Revolt of the Apes

THE CULT OF DOM KELLER

To the casual observer, it may seem slightly unusual to reflect on the amount of attention The Cult of Dom Keller has brought upon themselves in a short period of time. Since being named the Revolt of the Apes “Band of the Week,” appropriately, on Halloween, 2010, this cabal of interstellar instigators has made numerous live appearances to great applause, released (and sold-out of) an initial run of two independently produced EP’s, and been asked to make the trip stateside for their first U.S. appearance at Austin Psych Fest 4.

The entire band considered our questions, and were kind enough to give us a peek under the floorboards, for a more complete view into their cult.

One of the more traditional ways to begin a band interview is to ask about the origin of the band’s name – and although we would assert that a traditional approach doesn’t fit in with much about The Cult of Dom Keller, we have to ask … who is Dom Keller? What is the significance of the name? How did you decide on this unusual moniker?

Cult of Dom Keller began life as a jam band in the basement of an old cathedral. It was fucking freezing, damp and the electrics kept going, but it was a free space. Before rehearsals we were listening to some records and “Pebbles Volume 3: Acid Gallery” was spinning on the record player and then that track “Dom Keller Os Mods” comes on. It’s dirty and sexy and then we found out that “Dom Keller” means “Cathedral Cellar” and it made sense. The dark reverberated sounds we were making in the cathedral cellar had been named. Here was born The Cult of Dom Keller.

There seems to be something almost ritualistic about the music of The Cult of Dom Keller: a strange, occultist view take on a segment of psychedelic rock – with references to goat skin dreams and burning skies. Are we right to pick up on an almost “Hammer Horror”-esque influence on the band? Where do you think this influence stems from? What effect does it have on the music you create?

We wanted to create a psychedelic world that would draw you in, join our wold and then consume you. As a band, we have a range of influences from artists such as Henry Fuselito and Man Ray to English occultist Alistair Crowley, to writers such as William Burroughs, to insane minds such as Charles Manson. Books and mysticism are a big influence … “The Malleus Maleficarum,” “Goetia and The Book of Abramelin,” gnosticism, hermeticism, Luciferianism, Satanism, Thelema, and Neopaganism … Psychedelics, death and the unknown …
the sounds we create are an amalgamation of all these fascinations that create our lysergic, fucked up view of the world we live in.

How did The Cult come to be? Have the members played in other bands, either with shared members or separately? What was your personal desire for the music to sound like when you first set forth with this band?

All of us had been in various bands and knew each other in some form or another. The band came about as a reaction to the monotony of the music scene around us. We were having a David Lynch night and during “Lost Highway,” we decided we wanted to fuck things up. We couldn’t climb into the TV and escape down the lost highway, so we decided to form a band.

I’ve become somewhat obsessed with “EP2” – which is not to slag the magnificence of “EP1.” But “EP2” is just such a damn-near perfect, ugly 22-minutes and 11-seconds, one that reveals itself with new details of beauty and weirdness with every spin. What are the differences between the two EP’s, from your perspective?

The first EP was a series of jammed out ideas and we wanted to produce something that was a stream of consciousness, a collection of ideas and songs that represented what we were doing right at the moment. A psychedelic trip. By EP2 we were evolving as a band and our sound was careening off in all directions. The ideas we were demoing were now forming into these songs that we had only heard before in our heads and now had been released.

What bands have you been listening to lately?

It’s all about the blues … Son House, Blind Willie McTell, Robert Johnston, John Lee Hooker, Bo Diddley, Skip James, Lightnin’ Hopkins, etc. You can’t beat regular love ins with The Doors, 13th Floor Elevators and CAN, as they have a spirit and sound that cannot be repeated. Skip Spence’s “Oar” is an album that’s been on continuous play at the moment, along with “Half Machine Lip Moves” by Chrome.Modern bands – really dig Spindrift and Indian Jewelry at the moment.

What is your hope for the Cult of Dom Keller live experience to be? Do you consider yourselves to be a true “live band” at this point, or have gigs not been plentiful enough yet to sharpen your vision of the live show? What is the most surprisingly moving band that you have ever witnessed live and why?

Early on in our band life we had the fortune to play with bands such as The Warlocks, Spectrum and Asteroid No.4, just as we were evolving. In the last year we have grown with confidence and in status and we have full belief in our music and live performance.

How did you first hear about Austin Psych Fest? Are there any bands in particular that you are excited to have the opportunity to share the stage with? Have you been to the states before, personally?

This is our first time ever in the states for all of us. We first heard of Austin Psych Fest a few years ago when bands like The Black Angels were starting to get some recognition over here in the UK. As the psychedelic scene is rather quiet in the UK, it was exciting to read about such an event where this genre of music is celebrated. The fact that Roky Erikson is going to be playing is good enough for us!!! Too many other great bands to mention/looking forward to.

The vocals on EP1 and EP2 are mostly buried in the mix by design, giving a haunting, “buried alive” quality to the voice. Only occasionally can we make out specific lines or refrains – like the line “lift me up / drag me down” in “Worlds.” What can you tell us about the lyrics of the band, without dispelling any mystery?

Between the sounds – between the sounds in your head – you will hear voices whispering the answers you seek.

Texas garage rock scholar Doug Hanners once described the 13th Floor Elevators as “acidized country boys playing psychedelic Buddy Holly riffs, a mixture that couldn’t happen anywhere else.” What is the make-up of The Cult of Dom Keller that, similarly, could not happen anywhere else?

Psychotropic spacemen playing black acid blues.

What’s next for The Cult of Dom Keller?

Keep gigging. Keep creating music. EP3 is out this spring. Recording THE ALBUM this summer. Find a record label to call home. Spread the love.

