Newcastle – Weirdo Shrine

13 May 202313 May 2023

Interview: Mike Vest (Drunk In Hell, Modoki, Artifacts & Uranium, Downtime, Neutraliser, Mienakunaru, Bong, Blown Out, 11Paranoias)

Ok, so we just had to talk to Mike Vest, right? Known throughout the underground for his involvement in Drunk In Hell, Bong, 11Paranoias, and of course the mother of all psych jam breakouts: Blown Out. In stark contrast to his regular noise mongering on record and on stage, we find the man in the quiet environment of his vegetable garden in Newcastle, UK. “I much rather visit the chaos, than live in it” is a beautiful quote from the man who seems to live very much in the presence, and does not dwell on the past for a second. So open your eyes, but definitely also your ears for this one, because there will be a lot of new and upcoming sounds in this one…

How are you? Can you introduce yourself and you multiple endeavors?

I’m good, enjoying these lighter nights, I’ve been gardening, I farmed a lot of potato soil end of last summer. Trying to get the garden soil back to a good pH or whatever. Starting to see the benefits now. De bois, gariguette and cambridge strawberries plants are growing well,
especially happy with the Ceanothus (Lilac Tree). The roots run deep, took about a year for it to be able to stand on its own. Hydrangeas are returning stronger, dark violets and royal reds hopefully, like last year. Going to plant a pear tree in the autumn. Tulips came out nice too. Winter pansies holding strong. Nice to have some freshly picked flowers around the house again.

So…two new LPs out now, MODOKI with Mitsuru Tabata playing leads.
I play bass and do the mixing and Dave Sneddon, handles the drums.
‘Atom Sphere’ our debut is available from Riot Season (UK) and Echodelick Records (US)
Our second, ‘Luna To Phobos’ should be seeing the light in a couple of months I think.
The second has more twists and turns. These were both recorded and mixed around the same time as each other.

New album from Artifacts & Uranium, our 3rd ’The Gateless Gate’ is out on Riot Season (UK) and Echodelick Records (US). Fred Laird did a great job with the production and mixing, as he has done with all our albums. We have just completed the 4th. This has Mitsuru Tabata as a guest feature. As I was working on Modoki stuff at the time.

https://riotseasonrecords.bandcamp.com/album/atom-sphere https://echodelickrecords.bandcamp.com/album/atom-sphere https://riotseasonrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-gateless-gate https://echodelickrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-gateless-gate

The Tomoyuki Trio LP should be seeing the light soon as well.
A trio with legendary guitarist Tomoyuki Aoki from UP-Tight. Awesome album. Was a pleasure to work with him. Foundations are laid for our 2nd. Up-Tight have just released a couple of lps on Cardinal Fuzz. Reissues, well worth checking out.

https://cful.bandcamp.com/album/uptight-sweet-sister https://cful.bandcamp.com/album/uptight-makoto-kawabata-uptight-makoto- kawabata

I completed a new debut album with IIkka Vekka, Ohto Pallas, Otto Juutilainen from Haare & Nolla. New project called Kaliyuga Express, total Hawkwind experience, specifically the Warriors and Masters periods.

Did a lot of experimenting with ultra delays on the guitars and micro tonal changes, lots of automation and octave chords. Tried to mix the guitars so every four/eight bars, something changes tonally. Just recently signed this off with the label.

DOWNTIME, a duo with me and Dave Sneddon. Our debut tape came out on Cruel Nature Records (UK) in January. Might be a few left. Weird instrumental noise rock. Slide guitar ventures. SNED runs a publishing house.

Lot of punk literature and art books.

https://cruelnaturerecordings.bandcamp.com/album/neurotics https://amorphouspieces.bigcartel.com/

NEUTRALISER, collaboration with Charlie Butler, released a tape on Cruel Nature Records (UK) in January.‘Capsule Bowed Space’ There is some copies of the 2nd run of tapes.
Also self released a digital album a month back, called ‘Liquid Oxygen Kerosene’.

https://cruelnaturerecordings.bandcamp.com/album/capsule-bowed-space https://charliebutler1.bandcamp.com/

What can you tell me about your musical background?

