Over the past decade, I’ve seen The Black
Angels more than any other touring group coming through St. Louis. A nod, then,
to Vintage Vinyl’s Jim Utz for tipping me to them originally. On his
recommendation, I walked into the group’s first show in St. Louis, during their
very first song of the night; the light show was pulsating and the room a bit
past half-full, but Off Broadway’s dancefloor was packed. I didn’t know a single hook by the Austin group
when walking in, but I left the club that evening with a bit of merch,
including their stunning debut album, Passover.
Most definitely, more than one fan was converted that night.
Since then, three more albums and a
couple of EPs have been released, commercials and soundtracks have prominently
featured the group and some lineup changes have occurred. Through all of it,
the band’s regularly hit St. Louis on a variety of tours, setting up one-night
engagements at the Duck Room and the Old Rock House, as well as booking live
appearances at KDHX. And they’re returning to St. Louis for a special gig on
Saturday, February 1, sharing the stage with psych legend Roky Erickson, as
part of The Firebird’s fifth anniversary show. (Tickets are $25 and available
at firebirdstl.com.)
Once, when the group was recording a live
set at KDHX, I was in-studio, hosting the old Silver Tray program. The band’s
vocalist, Alex Maas, caught me near the coffee pot, asking about nearby
restaurants. I bored him with a comprehensive listing of every dining spot on
South Grand, completely unaware that I was, you know, talking to Alex Maas of
The Black Angels. I won’t count that as a dorky mis-step and certainly not my
first interview with the group.
That honor goes to what follows.
Guitarist Christian Bland was kind enough to drop back a line on some quickly-developed
Q’s for the maiden voyage of Eleven’s new “Eleven Questions” joint.
1. What
were the relationships between various members of the group and Roky Erickson
prior this tour, i.e., to what degree did any Black Angels personally know him
before this run of shows?
No one knew Roky personally until we
toured with him in 2008 down the west coast for five shows. We got to know him
at the practices we had for the tour. We wanted to play more 13th Floor
Elevator songs than he’d been performing live, so we had the goal of playing
the first five songs from the Psychedelic
Sounds album. He told us he hadn’t played “Rollercoaster,” “Reverberation”
and “Don’t Fall Down” in over 30 years. So we invited him to our house and Nate
and I sat down with him and relearned those songs on acoustic guitars. We got
to know Roky during those sessions. We’d take “Dr. Pepper breaks” and he’d tell
us about the old days with the Elevators.
2. For
those of us who don't go online and track playlists and the like, can you give
a sense of what songs are being regularly spotted into setlists these days?
We just play a mix off of each of our
albums. It’s different every night.
3. St.
Louis seems to be a regular landing pad for the group. Are we just an easy
place to route through, or do you really feel the love when coming through St.
Louis?
It seems like we have a good fan base in
St. Louis, so it makes sense for us to stop in every now and then to let ‘em
know we’re still out and about making music and that we dig the city because
they seem to dig us.
4. Along the
same lines, are there St. Louis shows that stand out, whether at Off Broadway,
Blueberry Hill's Duck Room, the Old Rock House? Or are ours a big, amorphous
blend of "St. Louis shows?”
I particularly remember the Duck Room
show because I’m such a huge Chuck Berry fan. It was awesome to play where
Chuck Berry plays.
5. As a
group that's had the occasional lineup change, to what degree does a lineup
shift stimulate or energize a group?
A group is like one functioning entity,
so anytime someone joins or leaves there’s a shift in the creative union. We
brought Jake (Garcia) into the group to stimulate and energize the creativity
that was forfeited when Nate (Ryan) was asked to leave the band. Jakes’s done a
great job; he’s an amazing guitar player, and fellow lefty. I can finally share
guitars with someone.
6. What's
it like having a song selected for a major ad campaign, television show or
movie soundtrack? Any interesting anecdotes come from those experiences?
It’s validation to my mom and dad that I’m
actually making a living playing music. When they see something on TV that has
one of our songs they get excited, the same way as when they saw us play on
Letterman or Conan O’Brien. It’s my proof that I’m not just sitting in Austin
living in la la land.
7. And
without asking numbers relating to the previous question, what good things come
from licensing a song?
I think the biggest thing is that more
people who wouldn’t normally hear our music get to hear it. It allows for more
folks to discover us.
8. Are
there any unreleased sessions out there, ones that fans might look forward to
in coming months or years? Any Daytrotters? Any remixes? Even any bootlegs that
have caught the band's attention?
There’s tons of stuff online that you can
find if you search deep enough from radio shows, and live recordings people
have made at shows.
9. What's
being listened to on the tour bus/van these days? What's being read? What
YouTube channel offerings are getting passed around within the group?
I’ve been listening to Jacco Gardner. I
listen to Piper at the Gates of Dawn
almost daily. The Fugs, Public Nuisance’s Gotta
Survive album, Tomorrows Tulips’ Experimental
Jelly, Traffic’s Heaven Is in Your
Mind, Holy Wave, and Clinic’s Free
Reign II. I’ve been reading David and
Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell, Storm of
Steel by Ernst Junger, The Story of
the Kinks by Nick Hasted, and I just bought Going Clear by Lawrence Wright.
10.
Having been to Austin more than any other city, but not having been in the last
seven years, what have I missed out on in the People's Republic?
East Austin’s exploding. I live on East
6th and it changes every day. New restaurants, new shops, and new venues pop up
weekly. We’re opening a Reverberation Appreciation Society Records shop on East
7th. We’ll sell records along with guitars and effects. You should come by next
time you’re down our way.
11. And
another, last, personal question. I'm a jerk fan. If I wanna say "hi"
and not be a drag, not be a bother, what's the best way for a fan to give greetings
and salutations before/after a gig, without interfering with your vibe and/or
need to pack the hell up for the next city? In effect, how do you want to deal
with us at gigs?
