Austin, Texas psychedelic band The Black Angels were just in Australia for the successful Harvest Festival, and during a recent interview during the touring event, the band’s bearded frontman Alex Maas let slip of details of a brand new music festival to take place next year.
In an interview with Music Feeds, Maas discussed the burgeoning psychedelic scene in his home state, “there’s a big [psychedelic music] scene here… obviously the genre is huge and embodies so many different kinds of music,” a lot of which is showcased at the band’s own Austin Psych Fest.
The two day bash, co presented by the band with The Reverberation Appreciation Society, has grown from its humble origins as a small event in 2008 to become one of the most internationally renowned events celebrating and showcasing the genre.
During his Harvest Festival chat, Maas said: “We throw a music festival in Austin called Austin Psych Fest, and next year we’re going to do Austin Pysch Fest in Melbourne and we’re going to get tons of bands.”
When asked who to expect on their lineup, the Black Angels frontman noted, “there’s a really cool band called Beaches, obviously, I’m sure everybody know Tame Impala, there’s a really cool band helping right now write the record called Ride Into The Sun. They actually wrote the record and I’m just kind of adding my own ideas.”“We throw a music festival in Austin called Austin Psych Fest, and next year we’re going to do Austin Pysch Fest in Melbourne”
While Maas offered no further dates or details about the lineup, he continued to sing the praises of the music scene down under. “There’s tons of music here [in Australia]. Tons of really cool psychedelic music, and probably a lot of stuff that I don’t know,” says Maas.
“There’s a really cool band from Australia called The Dolly Rocker Movement, there’s also Astral Kaledoscope, The Morning After Girls – another really cool psych band from Australia. I mean you guys have got tons of really good bands.”
Astral Kaleidoscope would seem like a shoo-in alongside the likes of Melbourne’s Beaches and Adelaide’s Ride Ino The Sun on the first-ever Melbourne Austin Psych Fest, particularly given that – as FasterLouder points out – its lineup features members of Kill City Creeps and The Laurels, the latter of which are already locked in as one of two Australian bands playing the sixth annual Psych Fest.
Alongside Brisbane’s Dreamtime, The Laurels will play in Austin for the Black Angels’ 2013 Psych Fest, scheduled for April 26-28 next year, alongside the likes of Deerhunter, Boris, Black Mountain, Clinic Diiv, Warpaint, and more; all playing at the 58-acre Carson Creek Ranch site, located near the Colorado River.
Given the calibre of that lineup, and with Maas already all-but confirming the appearance of the world-renowned Tame Impala on the bill, there’s already reason enough for Australian fans to get excited.
The news of Australia’s first ever Austin Psych Fest is the latest in a spate of festival announcements that have sprung up lately, including this morning’s news that Hoodoo Gurus have confirmed a 2013 showing of their Dig It Up! Invitational, while Chugg Entertainment yesterday revealed a brand new partnership with Rob Potts Entertainment Edge to forge the Deni Blues & Roots Festival; bringing Santana, Steve Miller Band, Jimmy Cliff, and more to the NSW area of Deniliquin.
