Podcast 2021.20 Stereophonic Sound Spectacular

Burning Balloons is a collaboration between Ben Bachman (High Tiny Hairs, Fuck Knights) from Minnesota and Raul Romero (The Flashback V, Psiconautes, Lola) from Barcelona. I corresponded with Ben.
TMODM: You each have an interesting history, coming from such different places, and during a pandemic, no less. How did you decide to collaborate?
BB: We were in a band before Burning Balloons called High Tiny Hairs. High Tiny Hairs took a little break. So we got restless and started kicking out some jams.
TMODM: What record changed your lives?
BB: I guess for me Brian Eno’s Taking Tiger Mountain totally changed my life for Raul it was Nick Drake Pink Moon.
TMODM: What’s next for you?
BB: We would love to go on tour!! I am back in the USA now so I am gonna keep writing songs hopefullly get a studio back up and running.

I corresponded with A.J. Kaufmann of Fairyport Convent, based in Poland.
TMODM: How does the place you live — your city, town, landscape — feed into the music you make?
AJK: I’m currently living in a really small town by the sea. Open spaces and morning sky collide with small town mentality which makes for an interesting mix. It helps keep me focused on sound and psychedelic sound research.
TMODM: What record changed your life?
AJK: The first album that changed my life that’s got to be Velvet Underground’s 1993 reunion cassette. It was amazing hearing it as a 13 year old boy opening to the possibility of merging poetry with rock’n’roll.
TMODM: What’s next for you?
AJK: Next is probably focusing on my acid rock project Fairyport Convent and promoting my solo LP “Stoned Gypsy Wanderer” that has just been released with the Australian Ramble Records label.

I’ve played several Dark Fog tracks on Turn Me On, Dead Man. I’ve been corresponding with Ray Donato for several yers now.
TMODM: What record changed your life?
RD: Well, despite all the amazing life-altering records I heard growing up I feel like getting into ‘Spilligion” by Spillage Village (End Of Daze, baby!) during the pandemic may be the most life changing for me as it’s opened me up to contemporary music, which is pretty psychedelic right now from my perspective. Before I was pretty dialed into 60’s and 70’s tunes almost exclusively, so I’m having fun with that right now…
TMODM: What’s next for you?
RD: we’re changing up our process for the next LP and developing the songs for longer than usual before we record them- we’re too prolific so time to change it up a bit and see what that’s like again. There will still be plenty of improvisation and wild shit…also hoping more record presses come online as well as another lacquer maker to replace the factory that burned down or whatever, so we can get some vinyl going again without having to wait forever, etc….and getting back to live shows.

TMODM: What record changed your life?
BR: For me I think Wavves – King of the Beach definitely changed my life. It was something that was fresh at the time and from that point I fell down a garage surf punk rabbit hole! I started listening to a Wavves radio station and that turned me on to Thee Oh Sees and everything in between. I don’t think Babe Ruthless could exist without that record!
TMODM: What’s next for you? What do you have in the works?
BR: I have 8 new songs that I’m gonna release as a double EP before the end of this year! The songs all have a similar vibe but 5 were written and recorded at one time and 3 were written in another but they all blend well together! Also I’ve been practicing with a full band so live shows hopefully soon as well!
TMODM: Tell me about “Aqua Cola”. What’s it about? and why the multi-lingual subtitles in the video?
BR: Aqua Cola is a reference from Mad Max Fury Road! Aqua cola in the movie is just water and I think it’s wild to make people beg for something they need. On the flip side it reminded me of America’s addiction to sugar and soda but my friends think it’s about my addiction to sparkling water! The subtitles in the video were thought up by the director, Aaron Kudler, making it Wes Anderson-esque!

Los Tabanos Experience are a psychedelic improvisational collective from Santiago, Chile.
TMODM: How does the place you live — your city, town, landscape — feed into the music you make?
LTX: We are from Santiago, Chile. And honestly… is a rather dry and polluted city, which doesn’t relate at all with the music we are doing, that’s because through our work we can actually evoke the landscapes that we don’t have in here, and that’s helping us to channel the anxiety that grows by living in the capital, and it allows us to reflect and meditate with our creations
TMODM: What record changed your life?
LTX: As we are a collective of free improvisation, many people have passed through the band, therefore it is difficult to choose a single album, but we can tell you about some undoubtedly influences for us that came from the progressive Germany and England scene from the late 60s and 70s, bands like Ozric Tentacles, Ash Ra Tempel, Can, Acid Mothers Temple to name a few.
TMDOM: What’s next for you?
LTX: To continue on the same path that we have been on for the last 5 years, keep gathering to improvise, to improve our skills, learning different classical methods, recording and producing our own music and of course staying at the forefront of our genre, being able to play live shows and hopefully when all this is over, travel overseas and share our music with the world.

