jam rock – Weirdo Shrine

15 October 2023

Q&A: Mojo & The Kitchen Brothers -Mojo’s Heavy Cream (2023, Laybare Recordings)

Belgian psychedelic blues rock upstarts Mojo & The Kitchen Brothers have a good thing going on. They have nailed their own style within the retro rock spectrum quite nicely, landed a cool vinyl deal with Dutch underground rock boutique label Laybare Recordings, and they are playing some cool shows as well. It’s a good thing we could get a hold of them in the midst of all these happenings to ask them to introduce themselves and what moves them as a band…

Hi guys, can you please introduce Mojo and the Kitchen Brothers to the Weirdo
Shrine audience?
We are Mojo and the Kitchen Brothers. Warre Brits on drums and lead vocals,
Mathijs Van Meensel on Bass and backing weirdness, Luca Fazioli on guitar and
backing vocals, Jules Meyvis on Guitar, synth and backing weirdness, and last but
not least Jon on guitar: A 5-headed omnium gatherum of eclectically inspired music
freaks from Belgium cooking up a late 60’s early 70’s minded mix of heavy progrock
soaked in psychedelia. The smells emanating from our kitchen recall bands like
Black Sabbath, Wishbone Ash and Pink Floyd. However, M&TKB is more than a
nostalgia trip. Firmly tuned into the spring of our contemporary psych rockers, Mojo
& the Kitchen Brothers’ catchy tunes, proggy riffs, deafening drums, roaring
basslines and spacy, triple-guitar jams take the listener on a Janus-faced journey
through the limbo between past and present.

What is the biggest trigger for you to do what you do with this band?
Wanting to play what we are a’wanting to hear.

What are your musical backgrounds? And what was the first time you knew you
wanted to play rock music?
2 of of the 5 have somewhat of a higher education in music, the rest are hobbyists. There
was no definite first time, only the unceasing temptation of going out there and beyond.

What music do you listen to in the band bus? Any weird tastes among you?
Our bassist loves to entertain the bus with his exquisite taste in Italian cinematic Modernism soundtracks like those Nino Rota composed for Federico Fellini for example. Also, there’s nothing like driving home victorious from a gloriously played show while listening to the Wallace and Gromit soundtrack. I suppose we just really enjoy soundtracks.

What would be the ideal line up for the ultimate Mojo and the Kitchen Brothers
show, and where would it be held?
In no particular order; Gong, Grateful Dead, Black Sabbath, Songhoy Blues, Acid Mothers
Temple, Allman Brothers. Either at Pompeii or some cool observatory.

What is the best thing that happened to Mojo so far, and would would you still like
to happen in the future?
The best thing that happened to Mojo so far is a thing that luckily keeps happening. Namely, the continuous connections that we and our music manage to make with all the lovely people in the scene surrounding us. From industry people like Jan Viggria (The Guru Guru, our faithful producer), Daan and Henri (Daan Agency) and Desirée Hanssen (Lay Bare
Recordings), to our families and fans, everything that we’ve achieved so far is thanks to this
amazing group of people that came together thanks to this connecting force. And this ties in smoothly like a glove to the next part of your question: all we hope is to keep connecting.

Where do you live and how does it influence your music?
We all live in Belgium. This fact doesn’t influence our music too much however. We can’t
really be placed among the “typically Belgian” performers, whatever that might mean.
Nonetheless, the Belgian music scene appears to be quite receptive to non-typical bands. In our experience, Belgium provides many great chances for those willing to take them, and
most importantly a willing audience with a taste for the bizarre.

What is/was the best era of (rock n roll) music in your opinion?
The best era of music has and will never come. The best thing about music is that it is not
bound by the silly nostalgic dreaming of people, only people are.

Where can we see the band play in the near future? Any other plans/schemes you’d
like to share?
In the foreseeable future we’ll mostly be playing shows in Belgium, if you’re interested you
can always check our socials for more info. In other news, we’re working on our next
albums. So keep your eyes peeled and your ears eagerly gaping.

What should the Weirdo Shrine readers do immediately after reading this
interview?
Tell those near to you that you love ‘em! Give ‘em a hug, buy them a beer or perhaps some
flowers, we don’t do those things nearly enough. Oh and also, go buy our merch at one of
our upcoming shows or at laybarerecordings.com.

29 July 2023

Review + Q&A: Blue Rumble – Blue Lightning/Abrasas EP (Echodelick Records, Ramble Records, We, Here & Now)

Man, Blue Rumble would have been BIG in the late 60s/early 70s. Their style of improvised acid rock would resonated big time with the flower power crowd, but also with the generation that came after, wanting their rock as lysergic but heavier resulting in Black Sabbath, Leaf Hound, Blue Cheer, and the likes. Blue Rumble wanted to be a part of that scene, they don’t disguise it, even their moniker gives it away. And to be fair, they would have rocked it back then.

