Meet 60s/70s revival band Levitation Room. Their new album is saturated with that psychedelic experience. The band took their time to find the sound they wanted with the right producer (Glenn Brigman) as well. The band played Brooklyn’s Baby’s All Right this past weekend. Even though the band doesn’t seek fame, if it comes it comes. The band is on a spring tour currently that will wrap up on May 22 in Texas.
I talked to the band about their new album Strange Weather, their trippy sound, and the lead single “Heaven”.
Where did you get the name Levitation Room from?
The name was inspired after having a jam session while on mushrooms. When we stopped playing music and took a break Julian said that he felt like he was levitating. Initially Julian thought of just the word ‘Levitation’ but after a quick Google search we found out that there was a band from the 90s already named Levitation. We decided to add ‘Room’ as a nod to our studio lockout that some of us lived in, and spent countless hours cutting our teeth.
Where did you get the inspiration behind your tripped-out psychedelic sound?
We’re big fans of 60s and 70s music and when we first started we were definitely more inspired by the psych rock of those eras. We also were inspired by contemporary bands doing similar styles.
Did the band form in Los Angeles?
Yes, we were all born and raised in Los Angeles.
Tell me about the new album Strange Weather. How long did it take to record it?
This album took some time to find the right sound. We initially recorded most of the songs from the album once over but decided to make some revisions so we began looking for a producer we’ve never worked with. Eventually, we were connected to Jason Kick and we did four songs with him as a test run. After we recorded those few songs together we all felt Jason would be a great fit to complete the album. This was the first time we’ve recorded anything with a producer other than our own 5th member, Glenn Brigman, but it just felt natural working with Jason. He was like one of us.
You guys were quoted as saying you want to make a living but do not care about the fame. Is this still true?
We believe if we can make a modest living doing what we love, then that’s plenty. Fame, notoriety, adulation, public scrutiny… you can keep it.
The album’s lead single “Heaven” is a great tune. Can you tell me more about it?
“Heaven” was actually one of the last songs that was written for the album. It started out with our guitarist Gabe strumming the chord progression and it was one of those moments where we all paused, looked at him and said “Yoooo… what was that?!” Next thing you know, we had a whole new song on our hands that we felt had to be added to the album.
You excited to play Baby’s All Right?
We’re always excited to be in New York and Baby’s All Right is one of those venues we’ve all heard of so we’re looking forward to it.