The Cult of Dom Keller

WHITE HILLS
 
“The Elements That Gather Here, Upon This (White) Hill(s), Shall Cast No Fear”

To be mesmerized by White Hills is to be mesmerized by a band that appears to be performing at the peak of their considerable powers. The greater truth, however, informs us that White Hills are actually on a continual ascent toward peak powers – growing stronger by each engagement, restless in pursuit of their next sonic revelation.

Guitarist/singer/visionary Dave W. (“DW” below) and bassist/visionary Ego Sensation (“ES” below) were kind enough to answer the questions of a baptized believer below.

Our first introduction to the music of White Hills came just a few years ago, with your contribution of “Be Yourself” to the trilogy of Hawkwind tribute seven-inches known as “Sonic Attack.” So by way of introduction for this interview today we ask: What does “Be Yourself” mean to you, both the song and the sentiment?
 
DW: The sentinment is pretty self explanatory.
 
As for the song, it was the first Hawkwind song I had ever heard. When we were asked to do the project I thought, why not cover the track that started my love affair with Hawkwind in the first place. It’s a monster of a track that is propulsive, hypnotic, and spaced out … what else could you ask for?
 
ES: I really liked Dave’s choice here because it’s a great song that doesn’t get the attention it deserves. I see the message of the song as a support call out to the freaks of the world. People have a tendency to conform to societal norms usually from pure laziness. Those of us that stray from the herd can always use a reminder from a fellow misfit to “Be Yourself”.

 
Julian Cope once described Hawkwind this way: ” … a collection of disreputable star rats fuelled by a battery of hallucinogenic influences and united only by an incorrigible sense of psi-powered, pre-1976 cosmic punk rock attitude broken off and gobbled as though it was their sole means of sustenance while playing riffs into the grooves with an relentless head of steam.” Would there be any part of that description that you would take issue with if Mr. Cope were instead talking about White Hills? How do you describe the music of White Hills to someone who has not heard your work?
 
DW: I wouldn’t take issue with that quote at all. The images it conjures are fantastic.
 
ES: We’ll need to work on the “disreputable” part (does selling expired moonshine to 4th graders count?) and I definitely need a cup of coffee if I’m to maintain any type of waking attitude, but otherwise I’d say right on!
 
To people that haven’t heard the music, I act like they’re kidding and walk away, leaving them to surf the internet for answers or wonder what I’m on. If I’m feeling more direct, I say that our sound has quite a range, from heavy-rocked-out assaults to hypnotic, emotionally-charged groovy jams that suck you in and allow your mind to wander.
 
DW: WHITE HILLS’ music is a heady mix of stardust injected with amphetamines and spit out to the cosmos by three twisted fucks from NYC who hope to open some mind’s along the way.
 
Both the music and the membership of White Hills seem to be less than strictly defined. Was that something that you always wanted for White Hills? Specifically, how did it come to pass to have Shazzula Nebula join White Hills onstage?
 
DW: I wouldn’t say it was something that I set out to do with White Hills. The difference with this band as compared to other bands I’ve been in is that I have the vision and direct what way the band will go. If the others that come aboard are fine with following my vision, great; if not, this band is not for them. Sometimes keeping someone involved just for the sake of having, let’s say, a drummer, might not be the best thing for the band if that person isn’t on board with the program. So why keep them? Cut the fat, I say.
 
Shazzula and I had some contact via MySpace a few years ago. She came to see us play in Leuven, Belgium and passed on, at that time, the latest Aqua Nebula Oscillator LP to me. I absolutely fell in love with it and thought that if anyone could fill the shoes of synth generator with White Hills live it was Shazzula. The next time we toured Europe I asked if she was interested in joining us on stage for a few shows. She was able to and she just fit in perfect. Since then she has joined us at ATP in NY and in the UK as well as playing with us on our upcoming album. At this point it looks like she’ll be joining us as much as she can, where ever and whenever she can.
 
Speaking of inconsistencies that add depth and intrigue to your work, from where did the idea spring to have separate track listings for this past year’s “White Hills” release, with different songs and artwork for the vinyl and CD versions?
 
DW: There was such a wealth of material to work with for the self-titled record that I was having a difficult time choosing what to use. There is still a vast amount of recordings from those sessions that haven’t seen the light of day yet!
 
Once the mixing was finished I started to put the songs together in a sequence. Out of the 5 different sequences I came up with, there were two that I really liked. Instead of ditching one I figured, why not do a vinyl version and a CD version of the album? The label liked the idea and told me to run with it. Seeing that I thought both versions stood on their own I wanted there to be different covers for each that were similar but different.
 
What is your own personal relationship with music? What was the music that first captured your attention as either a child or an adolescent? Can you tell us what albums were pivotal in your realization that there exists a world of music to explore, music that represents a world far beyond the mundane?

ES: I’m pretty certain I heard a lot of Queen while I was still in the womb which is probably why I’ve always been such a huge fan of goth-inspired music: the Birthday Party, Bauhaus, Siouxsie, Christian Death, etc. It’s so dramatic! When Rozz is whining about the blood on his hands I can’t help but paint my walls black, light up the candles and write some deep poetry. But as a kid, I was really hungry to hear new music. One album that I can remember completely blowing my mind was The Fall, “Early Fall 77-79.” I had never heard of the band before and when I put it on the turntable it seemed like my brain expanded. It sounded so completely different to me than anything else I had heard. It tripped me out and I loved it!

