What does psychedelia mean to you?
If your answer, my friend, is drugs then prepare to be enlightened.
If you’re a regular on the Cape Town gigging scene you’ll have noticed an event called Psych Night that’s gained pretty good momentum and a solid following to boot over the last six or so months.
In the run-up their first event at The Assembly I sat down with Andre Leo (vocalist and guitarist for The Very Wicked), one of the dudes behind the scene, to find about what makes these events tick.
“Golden Dawn” is the first in a series of events that going to be held at The Assembly that celebrates psychedelia. What is it a “Golden Dawn” of?
It’s basically the transition of taking Psych Night from being a hobby we do on the side to see what happens, to a full-fledged operation. Some developments have opened doors to very exciting possibilities we hope to make happen in the next year or two.
Who are the brains behind the recent event success that is Psych Night?
Raoul Goetze (Wild Eastern Arches) , Micah Donnoli (WEA Manager), Simon Berndt (One Horse Town Illustration), Mark Reitz (Mark Reitz Photography) and myself.
What does “psych” mean to you?
In terms of music, to me it’s music that you feel. It strikes a chord with your heart and soul, rather than your head. Music that somehow triggers an array of senses. Music you can get lost in, not quite knowing where you’re going, but knowing you’re on an exciting, colourful, tangible journey.
The most obvious psychedelic parties are the trance parties that happen all the time over here. Therefore most people straightaway associate psychedelia with trance music. We’re here to show people the possibilities of psychedelic rock ‘n’ roll and all the art forms that have gone with it for so many years.
For those who aren’t familiar with the genre of psychedelia or who are not really interested in psych, why should they attend this event/these events?
One of the main reasons behind starting up Psych Night was that we were sick of going to shows where we only liked one act on the bill, the sound/lighting was shit, the stage manager was a dick, the venue was rundown, the in-house music was awful…
We strive very hard to make sure these are events are a unique, enjoyable experience from start to finish. The line-ups are very well thought out, a lot of work is put into the visual element, we make sure the sound rig/engineer is great at what he does and the DJ’s play music fitting to what the night is about. We throw events, not just gigs. Even if the music isn’t totally your thing, I’m sure you’ll have a good time. And who knows, the music might just get you yet..
Holiday Murray and The Dollfins aren’t necessarily psych bands and the pool in Cape Town isn’t really that big anyway – how are you going to keep these events fresh?
I think a lot of people are gonna be surprised by the Murrays. There’s so much texture and feeling in those songs, that I think get overlooked sometimes, because the screaming 18 year old birds just wanna hear ‘Jirey’ – I do wanna hear ‘Jirey’ though.
We are aware that our resources are a bit limited at the moment, but more and more bands with a bit of a psych edge are popping up. Hopefully these line ups inspire more people to get weird.
We’re also planning on having events where music isn’t the main focus – exhibitions, screenings etc. Also, smaller parties in obscure venues. We would love to have a night where bands work with electronic music producers. And also showcase musicians who play more traditional psychedelic music – any sitar gurus out there??
Being a niche musical market, it can’t be easy maintaining Psych Night, what heights do you see this event climbing to in 2013 and beyond?
2013 is gonna be a year of discovery. We are gonna have to see how people react to it. It’s been going great in Cape Town that far. We look forward to teaming up with Dead City Radio and bringing Psych Night to Joburg.
We have a capable, motivated team behind it and I can only see things going up from here. If all goes well, our first festival will be here sooner than you think.
Sweet lawd. Clearly, these guys are not messing around. So if you don’t have plans for Saturday, make them. And if you have plans for Saturday, scratch ‘em because if you miss the first Psych Night at The Assembly you may miss more than merely a gig, you may miss the Dawn of something rather special.
Now to celebrate the first ever Psych Night at Assembly I have the following to giveaway:
- 2 x Tickets to Assembly on Saturday
- 1 x Psych Night record bag
- 1 x Wild Eastern Arches t-shirt
All you have to do is comment on this post and give me one explanation of what “psych” means to Andre Leo. Winner will be notified via email on Friday morning.
AAAND GO.