We had a chance to chat with Indie-Psych rock duo Plasma Chasms about what makes a psychedelic track so addictive
The brainchild of Australian Jane Drewett and American Adrian Guerrero, Plasma Chasms formed in Los Angeles in 2020.
Self-releasing their first two singles “Echoes” and “Empty Spaces”, the duo has gone on a psychedelic journey through the music timeline.
With elements of both pop and rock evident in their sound, Plasma Chasms is an experimental outfit that reflects themes of the human condition.
With lyrics about the fruitful essence of youth to existential crises and being an intergalactic entity observing our sacred timeline.
All this and more is in their new Album ‘Chrysalis’, as they explore what makes the human experience human.
So join us on our own Psychedelic journey through the minds of Plasma Chasms.
HAPPY: What are you up to today?
ADRIAN: Hey happy mag people! Well, mostly promoting the album’s release. As you know Chrysalis was released on the 30th of August to fantastic reviews.
Other than that I’m putting together some live shows to take the experience on the road.
JANE: I have been watching some of the Why Files and working on Art for some content and merch ideas – some space monsters.
HAPPY: Tell us a little about where you live, what do you love about it?
ADRIAN: I live in good ol sunny southern California. More specifically Los Angeles. I love the diversity. Lots of history, culture and things to do. And the weather is absolutely fantastic most of the time.
JANE: Also Los Angeles. I moved here from small town Australia a few years back, the most interesting thing here to me is the history.
If I go hiking someone can point out – oh the Rolling Stones used to record there when they were starting out, or here’s the guitar shop where Eddie Van Halen used to bring his guitar to get fixed, there’s The Whiskey where every incredible band has played.
You might see Danny Devito when you go to the movies. It’s a melting pot of art, film and music.
HAPPY: Who are your biggest psychedelic influences, and how have they shaped your sound?
ADRIAN: Classic would be The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd. Modern would be Radiohead, Tame Impala and Unknown Mortal Orchestra.
They all have affected various aspects of my songwriting process. Vocally and melodically: The Beatles and Tame Impala. Strange and cool sounds: Hendrix and Radiohead.
Atmosphere: Pink Floyd and UMO. Obviously, It’s not as simple as that but generally speaking, that’s how I blend these influences.
However, I think more than anyone the Beatles have shaped how I write songs.
JANE: Apart from all the big names Adrian already mentioned – I love finding obscure retro psych bands from the golden era of 1960s psych and rock & roll, krautrock, garage rock fuzz, foreign psych albums which include native music and instruments for really unique psych combos.
Well-known favourites are Gandalf, 13th-floor elevators, funkadelic, The Australian psych movement was a major push for me to start making the kind of music I want to hear, Tame Impala, Pond, GUM Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, Bananagun, King Gizzard, Dope Lemon.
I love the analogue sound of a guitar, retro psych always has me chasing guitar tones and delay and echo effects from old albums.
Sounds that remind me of a sunset but with these fuzzy furry tones. I like to create and use interesting tones with the synth and use it like a lead guitar instead of just for atmosphere.
Radiohead is a big influence with their use of syncopated layers.
HAPPY: Can you walk us through the creative decisions behind the album’s sequencing and how it reflects the transformative journey you envisioned?
JANE: Each song would start a little influenced by a song or album one of us has listened to recently. The songs then take on a little of a life of their own, but it was important to us that there was cohesiveness.
Some of the songs are softer and introspective, some are grittier and darker and we put a lot of thought for the listener who listens to this album linearly as an art form, but also for the listener who hits shuffle.
Each song has a little piece of different chapters from my life but explores situations that are relatable to everyone. We are all connected by threads as we go through life that weave a tapestry.
A tapestry of different tales but ultimately we are all here experiencing the same things – birth, love, loss, and passing on to the next journey.
ADRIAN: We originally had it planned to mimic a descent into madness but that made it a darker experience.
Throughout the process of recording, I found myself going through a lot of personal loss and issues which echoed the transformation concept we were going after.
We decided to sequence the order to express the transformation I was experiencing which makes it an incredibly personal touch.
