writer

Shrieking fuzz guitars, head spinning G-force, fat bass-end space-punk heavily infused with acid-drenched cosmic roars and galactic mantra hypnosis...
This is Farflung. The sole surviving lost tribe of earth. Galactic space pioneers, adrift in an uncharted myriad of kaleidoscopic realities and dimensions, eternally slipping through Earth on countless, endless energy wave formations.
Their collective awareness fleetingly setties on an audio-centred reality and Farflung discover they have, in passing, briefly evolved into an orgone-powered cerebral stimulating entity. In an effort to forge possible paths of communication, and therefore their own salvation, they set upon the opening up and expansion of inner space via the medium of anarchist and Heavy space-punk.
Releasing their forth and brainbiting album yet titled "The Belief Module" through Bad Acid Records, Farflung find themselves at the forefront of the current space rock wave...
   
Having listened to the uncensored Belief Module, acid friend burnout's find themselves crushed in twitching terror as the vastness of the Universe is unfloded before them; lobes electrified and alight, pupils dilated, palms sweating, and hyperventilating as Farflung perform 90’s space rock how Hawkwind can only dream of creating....
Via ingenious yet simplistic Earth-bound technology, I found myself able to communicate with three collective representatives - Brandon of drums, loops and noise; and Michael & Tommy of guitars, basses, keyboards and vocals...
   
  "The Belief Module" is your fourth album to date and has been seen you advance your style from an aggressive punk sounding space rock band with lots of short songs, to what is now a very progressive and tripped-out band moving from drifting ambient space sections through driving space rock with serious head-swimming effects, to heavy and distorted punk riffing... What’s been the cause of the development?
Brandon: Having the time to work on the recording and develop material enabled us to be more complex in arrangements and nuances. This led to a density more fully realised on the recording.

This album took almost five months to record, what was the reason for this lengthy recording process?
Michael: Usually we have a very tight schedule for recording. It gets into the studio and out as fast as possible due to financial constraints. This time we had the opportunity to spend time which hasn’t been a luxury we had in the past.
Tommy: It’s really because I has to load and unload all our shit (equipment) all the time and drive it miles and miles every day we were recording.
Brandon: That is true.
Cathy (Tommy’s wife): Tommy fuck off we lived only a couple of miles from where you were recording.
Tommy: Yeah and if I hadn’t got us this recording situation we would be a few grand in the red.
Michael: Aren’t we always in the red?

  Improvised music can take a large amount of studio time to get the right take, is this a deterrent from improvisational recordings? Or are you so cool you don’t need a second take?!!
Brandon: No. time doesn’t really play a factor. The studio itself becomes another instrument.

In the past you have recorded fully improvised music, such as "Icarus/Daedalus". Is this something you intend to repeat? To what extent is your album material improvised?
Tommy: It’s part of the tradition of Farflung.
Michael: For us there really is no separation between improvising and the final product.
Tommy: That is what Farflung is all about.

To many people, the image of space rock is that of ageing, naked and face-painted hippies off their heads on acid dribbling about peace, love and space ships... Is this Farflung??!
Michael: Our trip is not about categorising people into different groups. It’s more about finding common spaces of linkage through sound. It’s about bringing people together. It’s about a collective space. It’s great to see all sorts of people at our shows. People that normally wouldn’t interact with each other getting off together.

To what extent does SF play a part in Farflung’s music and concept?
Tommy: For me absolutely nothing.
Brandon: mmm?
Michael: For me it manifest more in an attitude than a distinct sound. It’s about a spirit rooted in radical community politics. San Francisco is where I grew up and is where I live now. As I always say I especially dig the Jefferson Airplane. It’s the same way I dig the Yippies and in particular Abbie Hoffman. The airplane sang "we are the forces of chaos and anarchy, everything they say we are and we are very proud of ourselves. Up against the wall. Up against the walls Motherfuckers!" What more can I say.

"The Way The Sky Is" is about the true-life tale of the alien abduction of Grenas while a child by bribing him with mash potatoes and gravy (??!). Please enlarge on this!!!
Tommy: I was bribed by Aliens to do something I can’t explain.
Brandon: Come on Tommy what are you reressing?
Tommy: All I know is shortly afterwards I had an asshole in my ear.

  Do you wanna take people off this planet by means of your music?
Tommy: That has always been the intention.
Brandon: At it’s finest moment Farflung delivers the vehicle for a fully euphoric moment. That is what I love and hope you do too.
Michael: I swear I saw Do (leader of the Heaven’s Gate UFO cult) in the front row of one of our shows - or was I just tripping? Anyway he was carrying Tim Leary’s book about LSD aided genetic evolution and space migration called "Neuropolitics" . That gives you a slight taste of what the Farflung experience is all about.

Guessing by the massive psychedelic head-churning bewilderment your music creates, you consume large quantities of hallucenogenics?... How much music is written while under the influence?
Tommy: For the time being the days of Farflung being completely smashed on stage are over.
Brandon: But they have left their mark.
Tommy: I enjoy various psychedelics as inspiration for lyrics and other ideas but I rarely trip on stage anymore.
Brandon: Farflung by nature is hallucinatory because it’s about altered states of consciousness.
Tommy: I am deeply connected to music as a route to shamanstic experience.
Michael: I feel like I’ve altered my brain in a positive way through years of drug taking. The psychedelic state is now a part of my mind, a space I can access at any moment without the aid of a substance. When I am playing music I always feel like I’m tripping when I’m caught in the vibe of the groove.

  How about the old Krautrock tradition of recording only while under the influence of LSD... Would this aid improvisation, or convince you that a mess of chaotic noise is in fact truly a masterpiece??!
Brandon: The artificial paradise is still a paradise.
Tommy: Amen.
(Dan enters the room)
Dan: O.K. see you guys in a couple hours.

Do you still use old 70’s electronic equipment to produce those classic space rock sounds, or are they produced by more modern equipment? What do you prefer to use?
Tommy: I love the sound of vintage synthesisers. I don’t want to bore you with technicalities about sound but old Moogs, Arps etc offer more groovy possibilities for me.

Several years ago you performed a live soundtrack to Carl Drayers classic 1928 silent film "The Passion Of Joan Of Arc"... How did this come about?
Michael: We wanted to try something we had not done before.
Brandon: We were attracted to the film because of it’s subject matter, part of which is religious transcendence.

Is it a project you recorded?
Brandon: Yes, it’s an interesting document of a moment in our history.

What did it sound like?
Brandon: It enabled us to expand on a looser, more atmospheric quality.
Michael: The movie became like another member of the band. It participated in the development of the groove. It gave us a line to play off.

Will you be repeating this type of performance?
Brandon: We are definitely interested in creating pieces of this nature. We are currently working on a recording for Big Jesus that will expand on this idea.
Michael: Alternate/potential soundtracks - total sonic cinematic vision.

What kind of live show do you create? Is it an experience in the sense of an audio and visual show? How important is a light show?
Brandon: Our approach to performing live is to create a unique experience and sometimes a light show is part of this.

Where next for Farflung?
Tommy: Further into the depths of space. Welcome to our planet