 
DW: I eat, drink, sleep, and breathe music! My earliest memories involve music in some way or another. I’ve always banged on things and have been fascinated with sound. My Dad was a Jazz guy, nothing out, strictly big band and hard-bop. My mother was a bit more eclectic. She was the one that purchased Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane and the few other odd balls in their record collection. The first LP I became infatuated with was Jefferson Airplane’s “Bark”. Around the age of 9 I had a friend who had two older brothers, one in college, the other in high school. Through them is how I learned about punk and the like. I would save my allowance for the month until I had enough to buy a record then the first thing I’d do is head to the local record store.
 
Hearing Public Image Limited’s “Metal Box” happened at this time … that was a mind opening experience for me. That album to this day blows me away. It is truly psychedelic, more so than so much crap that gets lumped into that category. From this time until now I’ve continued to seek out different music that hits the spot for me.
 
Do you care to comment on the rumor (the rumor that I am attempting to start right now) that White Hills will soon release a limited-edition picture-disc 7″ featuring a cover of “White Man in Hammersmith Palais” on side A and a cover of “Run to the Hills” on side B?
 
ES: Good for you for starting a completely unfounded rumor! Now Dave will tell you why it will never happen …
 
DW: All I have to say is two words why this would never happen … The Clash.
 
How did you first hear about Austin Psych Fest? What are your expectations? Are there any bands in particular that you are looking forward to seeing?

ES: In terms of bands/people I’ve never seen before, I’m really looking forward to seeing Roky Erickson and Cloudland Canyon. Of the bands I have seen before, I’m looking forward to Pontiak, Sleepy Sun and The Black Angels. I love when we play festivals because it gives me an opportunity to find new bands that I’ve been missing out on.
 
DW: I first heard of the festival from Shazzula.
 
Expectations…none really. I’m just looking forward to being a part of it.
 
What bands have you been listening to lately? What album have you surprised yourself with lately, in regard to how frequently you have listened to it?

ES: What really surprises me is that all week long I’ve been listening to Van Halen’s “Women and Children First.” I’ve only recently become a fan to be honest: one day I just woke up fascinated with David Lee Roth. What can I say? Dave W. found me a copy of the album with the poster of Diamond Dave chained to a fence! It’s classic cheese! In other news, I can’t stop listening to The Flaming Lips’ “Embryonic” and I’ve also been loving Bauhaus’ 2008 release, “Go Away White.”
 
DW: I’ve become completely obsessed with old goth bands that I never checked out back in the day. I’m hooked on all things Virgin Prunes, Sex Gang Children, and Alien Sex Fiend at the moment. All of these bands made some amazing fucked up music! Very heady, intense and psychedelic. They were all extremely committed to their art in ways that you don’t see in bands today … very inspiring!
 
Newer things I’m hooked on … Wovenhand’s “The Threshingfloor,” Killing Joke’s new album “Absolute Dissent,” Ff’s “Feeling,” Umberto’s “Prophecy of the Black Widow,” and Fabulous Diamonds, “II.”
 
In his excellent book, “Strange Days Indeed,” Francis Wheen writes the following about being a chubby, 13-year old boy attempting to decipher the meaning of “Thank Christ for the Bomb,” saying the following:
 
“It amused and puzzled me that three hairy scruffs in an electric blues band were singing in praise of nuclear deterrence and the policy of Mutually Assured Destruction, rightly known as MAD, and implying that the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki hadn’t been all bad. ‘Since that day it’s been stalemate/Everyone’s scared to obliterate/So it seems for peace we can thank the Bomb …’ If I bought the LP and listened to it every evening on my Dansette portable gramophone with the requisite brow-furrowed intensity, I’d deconstruct it’s meaning sooner or later.”
 
Your thoughts? What music has taken you the most time to deconstruct? What is the most common “meaning” that you see ascribed in error to White Hills? What is the most ludicrous meaning ever ascribed to the music of White Hills?
 
ES: I think deconstructing lyrics is a tricky business. Words are just the basis for the creation of meaning. It’s necessary to know the writer’s point of view and personal style before you can fully understand if the words are to be taken at face value or if they’re tinged with sarcasm.
 
As a kid, I was really fascinated with Jim Morrison’s poetry. I killed hours reading and trying to decipher the meaning of his words. What I’ve realized is that what makes music magic is that the listener can ascribe their own meaning to a good song – it becomes something very personal to them. You start connecting your own emotions with the sound of the words and the instruments. When I listen to the Flaming Lips’ song “Rainin’ Babies” I have no idea what he’s talking about but the song moves me to tears everytime I hear it because I’ve created my own meaning for it.
 
DW: Have to say I’ve never paid attention to what White Hills means to others. I’m just focused on what it is to me. However, the most ludicrous meaning I’ve heard someone project on to us has to be that we are a white power band. I mean, even when we opened up for the Flaming Lips Wayne asked what our name meant … and jokingly said, “I was kind of hoping you guys would be racists or something …
 
What’s next for White Hills?
 
DW: We have a new album, titled “H-p1,” coming out on Thrill Jockey in June. It’s a 2xLP monster! I’m really pleased with how this one came out.
 
We will be hitting the road in the US and Europe beginning this March through May. Then more US dates in the summer and back to Europe in the fall. Somewhere in there we will find the time to record a new album as well!
 
Besides that I’m finishing up tracks that will see the light of day as a 45 on the Irish label Trensmat, as well as ending up on a split LP with Farflung. Many things are bubbling in the White Hills camp … too early to talk about them now. Stay tuned, more to come soon.
 
White Hills
 

There’s a top-to-bottom pleasure in listening to Heliotropes, that one can only describe as life to death, the vast pool between deep space and deep bass, the 2,000 light-year stare of a cosmic soul who looks through the human telescope and declares, stoically, beautifully: “Far better it seems to me, in our vulnerability, is to look death in the eye and to be grateful every day for the brief but magnificent opportunity that life provides.”

