Halo Noose hail from the Scottish Highlands, and play a very dense and psychedelic brand of fuzzed up space rock that feels like being blasted by a smoke cannon while riding a Harley Davidson into a wind tunnel. The band sounds like they have played an endless row of shadowy squatter places, drinking only lukewarm lager and smoking 24/7 while spitting random people in the face and shouting c words. You can image my surprise when it turned out all this was the work of one man, all alone in his basement…
And yet, the short half hour of super fuzzy psych rock on Magical Flight is the solo work of Stuart Morrish, who played all the instruments and recorded and engineered it by himself. Originally he released it in 2020 on his Bandcamp, but lucky for us listeners a conglomerate of psych labels picked it up over the past years to release it physically on various different continents.
It definitely deserves your attention too, because space rock seldomly sounded this scuzzy and gyrating. It feels like sticking your head in a car wash, getting a rub that blasts your eardrums out, but still getting out dirtier than you got in. Can space rock get any better? Yes it could have been a little longer…let’s hope Halo Noose fixes that flaw in the near future.
I talked to Stuart Morrish, from his home in the Scottish Highlands where the wildlife and the Northern Lights are his inspiration for making great psychedelic music. And some very good news near the end too…could it be a new record soon?
Can you introduce the band?
Halo Noose are a solo project I play on every instrument I also engineered mixed and produced the ep. I wanted to experience the whole process even down to help design the sleeve.
What can you tell me about your musical background?
There’s not much to say. I taught myself how to play I liked watching bands play live and I like listening to music.
What does a regular day in your life look like?
Pretty much the same as everyone else’s man Going from here to there. I have a wife and two daughters. They keep me busy.
What is the best thing about Magical Flight?
I guess I can say people get what im trying to do and are digging on it.
Where do you live and what is the environment like for musicians like you?
I live in the Northern part of the Highlands in Scotland, UK. It’s all trees, meadows, birds of prey and deer, lots of free roaming deer. It’s very serene and peaceful. The Northern lights is always a good watch up here.
What would be the perfect setting to see Halo Noose?
Stoned
Where does the sound come from? Can you take us to some of your inspirations?
I’m a big fan of late 60s psych , also Loop, Spaceman3, Mudhoney, Sundial early Monster Magnet, The Stooges, and many many more.
What are your immediate and long term future plans?
I’m currently finishing up recording ten new tracks with the intentions of releasing them as an album this year and see where Halo Noose goes from there.
What should the Weirdo Shrine reader do after reading this interview?
Go seek and find Halo Noose music and give it a go you may dig it.
Weirdo Shrine 