But hey; they are rocking it right now, and we all still love to be taken on a trip like this. Wandering guitar solos, John Bonham inspired thundering drums, beautifully rumbling bass lines, and an organ that hits all the right places. It is all there, and Blue Rumble plays it from the heart, lives it, breathes it. Not just emulating things from the past, but creating their own.

The biggest compliment perhaps for an instrumental jam band like Blue Rumble is that you would almost forget that they are. The vocals are hardly missed when the music is constantly taking you to interesting places with so much to see and hear. If you didn’t know of them before, you know now, and this vinyl EP is an excellent way to get acquainted.

I talked to the band and guitarist Andrea Gelardini, and bassist Sebastien Metens responded. This is the introduction to their band, of which no doubt we will hear plenty more in the future. Let’s dive into the world of Blue Rumble!

How are you? How has the pandemic period been for Blue Rumble?

Andrea: We’re doing well, during the pandemic like many people we suddenly had more time than usual on our hands, and that’s when we recorded our debut LP. So, in a sense, we made the best of that free time.

Sebastien: We would have been a remote band regardless of the pandemic–given that all of us live in different countries–so COVID didn’t affect us in the way it would have done for a more conventional band. We didn’t have any gigs planned, so there was no issue on that front.

Can you introduce the band, and how did you meet, etc?

Andrea: I’m Andrea, the guitarist, I’m from Italy. Sebastien plays bass and is from Luxembourg. Ronaldo plays keyboards and is from Brazil. Harry, is our drummer and is American. Living on different continents means we record our music remotely, we haven’t actually met in person but only through video-calls. The idea of starting the band came to Ronaldo and me while discussing our musical influences. We noticed we like the same things in music, and decided to look for like-minded band mates.

Sebastien: Andrea and I have known each other online for quite a few years now–the early 2010s, if I remember correctly. We met through the music platform last[.]fm and started exchanging messages after finding that our tastes coincided. In the intervening years we started a band (again remote) called Occhio e Croce, with Andrea on guitar and me on drums and bass. One of Andrea’s friends also contributed keyboards on some tracks. The songs weren’t terribly good in retrospect, particularly because I would lay down the drums without listening to an accompanying guitar track; this meant that I would speed up or slow down unintentionally, having no reference tempo on which to base my playing. We re-recorded (properly, this time) one of the songs from that period with Blue Rumble; you can find it on our LP as the song “Occhio e Croce”. I met Andrea in Rome in around 2015 and we had a short jam session in a studio. Fast-forwarding to the formation of Blue Rumble and Andrea contacted me when the band were in the middle of recording “Occhio e Croce”, asking me if I’d like to play bass on the track. I did and I stayed on, relieving Ronaldo of having to record both keyboards and bass going forward.

What can you tell me about your musical backgrounds?

Andrea: I come from classic rock, when I was very young I fell in love with the music of Led Zeppelin and the Jimi Hendrix Experience; the intensity, passion and sheer musical genius is what caught my interest in these two bands. From then over the years I’ve been listening to all kinds of music and I’ve been expanding my horizons. Progressive rock, psychedelic rock, folk, blues and jazz are genres I often listen to; with an ear always open for unusual sounds and underground oddities.

Sebastien: Although I listened to classic rock when I was a child–I remember in particular listening to mixtapes of Deep Purple albums on my Walkman cassette player during long car journeys–it wasn’t until I was about 19/20 years old when I really fell in love with music. Seeing footage of Led Zeppelin playing “We’re Gonna Groove” at the Royal Albert Hall in 1970 struck a chord with me–in particular Bonham’s drumming. Listening to Black Sabbath‘s first album all the way through for the first time was another pivotal moment: I had never heard such a heavy sound whilst still exhibiting blues and jazz underpinnings. I got my first (and only) drum kit shortly after that, but I only had the opportunity to practise regularly starting from 2010. I considered the drums my main instrument, playing bass only when Andrea and I needed a bass track for one of our Occhio e Croce songs. It was when I was given the opportunity to join Blue Rumble that I took my bass-playing more seriously. In fact, I don’t currently have the space for my drum kit, so I don’t play drums anymore.

What can you tell me about the current vinyl release on We Here Now/Echodelick/Ramble Records?

Andrea: The vinyl release of our upcoming EP is set for July 28th. We’re stoked to be part of this team of wonderful people who showed interest in getting our music out there. Really looking forward to release day!

Sebastien: The EP on Echodelick consists of four tracks: there are two songs from our digital single release and two taken from our self-titled, privately-pressed LP. The former pair, “Brasas” and “Blue Lightning”, haven’t had a vinyl release until now.

Who are some contemporary musical heroes of yours?

Andrea: Some of my favorite contemporary artists are Kevin Parker, Jack White, and Sven Wunder. In the past few decades there have been bands/artists who influenced me as a guitarist, I’m a big fan of the work of Surprise Chef, Soft Power, The Strokes, Radio Moscow and many more. Although I would say I’m more grounded in the 60s/70s music-wise, I still enjoy plenty of modern artists.