Been playing guitar & bass in bands’ since I was 16, got into improvisation and noise/drone music specifically when I was 20, I think. Started BONG, loosely, when I was 22/23. Played in noise, drone, improv sludge, noise rock, thrash, punk, grindcore bands through my 20s. Started playing gigs heavy from the age of 25 till 38. Probably more known for playing in BONG, 11Paranoias, Drunk In Hell, Melting Hand, Blown Out, Mienakunaru….

What does a regular day in your life look like? What role does music play?

Most days I’m working on music, mixing, recording or just listening and making notes.
I’ve got so many notepads full of numbers, track names, ideas, edits…etc. Maybe for only for an hour or so. But everyday, there is something to check over. I minimised my recording setup and the way I record albums. So it’s not a big thing to just start checking/recording/mixing various projects I’m working on. Its a fluid motion, I’ve made it easy to just pick up, play and start recording/mixing and so on..

I paint whilst I listen to mixes.

Where do you live and how does it affect your musical doings?

I lived at the coast for years, now I live close to the boarder between Gateshead and Newcastle. I used to be away all the time, playing shows/recording in larger cities, so, with being away lot, made me appreciate the smaller scale and calmer atmosphere I would return to. Less daily stress means more time to be inspired and productive, I guess.
Like a pirate, I would go and gather all gold from the capitals and go back to the sea.

I much rather visit the chaos, than live in it.

Can you highlight some of your favourite releases you were involved in, and tell us why?

The stuff I’ve released over the past 2-3 years and LPs that are on the way. I’m most proud of. I don’t save any copies of any album I have done. They either all get sold, given away or traded, everything is in the outbox. Test pressing etc, everything goes eventually. Being able to create music with Mitsuru, Junzo & Aoki over the past couple of years has been great. Same with Fred Laird with A&U & Charlie Butler in Neutraliser, got me back into enjoying, what I love the most about music.

The creating of it and the evolving process. Most importantly though is Dave Sneddon, without his drums, many of these albums/projects/bands would not be possible.

What is “the dream” for you as an independent artist?

To have 10% of my followers, buy my music and art.

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

Buy music and art.

https://weloveyoujunzo.bandcamp.com/ https://visualvolume-mikevest.bandcamp.com/ https://emptyhouse.bandcamp.com/music https://charliebutler1.bandcamp.com/ https://amorphouspieces.bigcartel.com/ https://tabatamitsuru.bandcamp.com/

11 April 20238 April 2023

Review + Q&A: The Shits – You’re A Mess (2023, Rocket Recordings)

Rock ‘n roll needs to have a certain darkness. It can’t be too polished, sweet or cuddly. That is why a lot of modern rock bands need to go. And The Shits will help them get on with it. Because let’s face it, You’re A Mess. Time for a noisy wake up call, and some old school head clobbering by these hooligans.

Inspired by the projectiles thrown by arch villain punk rocker GG Allin, The Shits are here to fill in his void by being just as obnoxious and vile, but better, because they can actually hold their instruments. And before you assume that it is just some nasty rambling punk rock you are getting here, witness the record label on the tin, and think a little deeper.

For on You’re A Mess this Northern England based destruction unit have found a menacing groove to throw at people while trashing their living room and puking in their flower vases. Just check out a song like The Venus (after hours) and tell me you are not transported to back alleys after a drunken debauchery, swinging on your feet, and gyrating out of control…

Out of control, and into the dark, that necessary bit of evil that rock music needs to stay on point and in touch with reality. Who in their right mind would sedate themselves with fake flowery bullshit when The Shits are here to tell you how things really are?

You’re A Mess, somebody needed to tell you that.

I contacted the band with some hesitance, because man they sound hostile on record! Turns out they are just as gritty in real life, but civilised enough to answer most of my questions through the internet. So thanks The Shits! Here’s what they had to say:

How are you?

We’re alright.

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

There’s six of us now; Cal, Henry, Jack, Sam, Harry and Tom. We’ve all known each other as friends for years, and usually met through either watching or playing music together across different cities.

What can you tell me about your musical backgrounds?

We’ve spent a lot of time watching a lot of terrible bands in the UK, despite all having been in various bands with each other before we knew it was time to start something that would give a kick up the arse to all the morons who only know how to write weak as piss music or act up for their beloved “scene”.

What does a regular day in your lives look like?

What do you think? Working, occasionally playing music, getting drunk.

What is the best thing about You’re A Mess?