All the same, it may as easily be that this Brooklyn-based trio has those riffs, those hungry-zombie riffs that hit the toggle-switch in our head, in concert with the occasional “nah-nana-nah” that sound cool and confident – and this is a combination we can’t help but enjoy.

Download “Holy Cross” by Heliotropes.

Listen: It’s certainly true that I can’t even type the name Heliotropes without thinking of Helios Creed, which makes me want to listen to Chrome while simultaneously considering the possibilities of “Busting Through the Van Allan Belt,” and we’re back to “Cosmic” Carl looking death in the eye and keeping it deep for Parade Magazine.

Which also brings us back to Heliotropes. Maybe.

So we’re looking death in the eye while still keeping our eyes (yes, we have many eyes) on Heliotropes. We highly recommend taking the band up on their generous offer of a free download of the “III” EP. Recently posted tastes of the two-tracks slated to comprise an upcoming seven-inch, entitled “Ribbons” and featuring a stark goat-hailing cover, in contrast to the bright colors of the “III” EP, are all kinds of awesome, only increasing our zombie hunger for more.

“Success, recognition and conformity are the bywords of the modern world, where everyone seems to crave the anesthetizing security of being identified with the majority.”
– Martin Luther King, “Strength to Love,” conveyed to the Apes by the inestimable Greg Proops.

Original Heliotropes photo by Laura Turley.

THE VACANT LOTS

“Situation Vacant”

Love. Confusion. Revolution. You may recognize these as three topics that dominate your mind, or song titles from the menacing mood-rockers The Vacant Lots. Of course, they can be both, in which case you needn’t delay in declaring that you have a new favorite band.

The non-drumming half of The Vacant Lots, Jared Artaud, was kind enough to walk us through The Vacant Lots.

What was the music that first spoke to you, either as a child or as an adolescent? Does that music still speak to you today – in much the same way, or perhaps differently?

Discovering The Stooges, The Stones and Television was a revelation for me when I was about 15. The feeling of hearing something new for the first time when it shoots right through you and penetrates your soul … that was how I felt the first time I heard “No Fun” by The Stooges and their first album. As well as “Aftermath” by The Rolling Stones and “Marquee Moon” by Television. I got the same feeling when I discovered William Blake’s “Songs of Innocence and Experience” and Robert Johnson that year, too.

Can you pinpoint a specific album (or albums) or live performance (or live performances) that really set fire to your urge to create music of your own? How have you endeavored to keep this creative fire – for lack of a better term – burning? Is it as simple as paying attention to your muse, or do you take direct steps toward searching for inspiration?

When I was first discovering rock ‘n roll and feeling this strange power it had over me, it was like taking in a myriad of new sensations all at once. Realizing the strange effect this new music had on me. I was completely under the influence of rock ‘n roll. It took up all my time.  Inspiration seems to come in waves. A lot of it comes from connecting pieces together – you know what I mean? Working at something and shaping it. It’s a process. I like watching things develop over time and also allowing things to happen immediately and spontaneously. You find something out and it opens you up to something new. Thru the darkness into light. Either that or it all builds up and then it is released. When the inspiration comes it really comes through, but in between is a lot of boredom, ennui and indolence.

The above question stems from the realization that The Vacant Lots have managed to be an extraordinarily productive band in a relatively short period of time – while many listeners are presumably still digesting the magnificent, less-than-one-year-old predecessor (“Hypnotized”), you’ve wasted no time in the release of a new 7” on Mexican Summer. To what do you owe this productivity – or do you even view it as such?

That’s kind. I spend a lot of time writing. We have only been a band for just over two years now. And in the first year we put out three full length recordings ourselves. In fact, all three of those recordings were created in the course of a weekend. We went into the studio on Friday night and came out Sunday evening with everything recorded, mixed and produced. A lot of it comes from intuition and instinct. And learning as you go. In the studio it was like speed and intensity all the way. Learning how to mix things and lay down tracks in a short period of time. But those songs and sounds were building up inside my head for a while – I tried to release them.  

One is tempted to assume that Burlington, Vermont, is not necessarily a hotbed of modern psychedelic sound … but one also knows the risks of making assumptions as such. What are the benefits of being a band based in Vermont? The drawbacks? Are there any Vermont-based bands or artists that you feel readers would do well to explore further?

One of the first thoughts I had before forming the band was, “What do I want to hear from the music out here in the audience?” I hoped my music would hypnotize people, but wake people up (out of their trance) to feel inspired. I wanted to see something real. At times I feel what The Vacant Lots are doing has more to do with Rimbaud than it does with The Rolling Stones. But, you know that was the effect some bands produced on me – an awakening of the soul.  When I first heard Suicide, Spacemen 3, The Velvet Underground and John Lee Hooker, I was hypnotized. I woke up from all the bullshit that reality has to offer you. I got really turned on by the idea of producing that effect on other people through my music. I don’t know about living in Vermont … I just thought it would be cool to wipe out all the jam bands.

What led to the decision to move forward with The Vacant Lots as a two-member band? Or was that perhaps the design from the beginning? How did you first meet Brian Macfadyen? How has your relationship changed over time with The Vacant Lots? What musical perspective does Brian bring to your sound that you appreciate most?