Sebastien: I don’t listen to modern artists very often these days. That said, Paul Marrone (Cosmic Wheels/Radio Moscow/Psciomagia/Birth/Pazzo/etc.) was a big influence on me throughout the years, as was his brother Vincent (when they were in a band together called Cosmic Wheels). Both very talented musicians and songwriters. I like what’s coming out of the San Diego area in terms of progressive rock, and that’s usually where I go looking when I want to find a new (modern) band to listen to.

Can you tell me about how you go about composing and recording songs?

Sebastien: One of us–usually Andrea, Ronaldo, or me lays down an initial, rough track. The other band members then add their tracks on top in succession, generally at home, using their own DAW software. This method of recording involves a lot of sharing of files, as you can imagine. Harry, the drummer, adds extra percussion–in addition to his main drum track–as the very last step for some songs. When we’re satisfied, we send off all the individual tracks to our producer, who works his magic.

What are your immediate and long term future plans?

Sebastien: We have several new songs worked out; it’s just a matter of each of us finding the time to record. Currently, we’re in the middle of working on one of my compositions

19 June 202316 June 2023

Review + Q&A: Mammatus – Expanding Majesty (2023, Silver Current Records)

What are mammatus clouds? “Mammatus clouds are some of the most unusual and distinctive clouds formations with a series of bulges or pouches emerging from the base of a cloud. The shape of mammatus formations can vary widely; from the classic protruding shape, to a more elongated tube hanging from the cloud above.”-Metoffice.uk

Here is what that may look like:

Now press play on the Bandcamp link underneath the artwork and listen to what it may actually SOUND like. Because even after all those years, Mammatus still sound perfectly like their strange moniker: high above, soaring in the air, and terrifically weird.

Expanding Majesty distilled for eight years like a good spirit would, and the result is everything a fan of these Californian jam masters could hope for. Presented are four tracks, each well over fifteen minutes. Duelling guitars are key, the vocals are rare but perfectly hazy and in service to the music that feels uplifting and filled with a positive life energy. Everything the band did this time seems to be aimed upwards, high towards the skies. Like the comic book dragon in the artwork, the band constantly spreads their wings and glides from riff to riff, and from synth packed action tune in and out into the next jam.

If you know Mammatus from their inception like me you might always yearn back for a second to the times of The Coast Explodes and their debut album where they were absolutely elusive in their fantastic weirdness and doomy quirks. Expanding Majesty in stead shows the band displaying grandeur and wide angled guitar heroism. Both are fantastic trips in their own right, and I for one have room in my heart for anything these Californian psych wizard come up with. Even if I have to wait another ten years to get it.

I shot the band a couple of questions and lo and behold I got a lot of cool answers back! Nicky Emmert (guitars vox) explained why Mammatus do the things they do and how they do them, and why they sometimes take a little longer. If anything the band seemed to have found a sustainable form for themselves, and that sounds just about right to me too.

How is Mammatus these days? How did you experience the pandemic period?

We are fantastic. We are on the verge of releasing a double LP that we are very proud of. Expanding Majesty is over 8 years in the making from riff discovery to record. We are currently designing and making merchandise in preparation for playing some record release shows this summer.

Our pandemic experience was similar to most. We were mixing a large portion of our record at El Studio in San Francisco with Phil Manley when all the pandemic pandemonium in the news started coming out. We used the years of the pandemic to write and record Foreveriff which is the third side of Expanding Majesty. If anything it gave us time to focus on the writing process without feeling rushed.

Can you explain the big gap between the previous album Sparkling Waters (2015) and Expanding Majesty?

The big gap is not as much intentional as it is natural. Out of necessity and operating style we allow the songs to ferment, incubate, evolve, and flower into existence over long periods of time. Note by note, riff by riff, beat by beat, the songs slowly (subjectively speaking) take shape. Each song goes through multiple stages of development and often changes drastically over years with alternate endings, meanderings, and side quests. This is all part of the Mammatus experience. What you hear when you listen to one of our records was not forced into existence as much as it was slowly realized over a long expanse of time. This methodology serves two purposes: 1. It is the only way for us to function as a band because of the limits we place on ourselves to create a healthy dynamic between our musical lives and our family lives. 2. We also happen to like the sonic quality that 8 years of riff building has when you stuff it into a 20 minute jam.

What kind of band are you? Are you friends? A democracy? A “job”?

We are more than friends, we are family. We are two brothers and a third brother from another mother. We try to do everything with 100% consensus. We have three distinct and unique voices in the musical process. That doesn’t always work smoothly. We argue about stuff like brothers do. That is part of the artistic process for us. We all respect each other and we have learned to appreciate each perspective. We have learned over many years that if we listen to each other and communicate well, we can become more than the sum of our parts. As the ancient Mammatus saying goes:

Three mouths

One voice

Three hearts

One choice

Three brains

One mind

Three lives

One time

Where did the urge to record Expanding Majesty come from this time?

