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Here's an example of rudimentary time travel: Take in all you can about the lifestyle, philosophy, culture and music of a certain era, another time...harness it, encapsulate it, become it, and then let it go and reinvent yourself as something befitting for the present day.
As is obvious, you never actually traveled anywhere. Or did you? If you've heard the music of The Transpersonals before, you'd know that it harkens back to a time of true psychedelica and social experimentation. In fact, in listening to some new recordings of theirs right now one might feel like they were on something. One might even swear they just saw some tripped out, vibrant images dance across their line of vision. Once the song was over however, one would realize they're not on drugs, they're under-slept, those weren't vibrant images, it was a pop-up window flashing across their computer screen. But you could have sworn you went somewhere. You could have sworn you were talking to Sgt. Pepper and crew. We talked to The Transpersonals and tapped into some of this creative mystique that seems to be channeling some cosmic power from the diamonds, the sky, and little miss Lucy...
Photo by Phil Nichols
RAPT - People have dubbed your music everything from glam rock, to retro rock, psychedelic, the embodiment of the 60s meets today.....is there a particular way you see yourselves?
Tim - I see myself as a 'ladyboy' at the centre of the universe swinging a chalice around with stars coming out of it, my face is ecstatic because my head is having a continuous orgasm. Around one of the stars is a planet with a band called The Transpersonals on it. The 'ladyboy', the chalice, the stars and planets, and the space it's all in is God. The 'ladyboy' is Jesus. I am both the 'ladyboy' AND me, on the planet, in The Transpersonals. I and the 'ladyboy' are one - therefore, I'm Jesus. Quantum physics has proved this.
Luke - I think all those descriptions are accurate at the same time but we do have our own style when we write and record, called 'The Transpersonals'. A mix of all our personal influences making a new sound.
Tim - A "trans-personal' sound, if you will.
RAPT - What were each of you doing PRE-Transpersonals music-making?
Tim - Conquering dimensions. First, we just hung out; we were all like "I AM!!" But that got boring so we grouped together to find out stuff. We eventually evolved eyes so that there was light! Then hands and feet - space! Soon after that we were imagining the future and remembering the past so time was conquered. Space-time is getting a bit claustrophobic now though. We're currently working on being able to see time as an object beheld in space which passes through the moment of now as opposed to the other way round. To reverse the current model of perception and open up a whole new ultimate dimension of time-space. That would mean we could be everywhere in one moment and see everything, past present and future, at once.
RAPT - Knowing what you know about music and having your own personal tastes obviously, what makes for a really good song to you?
Tim - Well, if I'm honest, I don't really know anything about music. I just know that the harmonious manipulation of sound and rhythm can produce an effect in me which I feel, and this experience can take me somewhere else which is transcendent. What it transcends, what it is and how it works I'm still pondering on, but when it works real well - that's a good experience, so that's a good song! I don't think enough scientific research is being done on this subject.
Luke - To me a good song is one that I haven't heard before but is something that I can still recognize.
RAPT - It had been looking like SXSW was going to be on the table for you this year and then that didn't pan out (which was terrible news). Will you be visiting the States in the not too distant future?
Luke - Yes it's a real shame, we love the States! Last time we were over we got a great reception and enjoyed every minute of it. We will be back very soon!
Tim - All I know is, we're here in England and all the people that work to get and provide funding to support bands are there [U.S.]. Something seems a bit "round the wrong way" about it all. I hope this trend doesn't continue. I'm not very good in the office and I'm pretty sure they're lousy singers.
RAPT - Tim, you've talked about it before, but obviously you've had a very interesting life story that led you to this point and this band. It's really quite amazing. You went through a period of homelessness, dabbled in the drug bit and ended up being institutionalized....I think what's most interesting to hear is how you emerged from that to take on everything you're taking on today, with this band, with your plans for the future? Did you just wake up one day and have a moment of, "Okay, done with that"?
Tim - The homelessness bit was alcoholism. I'd smashed up the apartment that I shared with my girlfriend and been thrown out so I wandered around the streets of London drinking for a while. I then went into a treatment centre for half a year before running off with a girl to live in a tent by the sea with her. This type of carry-on continued until I had a transpersonal peak experience in 2004. This is the tricky part to explain. Hmmnn... Think Eckhart Tolley. That kind of thing. I then however tried to re-experience the experience using strong, natural fungus shipped over from the Amazon, on a daily basis. This ended up landing me in another period of being written off by the doctor that lasted about eight months although it wasn't much help because no psychiatrist had a clue what I was talking about. Then I discovered the work of people like Robert Anton Wilson, Timothy Leary, Ken Wilber, Stanislav Grof etc, etc. I had found the others who knew where I'd been. What a relief. Now, my life's work is to communicate, share and express my personal, continuous exploration of transpersonal psychology and experience. A lot of people think I'm just another psychedelic drug hippy ego freak but they're wrong. A transpersonal life is a life devoted to serving others, not taking magic mushrooms now and again.