We started off as a duo with the intention of finding other musicians.  We auditioned a number of people. I remember this one time where I told this guy I was looking for a rhythm guitarist and he just soloed throughout the entire rehearsal. I also just got tired of wasting time trying to explain the beauty and purpose of a two-chord song to people. It was always like, “Hey, why don’t we add a few chords here, and a few chords there?” So it was kinda just decided that we can do certain things differently to fill up the space of the room with just two people. Like, we didn’t need more musicians to get the sound we wanted. We added a drone box to the mix and got a richer, dense sound. Will it ever change? Who knows? It works and I like seeing our sound evolve and change through time. I think duality has been a consistent theme for me. I had a vision for this band from the beginning and it’s interesting seeing it evolve. Over time our connection has grown into a stronger unit. I think our sound has sharpened and is moving towards exploring different sounds and techniques. Brian is classically trained and was only 15 years old when I met him. We get along and work very well together. He is really an amazing drummer. Even when I first met him he was the best drummer I ever played with. The only struggle being getting him out of high school to do shows since he is only 17!

In the book “Suicide: No Compromise,” Alan Vega is quoted as saying the following:

Your thoughts? What do you think sets The Vacant Lots apart from the scene that surrounds you? If you had to choose an alternate name for The Vacant Lots, what would it be?

It’s an interesting question. I mean, there is something strikingly similar in the name choices of The Vacant Lots and Suicide. The perception of what you’re seeing around you. The way Alan and Martin were “apocalyptic” and perceived how “the whole world was destroying itself” is analogous to how my perception of reality was when I started this band. I didn’t see the world as particularly destroying itself but as suffering. I saw suffering all around me. It’s not only a external suffering but an internal suffering as well. That’s why I chose the name The Vacant Lots. I was reading Burroughs and came across the phrase, and something just hit me. The duality of the name really struck me. I knew it was the name.

What can you tell us about the visual component that goes along with The Vacant Lots live experience? What type of atmosphere do you seek to create with the film clips you run, the lights you use, etc.? What are some bands that have influenced The Vacant Lots from a visual perspective?

The visual is as important as the aural. I wanted to express that element with the music, to present them both simultaneously. I felt like a rock ‘n roll performance could be more of an experience with the added visuals and projections. It creates a multimedia experience. I am trying to create a mood but also a setting where hopefully you walk away with a new perspective on things.

What music have you been listening to lately?

Listening to … Spectrum, Cheval Sombre, Dean And Britta, Screen Vinyl Image, Bo Diddley, Richard Hell and The Voidoids, The Shangri-Las, Albert Ayler, The Warlocks, Arthur Lee and Love, Pharaoh Sanders …

How did you first become aware of Austin Psych Fest? Are there any bands in particular that you are looking forward to seeing?

I discovered APF last year when we were touring with Spectrum. I remember a lot of people talking to me about it, thinking we would be a good fit for the bill. It’s really exciting that we will be going down there to play with The Black Angels. I am also looking forward to seeing Spectrum, The Black Angels, The Cult of Dom Keller, Crocodiles, The Black Ryder, The Growlers … and a bunch more. The line-up is really looking good.

What’s next for The Vacant Lots?

Well, we are on a winter tour right now in support of our “Confusion” 7″ single, that is out now on Mexican Summer. And we just laid down some demo recordings for what could be a new album. I really like the new song structures and sounds we are coming up with today. We are planning on heading down to SXSW in March before we venture to Austin Psych Fest in late April. We’d also like to tour the West Coast around that time, too.

The Vacant Lots

SLEEPY SUN

“Behind the Wall of Sleepy Sun”

If you’re going to San Francisco … you’re probably not a member of Sleepy Sun. Since the release of their mammoth album “Fever” early in 2010, the road has been home for these Golden State psychedelic warriors, with word of their increasingly intense live performances being planted like seeds after every show. With that word regularly hovering somewhere between sweaty disbelief and electric epiphany, it then came as no big surprise – though no small delight – to see the band included on the initial line-up announcement for Austin Psych Fest 4.

Immediately following APF-4, the band will join their festival hosts The Black Angels for a West Coast tour, after which we have to imagine Sleepy Sun will have the chance to sleep, son, in their own bed, at least for an evening. Until then, guitarist Matt Holliman was kind enough to shed some light on their wild machine.

The touring you have done since the release of “Fever” has been nothing short of relentless. What does being on the road so consistently do to your mental state? What are the advantages that you wouldn’t have expected? And what are the disadvantages that have taken you by surprise?

Non-stop touring inevitably dulls your mental faculties. One way we’ve found to counteract this is by reading scientific journals (usually anything relating to DNA) and Russian literature from the 1800’s. Consequently, most of us can articulate the finer points of the human genome. That’s an advantage. Disadvantages include theft, food poisoning and fast-food …the latter two being synonymous.

Do you feel that Sleepy Sun has become a stronger band musically as a result of your epic touring? Have you become a stronger band spiritually? Why or why not?

We played over 200 shows in a given 365 day period, so we were bound to sharpen ourselves on the musical front, at least a tad. It’s hard to tell – it’s probably more of a subconscious thing, really. Tours usually start out a little rough no matter how much prep time you put into it. In terms of spirituality, you’ve gotta do whatever it takes to get through the day. It’s an outlet that helps some of us. Sometimes that means yoga at gas stations. And Flaming Hot Cheetos.

One of the things that is pretty immediately appealing about the music of Sleepy Sun – and by immediately, we recall the opening track, “New Age,” from your debut album – is the undeniable appeal of the twin-guitar attack, offering shades of Thin Lizzy and Judas Priest without ever sounding much like either. Who are the guitarists whose music has most directly impacted the sound of Sleepy Sun? Push comes to shove, what is your favorite riff of all time (at least for today)?

Well, there’s certainly a lot of influences guitar-wise, so it’s a bit difficult to distill it down to one or two bands/artists. Thin Lizzy is great, and we’re all fans of The Allman Brothers. The guitar play between bands like Crazy Horse and The Rolling Stones is also an inspiration. We never push ourselves into lead and rhythm roles. Oftentimes we write parts for each other. Steal from each other. Whatever works.