From the great adventure of existing in this majestic and expanding universe. From the overwhelming sense of awe and wonderment you get when you look up at the big sky, marvel at the spectacle, and ponder the implications suggested. From the energy of the brotherhood of our band and the love that we have for each other. From some mystical spirit that seems to be singing inside of our souls and yearns to be set free into the form of a Mammatus song. From countless miles of bicycle rides and the influence they have on the music. From Phil Manley’s encouragement and willingness to help us find the sonic quality we seek.

Can you describe where you live, and how it would affect you as musicians?

We are all blessed to have grown up and live in the greater Santa Cruz area of California. The giant redwood trees, coastal mountain ranges, foggy summers, epic beaches, romantic sunsets, and overall natural wonders of this area, have undoubtedly made a significant impact on who we are as people and as a band. There is no denying the mythos and magic of the west coast and the bleached haze that permeates your psyche if you live here long enough. It can’t help but to exude into the music. If you listen closely to our song The Coast Explodes you can actually hear the sun setting into the pacific ocean around 8:55.

What does an ordinary day in your life look like? How do you juggle life being a human being and being a musician?

We get up early, make coffee, kiss our families and go to work. We work hard all day. We come home after work and take care of our families. We try to get together as a band once a week after work. If we are busy with family or work stuff then we don’t. On the weekends we hang out with our families, bbq, ride bikes and do chores. We all take our family and professional lives very seriously and the band always comes after those. When we were in our younger 20’s we toured a lot and played a lot of shows. Then we all got married and took on more responsibilities which has shaped us to be much healthier than we would be otherwise. We have found a band / personal life balance that works for us and evolves and changes based on our own needs. We all love doing Mammatus but we realized a long time ago that it was never going to pay the bills so we made the decision to keep the band alive by making it exist within the limits of our own determined confines. This is not a recipe for commercial success and is the reason why it takes us 10 years to make a record, but is that a bad thing?

What can you tell me about your relationship with the Silver Current label?

Ethan Miller runs Silver Current Records. He is an amazing musician and creative artist who is a prolific contributor to the modern indie rock world. We came to know about him as the ringleader of the legendary Santa Cruz based blistering psych rock heroes Comets On Fire who heavily influenced our early sound and the scene that we entered into as a young band. We become friends with Ethan through mutual friend Phil Manley (also legendary musician and Expanding Majesty engineer / producer extraordinaire). Ethan heard a rough mix of some tracks from Expanding Majesty and offered to release our record on Silver Current. We were stoked as we had a high amount of respect for Ethan and we were excited to work with him. When we finished our final mixes with Phil, Ethan had legendary musical wizard Tim Green master the album and Tim hit it out of the park. Ethan was heavily involved in the creative process of the artwork and layout and worked out all the logistics and details of getting the final album product put together. We are grateful for Silver Current and Ethan’s help to get us back into the music world that we were out of for so long.

What are your main inspirations when writing lyrics?

Good vs evil, light vs dark, choosing good, choosing light, meditating on beauty, the sky, endless west coast sunsets, the Pacific Ocean, mountains, vast expanses, outer space, stars, bicycle rides, jumping in the river, being on the precipice of time etc. We want lyrics that sound as large as the music and suggest a considerable sense of scale. We wanted to create the feeling that living is a divine gift to be celebrated and revered.

What can we expect from Mammatus in the near and distant future?

Who can say where the road goes? Only time. Due to our limited capacity we can only do one mode at a time. For the last 8 years we have been in creative mode and hyper focused on the creation of Expanding Majesty. Our focus is now shifting to playing live shows and general promotion of the band. We hope to do this cycle for the rest of our earthly lives. Our lofty band dreams include making some trips across the pond but the right opportunity has not presented itself. We will continue to chase the eternal riff into the cosmos as long as we are able, rest assured.

What should the Weirdo Shrine reader do after reading this interview?

Go ride bicycles somewhere beautiful and listen to our new album Expanding Majesty! Thanks for reading this interview, we hope you enjoy the music!

15 April 2023

Psychedelic Source: Bence Ambruce’s Lemurian Folk Songs – Maro (re-release) and :nepaal – Protoaeolianism (2023, Psychedelic Source Records)

In a small rural village in Hungary, a couple of real time hippies have founded their own pastoral version of heaven. Inside the compounds of their community, time hardly seems to exist, and they can truly immerse themselves in what they call (in their own words) “a deep life wave”. Part of that deep life is making music that echoes this kind of being; existing outside time and space. Songs that can easily flow for twenty minutes or more, and which are meditative and hypnotic in character. This is the Psychedelic Source, not a record label in the traditional sense, but a group of people jamming and releasing their music upon the world. At the helm is Bence Ambrus, often aided by his wife Krisztina Benus, and various others. Just visit their Bandcamp and get ready to get lost for a while…

Here at the Weirdo Shrine headquarters we don’t mind shedding space and time, so we dove into a couple of doozies in their discography, starting with a serene jam by Bence and Krisztina, followed by the new hyper chilled space rock jam by :nepaal, and finally talking to Bence about re-releasing Maro by his Lemurian Folk Songs band.

