Cold Waves Festival at Mohawk Austin

Lee McNally

Local Music Journalist

Last month, Mohawk, an Austin venue hosted the Cold Waves Festival, a Chicago-based event where multiple industrial and electronic bands tour and perform in various cities across the United States. The Cold Waves Festival started in 2012 after the passing of former Acumen Nation guitarist, Jamie Duffy, and still works to raise money in support of mental health organizations like Darkest Before Dawn. Although the genre of industrial is relatively new to me, I became absolutely obsessed after hearing Chemlab’s 1996 album “East Side Militia” just last year. While Chemlab was my gateway into the genre, I want to take some time to highlight three smaller artists I was very lucky to see at Mohawk. The main headliners of Cold Waves included bands like Stabbing Westward and TR/ST, but in this article, the bands I’d like to especially focus on 16volt, Acumen Nation and PIG.

The first band I watched perform at Mohawk was 16volt, which was also my first time getting to experience their music. They were celebrating 30 years since their album “LetDownCrush,” which perfectly set the scene for the absolutely enticing show. First started in 1991 but eventually disbanded, 16volt reunited in 2024 after several years of inactivity. Frontman Eric Powell and lead guitarist Rick Furr were amazing to watch together. I was inspired by their comeback and certainly impressed by the show they put on for their time on the stage. Their latest album was the 2025 “More of Less,” and I hope that 16volt will continue releasing new music and performing in the near future.

My absolute favorite band was Acumen Nation, and being able to see them in the flesh was a truly unique experience. First formed in 1988 by two brothers, frontman Jason Novak and drummer Ethan Novak, Acumen Nation was now celebrating thirty years of their albums “Territory=Universe” and “Transmissions from Eville.” Acumen Nation has released so many amazing albums, my absolute favorite being “The Fifth Column,” and their music has even been featured in the PSP game Unbound Saga. I was very curious to see how an industrial band like them would perform live, as a lot of Acumen Nation’s songs include heavy distortion and electronic beats. Furthermore, I was impressed by how similar Jason Novak’s screaming vocals sound in real time, and how energetic this band was after performing for nearly four decades. While I recognized most of the songs Acumen Nation performed, I was introduced to the track “Mister Sandman I Am,” which I immediately added to my own playlist afterwards.

Right after Acumen Nation came PIG, which I had never listened to before the show. However, I was immediately enthralled when they performed “Juke-Joint Jezebel,” a song originally performed by KMFDM in their 1995 album “Nihil.” Then, I learned that PIG’s frontman, Raymond Watts, was a founding member of KMFDM. Even beyond this, Watts has an extensive background as an industrial veteran, collaborating with other iconic bands like Nine Inch Nails and Einstürzende Neubauten. At Mohawk, his stage presence was absolutely phenomenal, in a full leather get-up that perfectly encapsulated the band’s energy. While PIG is largely Raymond Watts’s solo project, fellow supporting musicians like guitarist Dave McAnally were wonderful additions to the performance. PIG’s most recent release was their 2026 “Dirt Box,” and their live version of “An American Ideal of Beauty” from that same album was incredible.

Being able to attend the Cold Waves Festival gave me an opportunity to appreciate the industrial genre and explore more bands that I was not familiar with. I was so grateful to be able to see the community of industrial fans come together: people of different ages and backgrounds who loved the music, and the people behind it who remained loyal to the genre for just as long. While there is often debate on the modern-day authenticity of alternative subcultures, I felt like this show was a time capsule to the nineties. If you have yet to explore this genre, I highly recommend it for anyone who is a fan of gritty and fast-paced alternative sounds, as industrial truly is such a versatile genre. I am so excited to see what each of these bands do next, and I will absolutely be attending the next Cold Waves Festival.