You want a riff? Black Sabbath – “Children of the Grave.”

There’s a sense of dynamics (for lack of a better term) in the music of Sleepy Sun that seems a fair step beyond what one might ordinarily think of as the “loud-quiet-loud” approach. Rather, the music seems to yearn for emotions both high and low, and that yearning can sometimes sound fairly ambitious in scope. Would you agree? Was it ever your forethought to be “ambitious” when it comes to the music you make, or is it more of a concern to let the songs come naturally, regardless of size or scope?

I don’t think it was ever an ambition. We just write what we feel and go from there. Part of the high-and-low, push/pull feeling stems from our collective interests. All five of us are writers with different tastes in music and it takes a bit of patience to sit back and see where the songs go with everyone hustling the dynamic in opposite directions. Everything is natural. We’ve run into problems when we try to force an idea or concept into a song. It doesn’t come off as well.

What was the first music that captured your attention, either as a child or in your adolescence? How has your appreciation for that music evolved over the years, either strengthening or weakening?

One of the first records I can remember buying was Nirvana’s “Nevermind” from some mail order catalog. It’s one of the few artists that I was into as a kid that I can still listen to today with a straight face. Or at least without feeling like a total dirtbag.

What music have you been listening to lately?

Bob Seger System, Fuck Buttons, Grinderman, Black Box Revelation, The War on Drugs.

How did you first hear of Austin Psych Fest? Are there any bands in particular that you are excited about seeing during the fest?

I don’t recall how we first heard about the Austin Psych Fest- we were definitely bummed out we couldn’t play last year, though. I’m interested to see Spectrum play. Last time I caught the very tail end of their set when they opened for My Bloody Valentine at the Concourse Center in SF a couple years ago. Everyone should also check out fellow SF bands The Fresh and Onlys and the Lumerians. Quest for Fire will also be top notch, grade-A awesome. [Note of the Apes: Sadly, Quest for Fire have had to cancel their appearance at APF4, but we felt it was still important to relay Matt’s message that they are, in fact, top-notch and grade-A awesome, because we agree.]

Ram Dass said the following in his meditation guide, “Journey of Awakening”:

Your thoughts? How has music helped to expand your view of yourself and your potential as a human? Your view of humanity as a whole?

One thing I’ve learned from all of this is to never be too full of yourself. I’m rather humbled by our successes. Apart from working non-stop on this project for years, we’re very lucky to have come as far as we have. It’s important to be grateful for what you’ve accomplished while still remaining ambitious.

Sun Ra was once quoted as saying the following: “You might say jazz came from the sun priests of Egypt.” Do you ponder the idea of from where your creative impulses stem?

Sleepy Sun was birthed from the dregs of Vitamin B12, peanut butter crackers, and a crappy AM/FM transmitter.

What’s next for Sleepy Sun?

A new record is in the works as well as a West Coast US tour with the Black Angels this coming April/May. What up Europe? Yeah, we see you looking good over there.

Sleepy Sun

Original photos by Brandon Moore.

Someday, someone will describe with great precision how the music of ALL IN THE GOLDEN AFTERNOON so perfectly and strangely casts in sound those emotions related to love, longing, wonder and wandering. Today is not that day, and this is not written by that someone.

We wish that weren’t the case. We wish it were easy. We wish detailing how space can be stretched so sublimely by synth-stabbing spouses from Austin, Texas, were effortless. It’s not.

Nor is the music of All in the Golden Afternoon, though it certainly feels effortless. Not in the sense of being easy, or void of deep consideration, or that the sounds are unexamined. Not at all. Rather, that effortless sensation – perhaps best illustrated on the band’s recent album, “Magic Lighthouse on the Infinite Sea” – stems from a collection of songs that sound natural in the broadest sense: songs that were not assembled, but born, songs free from artificiality, affectation or inhibitions.

And where there is the danger that ascribing notions of the “natural” in music can result in an exclusion of the “supernatural” … it’s not a concern when discussing All in the Golden Afternoon. Maybe you missed that part about their latest album being called “Magic Lighthouse on the Infinite Sea.” Maybe you long to drift effortlessly, naturally on an infinite sea. Maybe …

Listen: I wasn’t kidding around when I started this by saying I cannot describe what it is about the music of All in the Golden Afternoon that is so magical to me, what it is that has compelled me to keep an All in the Golden Afternoon pin on the lapel of my black jacket for nearly a year now (since seeing them at Austin Psych Fest 3), and whether this will translate in any way to you and your personal musical enjoyment. But I’m also not kidding when I say: you should give them a listen.

Download “Symphonies of Spirits” by All in the Golden Afternoon.

You can preview and buy the music of All in the Golden Afternoon at their Bandcamp page.

And after you do that, you may find yourself driven to have your eyes rolling into the back of your head, approaching a mental state of utter anticipatory, wordless, electro-psych glee at the prospect of their collaboration with that brilliant, kooky, kosmiche kraut, Ulrich Schnauss.

And you may be further driven to contribute to their Kickstarter project to fund the fully realized album to be born of this collaboration.

And even if you can only spare one dollar, you will be part of this project and you will know that your engagement will be met with nothing short of gratitude. And you’ll get a snazzy pin that you can keep on the lapel of your black jacket for a year, too.

“And yet we still find ourselves confronted by those stars rushing towards us through the darkness. The sound of radio static connects inner and outer space. Tuning through a wireless dial also means discovering that unique audible space that exists between stations: a mysterious zone of harmonies and distortions that function according to some strange and distinct logic of their own. As Emmanuel Kant observed is his Critique of Practical Reason: ‘Two things fill the mind with ever increasing admiration and awe, the more often and steadily they are reflected upon – the starry heaven above and the moral law within me.'”

