David Vandervelde teams with Where the Moon Came From to create “Psychedelic Saturday” a one song, sixteen minute sonic dreamscape, available for free download at www.rockproper.com
During the dead of winter in 2006, David Vandervelde found himself living on the couch of the Moon Tower (the home/practice space of experimental rockers Where the Moon Came From) after his previous home / Chicago recording studio, Pieholden Suite Sound, closed its doors.
This particular winter, the Moon Tower found its residents and various transient guests in a situation of unemployment and ample free time. These wild two months involved excessive drinking, fish fries, Star Wars screenings and other unconventional efforts to stay warm in the bitter Chicago winter. Although unclear at the time, many good things came out of this “Dude Camp”. David Vandervelde landed a record deal with Secretly Canadian, and Where the Moon Came From recorded their most prolific jam to date, “Psychedelic Saturday”.
Where the Moon Came From and David Vandervelde entered their newly renovated practice space on a cold Saturday to party and jam for a while, what transpired was a 4 hour improvised exploratory session that changed their perception of music forever. Luckily, a few room mics were sent to a tape recorder before the freak-out transpired, capturing the essence of the experience. Robbie Hamilton on drums, Johnny Caluya on guitar, Matt DeWine on bass and David Vandervelde playing keys.
The tapes were dubbed “Psychedelic Saturday” and it soon became clear that somewhere in the recordings was "a record". Using the first 16 minutes of the journey, Matt Dewine spent the next year mixing, manipulating and tweaking the recordings while David Vandervelde overdubbed the sounds and layers of music that were heard during the trip but not necessarily captured or played. Like the original session, all overdubs were done in a transcendental state of improvisation and then edited. The initial jam was recorded to four tracks, the overdubs, soundscapes, reamping, delays, reverb effects, tape saturation, and re-reamping took an additional 300 tracks.
“Psychedelic Saturday” follows in the footsteps of psych-rockers Amon Duul II, CAN, Mahavishnu Orchestra, and the Mars Volta. The album will be available for free download on February 23, 2009 at www.rockproper.com.
DAVID VANDERVELDE dropped out of the sky in early 2007 with the well-received indie classic The Moonstation House Band. That album more than lived up to its title's potential, providing a healthy slab of cosmic, primal rock boogie. While this debut was the product of Vandervelde being isolated in the studio, being allowed to follow his every musical whim, the upcoming record Waiting For The Sunrise (due out August 5th '08) is a product of a new sort of isolation. After relocating from Chicago to Brooklyn, Vandervelde struggled to find his place in the new musical community. This seclusion led to most of the album being composed in his apartment on an acoustic guitar.
Although Waiting for the Sunrise is a decidedly more rootsy effort, Vandervelde has lost none of the exotic swagger that colored his debut. But this time around the savage is mixed with the sublime in a way that is reminiscent of the classic, sentimental pop of the 70’s. The production emboldens the AM radio vibe that prevails throughout the album, sliding effortlessly between hazy rock shuffles and ballads for wood paneled basements. On this sophomore effort Vandervelde has put his best foot forward with a focused set of songs that recall classic themes of journey and infinity. Rarely has a sun-drenched folk-rock album sounded this confident.
For the first time, members of his band contributed to the recording sessions and the finished album features a song co-written by ex-Wilco member Jay Bennett. The finished product is the result of Vandervelde having extended himself both musically and emotionally, looking both deeply inward and outward for inspiration.
David now permanently resides in Nashville, Tennessee.
Dave, I realized you had a new album when I saw it at the Campustown Co-op Records. Nice songs. You've come a long way since Fable. I just put up a couple songs off of my new album also. Take care, friend.
saw you tonight at R Bar... overall great gig.. love your chord changes.. wished you played Murder in Michigan however, you did grace me.. with Lying in Bed.. xo.. hope you play LA again soon.. JG
