Black Angels - The heirs to Austin's psychedelic throne

The Black Angels, now five albums into their career, are by now unanimously regarded as one of the leading names of the new millennium's nu-psych scene. The new “Death Song” brings with it a potentially greater accessibility and helps shift the band's center of gravity slightly toward sounds that embrace a decidedly garage-rock mood, confirming the Texan quintet as an absolute reference point on a global scale.

We spoke with Alex Maas, the day after his appearance at London's Record Store Day, where the Black Angels were the main attraction in the long lineup of live sets held inside the Rough Trade East store.

Hi Alex, do you think it's fair to say your sound's center of gravity has shifted slightly from pure psychedelia toward moods closer to garage-rock? And do you agree with the feeling that the songs on “Death Song” lean toward being more accessible than the classic Black Angels sound?

Yeah, we're definitely still moving, but right now I honestly couldn't tell you exactly where we'll end up in the future.

We don't know our next moves, and if you're asking about past, present or future directions, all I can really say is that our sound is definitely the sum of all the members of the Black Angels.

This is an Alex Maas who doesn't waste time on small talk and prefers to get straight to the heart of the matter without beating around the bush. I ask him why so much time passed between “Indigo Meadow”, their previous record, and “Death Song”.

Well, four years went by — the Black Angels took a little longer than usual to bring a new album into the world, but in the meantime we kept busy with other things too. For instance, we wrote music for films, we never stopped writing, and we finished quite a few songs; we also co-produced other bands and got involved in coordinating and organizing a few music festivals. There were also some major personal events: some of us got married, some of us had kids — all sorts of life and death experiences, really.

So it's probably no accident that the last two songs on your new album are called “Death March” and “Love Song”. Is there a final message of hope built into that? Do you think there could be a new life after death?

Hope has to be the final message, always. I don't know if there's life after death — nobody can really know that. There's no one here, in this world of truths, who can know that with absolute certainty.

There could, however, be other forms of life elsewhere in the Universe!

Sure, you can count on that, for sure!

Going back to your side activities, and festivals in particular, you're right at the forefront of organizing Lievitation, a psych fest held every year in Austin…

Yeah, our interest in the psychedelic movement obviously has its roots in the records of the Sixties: that's where it all started, that's the foundation our whole approach to making music is built on, it's our main source of inspiration, something that makes us feel good. We're heavily involved in Lievitation and we love all the bands moving in the psych world, both established ones like Black Mountain, Thee Oh Sees or Brian Jonestown Massacre, and the countless emerging groups. We feel like we're all part of one single body.

Meanwhile, Black Angels have welcomed a new member…

Yes, today Black Angels have a new guitarist: Jake Garcia, an incredible musician, and if anything an even better human being. His imagination is huge, and he's been a tremendous help in the creative process that led to the new songs you can hear today.

The title of the new album sounds like it could be a reference to the Velvet Undergorund…

If you're referring to the Velvet Undergorund song "Black Angels' Death Song," then yes.

At least from a certain point of view, one side of the coin.

I love the first two songs on the setlist, especially "Currency," which I think could become a new instant classic for the band. Don't you agree?

Honestly, it's really hard for me to judge those kinds of things — I couldn't tell you whether I agree with you or whether those two songs are the best on the setlist.

I'm too caught up in the whole songwriting process to be able to give a detached opinion.

Could you say a couple of words about "Comanche Moon," a song about Native Americans, a kind of anthem, a call to fight and survive…

Yes, there are a lot of lessons we can learn from such a sad and unfortunate chapter of history. Native Americans are still paying the price for white men's freedom. We chose to tell this story in the hope that it will never happen again, to anyone.

But looking at the current state of the world, there's not much reason to feel at ease…

You'll have noticed that in the new songs we talk about political and economic issues: here in the United States, we're facing the post-Obama era with more than a little apprehension. Personally, I have extremely low expectations that anything good will come out of this Trump administration. But I still try to keep my hopes up.

And what about the whole "Brexit" affair?

Plenty of British artists have already spoken out clearly on the matter — the rug has been pulled up ("The rug has been pulled up," as he literally puts it, ed.) from under the best liberal minds in the United States, the UK, and Europe as a whole.

It'll be up to free thinkers and open-minded people everywhere to take the world back. I choose to always keep hope alive.

It's a delicate subject, and here too I don't have much to add to everything that's already been said and written by others. The only thing I can tell you is that we prepare to take the stage the same way every time, whether we're in a small club or performing at a big festival. We were recently on tour in the United States with A Place To Bury Strangers and everything went fine, playing together was fantastic, and they're truly incredible. Maybe the message is that we shouldn't give up?

After Record Store Day in London, you took part in Primavera Sound, and then you'll have other dates on the calendar, but they only cover Italy, Spain and France. Does that mean you'll be back in Europe soon?