The liner notes “Special guests: the dingo, some birds and the chicken” say more than I ever could about this lovely two song garden jam by Bence Ambrus on guitars and Kriszti on keys. They create a beautiful ambient stillness that is quite rare in today’s hectic world. It’s the ideal soundtrack to throw your phone out of the window to. Just let your chores be, let your kids solve their own problems, tell your boss to do his job himself, and zone out into this tranquil Hungarian garden with Bence and his wife. They know the deal.

A new :nepaal album is keen to turn some heads. The last effort Black Batik I&II was well received internationally, and rightfully so. It is Space rock with a capital S. Three songs, over forty minutes, so you know where you will be going. Up, up into space you go, the endless void, warp speed, no gravity. :nepaal has turned the jam into an art, nay, a religion. They are meditating monks of space rock, who mastered the art of levitation by improvisation. Best to get ready. Pack some of that squeezy fruit and a couple of protein bars, because this one is going to take a while…

Maro by Lemurian Folk Songs is the first full album with vocals by this Hungarian band. You could also say that they found their true form here, a combination of stoner jams and kraut spirituality. Previously released on CD in 2017, the band has finally found the means to properly release it on vinyl this year. After six years it still has not lost any of its weird power, and sympathetic warmth. In fact, I was wondering about the circumstances in which it was recorded back then, so I asked Bence Ambrus, and this is what he told me:

Can you describe what the circumstances of Lemurian Folk Songs were before recording Maro?

Our first material in 2015 born from a jam session , but the problem was: we were too dumb on our instruments, but then with Krisztina we went to travel in Spain for 2 years. In these times we were living from street music, so it was a great time for learn guitar. The first song with vocals was Magister Blues which I wrote while we were living in a cave on the island of Tenerife. When we got home, I had some songs in my pocket, so we reunited the band and Krisztina joined.

Can you walk us through the album?

The first song was Magister Blues when I felt like we are in the center of the world in a desert in a cave by the ocean. Melusina is an old jam, we used to play always before. La Caleta was born in the Andalusian village ‘Maro’ where we also lived by the sea in a diy cane house. The playa was called ‘La Caleta de Maro’. On this playa we spent a lot of “high” time with Gergely, the bassist.

The Other 3 songs are a Mesopotamian story sung, about a princess who wants to get initiated, but the monks say she has to gain experience, (Temple of the Moon) then she goes to the tunnel where she meets with herself, she kills her “guardian” then she gets to the hall (Grand Sanctuary), then she realizes that she is one with the universe, she is all etc..(Messianic Atrium) . It’s a usual initiative tale. I wrote those in Hungary when we got back home.

3 March 2023

Review + Q&A: Shem – III (2023, Clostridium Records)

The creative musical machine from Stuttgart, Germany, also known as the human entity of Shem has delivered a brand new slab of improvisational psychedelic sound pulsations. With their third outing, simply baptised III, they prove that good improvisational music is like wine or whiskey; it gets better with age. This makes sense of course, because improvisational music depends on experience, confidence, skill, and of course becoming a well oiled machine together. This album definitely proves Shem‘s machine-like qualities like no release of theirs did before.

On this four song album (two long form pieces, and two shorter tracks) the band presents themselves as an enigmatic device, taking its time to land on your proverbial lawn. Quite literally even, opener Paragate feels like a gigantic space ship slowly coming down, and landing on earth. You can hear the engines throbbing, the weird lights glowing, and the strange spacey noises swirl. Everything grows louder and heavier with every inch the ship gets closer to the ground, until it finally lands with a great thundering finale.

Lamentum is a short intermission from the space rock density that premieres vocals for Shem, in a “lamenting” wordless style that radiates a gloomy and enigmatic atmosphere.

Restlicht is quite a deal longer, and shows a brighter side to Shem, with a feeling you might get when the earth outside is drying after a heavy rainfall. It is a feeling that intensifies, and slowly but certainly something dark interferes, but of course we never know what is is.

The album closer and its piece de resistance is Refugium (Beyond The Gravitational Field Of Time And Space) which brings together all the elements of the tracks that came before, pumps up the gravitas, and slams it out of the park in eleven haunting minutes. It is a dark and frightening experience, with hardly audible ghost chants haunting the echo chambers of your skull while you slowly gyrate towards a wormhole and the galactic location that the title of the song suggests. It is a space ritual if there ever was one, a shamanic mantra fest that drives its reverberations deep into your subconscious and makes you radiate with it even long after it has ended.

Visualization by Dave Guerrero

How are you? How has the pandemic period been for Shem?

Hi Jasper! We’re all good, thanks!

