Spaceface — featuring past and current members of The Flaming Lips — shared another taste of their self-described “Retro Futurist Dream Rock” (but you can call it psychedelic-pop) with the groovy, dazed-out single + video “Long Time“. Penny Pitchlynn (BRONCHO) aka LABRYS is on lead vocal duties, contemplating life choices and alternate realities amidst a blissfully breezy soundtrack.
The single comes with news of a new LP, Anemoia, out 1/28 via Montreal’s Mothland. Featuring earlier singles like “Happens All The Time”, “Earth In Awe” and “Piña Collider” (featuring samples and choir vocals from actual CERN Large Hadron Collider scientists), the 12 song collection is a contemplative psychedelic pop odyssey; an intoxicating blend of dream-pop, funk rock and post-disco doubling as a positive, if somewhat critical, portrayal of modern life.
What’s your story as an artist?
I’m assuming this is meant to be an origin story type question haha. I’m the youngest of 3 kids by about 8 years, both of my siblings were always drawing, cooking & playing music, as well as my parents so it was a pretty natural step to start making my own music, writing stories or building things. Everything in our house seemed to be about creative problem solving, figuring out the cheapest way to DIY home projects etc. I know a tragic backstory tends to be more compelling to most people but my family has always been supportive of whatever creative endeavor any of us wants to pursue while also being a little competitive so we’re all always striving to do our best and live our most fulfilled lives. I’m very thankful for that.
Most ideas come to me while I’m running or walking the dog, daydreaming about different lyrics, visuals or projects.. Once I share an idea with someone, I don’t think I can stop until I’ve done it.
What inspired this single, “Long Time”?
It’s partially inspired by the multiverse theory that each decision you make branches off into a couple different realities. For example: I choose to go to the Mating Ritual show at Zebulon and I meet up with my friends, have a great time and leave inspired.. Well the multiverse theory (As far as I understand it) dictates that now there’s another reality where I didn’t go, I stay home and something else happens entirely. Maybe that’s a pivotal moment and you just don’t know.
That mixed with.. as a band, for years we’ve had to schedule around my own opposite touring schedule and other member’s commitments. There was a brief period before this song was born where we had just lost 2 key members and everything seemed a little up in the air… After all the long hours, road trips, good times, sad times, ridiculous times and a few relationship shake ups, the prospect of ending the group after 6 or 7 years really got us thinking about how different your life might be if you had simply taken a slightly different route. The daydreaming about is it all worth it? Should I maintain the course or just veer off into a new reality? The answer for me is, of course it’s all worth it! But it’s natural to daydream about all the other possibilities (both positive and negative) and lose yourself in possibility. So the song is truly rooted in a sorta melancholy pondering you do before you make a big decision that’s been a long time coming.
What are some sources of inspiration for your storytelling?
We tend to take a lot of epically small moments from our lives and try to really zoom in on them as if they were a movie and just live in that moment in particular. Our favorite mode of writing tends to revolve around describing the song as if it were a scene in a movie like “that knowing look from across the room you share with someone you don’t quite know that well” and we go from there.
Any funny anecdotes from the time you were recording or writing the album?
We were wrapping up one night and one of the studio dudes was lamenting his inability to fall asleep so I gave him a handful of 10 mg edibles to help him sleep for any given night for the next week.. I guess the dosage got lost in translation and he ate 7 of them before bed and we didn’t know. When I was calling him the next day around 1:30 (we started most days around 9 or 10), I heard him answer the phone outside of the studio door.. I open it to see him blearily staring at me and he says “Hi…do you remember me??” After we figured out what happened and that he was okay, I couldn’t stop laughing and he just had to go to bed for the rest of the day hahah
We were able to salvage the studio day by just recording a bunch of half baked new ideas that gave way to other cool new stuff so it wasn’t a waste but the phrase “Hey…do you remember me????” has stuck and has become a bit of an inside joke.
Tell us about the music video and the idea behind it?
I hit up my friend Marina to help me conceptualize and shoot the thing bc I know she shoots on cool VHS stuff and messes with analog video fx. We played an epic game of phone tag before coming up with the a giant shot list.. But scheduling troubles with extra people and a general lack of freetime led to Marina suggesting we just go to my practice space, set up a green screen and see what happens. I had bought the LED mask you see the robo person wearing on Etsy a while back and figured, “why not bring it”.
While I was cycling through some looks on the mask, Marina loved the demure eyes and the concept of an awkwardly dancing romance robot was born. Then we decided what if the video is about the anticipation of a night out with people, new meetings and how it feels to put yourself out there. After that, it was all about getting our friends Quinn and Shana to put these strings lights I had in their hair, dance in front of a green screen and then just act like they act before a night out.
I’m really pleased with the editing Marina did and with her free flowing creative spirit. She said it would naturally come together and I really think it did <3
What’s a record that shaped your creativity?
I’ve always been inspired by what of Montreal does with shaping an entire world out of his sound. If I had to get specific, I wore out Sunlandic Twins, Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? & Skeletal Lamping. The little textures lurking behind all the hooks, things that pop up once, never to return again, harmonies and the brave way he just says exactly what’s going on in his world. Extraordinary.
Who is an artist or band you look up to today?
I’m fresh off of seeing the band Jungle live which was incredibly inspiring and we haven’t stopped listening to Sam Evian (which it’s been really cool to see him grow from being a fan of Celestial Shores to now).
Any future projects?
I’m currently working on a collaborative record with Labrys and we have other records we’re plugin away at as well. Other than that, we have tours coming up next year and I’m producing a handful of other artist’s records.
Top 3 dream collaborations?
Superorganism, Teebs & Ginger Root
What does music mean to you?
Music is simultaneously an escape from your day to day and a time capsule. It’s a security blanket and lift off. It’s the day and the night and especially those wonderful mystical moments in between. It’s immediate and forever. Constantly changing yet always there. I love it.
How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you?
I call it Retro-Futurist Dream Rock. It’s a cocktail party watching the Earth rise from a lounge in a space ship. Imagine what someone in the late 70’s *thinks* music will sound like in 2021. I believe that’s us. I think our music is the wind blowing carelessly through your hair as you roll your windows down and enjoy the ride.
