Listening to The High Frontier – their third LP and first proper UK release after Transmalinnia and Transmissions from Telos Vol. IV – is like climbing down Rapunzel’s plaited hair to reach underwater worlds of undiscovered sonic rules, yet each strain of the on-the-whole golden braid is of a different colour, texture and density, and the goal is not to free a woman but to free one’s mind – of earthly confides. Although The Lumerians make use of terrestrial structures during moments when psychedelic fuzz box distortion or a prominent Krautrock beat come to the fore, the overall result is an out-of-this-world pastiche that eliminates its individual elements. one small seed made contact to the Caverns of Telos, Spaceship Earth, where Melzer was at the time of this interview, and received the following information:

Image: blogs.sfweekly.com

Your influences seem predominantly un-American – German Krautrock bands such as Neu! and Can, as well as African, South American and Turkish psych – how conscious is this attraction to foreign music?

The attraction is immediately conscious as much as visceral. There’s something a bit more exciting and seemingly honest about a lot of music that isn’t trying to fit within the traditional western pop music paradigm, but maybe that’s just because we can’t understand what they’re singing about.

What draws you to rare rock music from places such as Latin America, Africa and the Middle East – which are generally not associated with having much of a history with the genre?

It’s fascinating to hear something so seemingly well-traversed and played-out through a different cultural filter and realise there are still so many new places to go sonically. It also seems that in places that have such well established musical heritages, the people that gravitate toward rock do so out of a very genuine passion. It’s harder to find the records and then find an audience to listen to that kind of music.

The enthusiasm and willingness to explore is coming from the same place that makes us seek out and emulate their records. It’s a beautiful feedback loop.

Image: vimeo.com

I also see that one of your tracks on The High Frontier is called ‘Dogon Genesis’ – I’m presuming it refers to the Dogon tribe of Mali who had an advanced knowledge of astronomy independent from what was known in the West, is this true? You seem to not only have an interest in undiscovered musical gems from far away places but in unacknowledged accomplishments in general, what brought about this curiosity?

This is a fascinating, cosmic creation myth. Or is it a myth? Maybe they know something we don’t. We are attracted to interesting ideas that lie outside the western scope of reality.

Do you listen to South African psych rock of the ‘60s and ‘70s such as Freedom’s Children or The Third Eye? Or what other favourites do you have?

We really dig a lot of recently unearthed Zambian rock. Bands like Witch and Amanaz have such an interesting approach to music. You can hear their western influences, but they have such a unique voice of their own.

Image: last.fm

Your album Transmissions from Telos Vol. IV. was ‘a collection of instrumental spontaneous compositions’, whereas your debut LP release Transmalinnia was ‘almost entirely scrapped and re-recorded several times’. Can you explain the different philosophies behind the improvisation vs perfection approaches to recording?

We have our own studio and record almost everything we do. Often, the first thing we play when we walk into the studio is interesting. Sometimes these ideas are rough, sometimes fully formed. The spontaneous songs that are recorded get considered for release just the way they are. The rough ideas that stay in our heads are the ones that get arranged and recorded in a more traditional sense.

What made you decide to use more vocals on your new album The High Frontier than there were on your debut LP Transmalinnia? Do you think it makes it easier for the audience to connect with you?

It wasn’t really a conscious decision, just a result of our process. Some songs have room for or need vocals, others don’t. There is a human interest aspect to music though.

It seems that people can insert themselves into the experience easier if there are vocals. It’s almost like the difference between figurative and abstract art.

Image: vimeo.com

Can you explain the name The High Frontier, does it have to do with human colonies in space? How does that relate to your music?

That vision was the starting point, but I think the real attraction for us is the colonisation of consciousness. Of one’s own inner-space.

Many things can serve as a vehicle. In this case, it’s music, and… whatever else you happened to take that night.

What are your thoughts on the Mars One project?

Staying in a ‘living unit’ sounds as horrifying as say possibly ‘Martian Time-Slip’. However, with all the radiation that was released in Fukushima, we might have to reconsider our position.

Steps toward the colonisation of Mars are definitely progress in the right direction. The privatisation of space travel poses some worrisome potentials, but so long as NASA is under-funded and there is not a significant international space organisation, it’s nice to know that someone is carrying the torch in the meantime.

Image: spirit-of-rock.com

If you had full authority over the design, organisation and social structure of an actual human settlement in space, what would it look like ideally? Would you play a show in space?

It would look like camping, but in space. Playing in zero gravity is a dream of ours. As is finger-painting the cave walls of a faraway world.

How would you say, does your music relate to time? Could music have the ability to transgress, distort or stop time?

Definitely the perception of it. We’ll let you know if we make any further concrete breakthroughs.

I googled ‘Koman Tong’ – one of the tracks on The High Frontier – and found out that it is the Thai name for the female version of a Toyol – a child spirit in Malay mythology of South East Asia. And it is mainly used for mischief, such as stealing for example. Have you had any experience with such a spirit?

Quite possibly. There are always little unexplained inconveniences that could have been executed by tiny phantom hands. How do perfectly wrapped cables become tangled when left alone in the studio?

The song does sound a bit like it could be the soundtrack to a mischievous venture. How did that become the title of the song?

The song itself was heavily inspired by Thai and Cambodian pop from the ’60s and ’70s. There was a story in the news shortly after we finished the song about a black market ring in Bangkok that specialised in the selling of gold-leafed, mummified human fetuses used in animistic black magic rituals. The dominant religion in Thailand is Buddhism, but this is most certainly not a Buddhist practice. It’s fascinating that beneath any society’s dominant religion lie older superstitions and beliefs of indeterminate origin. These ideas are so deeply seeded in our collective subconscious that they resonate in a uniquely disturbing way when dredged up.

