The Black Angels, organizers of the festival, are based in Austin but have a member who hails from San Antonio. Credit: Courtesy Photo / The Black Angels

Pairing the sonic abandon of ’60s garage rock with wall-of-sound shoegaze aesthetics, The Black Angels emerged at the tail end of the aughts as one of the guiding lights of the modern psychedelic revival.

The Austin-based outfit developed a rapid underground following thanks to acid-kissed releases such as Passover (2006) and Directions to See a Ghost (2008). The group further cemented its legacy by performing alongside legendary figures such as Texas psych pioneer Roky Erickson and Anton Newcombe of The Brian Jonestown Massacre.

Amid all that, the members of The Black Angels somehow found time to start and curate a music festival called Austin Psych Fest, which grew into an even more expansive cultural gathering called Levitation.

The band is performing Friday, June 28, at San Antonio’s Stable Hall with fellow Austin mind travelers Diastarr.

The Current caught up with Black Angels vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Alex Maas and guitarist Jake Garcia, a San Antonio native, ahead of the show to talk about the band’s musical evolution, its motives for launching Levitation and why musicians and fans continue to seek out psychedelic sounds.

Being in a band that records and tours is pretty demanding on its own, what is it that possessed you guys to complicate your lives further by starting a festival?

Alex: Well, it’s a really good question. One of the reasons why is there just wasn’t anybody else doing it, at the time, really — at least not with the focus on … psychedelic rock ’n’ roll. That’s kind of how it started. So, that’s where the idea came from: to have this psychedelic musical gathering in Austin. That’s why we did it. …

Jake: It strengthens the scene, and it brings people — even people who travel internationally — to the area, to our neighborhood, Austin, Texas, and I think it’s good for everybody.

Alex: In the beginning, I don’t think we were really thinking too much about what it could be. We never thought it would be something like this. … So, just in the beginning, it was just kind of like no one else is doing it, and it’s one of those if-you-build-it-they-will-come type of things. But, yeah, it’s kind of where it should be. We turned over a lot of the control to people who actually know what they’re doing, but we’re still researching bands and constantly adding this master list of bands that we want to eventually try to make it up to like Portishead and Massive Attack. We’re just inching our way up there, year by year.

Some critics dismissed psychedelic music in the late ’60s as being this goofy stuff that would turn out to be a flash in the pan. Why you think psych has endured all these decades?

Alex: I think because it broke the rules, and it broke the barriers of the norm. It was also just a very spiritual type of feeling and writing.

Jake: Yeah, that’s a good point. I agree with that.

Alex: Bands started using fuzz pedals, singing in strange harmonies and having these creative arrangements. They had no rules. There’s a lot of great San Antonio bands who were part of that: the Pandas, the Laughing Kind. So many great ’60s bands, but even in the ’80s, psychedelia still continued. I think people are drawn just to the freedom of the sound, really.

Your past two albums, Death Song and Wildness of Mirrors, strike me as being harder edged than some of the earlier stuff. They also seem to be more overtly political or at least touching on current events. I wonder if those evolutions happened concurrently. Does commenting on the situation we’re in right now, as a nation or as a society, demand a harder edge, maybe an angrier sound?

Alex: I’d like to think from the beginning that we’ve been a band who is a mirror of society, reflecting what’s happening. That’s what art is, right? It’s just a reflection of what’s happening in the world. So, yeah, me being on the inside, it’s hard for me to say that it’s one way or the other, but it’s interesting to hear your perspective on that. I think it’s definitely become more pointed as we become more evolved songwriters. Due to that, I think, there’s maybe more edge to it, or whatever. But I think it’s about what you do with the power that you have, so what are you talking about? Where’s this going? Where’s this leading? A lot of people have songs about partying and riding around on lowriders, and stuff, which is fun too — which is great. I would never tell somebody what kind of lyrics they need to put in their music. Sometimes we just feel there’s a need to comment on things.

Jake: I think it was just a reflection of what we see, and what we feel, and the world’s been through a lot lately — and it always has, yes? But I also think not only has our music gotten a little bit harder, it’s also gotten more dynamic. I think we’re growing as a band.

Alex: Yeah, it’s interesting to see the evolution from where we were back in the day to where we are now. I think we are just a lot more open in terms of where we want to be. We don’t want to be pigeonholed or anything like that. That might sound kind of silly because we’re sitting here calling ourselves psychic rock and roll, but I think—

Jake: Yeah, we’re outgrowing that, probably, and playing with no rules.

Alex: Nobody wants to be making the same album every time, and yeah, we want to evolve as people and as artists.

“Nobody wants to be making the same album every time, and yeah, we want to evolve as people and as artists,” said Alex Maas of The Black Angels. Credit: Courtesy Photo / The Black Angels

Alex, you put out a solo album. I know Jake and others in the band have got projects they do beyond The Black Angels. When you guys are writing, how do you know what’s a Black Angel song or what’s a solo project song?

Alex: That’s a really good question, I don’t really know. I think part of it is, hopefully, it will all just become one thing.

Jake: I think, generally, if I write for The Black Angels, I’m particularly writing for them, and I’ll bring it to the rest of the band, and if they all agree they like it, then we’ll further develop the idea. And sometimes it just doesn’t fit, and that can [go somewhere else]. That’s why we started other projects, because a lot of times if it doesn’t fit with The Black Angels, and we can use that idea for another project. But everybody really has to approve in the band. We work together that way.

Alex: Yeah, we’re definitely a democracy. We kind of vote on everything, probably to a fault, sometimes.

You’re approaching 20 years as a band. How do you keep things fun?

Jake: Well, that’s with songwriting, kind of pushing the boundaries, and coming up with new ideas, and solving these little puzzles. The puzzle of the song. It keeps it exciting. It keeps it fun. It keeps evolving.

Alex: We all like each other still. That helps.

Collaborating, having creative differences and touring together can really weigh on people. It’s good to know you still like each other. How do you avoid getting on each others’ nerves?

Alex: Well, I don’t know. I think that’s just going to happen, inherently. I know that in the beginning, we all lived with each other, so if you can live with each other in a house, and you tour with each other, you know which buttons to push, and which ones not to push. It’s just like any other marriage, so I think having open communication is one thing, that’s really the most important thing, right? Definitely communication. If something’s bothering you, don’t keep it in. Just basic marriage rules.

Jake: Giving each other space is important too. We know each other so well that we know when to touch on the point, or leave it alone.

Alex: Yeah, basic marriage rules.

$29, 8 p.m. Friday, June 28, Stable Hall, 307 Pearl Parkway, stablehall.com.

Subscribe to SA Current newsletters.

Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter| Or sign up for our RSS Feed

Related Stories

This article appears in Jun 26 – Jul 2, 2024.

Sanford Nowlin is editor-in-chief of the San Antonio Current. He holds degrees from Trinity University and the University of Texas at San Antonio, and his work has been featured in Salon, Alternet, Creative...