HAPPY: Your lyrics often touch on abstract concepts like transformation and existential crises. Can you discuss the importance of ambiguity in your writing?
ADRIAN: Ambiguity in our lyrics is important. It allows the listener to create their own narrative or experience with it.
If it’s just my story or Janes, then it’s relatable but doesn’t become part of you. We really want the listener to not only relate but to make these songs theirs.
It’s easy to write “bubble gum, fun,” songs but sometimes having that uncomfortable talk is what makes us grow.
Knowing that someone else has or is having that conversation with the universe makes this existence a little less lonely.
JANE: Transformation really is represented by the ouroboros. The cycle of destruction and rebirth.
No matter what our specific situation is as a collective we are here experiencing the same cycle and this forces our growth.
We want to connect to everyone in a way they can relate to it through their own life in whatever stage of growth and transformation they are currently experiencing.
HAPPY: The album’s rhythmic foundation is both propulsive and intricate. Can you elaborate on your approach to drumming and percussion?
ADRIAN: I love, love, love groove. If a beat can make you move then that’s gold. On the other hand, I also like to construct evolving patterns and dynamic shifts between beats.
For songs like “Interstellar Baby” I recorded Congas and other odd percussion instruments that I’ve never recorded or played before.
There’s a vibraslap and a timbale on there. It was way more fun than it should have been.
For other songs like “Already Waiting”, I had to slowly evolve the drums to build up the tension as the song progresses.
HAPPY: Tell us about your synths. How do you select and manipulate synthesizers to create the album’s distinctive textures and atmospheres?
JANE: Sometimes I will find a few particular tones and sounds that work for the song initially, sometimes I will work on finding several melodies that feel right for the song.
I work with layers so I’ll have sounds morph or pick up the melodies while working to blend tones together or have particular sounds emphasizing aspects of the melody.
It’s unique to the track. The layers really can change whether the chords are major, minor or neutral so you can play with the vibe of the
song, change it, and bring it back. Adrian and I work on the interplay between the synths and the guitars. Really I am working to capture a feeling, in my chest.
Making music to me feels like carving a goddess into a block of marble. Slowly, chipping away, carving, uncovering the form that was always in the stone.
HAPPY: How do you balance a desire for experimentation with the need for cohesion and restraint in your songwriting?
JANE: Adrian is the voice of cohesion and restraint haha. I think I am a little unbridled and he brings the questions on how is this idea going to fit into the song.
Often though I cannot verbalize what I am planning and when I can put it together he finds the next piece.
We try to dedicate a section of the song for experimentation and then usually as we build up the verses and choruses we expand these elements out into the song so they can build naturally into our experimental sounds.
ADRIAN: I’m all about structure and patterns and I think it’s a very distinctive line for me.
Anything and everything is open for debate but generally, it has to still sound good.
Experimentation is great until it’s just weird for the sake of being weird. I like a good song, whether you have trippy elements or a piano or an acoustic.
It still has to transfer over and be as good. That being said I’m much more into experimentation with arrangement and song structure.
Weird noise department isn’t my forte so…..maybe that’s why it can’t be weird?
HAPPY: Where do you see Plasma Chasms evolving from here, and what sonic possibilities excite you for future exploration?
JANE: I want to work on expanding my synth library and developing more unique and interesting sound and sound effects.
I also have been thinking on the idea of creating a film that journeys with the next album so that there is a full visual aspect with the art.
ADRIAN: We have a lot of ideas waiting for us and I’m quite excited to get working on them. I think we can go trippie.
More tremolo, more melting sounds. You know “trip-inducing sounds”. Without losing the song of course.
I want to acquire a mini Moog and play with that or maybe get Jane to toy with it and see what we come up with. Maybe a little more beef in the next one.
HAPPY: Lastly, what makes you Happy?
JANE: Happiness is something you find in yourself by being thankful for the moment as it is.
ADRIAN: Sometimes I think I know but it eludes me. Right now…it’s playing with the dog. He bites a lot so I have to show him how not to. I point to my teeth and say no but he doesn’t get it.
It’s a process I hear. Anyway, thanks for listening.
Stay tuned to Plasma Chasms here.
