Hmltd

HMLTD is an art punk band from London, playing a concert at Nice N Sleazy in Glasgow. The group's stagecraft pairs dance-influenced sound with theatrical, participatory staging.

HMLTD is an art punk band formed in London in 2015 and fronted by vocalist Henry Spychalski. The line-up also includes guitarist Duc Peterman, bassist Nico Mohnblatt, drummer Achilleas Sarantaris and keyboardist Seth Evans. Their 2023 album, The Worm, is a rock opera, while their third album, Fangs, reworks goth through post-internet electronic and dance music, with heavy sub-bass, rave-style synths and steady four-to-the-floor rhythms.

Their live shows go well beyond a standard gig, using elaborate sets, costumes, actors and performance artists to create multi-sensory experiences that blur the line between audience and performers. For a 2022 show at Heaven, the band built an invented authoritarian regime called The Order inside the venue, giving each attendee a separate alternative identity, and ran an alternate reality game inspired by the Stanford Prison Experiment, in which the crowd had to cooperate to bring the regime down. According to Spychalski, imagination is a radical political and spiritual act.

Nice N Sleazy is a Glasgow venue that mainly hosts concerts, with a programme centred on pop, rock and indie music.