Interview by Christine Hogg

Images: blogs.sfweekly.com, vimeo.com, last.fm, spirit-of-rock.com

Image by longshotsblues.files.wordpress.com

The Woodstock-era rockers’ tour experience must have been as exhilarating as the most insightful peyote trip. Their fans, known as the ‘Deadheads’, followed the band across the country like it was a religious rite granting them entry to heaven — which lead to the forming of a moving touring community. Many of its members were so mesmerized by the transformative quality of the concerts that they made worshipping the Dead their main purpose in life. In order to survive they scraped by through selling tour essential goods to fans, such as veg burritos or drugs. Drummer Mickey Hart described his band fittingly (on so many levels), ‘the Grateful Dead weren’t in the music business, they were in the transportation business’. Here’s 1974’s ‘Scarlet Begonias’, travel safe!
 
 
 
Freedom’s Children – ‘The Homecoming’

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Formed in 1966 in South Africa, the music of these bold musicians carries an air of old regime despair with it. They fought the fight against censorship causing them to change their band name to ‘Fleadom’s Children’ for their first single because the term ‘Freedom’ was too political for the apartheid state broadcaster. Sick of bans and unfair treatment, they decided to give the shores of so-called ‘free’ countries a shot – hoping to be more successful. In the UK they were however met with further exclusion. Due to sanctions on South African groups by the British Musicians’ Union and a cultural boycott they weren’t able to obtain work permits for a long-enough time. Please give ‘The Homecoming’ of the album Astra by probably-the-most-talented-unsuccessful psychedelic rock band what it deserved!
 
 
 
The Very Wicked – ‘Beat Your Drum’

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‘Beat your drum, blow your horn and make a beauty of yourself, show them that your proud of it, just please leave me out of it, I don’t wanna know what you do, as long as you keep doing it.’ A beautiful lyrically in-sync ‘leave me the fuck alone?’ Meanness or not, this song’s got the play-over-and-over-I’m-silly-but-this-is-so-good syndrome. Its authors are a supergroup of CT musicians — one of them Andre Leo of The Pretty Blue Guns. The bass-hinted softness in his voice is spine-chilling and rides the multi-layered free-falling sound like an enthusiastic surfer would a wave that never breaks. They’re playing Psych Night: ‘GOLDEN DAWN’ at 0:30 am on Saturday, get in the mood for it with ‘Beat Your Drum’.
 
 
 
Unknown Mortal Orchestra – ‘Swim & Sleep (Like a Shark)’

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Starting off as underground as you can possibly be, the US/New Zealand neo-psych band released their first single ‘Ffunny Ffriends’ on bandcamp without attaching artist credits to the song. Thanks to modern-day virality the track swept through the blogosphere like a slutty feather, which lead to a creative property hunt. It was only then that singer and guitarist Ruban Nielson claimed it as Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s. After growing popularity and increasing acclaim following their self-titled first album they have recently released a second one entitled II. The second track of it, ‘Swim & Sleep (Like a Shark)’ is a soothing low-fi melody that might just earn the trio a modern day (if-impersonal-internet)-Deadhead-equivalent following.
 
 
 
The Wild Eastern Arches – ‘Fever Dream’

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A one-year-odd old addition to the young CT psych scene made up of five talented musicians with a good taste in music (they list influences such as the Doors, the Black Angels, BRMC, Grateful Dead and the Dead Weather on their FB page). Their sound is as psychedelic as it was in the ’60s: extended melodies morph into a fully developed sound cave and beset your mind to explore every corner of it. They are playing Psych Night: ‘GOLDEN DAWN’ at 11:35 pm on Saturday, until then don’t be afraid to succumb to the waking ‘Fever Dream’.
 
 
 
The Black Angels – ‘Telephone’

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With songs featured on TV series such as Californication and Fringe, the Austin-originating band — whose name is derived from The Velvet Underground’s ‘Black Angel Death Song’ — may be one of the most well-known acts associated with neo-psychedelia. They have also played a part in forming a modern scene through, for example, presenting the third annual Austin Psych Fest with The Reverberation Appreciation Society, which has developed into an important showcase for psychedelic rock. Here’s something a bit more upbeat, ‘Telephone’ of their third album Phosphene Dream.
 
 
 
Changeling – ‘The Sparrow and The Crow’

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This is another group of young CT-psych-rockers who are making the defenders of African soil proud with dark melodies that reminisce of mythical dungeon adventures. Paying its genre justice, the music is full of catharsis and climaxes. Songs alternate between chant-like anticipation vocals and full-blown instrumental action stunts. Here’s ‘The Sparrow and The Crow’. It’s a melancholy funfair, enjoy!
 
 
 
Jefferson Airplane – ‘White Rabbit’

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This 1967-song is the ultimate queen of all psychedelia. Through referencing Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland it is one of the first to bypass drug-content censors on the radio by making use of double entendre. It has been covered and referenced a gazillion times in popular culture — Dr.Gonzo, for example, wants to hear the climax of it while the tape recorder is in his water-filled bath in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas — which means it belongs in this selection. Let it tear your sense of realism apart while you delve into the colourful world of hallucination.

Words: Christine Hogg
Images by longshotsblues.files.wordpress.com, www.garagehangover.com, we-are-awesome.com, www.guardian.co.uk, oldrockhouse.com, 24.media.tumblr.com and www.jeffersonairplane.com.