Psychedelic Sounds For The Soul: Allah Las-California Dreaming-An Interview

California Dreaming is a song from Mamas and the Papas,i'm sure those guys grew up with those songs and most important they managed to put this psych/pop gene in their music with the best of the ways can be.If someone would tell you that this band released their record some days ago you wouldn't believe me,for me it's like it was released back in 1967,yeah,the Golden Age.
Here is the interview i did with Miles Michaud the singer of 'Allah Las''.

1.First of all good evening guys,please feel free to introduce yourselves...

Hey there, we are Allah-Las - Miles on lead vocal and rhythm guitar, Pedrum on lead guitar and vocals, Matt on drums and vocals, and Spencer on bass and vocals.

2.When did you form the band,what's your story?

We started this band as more of a hobby or pastime back in fall 2008. Pedrum and Spencer, who knew each other from working at Amoeba Records in Hollywood, started by jamming together in Spencer's parents' basement on guitars and an old drum kit that was setup down there. Spencer's father collects and trades surfboards, so the walls of the basement are all lined with old boards of every size and shape. Eventually they asked Matt, who they also knew from Amoeba, to come join the jam on drums so Spencer and Pedrum could play bass and guitar at the same time. After a couple of weeks of that, Miles, who Matt and Spencer had both gone to high school with, was asked to play second guitar and sing. After only a handful of rehearsals over the course of a couple weeks, we had our first gig on halloween 2008. We had no real songs to speak of, only a couple of different arrangements that we would play without a conceivable beginning or end, over which Miles would sing nonsense vocals. It was a terrible show, but it was fun and somehow people seemed to like it.

3.Do you enjoy the life on the road?,i see that for months now you're having about 3 or 4 gigs the week(correct me if i'm wrong),how would you describe the feeling to perform in different audience everytime?

We really enjoy touring. At least at this point of our career, when everything is so new to us, touring seems almost like a vacation. We love playing to different audiences all the time, meeting and hanging out with people who like our music, basically experiencing new places and people. We are about to head back on tour across the United States next month, and we are very much looking forward to it. There are so many different types of people and places just in the US alone, it's a very special place to us and we love experiencing as much of it as we can.

4.You have released a 45'' maxi single on Vinyl called Catamaran(that it's now Sold Out) and now i know that you have finished the recordings of your first album with Nick Waterhouse,please tell us some things about the recordings,Nick and your new songs.

Recording with Nick was great. Our new album, which comes out on September 18th in the US, and soon after in Europe and UK, has 12 tracks on it. All tracks are original with the exception of "Long Journey", which was the B-side of our first 45" you spoke of. We are very happy with the album, and actually as I am writing this now, I am hearing it being played on 12" vinyl for the first time, since we just got them from the pressing plant last night. We really enjoyed working with Nick, and Mike, the engineer at the recording studio we used. It's another great little vacation where we get to hang out and focus on making music for a couple of weeks straight. It's probably the most creatively rewarding part of being a musician.

5.I would describe your music as 60's surf and Psychedelic Pop genre, but personally i don't like much to put brands on bands,how would you describe your music to someone that has never heard you before?

We get this question all the time, and to be simple, we usually just end up telling people that we're a rock n roll band. If they pry further, we'll say something like early California music mixed with early Rolling Stones.

6.Tell us some things about living and playing music in California These Days.

It's the only place we can imagine ourselves living full time. The land perfectly accommodates our interests. Aside from an always amazing music scene wherever you go, the environment of California suits us perfectly. We love the ocean, the mountains, the hills, deserts, and everything in between. We surf, hike, canoe, camp, and are always discovering new and beautiful places right in our own backyards.

7.I would like to ask you about the equipment(electric guitars,bass,farfisa..e.t.c)is it finally important for a band that wants to play those sixties/retro melodies the equipment?what do you use as a band,i've noticed a vox bass back from 1967 with flatwound strings.

Like many other things, they just don't make musical instruments or equipment like they used to. Our amps and guitars all have very unique sounds because we have taken the time to research and find instruments that we love both for their looks and their sounds. In reality, you can pull off a retro sound with new equipment, but why would you want to? When recording we use not only old instruments and amps but old microphones, old tape machines, and old boards to really cultivate a unique sound.That's important to us.

8.Do you have propositions to play in Europe?or you're waiting for your record to come out first?

We are planning on doing a small tour in Europe sometime before the end of this year, 2012. Most likely in November. We have only been to Europe once before, and that was only to Berlin. We are very eager to see more.

9.What are your influences?please feel free to name anything,from women,movies,pop artists,anything.

We love the land, the sea, nature, kind and warm people, history and culture, space exploration, literature, film, architecture, painting, sociology. Anything that is designed to grow your mind and bring about higher consciousness. We are merely explorers in this world and we channel what we experience into music.

10.Please share with us your favourite lyric from the album,if you can do it of course!

I think that personally, my favorite lyric from the album is from "Tell Me" - the last line of the breakdown that goes, "All I have to say to you / is anything you want me to / so tell me what's on your mind"