– “Background Radation: The West German Republic Tunes In to the Cosmos” by Ken Hollings (an essay from the book, “Krautrock: Cosmic Rock and Its Legacy“

BAND OF THE WEEK: OVER-GAIN OPTIMAL DEATH (OGOD)

“Fear has its use, but cowardice has none,” said Mahatma Gandhi, who unfortunately went ahead and died before he could hear OVER-GAIN OPTIMAL DEATH.

Coincidentally, conveniently or crazily originating from the same haunted lands (Pasadena, California) where Jack Parsons exploded inner and outer space (and ultimately, himself), OGOD are the new masters of controlled riff-science experimentation.

Their ceaseless dedication to death-by-volume-based-misadventure will drop listeners with anything less than battle-hardened constitutions directly to their knees, overcome by the fear of losing their hearing, of losing their mind.

And for those left standing, the fearing for your hearing gives rise to something that inexplicably, undeniably feels a lot like comfort. Here, there is no fear; the volume levels so enveloping, so complete as to feel like an aural security blanket, capable of delivering to the listener the feeling of being enthroned in an impenetrable temple of solitude. Far from being limited by their volume, OGOD transport the parameters to a place of infinite possibility, as limitless as the paths through the cosmic void.

And there is never the fear of the volume ending, of the drums being beaten with anything less than a furious anger, of the OGOD priests emerging cross-legged and smiling, mellowing out with a tender rendition of a Buffy Sainte-Marie song (though for the record, should the above scenario ever come to pass, I’m totally on board).

Have no fear: OGOD is here. Fear for your lives: OGOD has arrived.

Listen: the fact is that currently, I fear you will only find an official collection of OGOD sounds on cassette, a cassette (“Beheaded Aural Execution”) that has been terrifying my one, lonely cassette playing option since it arrived. And that cassette playing option inside the Revolt of the Apes headquarters hasn’t evolved to the point of me being able to rip an MP3 from the tape (I know it’s not complex – but I also know I’m lazy enough to probably never get that going). So you’re just going to have to track down a copy for yourself.

No – I mean, you are just going to HAVE to track down a copy for yourself.

In the meantime, blow your mind in the OGOD video void.

“Solitude is a way to defend the spirit against the murderous din of our materialism.”
— Thomas Merton, O.C.S.O. (not O.G.O.D).

It seems at least mildly unnecessary to put too much elbow grease into an introduction of Rob Chapman, or into describing what makes his recent book, “A Very Irregular Head: The Life of Syd Barrett,” so utterly essential.

On the first point, Mr. Chapman maintains a robust website – www.rob-chapman.com – that does a far more compelling and comprehensive job of detailing his past and his future than could ever be done here (not to mention offering you the opportunity to read about P.J. Proby – which you should do, of course).

On the second, these Apes wrote recently about “A Very Irregular Head,” including the title among the very best books of 2010.

We would like to think that it suffices to say (though it never really does) that if you care at all about Syd Barrett, about Pink Floyd, about psychedelic music, about art, about artists, about creativity, you run the very real risk of being utterly gobsmacked by the remarkable and remarkably told story contained within “A Very Irregular Head.”

We are very pleased to post this in-depth interview with the author. You may want to read the book before you read this interview; you may want to wait until afterward. But make no mistake: You want to read this book.

The amount of care and research that went into “A Very Irregular Head” is staggering. How long did it take you to complete the book? How long had you been thinking about it before that?

I was commissioned to write the book early in 2007. I delivered a typically unwieldy first draft of 160,000 words in the summer of 2009. I delivered a final draft of 140,000 words in September 2009. As for how long I’d been thinking about it, the glib answer is since I was 12 in 1967, but that’s not so glib actually. My interest in and appreciation of Syd Barrett transcends fandom. If there is such a thing as the psycho-geography of an artist’s terrain I’ve been ploughing it for 40 odd (some very odd) years.

In the introduction to the book, you write about being a starry-eyed seventeen year-old, seeing Syd Barrett perform in February of 1972. What was it about Syd that put the stars in your eyes at that age? How do you think your cosmos-to-eyeballs relationship has changed over the years, when it comes to Syd’s music? For music in general?

The stars were already there, well before I saw Syd perform live. I do actually have stars in my eyes. My irises are blue but if you look closely, I have yellow star clusters shooting out like flames from the black sun of my pupils. I don’t think the cosmos-to-eyeballs relationship to the music can ever be as intense as it was in my youth, when I regularly used to trip to Syd’s records. That’s the reason why I understand the acid momentum in his music so well. It’s not to be found in anything as overt as the lyrics – Syd was never that literal, as I make clear in the book, lateral maybe but never literal. No, it’s in the bounce, the scansion, the derailed logic, the irregular metre, the way he sings “sheeee’s walking” in “Apples and Oranges” or “taaaaall mirror” in “Arnold Layne.” I know exactly where that comes from. As for the last four words of your question I think that’s impossible to answer. I don’t think there is such a thing as ‘music in general’.

Were there any misconceptions that you held about Syd that were corrected through your writing and research? Not to undervalue the scholarship of your book, but is there a common misconception held by the public at large with regard to Syd that you might hope “Irregular Head” can correct?

That’s two very different questions. To answer the first one, not misconceptions, no. I don’t think I’ve ever misconceived Syd, but many of my “intuitive hunches” shall we say, were more than clarified. Ideas about his upbringing, his social milieu, his apprenticeship, his art school training, his methodology. Those are the things I found fascinating. For example, the way he applied very avant-garde techniques to very un avant-garde material. That’s very rich territory for a biographer to explore.

