Brutus VIII is Jackson Katz's (Slow Hollows, Current Joys) rejection of his soft indie-rock band roots into no wave experimentation. Brutus VIII was started in 2013 as a solo project and after a few iterations has remained, for the most part, solo. With jarring and oftentimes abrasive live performances, Katz forces audiences to confront the expectations of a performer. The project is an exploration into the hyper masculine ideal, painting a picture of how ridiculous machismo-ism is. With nihilistic lyrical overtones, Brutus VIII personifies fear being the root of anger. In its most distilled form, Brutus VIII is a reflection of how society both stokes the flames of angry chauvinism and uses escapism to stave off the feelings of being trapped in a cycle of helplessness. The creation of Katz's album Beyond evokes the music of Oingo Boingo, Roxy Music, Prefab Sprout, and MGMT with a sense of wry wit and self-seriousness. Mixed and produced by Nicholas Noneman and Mastered by Ruben Radlaur (Model/Actriz), the album is loosely based on the phases of life and wrestles with themes of loneliness and exclusion, measuring one's self-worth, and being in love but restless.