percussion instruments. We often experiment with different instruments in the studio to complete the sound.

Why did you decide to move away from the art-punk-funk sound and towards a punchier garage sound?

Tobias:

It just kind of happened organically. The songs we were writing started coming out more direct and punchy, and we followed that feeling instead of trying to stick to a specific sound.

Jimmy:

We don’t necessarily plan the direction our music will take beforehand. We make songs that feel right for us. Some songs are a bit faster, like back in the day, but the whole album still feels more like art-punk-funk to us.

Jeroen:

We wanted to have more ammunition for our live shows. That and the world feels heavier, our minds feel heavier, the lyrics are heavier. Perhaps we felt a little less funky at the time.

Your latest single, ‘Guns Out’, is inspired by ‘heavy mood swings’ that have plagued you throughout your life. How has this impacted your songwriting as a whole? 

Jeroen:

A little too much I’m afraid haha. I actively try to steer away from it but often there is still a lot of introspection going on, even in songs that are on more global subjects.

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