The pandemic period has mostly been good to us on a personal level. With the world arround us slowing down, we took the chance to re-focus and take things one step at a time: Some of us moved places, others worked on their education and so forth. Also, the pandemic allowed us to finish production on a lot of the material already recorded before the lockdown. All in all a very productive period that we are probably more fond of than most people. In a way, Corona also acted as a natural caesura regarding this project: Shem before and after the pandemic – a turning point which lead to new people joining the collective and new music being created through these collaborations.

Can you introduce the band, how did you meet, etc?

Most of us have known each other since school. The rest of us joined one by one along the trip through a shared musical interest and like-mindedness. We don’t think of Shem as a static band but rather as a collective of musicians that have gathered around a “core” line-up, varying in size, instrumentation and sound for different recordings and performances.

What can you tell me about your musical backgrounds?

Music has always played a very important role to each of us, with our formative musical experiences being shaped by what was being played in our parents homes – ranging from classical music to late 60s psych, 70s prog and the sounds of the 80s. The sound of our adolescence was mostly made up of metal, punk, rap, heavy-psych and stoner rock, with each of us exploring various genres throughout the years. All of us eventually started playing instruments – some tought through classical education, others purely through autodidacticism.

A couple of years into our 20’s we mutually discovered the Krautrock greats of the 70s and started exploring the different fields of psychedelic, experimental and improvised music. Combined with an insatiable hunger for new musical discoveries, we decided to start improvising ourselves and before we knew it we already had our first couple of hours worth of material recorded – a lot of which now bring back vivid memories of spaced out weekends in our first practice space, not a care in the world and just jamming along to whatever motive, rhythm or bass line one of us would come up with.

What does a regular day in your lives look like?

We live pretty regular lives: Working, studying and trying to create as much room as possible for our musical endeavours in between the every-day hustle.

What is the best thing about the new album?

For us, it is to realise that our musical path is always evolving and constantly reshaping. Since it’s impossible for us to predict how people will perceive the new album, we are indeed curious to hear what others will particularly like or don’t like about it.

Where do you live and what is the environment like for musicians like you?

Some of us live on the southern edge of the black forest. The dark and misty woods there are a huge inspiration and also serve a place to find calmth and focus. The rest of us live in Stuttgart, South-West Germany, where a lot of bands and musicians struggle because of a dire lack of subcultural places and infrastructure – caused by what can only be described as a systematic attempt by the city council and their cronies to erase any sort of counter-cultural independence.

It is called “Kaputtgart” (a word-play on Stuttgart and the German word for broken) for a reason. But, as they say: “Necessity is the mother of invention”. A lot of off-spaces are constantly being created by dedicated groups of people before being forced to shut down again most of the time. Luckily, we as a collective have secured a space which allows us to continue our work on Shem and related projects – one of the advantages of operating in relatively secluded area, „off the radar“ so to speak.

Can you tell me what improvisation means to Shem, and do you have tips for starting bands who would like to improvise more?

Improvisation to us means to free ourselves from any kind of expectations, to explore our gut-feelings and to reach a mutual understanding through music and sound as the only means of communication. For us, it’s a form of meditation and a cathartic rite of liberation at the same time.

As for some tips for anyone who would like to improvise more: Start with an open mind. Don’t let yourselves be framed by pre-determined ideas and “goals”. And don’t overdo it – take adequate breaks, let your creativity “recharge”, look out for new inspiration and be patient with the eventual outcome of things.

Where does the sound come from? Can you take us to some of your inspirations?

All of us have a wide range of influences that seem to shine through in our sound – be it psych, Krautrock, experimental music, jazz or even sludge or black metal. However, most of the time we are not really aware of how specific sounds and ideas come together to end up as a whole . We don’t think too much about how we do what we do in the way we do it. We just let things happen. And we are a bunch of weirdos – that might help. As for musical inspirations: The list would be endless and impossible to adequately prioritise.

What are your immediate and long term future plans?

Get rich or try dying – just kidding. This year we are planning to play more live shows and finish up the production on the next couple of releases – everything will eventually take longer than expected, as is always the case with our projects, but that’s something we have gotten used to by now.

What should the Weirdo Shrine reader do after reading this interview?

Perhaps check out our new album or any of the other releases that are presented on Weirdo Shrine! There is an endless stream of music out there that deserves to be discovered and cherished, and by taking the time to unearth some of these hidden gems you are doing an incredibly valuable job. Thank you Jasper!

13 February 202313 February 2023

Review + Q&A: Rotor- Sieben (2023, Noisolution Records)

Berlin instrumental desert rockers Rotor have been a household name for years now. I for one don’t know a single living soul who does not love them, and their seventh album Sieben will once again give you a bunch of excellent examples of why that is the case.

Rotor is a living machine. I had the pleasure to witness them live last year, and I can tell you from my own experience that they are as tight on stage as on their album. Each member is a cog in the colossal riff factory, and separately they add just the right amount of craftsmanship to get the motor running perfectly in synch. It is no surprise then that to transfer this machine like massiveness on tape, they have opted to record simultaneously in a band setting as much as possible. The unified energy is palpable on this one.

