R13 talk to Bobby Hecksher of psychedelic rockers The Warlocks during their UK tour.
R13: How is the tour going?
Bobby:It's been alright, we're right at the end of touring for about three months so we're a bit tired but it's been cool
R13: Do you find touring in Europe different to the US?
Bobby:Yes it's a lot different - the food's different and there are different curfews. In the US shows can go on until 2 or 3am, whereas here they have to finish by a certain time.
It's really awkward when there's a curfew sometimes.
R13: What's been the best thing about this particular tour?
Bobby:Last night in Sheffield was fun; we all had a good time and we spent a bit more time there. London was quite awkward as we did an instore and I don't like doing them.
R13: Being such an experimental band, have there been times when the crowd really just haven't got it?
Bobby:Well, yes and the thing about the different here is that you can spend years touring the States and not achieve much as an experimental rock band whereas here you can do experimental weird stuff and you get classified into a genre and it's probably something to do with that.
R13: You constantly draw comparison to bands like The Velvet Underground and Brian Jonestown Massacre, does that get tedious or is it an honour to be compared to such great bands?
Bobby:No not at all, I love those bands, they're some of my favourite bands.
R13: Who would you say your favourite bands at the moment are then?
Bobby:Bob Dylan, I'm getting into a lot of old 60's stuff like The Byrds and I like a lot of experimental music but I don't have on particular favourite.
R13: Did you grow up listening to 60's music like that then?
Bobby:I haven't got through all of it yet, I'd heard The Byrds before but I only recently got into their album and there's always something new from that period that I'm getting into but I was late getting into a lot of that stuff and I didn't get into The Rolling Stones and so on until later on. I was into a lot of the weirder acts first for whatever reason.
R13: Who are your favourite contemporary bands?
Bobby:Black Angels, Ariel Pink. I still like Interpol, we toured with them, they're very nice people, very professional. I still love Brian Jonestown Massacre.
R13: You've said in interviews before that the band's philosophy is "destroy and rebuild", do you therefore feel like each of your albums is better than the last or is the sound just different?
Bobby:I think the albums are just getting different because we're changing things, 'Heavy Deavy' is definitely a very experimental record and I'm moving back towards songs for the next record, we're working on that at the moment.
R13: Do you sit down and write the tracks or do the band get together and contribute?
Bobby:We only do that in certain songs that are jams, the rest I write most of the parts except drums for and show the parts to everybody.
R13: What are the key guitar effects that go into making your very unique sound?
Bobby:We all use different effects pedals. We use wah, delay, auto-wah. I use two amps at the same time, JC does all kinds of experimental stuff with delays, different textures and colours.
R13: Do you emulate 60's techniques in your recording sessions too?
Bobby:Yes we try to use all the classic preamplifiers but we don't record to tape anymore because it's too expensive, we do record to digital.
R13: Do you approve of other digital developments like downloads then?
Bobby:It's a tough one. I still don't know how I feel about it. As an artist it feels like we're getting the short end of the stick, I think bands like us won't be able to come here anymore because of the costs. The economy in the States is so bad and everyone's taking our music for free so we can't gig and if we make records people aren't going to pay for them. It seems that a lot of bigger bands give everything away for free but they can afford that.
R13: Do you have specific aims for the band still or do you just enjoy doing what you do?
Bobby:To make a great record, I feel that we've established some great songs but I want to make a more solid record from start to finish, which is very difficult to do.