Have you heard any of it yet? You don’t need us to tell you. The best thing about it is that it’s the second album by the best band in the country.

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

It’s oh so hard for musicians like us… In cold, post-industrial, decaying Northern cities (Leeds & Newcastle) where the water runs brown and we all eat porridge three meals a day… Nobody likes us and it makes us sad.

Who are some contemporary musical heroes of yours?

There aren’t any.

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

It starts with one riff and stays that way. Sometimes myself (Cal) and Henry will play around with it on guitar and drums first but usually it gets sorted when we’re all together in the practice room. Doesn’t usually take long before we’re playing something better than most could. The majority of times riffs are written before, sometimes they’re strokes of genius in the practice room. Lyrics come either during the initial playthroughs of a new song or from things I’ve already noted down. I try not to be too ambiguous even when there’s a sort of narrative going on.

What are your immediate and long term future plans?

Immediately we’re off to play a few gigs in Europe; Berlin, Prague and Leipzig. Then we’re coming home for two shows in London and Leeds (this is when You’re A Mess will be released, 14th April) and then we’re heading to play Roadburn Festival in the Netherlands followed by a few other gigs in Europe afterwards. Long term we’ll keep doing what we do best (drinking and writing actual music).

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

Buy our new record then go fuck themselves.

16 February 202316 February 2023

Review + Q&A: Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs- Land Of Sleeper (2023, Rocket Recordings/Missing Piece Group Records)

To fire a rocket into space, you need a big engine, with roaring fuel exhausts, and enough thrust to launch a manned capsule beyond the planet’s gravity and into the blackness of space. It seems like a lot of modern space rock bands have forgotten about the ferocious destructive power necessary to get your space vessel afloat. Not Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs. They are that engine.

These seven English pigs are rougher than most, driven by their loud mouthed head honcho Matt Baty, whose rough howls easily tear through the walls of heavily pumped up distortion. Like an actual space rocket, they use a combustion of various chemicals, be it acid or stoner, or sludge, and mix it up into a highly combustable propellant.

The result is like being flattened by a bulldozer when the ground is made of space brownies; the swing to the head really hits home, but the end result is sweet and satisfying. On Land Of Sleeper, more than on any of their previous records, the band have found the right angle for that swing.

There is not much more to it really. If you like your space rock super heavy, your guitar tone fat, and your trip deep and doomy, there is not better companion than Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs. Let’s kickstart that rocket once more…

I talked to Matt Baty a few times before, but always in his job as Box Records label boss, and never as the singer of Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs. He was more than happy to open up to Weirdo Shrine, and explain what this Newcastle band is all about.

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

It feels like such a long time ago now, we’re just all delighted to be back doing what we love. I don’t really like chatting too much about the pandemic in relation to our band because there were awful things happening to people all across the world. The problems it created with regard to our music are quite trivial in comparison.

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

Myself, Sam and Johnny all went to school together and we’ve been playing music since we were 16. We met Ewan and Sam largely through Newcastle being the city it is. It’s quite a compact place with a lot of the music scene condensed into a few areas. If you live here and have any interest in more leftfield or niche genres you tend to come across the same people at those sorts of gigs. That’s largely how we got to know Ewan and Adam.

What can you tell me about your musical backgrounds?

We all fell in love with heavy music from an early age so we’ve all been in bands exploring the darkest depths of what that world has to offer. Some of us have been in more melodic bands too. Currently Sam releases under the moniker of Rubber Oh, which is a fine concoction of psychedelic pop and Ewan releases albums under the name Dextro, making lovely cinematic music.

What does a regular day in your lives look like?

It’s different for each of us. Sam and Ewan both have young children so I imagine their days may be a bit more hectic than my own. Outside of the band, we all have jobs, which poses its own challenges with regard to scheduling tours and festivals but we make it work.

What is the best thing about Land Of Sleeper?

Ha, this feels like a tough question. Overall it’s a record we’re immensely proud of. Thanks to Sam’s vision on the production it has the biggest depth sonically of any album we’ve done. We’ve also welcomed Ewan back into the band, who took a few years sabbatical leave after our debut album. To be honest, that’s probably the answer – the drums. Ewan’s drumming is the best thing about Land Of Sleeper.

