Critics and enthusiasts have called his music music hypnagogic pop, glo-fi and chillwave — lofty terms, to be sure — but there’s no denying that the new movement in music, one that champions the lo-fi aesthetic, is an exciting one.
Filtered through hazy, washed-out synths and undulating melodies, Alan Palomo croons about heartbreak and world-weariness on Neon Indian’s latest album, Psychic Chasms.
The album received the “best new music” label on Pitchfork and has been the subject of much blog buzz in the last few months. But Palomo is used to attention by now — his previous project, the Denton group Ghosthustler, and his electro project VEGA, have garnered high praise. Along with Jason Faries on drums, Ronnie Gierhart on guitar and Leanne Macomber on keys, Palomo is making a pit stop in Austin this weekend.
DT Weekend spoke with Palomo in preparation for this weekend’s Fun Fun Fun Fest show about future plans, Japanese horror flicks and his favorite sandwich.
DT Weekend: When I met you more than a year ago, you were really focused on VEGA breaking big — did you ever think a year later you’d be playing at Austin City Limits Music Festival and Fun Fun Fun Fest?
Alan Palomo: You know, it’s weird. I had aspirations after Ghosthustler to find my own niche, but I didn’t think it would actualize in such a potent way. It’s funny because making music in Austin can be an alienating experience when you’re right out high school — I didn’t have a car, I was going to class, stuff like that.
DTW: I noticed Leanne [Maccomber] of Fight Bite playing with you recently — what’s going on there?
AP: Well, I think it’s nice to have a feminine perspective and balance. It was straight-up testosterone before her. [laughs]
DTW: What kind of things inspire the music in Neon Indian?
AP: I would say, at least for Psychic Chasms, that it’s a sort of strange soundtrack or audio documentary for pivotal moments in life, for relationships over time, and exploring the symptoms of it. It’s a meditation on specific personal experiences, and it’s all based on specific things that have happened.
DTW: What’s the best film you’ve seen recently?
AP: I saw this in Detroit; it’s a movie called “Hausu,” a Japanese horror flick from the ’70s. These Japanese girls go into a haunted house controlled by a witch, who’s controlled by a cat. [laughs] At one point, a girl gets eaten by a piano in stop animation — it’s so intense!
DTW: Who are you looking forward to seeing at Fun Fest?
AP: A friend of mine and I have been die-hard Destroyer fans for a long while — we definitely want to see them.
DTW: How would you describe your perfect sandwich?
AP: I had this amazing sandwich in Zurich, in this great breakfast nook — it’s a freshly baked baguette bread, tuna with mixed-in egg and a soy-based wasabi mayo. Really mildly spicy but still so tasty.
DTW: What album have you listened to the most in the past month?
AP: There’s this guy, Tomita, the album is Mussorgski: Pictures at an Exhibition, and it’s orchestral choir sounds with weird, garbled soundscapes. It’s like classical music with insane synths.
WHAT: Neon Indian
WHEN: Saturday, 6:35 p.m.
WHERE: Blue Stage
DOWNLOAD THIS TRACK: “Deadbeat Summer”
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