By Kieran Webber
We first caught wind of the sun drenched psych outfit Triptides with their single ‘All My Life’, which was a delightfully tranquil jaunt through a field of psychedlia. The band draw infuence from the sounds of the sixties and seventies with a pull to the more obscure sounds generated during the period. Triptides are one of the many bands experimenting in a a new yet familiar sound and it’s exciting to see the musicians pushing their boundaries.
Listen to ‘All My Life’ here:
We were excited to know more about the band’s musical journey, their influences as well as their new album ‘Visitors’, which is set for release April 6th via Requiem Pour Un Twister.
CLUNK: So how did Triptides come to be?
Glenn: Triptides started in 2010 in Bloomington, Indiana after Josh and I started writing songs together as Freshmen at Indiana University. I went back home to Atlanta over the summer, found a four track Tascam cassette recorder and 8 years later here we are!
CLUNK: Your music carries a sound reminiscent of the sixties and seventies psychedelic scene but what were your influences growing up and how do you think they have infuenced your sound?
Josh: I’ve always listened to the music of the 60’s and 70’s since I was a kid. As I got older I started diving more into the more obscure music of the era, and eventually started acquiring gear to emulate the sound.
CLUNK: Why do you feel there has been a re-birth of a sound that is familiar with a the previously mentioned era?
Glenn: It seems that people have always been making psychedelic music in the style of the 60’s and 70’s since the end of those eras but there has definitely been an interesting resurgence in the last decade. Rebirth would imply that the style died at some point. I’m not sure it ever went away. Maybe people have just become more aware of it in the internet age where we can find so many otherwise impossibly rare records with a few clicks and keystrokes.
I believe people have always been drawn to the music of the psychedelic era but perhaps they heard ‘Piper At The Gates of Dawn’ and thought “well that’s the only album that sounds anything like that” when the reality of the situation is that a lot of smaller English bands were touching on the same sort of far out territory without ever getting to a level where the average music lover would be able to find their records.
“Maybe people have just become more aware of it in the internet age where we can find so many otherwise impossibly rare records with a few clicks and keystrokes”
British bands like July, The End, Kaleidoscope, Please, Forever Amber, all of them made great records but they saw more limited releases (or no release at all) and only the true record collectors could hope to hear their works. The same goes for bands in the USA – there seems to be an almost infinite amount of garage/psychedelic bands that had one single that’s impossible to find now or limited runs of their LP’s that would be hundreds of dollars at the local record shop. Lazy Smoke and Morgen made two of my favourite records, both extremely rare private press albums until they were eventually reissued and made available online.
CLUNK: Do you feel there is a psych driven subculture growing at the moment?
Josh: Yes…..psych!
CLUNK: So originally Triptides started in Indiana but now you are located in LA, has the change of location had an effect on your sound or songwriting?
Glenn: It’s had an effect on our songwriting because we’ve got so much going on in LA. We’re not just hanging out at my house in Indiana chilling out and jamming all the time. That being said we’ve still been writing a lot of songs and will probably begin recording our next record after we return from our European tour. Being in a new place is very inspiring and I think that will come through in our recordings, on our new record ‘Visitors’ which we recorded out here as well as in the songs we record next.
“Being in a new place is very inspiring and I think that will come through in our recordings”
CLUNK: Why was it you decided to make the move West?
Josh: We spent 5 great years in Bloomington Indiana, but eventually felt the need for somewhere a little bigger with more opportunities. I grew up in San Diego, so California already felt like home to me. LA seemed like a logical destination given the rich history and endless music scene. We’ve been here 3 1/2 years now and don’t plan on moving anytime soon!
CLUNK: You’re actually signed to a French label how did you come to working with Requiem Pour Un Twister?
Glenn: Alexandre and Etienne Gimenez reached out to us after we released our first album “Psychic Summer” because they were interested in releasing a single with us. They ended up putting out our first 7” (Going Under b/w Outlaw) on Croque Macadame which is the more 7” oriented sibling label of Requiem Pour Un Twister. Since then we’ve continued working together on several singles and albums on Croque Macadame and Requiem Pour Un Twister. ‘Visitors’ will be the third full length record we’ve released with them.
CLUNK: Speaking of which your new album ‘Visitors’ is coming out April 6th, what can we expect from that?
Josh: We’re always trying to improve the songwriting process and I really feel this album has some of our best music yet. It’s our first album recorded on 1/2” tape so we had a lot more sonic space to work with and I think the production reflects that.
CLUNK: What was the infuence behind the album?
Glenn: We’re influenced by the music we love but also by the unique experiences of our lives: the people we spend our time with, the places we go, the good times and the bad times and everything in between. It all comes out in the songs, whether consciously or unconsciously. I think that’s what makes music really special, sharing our human experience through art.
CLUNK: Lastly, can you tell us any funny/weird/gnarly?
Glenn: Too many to talk about here… but last summer the driver for our European tour was some sort of dark sorcerer. Definitely an interesting trip!