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

We all love living in Newcastle. There’s so many great music venues here, and generally everyone is very supportive of each other. Special mention should go to The Lubber Fiend which is a new venue here. It’s quickly established itself as a bit of a hub for noisey, weird and experimental music. They’re doing a great job with it and it’s the kind of place Newcastle has needed for years.

Who made the brilliant artwork and what is the relation to the lyrics?

The artwork is by Callum Rooney (https://www.callumrooney.com/) and we all love it. Initially we were discussing having the artwork have a 70s sci-fi novel cover vibe. We must be a bit annoying to work with because we usually direct artists down a particular reference path then start to steer them away from that to create something a bit more unusual from the initial brief we’d laid out. It was part inspired by the album title, which in turn was inspired by some of the lyrical content.

Early on in the lyric writing process I saw the emergence of references to cycles – growth and decay, seasons, emotional etc. I wanted to find a metaphorical theme to thread into the album that could illustrate those topics. Sleep felt a good fit because hopefully, that’s something that’s part of everyone’s daily routine. Also, sleep itself has its own cycles or stages, and in some of those that’s where people do some heavy duty psychological processing. Sleep is also an ultimate form of escapism, and for me, that’s what our music is too.

8 February 2023

Review + Q&A: Smote – Genog (2023, Rocket Recordings)

There is a mysterious fog surrounding everything Smote does. The weird name, the strange old English song titles, but mostly the unfathomable music. Of course, instrumental music always leaves something to guess with the listener when it comes to their message or intend, but with Smote this enigma is even stronger, also because with their blend of occult folk, drone, and psych jam, you get the creepy suspicion anything could happen at any time…

On Genog (“enough”, in old English, strikingly related to my native Dutch word “genoeg”, which means the same) the band has build in even more variation than on the previous album Drommon. The songs are more sculpted out entities of their own, and the build up flows more naturally, from the shamanistic dances of opener Genog, to the full blast ear-cleansing of Banhus.

In between the band shows a palette of different angles from which they launch their ritualistic jams. While the band mostly operates in a traditional rock formation, they enjoy mixing things up with synths and flutes, adding to the folkloristic feel and overall mystique.

The apparent paradox of mixing traditional music with the unlimited freedom and progressive expression of the improvised jam does not pose any problems for Smote. They are what they are, and we as outsiders can only listen and watch from a distance in utter amazement and wonder.

I talked to Smote‘s Daniel Foggin, who will dous the honours of introducing himself and his band further on this interview. He is not only a passionate music maker, but also a keen listener, and his recommendations are spot on for the adventurous psych weirdo…so don’t miss out on those either..!

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

I’m well thank you! Ups and downs like a lot of people I think, I’m very lucky to work as a gardener so I managed to keep myself busy for a lot of it.

A majority of the first Smote recordings came about during the early days of 2020, the first couple of EP’s are bedroom recordings from that time. I managed to upgrade to rehearsal space recording for the first LP when the rules relaxed!

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

Of course! Mark Brown plays Bass and Tascam 4 track, James King is our drummer, and Callum Church is Guitar and Synthesisers, I’m also Guitar, plus some flute and vocals. We’ve also had our friend Adam who plays in Pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs pigs along for a few special gigs, so hopefully we can get him back in the mix at some point.

We’ve all known each other for a long time, through playing in similar bands and hanging around similar venues. We’ve grown a lot closer since Smote became a live band though. It’s only me playing the instruments on the records, so when I realised there was a potential to do it live I naturally asked them along because I thought they would be a perfect match! It’s a totally different experience live, in the best possible way. We re-work the songs, everyone gets to put some of themselves into it all and it’s an absolute pleasure to play together, the songs often evolve and take on their own life the more we play them. It’s more fun for us and often means no two gigs will be the same.

What can you tell me about your musical backgrounds?

James and Mark have been playing together for a long time, long before I even owned an instrument I think. Funnily enough their old band Apologies was one of the first wild experimental bands I saw live, this was about 5 or 6 years ago. Seeing a three piece instrumental band get on stage and play one long blinding song as a set was something I had never experienced before, it was so exciting to me! I didn’t know them personally yet, or anything about music to be honest! So it’s very nice how it’s come full circle and I’ve ended up playing in a band with the both of them.

Callum is the same, he’s been in bands since a young age and currently does is own project too called ‘Yes Chef’ which is brilliant!

