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We
first talk to vocalist Alex Maas :
David
: There seems to be an ever growing crop of
psychedelic influenced bands like The Black Angels,
each one that has their own unique take on it.
Do you feel like your spearheading a movement
or a scene and do you think this style of music is
destined to remain underground or do you think it can
break out and make some serious noise?
Alex : I don’t think we are spearheading a
movement really, I mean there are so many good bands.
As far as remaining in the underground, I suppose if
people like it and you have a cool fan base I don’t
know if that makes you mainstream... I mean who knows
what the future’s going to hold for us?
David
: It would appear with the release of the movie
"Dig!" featuring the Brian Jonestown
Massacre that this style of music has reached a lot
more ears and possibly garnered a lot more
interest. Have you seen the movie and would you agree that
"Dig!" has opened the door for your style of
music to be accepted all over North America and
elsewhere?
Alex : It defiantly helped some, hurt others but
certainly exposed the music yes. I think the movie is
interesting and it seemed bias at times but that’s a
documentary I guess... but interesting for sure.
David
: Is it true that the band all lives together and
does that make for some interesting moments, living
together and touring together?
Alex : 4 out of 6 of us live together, Kyle (keyboards,
percussion, bass, guitar)
just joined the band and he lives somewhere
else, Christian (Guitar) , Stephanie (Drums)
and Jennifer (drone machine / organ) and I live
together. It’s a lot easier to get along. when
you're living together you have an overall rapport
develop. Makes us a lot stronger. We are all
trying to have fun and we have a lot of inside jokes,
our own language (laughing). It helps creatively
as well; Christian and I can bounce ideas off each
other and vice versa.
David
: The band all has some Native Indian blood in
them, does this bring anything to the band other than
it being a possible huge coincidence.
Alex : Yeah, it’s true... it’s more like the
ideas and sounds of Native American music that come
through. I mean a lot of Americans have native
blood running through them. The tribal drum
beats and sounds and stuff like that really are
reflected.
Alex
now passes the phone over to guitarist Christian Bland
:
David
: Can you explain "Drone N Roll" to
those who might not have heard this term?
Christian : We get the idea from tribal music,
playing hypnotic repetitive beats. It’s a
combination of droning and rock n roll.
David
: Who were some of the early bands that got you
into music?
Christian : Bob Dylan, The Velvet Underground, early
Pink Floyd with Syd Barrett, The Doors are huge
influences.
David
: What’s the deal with Nico, there seems to be
quite a few references to her on your website and
liner notes, is this something that runs right through
the band?
Christian : Yeah, a little bit. We are all
huge Velvet Underground fans, and Nico being the lost
soul after the first album, we can kind of relate.
David
: Have you had any dealings with Anton Newcombe
(Brian Jonestown Massacre founder) and would you agree
that he is a "genius" of sorts?
Christian : We all look up to him very much.
At SXSW we actually got a chance to play with him
which was amazing for us all. We played 2 shows
with him. The first, some of his band didn’t
show up so we got to play with him there, and the next
day we were on the same bill as him which was pretty
cool. I would classify him with some of the
great songwriters like Bob Dylan and John
Lennon. I think he is that good.
David
: There is this assumption that Austin has a great music
scene, does it live up to its hype?
Christian : Wow, that’s interesting because I
don’t think it does. It's funny, everyone who
comes up to us is like “Wow you're from
Austin! What are some of the good bands out
there? It must be great”. And right now
personally there’s no one that inspires me or anyone
we would consider a “sister band”. And you
kind of would think that with the 13th
Floor Elevators coming out of Austin there would
be. I guess this music isn't really popular
there.
David
: There appears to be a reoccurring theme of war,
and in fact the album sounds like it could have served
as the soundtrack for Apocalypse Now or Platoon.
Can you tell me about this theme and what message
you’re trying to convey?
Christian : Wow thank you! That’s
awesome! I’m really into history and studying
war, and I have a few family members involved. I
have an Aunt who works for the Department of Defence,
and my father was in the Marines so I kind of grew up
with it. I’m really into war. I grew up
watching Apocalypse Now and Platoon, and
not just Vietnam but Civil war as well. I
don’t know what the intrigue with it is. Maybe
I'm a soldier killed in Vietnam reincarnated !
(laughs). It’s something that runs through
every song and I think one of the reasons we talk
about war is that it’s such a horrible thing.
The reality with war is what we try to bring with the
lyrics.
David
: Can you tell me about the hidden track that
appears after “Call To Arms”, is there a title for
it?
Christian : That song... I don’t even know what
the title for that song is. Originally it was
called “The Iraq War”. But I think the name
was changed to something else. The title “The
Iraq War” was too straight forward. I think it
was tagged at the end of the album because it sounds
so different from the rest of the album, so it fits
better at the end. And it’s very
personal. It’s about a friend who was killed
in battle and it just fits well after the last
song. There’s a 3 minute silence and then it
concludes with that song.
David
: Do you think Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones
was murdered, or was his death an accident?
Christian : (Laughing)
I think murdered. I think a lot of people
that you think died of natural causes were actually
murdered. Jim Morrison, John Lennon, Jimi
Hendrix - they had an important message and then they
were cut down. I got this book I am reading
right now called “Who Killed John Lennon”
and its 200 pages about how the government brain
washed Chapman into killing Lennon. I think when
people get that popular that they start to swing
popular opinions, the government puts them in check.
David
: You’ve played the massive SXSW festival in
Austin. What’s it like during that week and is it
possible for a single band to stand out when there are
so many bands playing?
Christian : During that week it’s just like crazy.
It’s hard to even walk down the street. I do
think you can stand out even though there’s like
almost 5000 bands. You got to go in there with
something to offer.
David
: Passover is a huge step forward from your
debut EP, are you satisfied with how Passover
turned out, and where do you see the music going from
here?
Christian : Yeah totally. We have actually
started recording the next album with the exact same
guy in the same studio. The next album will have
the same sound but be more developed ten fold.
Last time we were at home was February then pretty
much March was busy with SXSW and in April we found
some time to record the next album. We have
about 7 songs done and whenever we are not touring we
will record more. It should be out early next year.
David
: Passover has received rave reviews from
press all over the world. Some bands measure
success in terms of album sales, some in terms of a
musical standard they’ve achieved... How does the
band measure success at this point?
Christian : It’s been pretty crazy for us how
people have been digging the album so much. I think we
measure success by the positive response we have
gotten, not just from Texas but all over the world.
It’s amazing, very satisfying.
David
: Have you seen this great response to the album
translate into bigger crowds on tour?
Christian : Yeah, we really have. These 3
shows we just played have been 5 times better than the
last time we played out east. It’s been a
great response so far.
David
: If time travel was possible, what band would you
travel back in time to see and what time period would
it be?
Christian : I would probably go to London, England
in 1967 and see Syd Barrett play with the Floyd.
I think their first album is genius.
David
: What’s the plan for touring this year, and do
you see yourself making it up to Western Canada?
Christian : Yeah, we are coming up the east coast in
June, and through the mid-west to the west
coast. In July we will be back in Austin.
In August we are going through the mid-west again and
then doing Austin City Limits. In October the
plan is to head out west and chances are good we will
be hitting Edmonton and Calgary in the fall.
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