Is Sieben a completely overwhelming riff fest front to back then? On the contrary, it shows the band at their most dynamic song writing, bringing the bang for your buck when necessary, but also taking it down to an almost acoustic tranquility at several moments. Without words they narrate stories that the listener travels in their own minds. For an instrumental band that is an achievement of the highest order. That of course, and a sea of head banging heads.

It took a little while, and I almost feared that this vocal-less band would stay silent on me, but to my relief eventually bassist Marco Baale was kind enough to provide the answers to my much pondered questions. We talked about living in Berlin, the new album, and of course the future…

How are you? How has the pandemic period been for Rotor?

Pretty quiet. Of course, it wasn’t easy for us to rehearse regularly, and since we’re definitely not a band that enjoys working online, everything went a little slower. We need to be together in our room and it needs to be loud. Fortunately, we were able to gather enough ideas for Sieben. It just took some time until we were really able to work on them in the rehearsal room on a regular basis.

Can you introduce the band, and how did you meet?

Initially, we were a trio for more than 15 years. It all began when Milan, Marco, and Tim met in Berlin. We were young, just out of school and there was a thriving, young music scene in the eastern parts of Berlin – i.e. Hellersdorf and Marzahn. We had other bands (with singers), but Rotor was just for us and our personal musical tastes. In the beginning, we didn’t even intend to play live, we just wanted to jam around. In 2014, Martin joined the band when we were writing stuff for our 5th album. Tim and Martin had already done some steel string jams prior to that, and these sounded so cool that we tried Rotor with two guitars. After one rehearsal, we were sure that this was the next version of Rotor.

What can you tell me about your musical backgrounds?

Wow, our musical backgrounds are quite diverse … really quite diverse: from PJ Harvey, Can, and Slayer to CCR, Scooter 😉 and Fugazi. We met during a time when we saw bands like Fu Manchu, Kyuss, QOTSA live in very small clubs and we all loved the energy and sound of these bands. The golden era of desert rock brought us together despite our different musical backgrounds.

What does a regular day in your lives look like?

Coffee, work, family, friends, the occasional concert visit or beer in the bar, and once a week some live music in our secret rehearsal room in the middle of nowhere …

What is the best thing about Sieben?

That’s a question that needs to be answered by those who listen to the album. To us, it’s probably the fact that all the songs have a very different vibe to them. Overall, Sieben might be the most diverse album we’ve ever recorded. Besides, we really like the production and that “big” sound that Charlie Paschen (Coogans Bluff), who recorded and mixed the album, created for Sieben. He did a great job!

Where do you live and what is the environment like for musicians like you?

We live in Berlin, Brandenburg, and Greifswald. Needless to say, Berlin has a lot to offer for musicians like us, but we’re also somewhat worried about the rapid change that the city has undergone in recent years, with rents going through the roof and live clubs fighting for survival. This has affected some of our favorite venues. If that doesn’t change, Berlin will become a pretty tough environment for musicians.

Who are some contemporary musical heroes of yours?

Opeth, PJ Harvey, Black Midi, Porcupine Tree, Tool…

Can you tell me about how you go about composing and recording songs?

Initially, we just gather as many ideas as possible. The process of sorting out which of those ideas will actually be turned into songs is probably the most time-consuming part. Then we spend a hell lot of time on working on the details, i.e. arrangements, melodies, beats, etc. The recording process is pretty straightforward, but it also takes some time as we don’t do track-by-track recording (with the exception of overdubs). We play the whole song live together as a band, because the “how” we play together as a group brings our music alive.

What are your immediate and long term future plans?

We hope we’ll be able to do what we’re currently doing for a long time to come… and we definitely want to reach our 10th album!

What should the Weirdo Shrine reader do after reading this interview?

Go out and explore NEW live music and support small artists, no matter what style they are playing – music has no boundaries and music is peace!

29 November 202229 November 2022

Review + Q&A: Falling Floors- S/T (2022, Riot Season Records/Echodelick Records)

For a psychedelic rock band Falling Floors are pretty hard to pinpoint. I found out that talking to them helped a great deal to place them better in my head. These guys are fans of Butthole Surfers and Jefferson Airplane, the weird and offshoot bands in a genre full of followers, and while they don’t sound like those oldschool heroes at all, it is clear what their aim was here. For contemporary reference I would say that Falling Floors would not be out of place inside the cult following around Hey Colossus and their modern mixture of post punk, noise rock, and psych.

This self-titled album sounds raw and heavy, and was recorded without too many overdubs I am sure, to capture a certain ferociousness and live energy. This is something you might want to plow through a little bit the first listen, but when it “clicks”, like about half way through the eight minute barn burner Infinite Switch, you are hooked.