I corresponded with Rafferty Swink of Evolfo
TMODM: How does the place you live — your city, town, landscape — feed into the music you make?
RS: It’s all connected for me so it feeds into it a lot. Especially lately because I’ve been in Brooklyn more and traveling less. Staying in one place is something I forgot about and I’ve been savoring that regrounding. I am constantly inspired by my friends in all artistic fields and that is the most direct feed into my music because I feel charged with inspiration and joy seeing and hearing their work.
TMODM: What record changed your life?
RS: Gosh, far too many to name. Like this week? Or in my lifetime? I’ll give one of each. This week – “Quietude E.P.” by Nailah Hunter. Lifetime – the 12″ version of “Disco Devil” by Lee Perry & The Full Experiences. Rest in peace to him.
TMODM: What’s next for you?
RS: There’s always more music to be made.

Khan Khan is based in Mexico
TMODM: How does the place you live — your city, town, landscape — feed into the music you make?
KK: The place where I live is very quiet, nature abounds and is perfect to be in complete peace and mental relaxation. It is the ideal place to carry out any artistic project.
TMODM: What record changed your life?
KK: I listen to too much music of all kinds, of different genres and eras. And a couple of very important influences for this project were bands like Osees, King Khan, The Black Angels, Courtney Barnett, Sgt. Papers (MX), Los Mundos (MX), Lorelle Meets The Obsolete (MX). An album that changed my perspective recently was the eponymous “La Era de Acuario (MX)”. Explore quite a few nuances of the neo psychedelic.
TMODM: What’s next for you?
KK: I hope to release a couple of singles by the end of the year and complete a second EP, that’s what I have in mind now.

I corresponded with Chris Bergamo of Reality Cult, who are based in Austin, TX.
TMODM: How does the place you live — your city, town, landscape — feed into the music you make?
CB: There’s so much great garage psyche in austin, we’re constantly inspired to do something new and different, to cut out our own corner of rock n roll.
TMODM: What record changed your life?
CB: velvet underground: loaded
TMODM: What’s next for you?
CB: new 5 song ep coming out this month.

I’ve played a few Electric Myrrs songs on Turn Me On, Dead Man. I corresponded with James Biven.
TMODM: What record changed your life?
JB: I feel I can only answer that in phases of my life, from the furthest back I can remember the first record that truly struck me as a lad was Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath, the first album that made the hairs on my arm stand up, as a young musician getting an experimental start in terms of sound I’d have to say creatively that The Velvet Underground’s debut album and Parson Sound’s self titled album really made me question the conventional standards of music I’d been feed most of my life. That was the point when I’d realized that music is more than just sound, it is a conjoined structure of physical and emotional release and that it’s a vessel to convey even the most unconventional/experimental ideas. Oh also Delay by CAN. I can’t leave out how important that album was on the formation of The Myrrs and how it’s changed the game in terms of what I thought songwriting and musicianship was.
TMODM: What’s next for you?
JB: We have another Demo compilation (Dead Zone [EP]) coming soon that is similar to the one we dropped last year (Liquid Drop Model)
It’s been on the back burner for sometime now but we are getting ready for a slight change in sound and to consolidating our name to simply “MYRRS”
With a new idealistic songwriting approach in hopes to change with the tide and bring in a new air to freshen the amazing free form musical endeavor this has been.

I corresponded with Marcus Schnitzler of The Spacelords, based in Germany.
TMODM: How does the place you live — your city, town, landscape — feed into the music you make?
MS: That’s a question which is not easy to answer. What I know is, that when Hazi is going on vacation to see other places, he usually gets inspired and comes back with new melodies. And his ideas inspire Akee and me. Apart from that we get most of our ideas from jamming during rehearsal. So I can say that the place we live doesn’t feed in our music.
TMODM: What record changed your life?
MS: There are many albums in different time periods from different genres which had a big influence on me. But when I go way back, I remember listening to ‘smoke on the water’ at the age of nine in 1977 – one can say that this ‘changed’ my life in the sense of being ‘addicted’ to electric guitars and drums.
TMODM: What’s next for you?
MS: Releasing a new studio album in December this year, and already working on new material for future releases. Hoping we stay all healthy and playing live a lot next year.