A New Cult In Town: Christian Bland Interview

Speaking of Psych Fests during SXSW, you have parted with one of your former co-producers who actually did plan "a Psych Fest" during SX this year -- can you shed any light on what happened to that relationship?

In 2007, Adam Demetri and I had the idea to throw a psychedelic music festival in Austin. The Black Angels had been on tour for almost three years by this point and the contacts we had made with other bands while on the road made me realize that I could potentially have them all come to Austin and have a grand reunion of all our psychedelic friends. So in January of 2008, I started to book the bands for Psych Fest 1. Adam's job was to secure the space where we would have the event. He became friends with a fellow named Paz (Dhody), who owned the Red Barn on North Burnet, and Paz allowed us to use his barn for the first Austin Psych Fest. In early 2008, Adam asked Rob Fitzpatrick and James Oswald to help us out. Rob became our web designer/event organizer, and James headed up the filming/directing aspect of the festival. Alex Maas and Jennifer Marchand (Bleu French Laundry Promotions) soon joined the team as well. Our idea, after the first festival, was to continue use of the Red Barn as a psychedelic music venue, where we could book all of our friends’ bands whenever they came through town, but considering that we lost thousands of dollars on the event, Paz no longer allowed us to use his barn.

For several months we figured this was the first and last Austin Psych Fest. Then, the five of us got back together and started to plan for round two in January 2009. Once again I booked all the bands and both Adam and I helped to secure the Radio Room on 6th Street through James Moody, the owner of The Mohawk. Rob helped manage the website, James continued to oversee the filming aspect, Alex helped to gather sponsors, and Jennifer did our local PR. The Black Angels relationship with Adam Demetri turned sour at this point. He had been out on the road with us doing projections and he became unsatisfied with his position and payment, so upon returning home we severed ties with him. It's important to understand that Adam actually came home with more money doing our projections, than any of the actual band members did.

From the beginning, the goal of Alex, James, Rob, and I was to help preserve the psychedelic heritage of Austin, knowing that it was going to take a lot of work with little or no financial gain. Adam however was in it to make money from the get go. So our goals didn't match up. Thus the four of us no longer wanted to align ourselves with Adam Demetri and Live Music Capitol -- their obvious purpose was financial gain. Adam has lied and claimed that he is the sole founder of Austin Psych Fest, which is a slap in the face to The Black Angels. He KNOWS that without The Black Angels and the hours I spent booking bands, there would've been no Austin Psych Fest. Yet, he claims that he "hired The Black Angels for HIS festival." After Austin Psych Fest 2, James, Rob, Alex, and I heard an angry Adam proclaim, "I'm through with Psych Fest, I want nothing to do with this anymore!"

That gave us the green light to move on without him. To this day he claims to be the reason that both The Black Angels & Austin Psych Fest exist! Message to Adam: Hang on to your ego.

The Black Angels are the reason Austin Psych Fest exists. It's because of the contacts we've been able to make through The Black Angels that this festival is around. I personally do all the booking with some help from the other three.

Thanks for speaking with us Christian and all the best this year. To round things off, can you tell us more about The Reverberation Appreciation Society?

It's a new cult in town formed to worship Reverberation. We open each meeting by singing 'Reverberation' by the 13th Floor Elevators.

Austin Psych Fest: [Official] [MySpace]
The Black Angels: [Official] [MySpace]