Unknown Mortal OrchestraSpeaking with The Drum Media before their trip to Australia for a very short tour that takes in dates at both the Pyramid Rock and Peats Ridge festivals over New Years, Unknown Mortal Orchestra mastermind Ruban Nielson discussed the band's new album II and the affect that psychedelic drugs had on its creation.
“That's one thing that's always been a big influence,” he admits, when asked about the use of drugs.
“You can get away with a lot of stuff when you're in a band where people expect you to be wasted all the time. You can do things like take acid every day for weeks on end and nobody bats an eyelid. They'd be more surprised if you weren't doing that. I got a little bit carried away sometimes.”
Having said that, Nielson clarifies that the actual recording process was not aided by the use of such substances; when it comes to the business end of the process, the inspiration is almost all musical.
“But when I was making the record I hardly did any drugs at all. It's as much about the records that I listen to than anything else. It's not like [drugs] made me think a lot weirder; a lot of what I do isn't responding to drugs, it's responding to the music that I love and wanting to create music that has those elements.”
Unknown Mortal Orchestra play the following dates:
Saturday 29 December - Tuesday 1 January - Peats Ridge Festival, Glenworth Valley NSW
Sunday December 30 - The Pyramid Rock Festival, Phillip Island, Melbourne VIC
Tuesday 1 January - Anita's Theatre, Wollongong NSW
Wednesday 2 January - The Standard, Surry Hills NSW
II is out through Jagjaguwar/Inertia on Friday 1 February.