To answer the second question, I’ve no idea what common misconceptions the public at large hold about Syd. I wouldn’t imagine the public at large have many conceptions of Syd at all. But if you mean fans, well I suppose the main one I wanted to correct was the idea that he was just this lunatic or acid casualty whose music was somehow just a bi-product of madness.

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The experience of listening to GA’AN is something like the imagined experience of hearing a new language being born, one yearning to communicate ancient truths through modern forms, all the while unencumbered by the bondage of a defined narrative.

The experience of listening to Ga’an is something like watching a foreign film through an oddly cracked mirror, where subtitles are not offered and yet, somehow, are not necessary.

The experience of listening to Ga’an is something like if a bunch of wackos from the Midwest slowed down their Bauhaus records to 17.5 RPMs before wielding them to a shrine built out of Tangerine Dream bootlegs, and eventually blasting light-speed through a Voivod-timewarp before recording the first note. I’m talking a mystic, technology killing, “Piper at the Gates of Dawnrazor” trip.

Download “Vulture of the Horn” by GA’AN

Listen: The previous “Band of the Week” entry was a bit of a punt, given that the band in question had shuffled from this mortal coil. That didn’t stop the re-animated corpse from sending a “cease and desist” nasty-gram, leaving the Revolt of the Apes somewhere between eye-rolling and uncharacteristically discouraged.

Nuts to that. Let’s keep sharing sounds.

I first heard Ga’an maybe a year and a half ago, jerking the curtain at a bizarrely wonderful show occurring at a sushi restaurant here in Richmond, Virginia (other bands that night: La Otracina and Keelhaul). The stunning impression they made has withstood the test of time (as has the t-shirt I picked up on the cheap, printed inside-out on an old, blue First Fidelity Bank-branded number). I was excited when I heard that they had released a debut album. I was more excited when I heard the debut album. Let us pray: Ga’an is good.

“I need not add that freedom is a dangerous thing. But it is hardly possible that we are all cowards.”
– John Whiteside Parsons

BAND OF THE WEEK: BLESSURE GRAVE … or … COUNTRY JOE & THE FISH!

We were all set to declare the infecting menace of BLESSURE GRAVE as the latest band of the week, enamored as we are of their triumphantly creepy death-rock debut, “Judged By Twelve, Carried by Six.” Yet in our research (read: fumbling around online looking for band photos to manipulate), we were shocked to find the following message from band mastermind Toby Grave:

“R.I.P. No need to glamorize it. I am completely over writing and playing songs as Blessure Grave.”

So much for jumping on the Blessure Grave bandwagon. Not that you can’t worship them in death and from beyond the grave (they would probably appreciate that) and dedicate yourself to collecting their entire back catalog. They have no song that doesn’t speak to me (talk about damning with faint praise) and I have, in all likelihood, listened to the song below no less than 150 times. It hasn’t left my car since the first time I heard it. I’ll probably listen to it when I’m done writing this! Join us!

UPDATE! 01.20.11 – BLESSURE GRAVE DOWNLOAD REMOVED AT THE REQUEST OF THE ARTIST.

And in further good news, Mr. Grave has risen from the dead rather immediately, with a new project entitled SOFT KILL. We’ll leave the hypothesizing over what separates Blessure Grave from Soft Kill for another time. For the time being, we’ll just consider ourselves lucky to be able to share the cold wind of winter with the cold sting of death provided by Blessure Grave and Soft Kill.

UPDATE! 01.20.11 – SOFT KILL VIDEO REMOVED JUST FOR THE HELL OF IT.

Of course, while we would sorta like for the “Band of the Week” designation to highlight, if not necessarily “new” bands (length of time together seems like generally poor shorthand for gauging the quality of a band’s work), then perhaps bands with some new material to share.

But … why?

We’ve already featured bands that are not bands at all. Why not an old band? Why can’t it just be an artist of tremendous talent, whether musical or not? Why not just pick the fine fellow who I saw spin a bunch of 7-inches over the weekend, a fellow who also takes some very fine photographs? Instead of searching for a band that fits the ill-defined parameters as the “Band of the Week,” couldn’t we just recommend you go read this great interview with Erik Davis? Why can’t the band of the week be COUNTRY JOE & THE FISH?!?

I don’t know. I don’t care. Neither do you.

“Gray witch goddess, I suspect that you don’t care … but it’s simply a matter of wanting you here by me, here by me.”

– Country Joe & The Fish, “The Return of Sweet Lorraine”

Download “The Return Of Sweet Lorraine” by Country Joe & The Fish

I should point out that the album this great, great song comes from – “C.J. Fish” by Country Joe & The Fish – was purchased for just pennies at one of Richmond’s many fine record stores. Of course, it may be the only record store in the country wherein I can buy my Country Joe & The Fish album AND a double seven-inch from a quiet bunch of minstrels hailing from Pennsylvania … and I may be the only person making such a purchase.

Until next time … enjoy! And if you’re anywhere near Richmond, VA, this coming Friday, January 21, come check out this fun time below (special thanks to the incomparable photographic wizardry of Sarah Morrison Photography).

“The strong man holds in a living blend strongly marked opposites. The idealists are usually not realistic, and the realists are not usually idealistic. The militant are not generally known to be passive, nor the passive to be militant. Seldom are the humble self-assertive, or the self-assertive humble. But life at its best is a creative synthesis of opposites in fruitful harmony. The philosopher Hegel said that truth is found neither in the thesis nor the antithesis, but in the emergent synthesis which reconciles the two.”

– Martin Luther King, Jr., “Strength to Love”