Liverpool Psych Fest 2014: | Buy tickets
By: Martyn Coppack
One of the more exciting acts to grace the stage at Liverpool Psych Fest this year is Echoes and Dust favourites White Hills. A band who have never compromised and always followed their own muse, each release has seen them pervade every area of music and art and yet still stay under the radar. They should be huge, they should be the most important band you will ever hear, maybe there is still time for all that.
In the meantime and hot on the heels of last years fantastic So You Are..So You’ll Be, White Hills have seen fit to re-release their second album Glitter Glamour Atrocity. Originally only released as a limited edition it now comes back like that monster in your closet waiting to bite you when you least expect it. If it hadn’t come out years ago it would be album of the year without a doubt, it’s themes still relevant as they were back then. Do yourselves a favour and go and listen to it.
It’s an album that raises a lot of questions and to find out more we approached Dave White to tell us more. The results are a fascinating insight into the world of White Hills.
(((o))): Glitter Glamour Atrocity…why the re-release?
DW: Why not? It seemed like a good time to do it seeing that the track “Under Skin or By Name” is featured in Jim Jarmusch’s current film “Only Lover’s Left Alive”. GGA has been the most requested by our fans for a re-issue as well. Everything just fell in place for it getting done at this time.
(((o))): The timing seems to chime rather with events happening around the world at the moment. Do you see it as a timeless piece of work that can only gain relevance?
DW: I think the topics touched upon within the album are age old. War, greed, suppression and the like have been around since we humans have developed. Unfortunately they appear to be here to stay. Humanity as a whole needs to have a massive shift in the collective conscious in order for there to be a true change in this paradigm. That said, there will probably always be some sort of relevance within this work until the time comes when these issues don’t plague us anymore.
(((o))): Is it possible that you may play this album in full at a live show one day…it would be a powerful piece of work with the right backdrops, although maybe politically dividing in the US.
DW: The thought of playing Glitter Glamour Atrocity in full live has not crossed my mind. As for GGA being politically dividing, the album is not “preachy” per se but rather meditations for one to think about what is going on in the world around them. Political systems are all about division. A divisive nature keeps people’s attention away from what they should really being seeing and caring about. People who see GGA as a work of blasphemy are only being fooled by the system that has them by the balls.
(((o))): Do you imagine the reception would be different in Europe as it is in America, the subject matter of free speech and free will coupled in with the hangover of the Bush administration must still be a sore point?
DW: Ultimately, there is political strife all over the globe from the richest nations to the poorest. That is something that I think anyone can relate to. GGA has an American slant to it, because that’s where I’m from. In that sense it doesn’t have the same meaning for people outside of the US as it might have to an American. That said, I feel the issues touched upon within the album are global. Greed and hypocrisy are not limited to the US political system. It’s reception lies within the listener’s beliefs of what is happening in the world and why.
(((o))): I’ve heard you described as aural artists, is each album approached differently and with a specific theme?
DW: That’s a nice way to put it. Yes, each album is approached differently. Theme’s have a funny way of rearing their head. It all just depends on the moment. It’s never the same
(((o))): The sounds you produce…there is no area you could pin it down to. Do you feel the band is a fluid entity that will continue to evolve?
DW: Most definitely.
(((o))): Which leads me on to psych, what does psych mean to you…what is your philosophy on it?
DW: Alarming, disjointed, heady, out of this world and trance inducing all come to mind when I hear the word “psych”. Most of what is considered psych music to me is actually the furthest thing from something that is truly psychedelic. At the moment it seems to be the “catch all phrase” in independent music. The happening thing so to speak. In the end the majority of it is just pop music. What is truly psychedelic to my ears lies in genres that most people would never consider to be psychedelic. Psychedelic music should reflect what a psychedelic trip is like. It takes you to furthest reaches of the universe and to the deepest darkest places within your soul. It’s beautiful and ugly, comforting and uncomfortable all at the same time.
(((o))): What can we expect from the Liverpool Psych Fest show? What are your thoughts on playing it?
DW: All of us are very excited to be playing at Liverpool Psych Fest this year. It’s one festival we’ve been wanting to do. Those who know us, know they are always in for a surprise and that’s what we plan to deliver.
(((o))): And after the festival and tour…a new album? More re-releases? Where does White Hills go from here?
DW: The day after we play at the festival, we head off to Wales where we will be recording the next album. This new one is going to be an eye-opener for people! As much as we love touring, all of us can’t wait to get back into the studio to work on this new album.
Besides that we have some tour plans in works for the US early in the new year and we’re already hatching plans for more extensive touring in Europe around the release of the new album next year.
I’ve been working on a project called Ff, with long time WHITE HILLS collaborator and current skins man Antronhy, that will be getting released early next year by a new label out of San Francisco called 300mics. Ego has been busy working on solo music, some of which will be used in a film that the NYC artist collective Dreamhaus is doing. You know, just the usual keeping ourselves busy.
(((o))): Finally, do you want to leave a message for our readers and the attendees of Liverpool Psych Fest?
DW: Be within the moment. Log off of social media, do not experience life through a computer screen or through the camera on your phone. Interact with people face to face. Suck up every minute up as if it were your last. The present is the only time that matters. Enjoy the beauty that life has to offer.
Heavy words indeed from one of the most exciting and innovative artists around. We’re pretty certain that Liverpool is going to have one hell of a trip when White Hills take to the stage and Echoes and Dust will be there to record every dark, beautiful minute of it.
Next time on Psych Fest preview….we catch up with Chris and John from Rocket Recordings. Psych Out.