Between every long(er) form song like the catchy Ridiculous Man, and Flawed Theme, there is a weird interlude, building up from half a minute to two minutes, before all hell breaks loose in the eighteen minute noise jam extravaganza of Elusive And Unstable Nature Of Truth. It is where Falling Floors let’s go of all restraints and just sets the controls for the heart of the sun, in their own noisy botched up psych head way.

A very interesting and mind expanding experience then, this first encounter with these UK psych mongers. Fans of the afore mentioned bands, Wrong Speed Records, GNOD, and genuinely being surprised while taking your overdose of reverb drenched rock, this is your cup of tea.

So let’s have a chat then! As hard as it was to fully grasp what Falling Floors were doing sonically, as easy is it to connect with them. In the following interview they kindly and honestly explain what they are all about and where they come from. Drummer Colin Greenwood gave us the tour…

How are you? How has the pandemic period been for Falling Floors?

We’re all grand thank you for asking. The pandemic was, in the scheme of things, pretty OK for Falling Floors. We all lived in a wild and beautiful corner of the UK where we could hunker down, hope for the best and wait for it all to pass. And without the pandemic and desire to see people and make a big, messy load of noise, the band would probably never have come to pass.

Can you introduce the band, and how did you meet?

So we are Rob on guitars and vocals, Harry on bass, and me, Colin, on drums. Rob and I know each other from the London psych / prog / rock / 60s music scene. We have almost certainly exchanged sweat on a crowded dance floor. I’m originally from around here, so once everyone had moved up north we all became friends. Harry and me started jamming and then Rob joined and brought some much-needed discipline to our freeform mucking about.

What can you tell me about your musical backgrounds?

So Harry has spent a lot of time getting lost in free-noise jams and found himself hankering after a tune. Rob’s actually had some moderate success, first with Elks and then with Early Mammal, who found kinship with the London stoner / avant garde rock scene based around the Baba Yaga’s Hut nights. I’ve noodled in bands for years without achieving much of note. We all like a tune and we all like taking said tune and bashing it to a bloody pulp.

What does a regular day in your life look like?

First off we’ve all got day jobs so let’s be real here and accept there’s fair bit of selling our life, one day at a time, to suck on Mammon’s teat. And then we’re all pretty different. Harry makes films, Rob’s an academic (handy if you find yourself in a tight spot and needing a bit of emergency jurisprudence) and I’m a designer, with two kids and all that comes with that.

What is the story behind the album? It has a strong “live” feel to it, could you explain that?

Well first off we’re not session ninjas, so there’s gonna be rough edges. And then we’ve all played in bands which have recorded and mixed and EQ’d and noodled themselves to a standstill. We didn’t want to make perfect product. We’d got some songs, we were quite excited, and we wanted to capture that. We wanted to make something righteous and true in a world drowning in almost unbearable bullshit. A mini, futile, defiant stand.

Where do you live and what is the environment like for musicians like you?

Ace, basically. Harry and me live in the Calder Valley, which is one of a few valleys which cut through the hills that run down the spine of England. It’s all rain and mud and moorland and wet stone and scudding clouds. Beautiful. And inspiring. The rehearsal rooms are cheap, there’s a joyous DIY spirit, and a great music scene based around a couple of fearless, supportive venues. Rob moved down south to Devon just after recording the album. He’s still in the countryside, but it’s a softer, fatter vibe down there. He claims not to miss the north, but I think he’s lying.

What is your main aim with your music, is it complete artistic expression, or an escape from the every day world? (or something else ;))

Make something true and honest. I can’t speak for Rob and Harry but I’d love to get wilder and weirder. It’s so easy for ideas to get censored and trimmed and sanitized. I’ve always been inspired by bands like the Butthole Surfers who made genuinely weird things, the likes of which the world had never heard before. Doing things that haven’t got a name yet, to quote Jefferson Airplane. If we could make something that was pure unfettered expression, but still had a killer tune, I’d die a happy man.

Can you tell me about how you go about composing and recording songs?

There isn’t really a pattern yet. Rob brought one song pretty much fully formed. Harry brought some bass lines which were the spine of another couple. And one was jammed into existence starting with a drum pattern. I hope we’ll all keep writing and contributing and it’s doesn’t become one person’s project. As for recording, we get in a room, we point microphones at things, we play the song a few times, few overdubs and we call it done. Old school.

What is “the dream” when it comes to being an artist?

Crikey. Making the charidee album with Eric, Keef and Bono obviously. No, not that. Playing something which you’re proud of, which adds something new to the world, to people who appreciate the effort. I’m sure we’d all like our Falling Floors jet, but I think them days are over.

What should the Weirdo Shrine reader do after reading this interview?

Walk to the top of the highest hill you can find, strip to the waist and whilst wearing headphones listen to our tune ‘Infinite Switch’, square off into the wind and rain and scream your fury at all the see-you-next-tuesdays of the world. Then go home, have a nice cup of tea and kiss your kids / dogs / loved ones on the head.