I didn’t really throw myself into playing music until I was about 22 or 23, I’ve played in a few bands but Smote is the first project I’ve really thrown myself into, lots of late nights and long days recording. It’s been nice taking the time to experiment with different instrumentation and recording techniques. There’s been a lot of learning as this project has progressed, it keeps it consistently exciting for me.

What does a regular day in your lives look like?

Personally I’m lucky enough to work as a gardener, James works alongside me too at the minute. We spend a lot of time digging and doing repetitive tasks, I guess this reflects in the music too. It’s nice getting into a rhythm with something and letting the time pass. if the weathers too bad it can often turn into a recording day for me. Callum and Mark both work full time too.

We all live within walking distance of each other so rehearsal days are always nice and often involve a knock on each other’s door on the way down to the rehearsal space, and probably a stop at the pub on the way!

What is the best thing about Genog?

For me the way it progresses as an album really sticks out. Obviously there are more individual songs on there than the previous album Drommon, but it progresses very differently. It starts out quite sonically pleasant and precise, then gradually progresses into absolute chaos towards the end. I hope this makes it more of an enticing listen as it’s not just full pelt ear blasting from the get go.

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

We all live in Newcastle in north east England. We’re lucky enough to have access to a practice space as well as well as plenty of good venues and artists within our city. Touring can be a challenge as we’re quite far north but we’re working around it and WILL finally make it all around the UK and further afield this year!

Who are some contemporary musical heroes of yours?

There’s some really cool stuff happening in France at the minute, Desastrè Records is a great label and the band FRANCE as well as the related projects such as ‘Tanz Mein Herz’ all make incredible music. Their commitment to drones and repetition is so great, it can be extremely challenging to commit to playing long form pieces of music like that, I really admire the conviction.

Then there’s people like Kali Malone, Leila Bourdreuil, Stephen O’ Malley and Yosuke Fujita. There seems to be some really amazing stuff happening with drone and minimal music at the minute and I’m so happy to be able to sit and experience it.

Of course I’m lucky enough to share a record label with a lot of special people too! Rocket Recordings seems to have a constant influx of incredible artists, Goat, Gnod, Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs to name a few of the big ones for me. The first record I ever bought was Requiem by GOAT so I’m still pinching myself that I’ve ended up on the same record label as them.

Something I always wondered; where these weird words like Drommon, Genog, Hlaf, Fenhop come from?

They’re all variations or direct words from old dialects of English, Medieval and Dark Ages stuff. I never wanted to force one specific vision or story with Smote but there is a constant atmosphere there I think. The names of the tracks simply add a hint of context.

‘Genog’ translates to ‘Enough’

What are your immediate and long term future plans?

Hopefully to keep on making records! There’s been a good few Smote releases since the project started a few years ago, three LPs and two EPs as well as a few collaborative drone releases and I aim to keep that going.

The main focus at the minute is expanding our touring radius, we’de really like to play in some more places throughout Europe and further afield. Roadburn and Le Guess Who were both very special experiences for us so hopefully there’s more of that in the pipeline!

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

Have a listen to all of the great artists I’ve mentioned!

8 August 2022

Review + Q&A: Snakes Don’t Belong In Alaska- Interstellic Psychedelic (2022, Up In Her Room Records)

So the new Snakes Don’t Belong In Alaska album…is freaking dense! It’s like they took all their dark thoughts and frustrations with the past pandemic period and channelled them into these five slabs of heavy psychedelic space rock. There’s even a sense of sci-fi horror and evil lurking over Interstellic Psychedelic, oozing out of it. A sense of dread that is fed by the spoken word snippets left, right, and center, theatrically building images of lost souls and dark visions…but keeping their tongue firmly in their cheek at the same time.

Because at the same time that some of this record will give me the shivers, the campy keyboards, the over the top theatrics, and the thick emphasis on spaciness also made me conjure up images of Douglas Adams‘ Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy…Interstellic Psychedelic could well have been one of its hazier chapters. You know; it’s about total death and the destruction planets, but it’s gruesomely funny at the same time. You can totally see Zaphod Beeblebrox throwing down some Pan-Galactic Gargleblasters and rocking out to this in his space ship.