Photo by Phil Nichols
RAPT - What motivates the writing for you, any of you? Is it past experiences? Society and cultural observations? All of the above??
Luke - I don't write lyrics but the motivation for writing music doesn't come from social or cultural observations it's just a basic need to get it out, if I didn't I'd go mad.
Tim - Sometimes I'm trying to raise people out of their cultural conditioning, sometimes I'm not. It's hard to go into enough detail in the flash of a pop song. A lot of my lyrics are obscure but do have a specific point. The music I write is whatever is floating about in hyper-space that happens to get downloaded. I have to do a lot of fishing and throw away a lot of crap before I find something I like.
RAPT - So what's in the works for right now....we read that you're in the process of recording...what can we expect?
Luke - We're mixing our first proper album at the moment, which will be out by the summer. On the album there's a bit of garage punk, full-on psychedelic wig outs, acoustic folk, grooves, this one will go all over the place every song different but all with that sensational Transpersonals vibe that you've come to expect.
Tim - In terms of writing projects, I'm working on another album already, and a trippy film based upon the works of Robert Anton Wilson, Terence McKenna and Hermann Hesse - a sort of Beatles HELP! With Transpersonal philosophical content. We're gonna need HELP! With making that so if anyone with the resources to make a film is interested please get in touch!
RAPT - One big comparison you've received in reviews and critiques is The Beatles or early Beatles....where does your sound come from?
Tim - I fucking love The Beatles. It's my fault.
RAPT - Is there a gig States-side that you'd be particularly interested to play? Has there been a memorable gig in England or elsewhere that sticks out in your mind right now?
Tim - We loved being in San Francisco. I'd like to make it the new Bristol for me and just play the regular venues there - regularly. Although my girlfriend, who is American and used to live in San Francisco, says that Bristol is the new San Francisco and I should just stay here. Maybe we're both wrong and I'm gonna end up in the wrong place at the wrong time thus realizing my biggest fear.
Luke - We love playing anywhere that has groovy chicks - we've played a bird sanctuary for example - no kidding!
Tim - Yes, and there's an alligator farm in Florida that I'd love to play at.
RAPT - What other band out there today are you motivated by?
Tim - I got motivated a couple of years ago by The Brian Jonestown Massacre after Luke showed me the film Dig! That was because Anton Newcombe was demonstrating a kind of commitment that really showed me what it meant to be an artist regardless of circumstances. Also the guy from the flaming lips showed me in a documentary that it was possible to work a normal minimum wage job and still be an artist and happy. I now work minimum wage in a coffee shop - and am happy.
Luke - To be honest whenever I see a band live it motivates me, regardless if I'm into the music or not. I know I'd usually rather be playing than watching. Spiritualized blow me away, [and] The Black Angels.
RAPT - Ridiculous question: In your own individual life stories...the "movie that is your life" if you will....what's your personal theme
song?
Tim - Mathar, by the Dave Pike Set - the band I should have been in.
Luke - Rain by The Beatles - another band Tim should have been in.
RAPT - Do you teach other/learn from each other as musicians? What do you take away from being able to work with one another?
Tim - We've never had an argument, got angry with each other or had any kind of thing like that at all, ever. And we lived together, skint, for two years. There's a kind of communication and connection between the three of us that that I learn from and draw upon, and just playing music, spontaneously together, is what it keeps coming back to. This band could be skint and obscure forever, to me it makes no difference, because it's the most successful band of all time.
Luke - For me this is the first and only band I've played in with a natural chemistry to it. We sort of edit each other, often being brutally honest about each others writing, if it's shit or boring we don't use it. But we all take it well and agree because we have trust in each others opinions on music. We're all close friends, a gang, and that's what makes the difference. So yes we do teach and learn from each other, I think that's when a band is working at its best.
Listen to The Transpersonals here
By CFritz/VGonzalez
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chris makes this comment
Sun 06 Dec 2009 02:21:55 MST