Altered Zones

By Michael C. Powell

MP3: Psychedelic Horseshit: "French Countryside"

The ethos of Psychedelic Horseshit is pretty simple: write great songs, record with what you have, don't take yourself too seriously. Featuring Matt Whitehurst on guitar, vox, and keys and Ryan Jewel on drums, the band formed in Columbus, OH in 2005, right around the time Times New Viking did. Together, the two acts pioneered a genre known as "shitgaze" -- a wall-of-sound aesthetic that passes accessible melodies through the grating, treble-heavy filter of antiquated home recording equipment. And like its father genre, "shoegaze," the name was intended as a joke. Since then, Psychedelic Horseshit has managed to consistently eschew the "lo-fi" label, as one infamous 2009 Washington Post interview made clear. Matt spoke with me over the phone about their forthcoming Laced LP, indie rock peer review, and accepting fellow Ohioan Robert Pollard's philosophy of immediately releasing everything one lays to tape.

AZ: The gritty approach that you and Times New Viking developed made Columbus a sort of epicenter for your trademark sound. What is it about the music community that begets this aesthetic?

Matt: I wouldn't attribute that to us or Times New Viking. We realized we fit into this lineage in Columbus that started with Mike Rep, Tommy Jay, and Jim Shepard. I wasn't aware of the city's history when I started the band. We were just some fucked up kids playing. When we tour, we run into people who can't believe that I get to walk down the street and see Ron House passing by. To me, they were just the dudes working at record stores. They were very active in home recording in the early '70s, which is what Times New Viking started again. And then the rest of the bands out there kinda caught wind and recorded more lo-fi. Right when that happened, I was like, "This is all over." It was like punk again, but not as punk. [Lo-fi] became a fashion thing overnight. I think that's why we took a break from making actual records. We recorded EPs to keep active, but I was sick of lo-fi after it blew up.

AZ: I wanna talk about that WaPo interview where you had choice words for certain "lo-fi" bands. Do you still feel the same way you did then?

Matt: That interview did bad for us, man. It introduced a lot of people to Psychedelic Horseshit, but not in terms of the music-- just me running my mouth. I don't give a shit anymore; everyone can do what they want. It was just annoying then because bands got attention for a stylistic choice rather than artistic vision. But I'll be the first to admit, I can't write a catchy song like Wavves or the other bands I talked about. At the end of the day, it was an entertaining-ass read, but a lot of people who actually liked the bands I mentioned were offended and wrote us off musically. I don't think a lot of people have heard Psychedelic Horseshit, even if they've heard of us. I read it now and I seem like different person, but it was like that the first time I read it too. I was like, "Holy shit, did that really happen?" And some of the people I mentioned are decent folks that took things personally, but I didn't really intend it like that. It's water under the bridge now.

AZ: I think people in the indie rock community are a little too afraid to speak bluntly and truthfully. But if you're just patting people on the back all the time, nobody improves their craft.

Matt: Yeah, and that's one of the points I was making. If everyone thinks they're doing a good job every time, nothing gets better. Criticism is there to advance the conversation. I should be able to tell my best friend that I think their record fucking sucks, if it sucks. Would you rather that I lie and say that it's wonderful and not mean it? If my friends don't like my record, I'd want to know that and why.

AZ: Psychedelic Horseshit is probably the most raucous act on Fat Cat, considering the label also release stuff like Múm and David Grubbs. How did you all get involved?

Matt: Dave Howell approached us two years ago about their 12" split series. I was stoked. I hadn't heard a lot of their newer stuff, but I checked out their records in high school. I remember them putting out quality, vaguely commercial but also off-kilter stuff. We emailed back and forth and he asked to hear some of the early versions of the songs that ended up on Laced. I was pumped that someone was finally gonna fucking take a chance on us.

AZ: It seems there are more electronics and tighter song-writing on the new tracks. Is that the result of having some label muscle behind you, or simply a new direction?

Matt: These songs, and the electronic direction, were done before having a label. Over the course of the last few years, I've gotten better at mixing. We didn't want to just turn it up loud and say, "That sounds good." We wanted to hear texture. We were always into texture and sonics, but with this record, I wanted to hear how they interacted with each other more than any one instrument in particular-- or overblowing everything so it's loud. I tried to mix everything as cleanly as possible and cut loud to CD, but made a conscious effort not to distort anything, where in the past distortion would be a production trick.

AZ: What's the scoop with the Shitty Sundays series you started on your Tumblr, where you release free tracks on a weekly basis?

Matt: While it started as a way to get out some B-sides and older material, it turned into me and Ryan [Jewell] putting out sketches of songs and weird stuff we've recorded after Laced . I like Laced a lot, but it already feels old to me, even though it's a new direction. Shitty Sundays is a way to put out stuff that is new and popping out of our heads. We can record a song today and release it next week. That's as immediate as you can get.

AZ: Yeah, other bands I recently interviewed have also basically said, "This record we're promoting is old for us and we're passed it already."

Matt: You can't wait for the records to get pressed. It takes five months, and we're almost a different band. I want to keep progressing and exploring different areas. If you keep moving, you can go anywhere you want. But the nature of the business is stagnation. I mean, I feel lucky even with this turnover. For lots of people, it takes at least a year or two to release something. I wouldn't be able to deal with that.

AZ: The nature of the industry can almost do a disservice to artists. If you want to have your record promoted and distributed correctly, it takes six months to a year, but at the same time that's frustrating to artists.

Matt: Back in the day, an artist would crank out an album every six months and you didn't lose anyone's attention. I could totally put out a record every six months and feel decent about that.

Laced LP is out May 10th via Fat Cat