Most of you guys met, I think, while working at Amoeba. Did your time there \u2013 with\u00a0all that access to rare music and an environment of fellow music lovers \u2013 shape what you do with the band at all?<\/strong> Having access to a library of music allowed us to easily find and get into lots of records that we wouldn’t have been able to otherwise<\/p>\n You\u2019ve got a song on the new record called \u201cFerus Gallery,\u201d the most important spot for LA art in the \u201860s. To what extent does West Coast history \u2013 art and architecture in particular \u2013 inspire your stuff?<\/strong><\/p>\n Los Angeles has made such a unique mark on the world of art, design and architecture. Like much of Los Angeles history, Ferus Gallery, was an important place and movement that doesn’t get the recognition it deserves. We have interests that inspire us and we have weaved then into our sound, song tittles and artwork.<\/p>\n Do the bands on the Nuggets<\/em> collections and other garage-rock collections have an important place for you guys? I hear that tradition as much as I hear the Byrds and Arthur Lee in your songs.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Yeah there is definitely a unanimous love for \u201860s garage rock between us, especially the stuff that came out of LA\u00a0around that time. Hearing Nuggets<\/em> for the first time was almost like a revelation. It’s a starting point for an endless pursuit of rare and interesting records from that world.<\/p>\n How do you that distinctive Allah-Las sound? Looks like your lead singer plays\u00a0mostly hollow-bodies and semi-hollows. Do you use vintage guitars? Tube amps? Is there a lot of reverb or delay pedals, etc.?<\/strong><\/p>\n We try to use instrumentation that complements each other to create a balanced and full sound. \u00a0We have been playing together long enough to know how to do that with tones as well as perfo You play this kind of garage\/psych blend about as well as can be imagined. I\u00a0wonder if you\u2019ll find, a few years down the road, that you\u2019ve mined this style pretty thoroughly.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n If that’s the case, we won’t have any qualms about moving on. \u00a0We’re not die-hard anything, we simply make music that sounds like something we’d like to listen to. However, we have been digging for\u00a0records from this era and genre for many years and have yet to come to any sort of end to the findings.<\/p>\n Can we expect the next phase of the Allah-Las to involve rockabilly, or glam rock, or post-punk? Or does it feel like there\u2019s a lot of room left where you guys are aiming? We don’t really conceptualize our music in terms of genre or style – like we mentioned, we simply make music that sounds like something we would listen to. We haven’t listened to those specific types of music for many years, and it doesn’t seem to be the direction our tastes are leading us, so it’s highly likely there will never be rockabilly, glam rock, or post-punk in our music.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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\nMatt, Miles and Spencer went to high school together. While working at Ameoba, Matt and Spencer met Pedrum.<\/p>\n![\"tumblr_inline_mgwt13frXi1qfpb6s\"](\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/culturecrash\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/tumblr_inline_mgwt13frXi1qfpb6s-300x295.jpg\")
<\/a>rmance. \u00a0We don’t try to outshine or play over one another – that has been something that has shaped our sound all along. \u00a0We do happen to like older guitars, tube amps, and our penchant for reverb is no secret.<\/p>\n
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