MIND MELD
Introducing—MIND MELD; press photo courtesy of the band.
From LA’s inner-connective circuits of cliques, scenes, sects, and the sort; we introduce you to the brand new Mock Records co-released with Permanent Records the premiere of MIND MELD’s venom striking single “The Viper”. Made up of members from Jesus Sons, produced by the Spyrals’ Jeff Lewis; guitarist/vocalist Bert Hoover, bassist Erik Lake, percussionist Liz Tooley, & synthesist Jeff Fribourg follow up their previous 7″ flexi-disc for Permanent You’re Not Free with further concentration and creative disciplines in mastering the magic of the two and a half minute monster jam. The gathering of these west coast dwelling talents and visions creates an accelerated & enthusiastic energy heard from Bert’s snake-hissing delivery to Fribourg’s effects-treated electric-barrel synth where every iota of sound is cranked to the nines and tens. MIND MELD takes you into the clutches of their talons as you slide along the crust of earth’s dusty surfaces on your belly, moving in time to the instincts of the audio as these melders of the mind move forth on the attack.
“The Viper” emerges from it’s subterranean tunnel corridors and cave crevices to converge amongst the upright walking along with their fellow reptilian kind. Using the analog means to master the classic forms of psych-guitar shredding mastery, mixing all elements together in a ball of barely contained fury that is busting from the seams at every point of fabric & stitch. A blaze of chords come careening down like bolts of lightening & brimstone as MIND MELD melt your consciousness until they drip into the underground boroughs that are burrowed into the lesser known subterranean territories. “The Viper” buzzes like a late 60s nugget that is too dirty for the neat Village Green Preservation Societies that salutes the scuzzier sides of the Sunset Strip scenes (past and present) with an utter abandon and succinct economy where MIND MELD fits in all the action they can in well under three minutes. The perils of loneliness are matched with the kiss and bite of a femme fatale where a solitude in hell is traded for some kind of sordid marriage to a cold hearted snake-like figure. The catch-22 of affectionate connections here displays an intrinsic knowledge of vintage psych album rock rowdiness with an ear and nod toward the new dive directions DIY-skronk & that sort may be headed. We caught up with MIND MELD in the following interview feature.
Give us the scoop on what inspired you all to start MIND MELD.
We all became friends back when the first Permanent Records opened in L.A. After that, we would regularly get together and jam in Bert’s garage. Just fun, free-form stuff. Eventually we’d jam around with some Hooveriii songs. It started to became it’s own thing. It just kind of happened. Then we decided we had become a band and needed a name. Mind Meld was pretty fitting for the way this all came together.
Describe the kind of mind melding cohesion that you all share.
Having similar taste in music and being really close friends made it pretty easy for us to start this project. When your jamming and you all have those influences you can feel where one person is heading and you all lock in. It’s really pretty cosmic.
In what ways have you all found your previous bands and acts influencing your work in Mind Meld?
It doesn’t really. None of us have really exclusively played this kind of music in a band before. Endless Bummer was gnarly and fun. Hooveriii was Bert’s solo project. Jesus Sons is still going strong. Bert and Erik are both in that band. We’ve all played in bands prior. I’d say a things we all try to respect is democracy and being kind to each other. Not every band can work that way, but we really try hard to get there. It should really be an enjoyable experience to play in a band otherwise what’s the point.
Tell us about the creation of the gritty, blistering, and full fire-blazing single, “The Viper”.
Bert demoed The Viper on a 4 track and then the band made it a song. There’s some tracks you finish and you just know it’s a great representation of the time and place you are at. We felt really good about that one. It’s so fun to play and it’s great when the audience feels it too.
Also interested in hearing further stories about the making of the “You’re Not Free” flexi with, along with work with The Spyrals’ Jeff Lewis’ at Permanent Records in Highland Park on “The Viper” 7″.
Jeff’s been a really good friend of ours for a while now. Mock has issued 2 of The Spyrals albums. We all love the way their recordings sound so we thought we’d ask Jeff to help us out. He was super down and late one night we all got together at Permanent Records, where we practiced, to record a 7″. We drug Bert’s 388 up from El Segundo and threw it on a plastic table, mic’d everything up, and got the recordings done live in a couple hours. It happened so fast and everything turned out just as we’d hoped. Jeff did a terrific job!
What else is awesome right now in LA that has you all stoked?
We’re all pretty stoked on Prettiest Eyes and Matt Zuk, just to name a few.
Other things that are really getting you all amped and stoked right now?
Tequila, ZZ Top, whiskey and Badfinger (not necessarily in that order.)
MIND MELD’s The Viper 7″ is available now from Mock Records co-released with Permanent Records.