Look, the European audience is always fantastic, and we're always thrilled to come to Europe. All we can do is wait for someone to book us, and we'll be ready to come back.

Some time ago you shared a release with an Italian band, Sonic Jesus. How did you meet them? And what was it like working with them? Did you know that here in Italy, early on, we used to label them the "Italian Black Angels"?

We met them once in Portugal while we were eating roast pork.

At the studio where we were recording there was a sound engineer who was mastering one of their records. But none of us had worked with them yet. Not yet.

What other Italian musicians do you know?

The list isn't very long, but there are a few names. First of all Ennio Morricone, Piero Umiliani, and the Franco Battiato of "Pollution". Then Roberto Donnini and Giorgio Moroder.

What are the typical stereotypes Italy is known for abroad that you like or find most appealing?

Naturally we love the food, the beautiful women, and the art that Italy has, in no particular order. But for us, everything is art.

And meanwhile "Death Song" keeps spinning, and with every spin it seems to take on new meanings.

Interview by Michele Corrado 

Heirs to Austin's psychedelic school, the Black Angels are probably the most important all-American psychedelia band of recent formation on the planet. Monstrous even from a technical standpoint, the five Texans will soon be in Italy for two dates: June 7th in Brescia and the 8th in Bologna. We took the opportunity for a juicy chat with bassist and singer Alex Maas.

Hi Alex, how's it going? Where are you right now?

Alex: Everything's great. We're right in the middle of the tour, but right now I'm home in Austin, where I've managed to carve out a few quiet days.

It's been almost ten years since your legendary debut with 'Passover'. How has your approach to writing music changed since then, if it has changed at all?

Aside from a few details, I think we approach music pretty much the way we did when we started out. Music is therapy for us, it makes us feel good, but on the other hand it also gives us license to engage with the world's problems. Sonically, as always, we try to keep moving, shifting now toward something relaxing, now toward something that gives us a strong emotional charge.

You play psychedelia and you're from Austin, a place that wrote the history of the genre. What's it like having to come to terms with that kind of legacy?

Look, we see it pretty simply. We just do what we like and know how to do, without being afraid of having to pay tribute to all the giants who came before us, immense people like Red Crayola, 13th Floor Elevator, Golden Dawn, Moving Sidewalks. Thinking too much about what came before us, but also about what will come after, would be humbling — in the end we're just a tiny dot in the history of music.

Roky Erickson is perhaps the most central figure of the Austin scene, and you toured with him for a long time. What was it like sharing the stage with that legend?

First and foremost, it was an immense honor. But I'd describe the experience of being Roky's backing band like this: it's like riding a horse with no saddle or stirrups, chased by vampire bats in pitch darkness.

Your latest album, 'Death Song', was made at a very delicate moment for the United States and the world at large. I'm referring to the election of Donald Trump as your president and the rise of several other reactionary and dangerous leaders around the world. In fact, your album is full of dark omens about politics and society. Do you really believe something terrible is about to happen?

Yes, absolutely. But you know what I say? Maybe that's exactly where the 'great change' will end up coming from.

'Death Song' is perhaps also your hardest-hitting record — 'Comanche Moon', for instance, has a stoner edge to it. Did you enjoy playing a bit heavier than usual?

Personally, I like playing everything, both quiet stuff and noisy stuff. But especially quiet and noisy together. In fact, I love playing that song precisely because of how it alternates between the album's gentler moments and its heavier ones.

On the other hand, 'Death Song' also contains some of your sweetest and most touching songs. Above all, 'Estimate' comes to mind, so moving and floating. How did you pull off such a suspended sound? And, more specifically, what's that rough whistling sound blowing against the guitar riff for the entire length of the track?

We love always landing on different sounds, we love being a band in constant flux. The floating sound of that song, together with its lyrics, means it could be set in the American Civil War, or in World War II, or in today's wars. The sound you're talking about is the sound of a train carrying me from one era to another. It's a time machine that connects everything.

Okay, let's play a game. Put together the psychedelic band of your dreams, you can pick dead musicians too.

Nice game, I'm in. Syd Barrett, John Lennon, Simeon from Silver Apples, Alan Vega, Can's drummer Jaki Liebezeit and, why not, John Cale.

Is there anything new you're listening to that you'd like to recommend to our readers?

I'll give you a name: Trance Farmers.

You'll soon be playing two dates in Italy, do you like coming back down to us? What do you expect from our audience?

It's always a pleasure to stop by Italy. And yes, we'll be with you very soon, at Latteria Molloy in Brescia and in Bologna, we can't wait.

Okay, Alex, that's all. Thank you so much from the whole editorial team.

Thank you, guys.

Ride the wave of great music

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