The Citradels: Interivew

Hailing from Australia, drone-psych rockers, The Citradels, have been prolifically putting out music for the 4 years. Their ability to quickly write and put together songs is uncanny, and with their latest album just released, Droned And Rethroned, it can be seen as yet another improvement upon their sound. We caught up with the Citradels to hear more about how they put together their new experimental album... 

The Citadels at the FBI Social.

So, guys, who is in the band and who plays what?

Thomas De Vries - Guitar and Vocals

Curtis Goodfellow - Guitar and Vocals

Sam Heathcote - Bass

Archer Moore - Organ and Vocals

Connor Tolson - Drums

This is how the band performs live, however when it comes to recording it's whoever can give the best performance, as everyone in the band is capable of playing several instruments. When we were recording Droned and Rethroned, one of us may have had only a basic idea for a song, recording a bare scratch track and leaving space for other people's input. However some songs were almost entirely written and tracked by one person.

Where do you guys hail from?

The band was originally based in Geelong (Australia) but after about a year and several lineup changes the band relocated to Melbourne, were we've been for the past year and a half.

What guitars were used on the album?

We mainly used three different electrics; A 1966 Vox Phantom 12 string, a late '60s Tokai (a Gibson 335 copy) and a copy of a Vox Teardrop which was made by this guy in Melbourne. Some tracks also had a Yamaha acoustic on them, and the bass we used was a modified P bass with a jazz pickup and neck.

What amps and effects pedals were used on the album?

Vox Phantom 12-String

We used a Vox AC30VR, a Fender London Verb, a Fender Deville and an Alembic F1-X preamp for the bass. Some of the pedals used are EHX Hummingbird, Freeze and Holy Grail, Crossfire Tremolo, Boss RV3 Digital Reverb/Delay and OD3 Overdrive, ZVex Lo-Fi Loop Junkie and some other fuzz pedals, I know I've missed some. Curt has this really old analogue delay unit which is super cool and I have this D.I.Y. fuzzbox that's completely broken and makes all these fucked up squeals when you turn it on, so we used that bad boy as well. We did also do a heap of experimentation and explored different ways of recording guitar on this album, like running it straight into the desk with the gain flat out to try get that White Light/White Heat Sterling Morrison type sound.

What other instruments were used on the album?

We had a clear idea of how we wanted this album to sound. We picked twelve or so tracks that we believed best worked together and then worked on them each in detail. It kind of meant that some of the tracks that would have had a broader instrumental scope got left out this time around. So apart from the usual guitar, bass and drums, we used our Farfisa Bravo running through a heap of different effects and also a really old Gem upright organ for two tracks in particular. Sam laid down a fair bit of violin which was often manipulated in post-production to create drones and feedback. We also used a pungi (snake charmer), glockenspiel, harmonium and an array of percussion instruments.

Where was the album recorded?

Almost the entire of the album was recorded in one room at my house in Melbourne. It's a living room and shared practice space with my housemate's band. We have pretty much just done it this way since the first album. It's kind of the base for most of the things we do, we have all that is needed for us to record then and there, so it makes sense. On a couple of the tracks some additional overdubs for were done at Archie and Sam's place.

What have you learnt after recording the album?

Recording for this album was great. It's probably been our most collaborative album to date, but also the most refined and focused in terms of the overall sound. It's always great recording from home but after three albums in a row it seems like I've been recording and mixing an album for the last two years. We are going to move all our gear down to Curt's parent's beach house in June to record our fourth album. So it will have a pretty different sound and feel, but we're looking forward to the change. It also means that the entire band will be present for the recording sessions, whereas as at the moment it's very rare to have everyone there whilst we're tracking individual parts.

What is next for The Citradels?

We're currently finishing up writing tracks that will feature on the fourth album. At the same time we also have what could be called the fifth album or maybe an EP in the works. It's will be made up of acoustic tracks, so a lot of sitar, some tabla and more alternate instrumentation, maybe even a country song or two. This is something we're slowly putting together. As much as I'm glad to be taking a break from recording I also get edgy if I feel like I'm doing nothing, so it's going to be a slow process. About four songs are almost complete, I might upload one soon depending on how it's sounding. We are just looking forward to doing that and working on our live show. We have some really cool gigs coming up and will hopefully have a more extensive interstate tour later this year. We also have this little collab idea with our brothers (and sister), The Grease Arrestor that I want to see get up and running by midyear. I wont say to much but this idea is pretty new for us and I haven't seen it done before, so it's exciting.

Do you even psychedelic? would like to thank the band for taking the time to do this interview. 

Interview conducted by Dan Sharman on 03/03/2014.

