They’ve spent years toying with journalists, using fake names or sending actors to interviews. Now the ad guy behind the elusive Detroit band lifts the lid on the Armed multiverse

The Armed are a head-spinning proposition. The anonymous Detroit hardcore collective have spent the past 14 years hiding behind a carefully curated air of mystery and an anarchic sense of irony that has, in tandem with records that fuse grinding chaos with moments of euphoric melody, made them one of the most consistently thrilling propositions in heavy music. It’s been suggested that everyone from Kurt Ballou, guitarist with the influential hardcore band Converge, to party-rocker Andrew WK to pro-skater Tony Hawk has been steering the ship.

But today, they’re coming clean, something vocalist Tony Wolski seems remarkably chipper about. In the past, he and his bandmates have delighted in toying with journalists, frequently utilising fake names and even sending actors to interviews in their places, making his boyish smile a tad unnerving. “Sorry to disappoint,” he says with a laugh, and it seems that his desire to offer the truth behind the most confusing, exciting punk band on Earth is at least somewhat genuine. “The real story is more confusing than any lie,” he contends.