Nothing about their true intentions becomes entirely clear though, and that is on purpose. Snakes Don’t Belong In Alaska are true improvisationalists; they love taking things as they present themselves. That’s how you have to listen to this album as well. You’ll never know what lurks beyond the corner, because neither do they! Anything is possible, from playing the electric Kazoo to including a 12-year-old kid’s poetry. It makes this mostly instrumental journey all the more exciting. It moves from dangerous to funny to epic in minutes, like the good sci-fi movies of yore used to. Best thing to do is light one up and let these intergalactic Englishmen take you to the next dimension…

So with this being the second time I reviewed Snakes Don’t Belong In Alaska, I could certainly not just leave it at that? I had to talk to them! Luckily Aaron Bertram (bass snake) kindly and swiftly replied...

How are you guys doing these days? How did you deal with the dreaded pandemic?

Absolutely awesome. We were very lost in the beginning of the pandemic but I (bass snake) decided to buy equipment to record and produce from home and spent hundreds of hours watching YouTube video tutorials. our first home recording experiment was Electric Bong Water. After finishing that we realized with a bit more hard work we could probably record an album this way, so we set to work on The Eternal Electric Landscape. The strangest thing about it was actually having to write music as everything up until this point was completely improvised. After electric bong water Dan from Up In Her Room Records got in touch about working together. So overall i’d have to give us a pat on the back and say we done pretty well through the pandemic. If you listen to Enter The Psychedemic from the new record the lyrics reflect this.

Can you introduce the band to the Weirdo Shrine readers? Anything people really need to know up front about your band?

Our motto is try everything and anything, record it, see if it works. This mindset has led to the use of things such as electric kazoo on The Eternal Electric Landscape and Interstellic Psychedelic. Our live sets are mostly improv jamming our own tracks loosely. The weirder something sounds the better.

What can you tell me about the making of Interstellic Psychedelic? In what way did your approach to record differ from The Eternal Electric Landscape?

We begun the writing and recording of this record in October 2021 and at first approached it in a very similar way to The Eternal Electric Landscape. However the record slowly started becoming its own entity and we viewed it that way. The last song on the record called Nature Of The Evil Within is A poetic story direct from the twisted psychedelic mind of 12 year old honorary baby snake Layland Bertram (my son). Sound tracked and performed by dad’s band. He won an award at school for it and once I read it I knew we had to work on it to make it into a sound tracked version of the story. So we were taking influence from places we’d not normally think to explore.

How important is jamming and improvisation for SDBIA? How do you make sure that comes across right on record?

It is the core of what we are. Even in this record although it has been written, it was all written and recorded in one take to maintain the core vibe and we stay away from thinking too hard about structure, you’ll never hear us doing verse, chorus, verse, chorus.

You guys are from Newcastle, right? In what way does living there influence you as an artist? Is there a psychedelic scene for instance?

We are yes, although Jarrid is actually Canadian. When people think of Newcastle they think of poverty and a tough social attitude and i think that comes across in our rough and ready, high energy sound. There isn’t much of a music scene at all in Newcastle now, many touring bands completely miss the city. That being said there is still a pretty cool underground scene that consists of many genres working together, which is pretty cool.

In what way is playing psychedelic music and using psychedelic substances interwoven with each other do you think?

Oh dear my mum will be reading this haha, Hi Mum. I think the two are part of the same entity. Psych music, at least our psych music is completely about exploration of the mind and I’d say that psychedelic substances have the same purpose. Although we’re mostly good boys these days haha.

What would you say is your biggest influence, both musically and otherwise?

We all have a similar core of influence, Hawkwind, Floyd, Earthless, 35007, etc. But we all have our own individual musical influences too, myself being into a lot of punk, Alex being into British indie and Jarrid being classic rock and folk. We also take a lot of influence from the psych world in general, people like Kenneth Anger.

What are you looking forward to most in 2022? And in 2023?

We are going to put way more energy into gigging, we’ve all been so buys in our home lives recently. We are currently organizing a short UK tour for the back end of the year and hopefully looking to slither our tails a little further a field next year.

When will your spaceship land in The Netherlands?

We are hoping to put together some mainland Europe shows next year but it’s difficult with finances, if we can get the right deals with promoters so we can actually afford to do it, the Netherlands will definitely be one of our top priorities of places to play.

What should the Weirdo Shrine readers do after this interview?

Go listen to Interstellic Psychedelic and some of our historical stuff so you can hear the evolution of SDBIA and continue to support your local psych scenes especially the DIY ones. Thank you everyone!