Drone Head - The Janitors (album review)

After Drone Head's release on Cardinal Fuzz Records on the 24th of June, D.Y.E.P catches up with the Swedish duo's latest sonic outing.

In the past, psychedelic music used to be a bit of an obscure obsession. I remember those driven pre-digital days, traipsing across town and dale in search of the latest EVA '60s garage comp, the hours spent lusting after the ridiculously expensive in-store used copy of Kaleidoscope's Beacon from Mars at the local hip record emporium, or the excitement I'd feel hearing "Tomorrow Never Knows" getting a rare spin on the radio. But with the dawning of the internet all that has changed, with today's generation becoming spoiled for choice; music of a psychedelic persuasion(in addition to just the original '60s stuff) is hard to miss any more and, as the sold out crowds at Tame Impala's US tour bear witness, it all suddenly threatens to become a bit too predictable. 

Music of a psychedelically inclined nature is what Sweden's, The Janitors, deliver in spadefuls. Their new double-LP Drone Head (Cardinal Fuzz, CFUL008), pairs the duo's two 2012 EP's Head Honcho and The Worker Drone Queen into one glorious gate-fold package on white vinyl. Hailing from Stockholm, this duo play what they claim is "Swedish evil shoegaze boogie woogie and stökpsych a go go!" Now my Swedish is a bit rusty these days, but last time I checked, stök roughly translates as "mess." Although I'm not entirely sure what mess-psych is, based on repeated listens to the menacing beauty that is Drone Head, I'm fairly certain these boys are fully cognizant of the messy and messed up legacies of their preferred musical genre. Indeed, they create a convincing and recognizably "psych" sound on this record, and one that fans of the likes of Spacemen 3 and Wooden Shjips will feel instantly familiar with.

Other reviewers have also taken note of the dark edge to this duo's distorted sound, their penchant for overdriven fuzz and reverb, the booming and sinuous throb of the low end that anchors the buzzing whip of the chainsaw whine throughout each of the record's songs. Take note: if you like your psych-rock heavy and dark, with a bit of demonic quarter-speed Bo Diddley pounding through the wash and wave of the froth and fuzz, then there's much to like here. Take the booming drum-driven intro of a song like "Strap Me Down" for example; its propulsive howl, perfectly timed pauses, and horror-echo vocals are so pitch-reminiscent of the epic psych melodrama of the Angels that you'll be sucked in from the outset. The song ends with a swirling, crashing tide of hypnotizing technicolored shimmer that puts me in mind of the sort of 'we-have-lift-off' opus that is the Austin Fab Four's luminous speciality. The last song on Drone Head is "Nevereverism," surely an homage--surely?--to the tune of nearly-the-same name on Directions To See A Ghost, and as it builds from a deliciously menacing stomp into a shredding, sparkling, guitar driven whirl we're snaking our way to the back of the blue bus and beyond. 

Listening to this, and tracks like the magisterial "A-Bow," all twelve-and-a-half elemental minutes of it, I'm dragged up that familiar kaleidoscopic psych-rock road right to the top of Holy Mountain, and it's clear that The Janitors ride their influences for all to hear. There are a few surprises on this record. The "Strssmmnt Remix" of "Coming Down" for instance, strays from the tried and tested formula of most of the rest of the songs for a slow hybrid burn that fuses electronica and shoegaze and puts me in mind of some of the more fanciful Tame Impala Innerspeaker remixes. And although I say "few surprises" like it's a bad thing, for a lot of psych-rock fans of course, 'few surprises' isn't a bad thing at all. We are after all fans of psychedelic rock. We enjoy its signature moves.

But isn't that surely a part of the problem of the aforementioned main-streaming of psych, it running the risk of becoming a set of musical cliches (reverberated vocals here, drone bliss-out there, backwards guitar bit over yonder, nirvanayada, yada), sonic transcendence rendered as corny cosmic shorthand? Holy Mountain as theme park. But also, wasn't it ever thus( . . . The Black Angels, Spacemen 3, and Wooden Shjips, after all . . .)? Or just maybe I'm one Binson Echorec shy of becoming a psych cynic? For all that, however, I'll always ever be the sucker for the epiphanic psychedelic catch phrase, and The Janitors do these up in style, and then some--and with heart too, it must be said. Simply put, if you love the flourishes of heavy psychedelic drone-esque spacerock and shoegaze then you'll absolutely love this record too.

Critics Rating: ★★★ - Good, no new suprises here, but ticks all the boxes for someone looking for straight up fuzz-heavy, drone rock to relax to at the end of a long day.


Written By Grow Fins (Phil Dickson) on 19:38, 13/08/2013.