The Well is a power
trio from Austin, Texas, and if you dig psychedelic doom stuff with
occult rock, a little bit of a retro vibe and female vocals, then
you probably already know them.
Two years have passed
since Riding Easy released their debut album “Samsara”, I decide
to trough if The Well have something new and fresh. Ian Graham
(guitars, vocals) agreed to share small portion of information.
Hi Ian! How are you?
What's going on in The Well?
Hello! We’re good -
just finished up at the studio and are starting to get all the pieces
in place for the release of Pagan Science, our second album on Riding
Easy Records - photos, music videos, artwork, new merch. All the
visuals to go along with the music.
You already
announced that the record of new album goes on full speed. What is
your progress now?
Yep! Just wrapped in
the studio. We’re sending off the masters on Monday.
How does the new
album record session go? How much time usually do you need to finish
the song? Do you have “difficult” and “easy” tracks?
It’s hard to call a
song “finished” usually; there are always little changes and
nuances that are added or subtracted as we continue to gig them after
recording, but as far as the recorded songs, it definitely depends.
Some took months to finish and were polished in pre-production, while
a lot of them were pretty much just riffs when we went into the
studio and came to life as we started the tape.
Will the new album
differ from “Samsara” both in musical and lyrical sense?
It’s still us, but
with more density. It’s big. It’s hypnotic. It’s heavy as hell.
Samsara was our first album, so a lot of the tracks were songs we’d
already played in our set numerous times, and therefore it has a very
live feel. Writing Pagan Science with the studio in mind allowed for
more of a plan alongside more room for experimentation.
The Well – Mortal
Bones
What are your plans
consider album's release? Do you already have certain dates and
label?
We’re looking at an
October release with Riding Easy Records.
When “Samsara”
was released, it turned to be a popular or at least recognizable
album pretty soon, I guess that it gained good reputation to The
Well. How do you see this stuff now? What are its strongest points?
Samsara will always be
close to our hearts as those songs were our first steps together as a
band. Our babies. We’re grateful that its positive reception has
allowed us to continue to tour and record and spread our music to a
wider audience.
When the band plays
psychedelic stoner doom music with female vocals some people and
media tend to label such groups with “occult doom rock”. What do
you think about it?
Ha.
I’m into it.
Such music usually
deals with topics like drugs, Satan and evil in general. Do you share
the love to these images?
I’m
interested in those subjects for sure… drugs and the occult.
However, I think that all of these specifics are just symbols for a
general dissent with popular culture or the mainstream. I don’t
believe in evil, and I don’t believe in good. Any absolutes on a
moral level can be construed completely differently if the
perspective is flipped. I’ve been interested in mind alteration
since I was a child. But aside from drugs, information is another
conscious altering tool that I focus on.
The Well do gigs
here and there in USA, how many states did you already cover? How
often do you play?
We’ve hit up most of
them at this point, but can’t wait to see them all again and add
some new ones when we hit it again this fall in support of the album.
Ian, you took part
in kickstarter company for Planet of Doom, what is this project
about?
It’s an animated film
that highlights art and music in the doom scene, much in the vein of
the 1980s Heavy Metal. Curated and written by talented artist, David
Paul Seymour, we’re excited to be a part of it.
Words by Aleks
Evdokimov and Ian Graham.
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