Chicago’s Protovulcan returned this February with a brand new LP entitled Psychic Pinball (Toy Moon). Led by Will MacLean on synths/vocals and backed by Deric Criss on drums, the pair’s follow-up to 2015’s Stakes Is Low LP includes contributions from Dan Bitney of Tortoise as well as Malcolm Cecil of TONTO’s Expanding Head Band. Additionally, while recorded once again at Frogg Mountain in Chicago, MacLean and Criss also spent some time working with John McEntire (Tortoise, Sea and Cake) at his Soma Electronic Music Studios where he engineered and provided modular programming on vintage synthesizers like the ARP 2600 and EMS VCS3.
While we first heard news about Psychic Pinball back in 2015 when Live Eye Tv talked with the band about their debut LP Stakes Is Low, the final record has been a long time coming. Below, Will discusses the album’s production, as well as some of the delays along the way. In addition to chatting about the LP’s amazing musical guests, we talk about how remixes by Odd Nosdam and Oscillator Bug, for the tracks “Purple Sky” and “Celestial Slingshot,” came about. You can read the interview below, and in it we’ve included a Bandcamp embed for Psychic Pinball, as well as Protovulcan’s video for the track “Game Over Now.”
Don’t miss Protovulcan live on May 29th in Chicago at The Emporium. Doors are at 8pm that night, and the bill includes the bands Diagonal and Speed Babes…
LETV: Congrats on the release of Psychic Pinball. In some ways it has been a long time coming. When we first talked back in October of 2015, you mentioned the next batch of songs was ready to go and that you just needed to get into the studio to record them. What was the process like getting these songs recorded, and did it take longer than expected?
PRTV: Thanks! Yes – what is short is also long. We took a day to do the basic tracks. Then I had a baby, which took some months. Then other personal family things happened, and that took some more time. Also, I really wanted to use the vocoder and synths at Soma, and it took some months to book a day that finally worked. And it took some months to arrange things with some of the other musicians involved. And some more to get remixes. We wanted to try some things that were bigger than on Stakes is Low.
LETV: Protovulcan returned to Frogg Mountain to record the new album. But this time you also did some additional work with John McEntire at his Soma Electronic Music Studios. I believe the studio houses some incredible vintage synthesizers like the ARP 2600 and EMS VCS3. What was it like working with McEntire and these amazing instruments?
PRTV: I am a huge Tortoise fan, and miss my collection of old synths, cuz I sold most of them. It was very much like going to Disneyland, for me. We used a Memorymoog and EMS Vocoder for the vox, and that was half the day – the two of them combined are so giant and vibrant sounding. Then, I’d ask if we could try the ARP 2600, and the VCS3, and the OSCar – and he’d pull them out and plug them in, and we’d run a track a few times to try and work out an idea. It was a blast!
LETV: Psychic Pinball also includes a guest appearance from the amazing musician Malcolm Cecil of TONTO’s Expanding Head Band. How did this collaboration come about, and what was it like working with Cecil?
PRTV: I’d contacted Malcolm first back when I was with Variety Lights, to see if he wouldn’t mind doing something. It didn’t work out back then, but I thought I’d try again. This time around, things worked out. It just took a while to get it to happen. I would’ve loved to go to the studio there and see his gigantic synth, TONTO – but he’d sold it by then. So many beautiful sounds came out of that thing, that I wanted on our album – though it’s the musician who creates them, so I figured he still has those sounds in him, and he absolutely does.
LETV: As if an appearance from Malcolm Cecil wasn’t enough, Tortoise’s Dan Bitney also plays Moogerfoogers, Wurlitzer, and drums on several tracks. How did that relationship come about, and what was it like working with Bitney?
PRTV: I’d bought a Roland TR-727 drum machine from Dan a couple years back. We were sort’ve introduced by my friend Zak, who makes wonderful Pysch-Folk music under the name These Wonderful Evils. Zak forwarded me that Dan was selling the drum machine, so I contacted him. Bitney is one of the most talented musicians I know.
LETV: Psychic Pinball also includes track remixes from Anticon label founder Odd Nosdam and the Chicago musician Oscillator Bug. At the time of the releases last month you professed a love for Nosdam’s 2007 LP Level Live Wires and his more recent Flippies series, as well as Oscillator Bug’s 2014 album Bursts of the Million as your inspiration for contacting the artists. For musicians wondering how to approach soliciting a fellow musician regarding a remix, what advice can you offer about the process?
PRTV: For Oscaillator Bug, I went to one of his shows and introduced myself, then emailed Zaid later. For Odd Nosdam, I just contacted him out of the cold – and he was very approachable. I’d tried a few others, and they were the ones who got back to me. So I suppose, just don’t be afraid to reach out to a bunch of folks.
LETV: Last July Protovulcan released an animated video for the Psychic Pinball track “Game Over Now” directed by Phil Hastings. The visuals even made it onto our Favorite Videos of 2018 list. How did the video come about and did you give any directives concerning the visuals?
PRTV: Phil is a friend of Andy Ramsey, who directed our video for “What’s Your Flavour?” Andy gave us an intro and I thought Phil’s work was amazing, so we talked and it seemed like a good fit. He has a more abstract approach, which I really enjoy. He’s brilliant, so I didn’t give any directions or anything – he just knew to go for a light, bright, exciting sorta pinball look, and what he came up with is amazing!
LETV: Before we wrap things up, let’s talk about what Protovulcan will be up to in 2019. Any more videos planned for the record? Maybe some upcoming live shows? Additionally, I believe you’ve told me a third album is already recorded? Do I have my facts straight on that, and, if so, any details you might reveal at this time?
PRTV: We have a couple live videos for our third record, Life is Twigs. We’re trying to book a show now for a spring release. And hopefully I can say more soon.
