Band Of The Day Interview – Alterpodes

Hello there everyone and welcome back to another instalment for the Band Of The Day Interview. Today in the hottest to introduce you to what is hopefully your new favourite band Alterpodes, a London based Psych band. They are Alternate Spaces, a vibrant mix of noise and melody, darkness and light, spanning continents and distilling dreams. Today we talk to the bands lead guitarist, Reyson Morales.

If could introduce yourselves for us, who are you?

RM: Hi I am Reyson Morales and I play lead guitar and background keyboards for the recordings.

HA: Hi I’m Harry and I sing and play guitar.

RC: Hi I’M Robinson and I’m the drummer.

2. How did you all meet?

RM: Me and Harry met during the beginning of the pandemic online and I started sharing some song ideas that I had recorded music for previously back home in Puerto Rico. Harry came up with new lyrics and melodies for them and the result was just amazing so we decided to carry on. Later on Robinson joined us on the drums, added some new elements to the exiting recordings and has started contributing to the writing process now too.

3. How long have you been playing?

RM: My mom put me in piano lessons when I was around 10 so that sort of gave me some background in music composition and structure etc… but I didn’t start playing guitar until I was around 12 when my grandma gave me an acoustic guitar for my birthday but later on I feel in love with rock and roll and wanted an electric so I started experimenting with putting a mike in the acoustic and running it thru a little speaker to make it sound all distorted lol and I just loved altering the sound of it and that lead to my pedal collection today which is over 50 I think lol.

HA: We’ve been together as a band for a little over a year. I’ve been playing guitar since the age of 6.

4. What three words would you use to describe the music you play?

RM: Melancholic, Euphoric, Transcendent

5. What are your musical influences?

RM: There are so many like: David Bowie, Graham Coxon from Blur, the Reid Brothers from JMC and Brian Molko from Placebo amongst many others.

6. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve seen during a show?

RM: The singer of my previous band Lazy Queen used to jump over the drums at the end of the show and one time he just landed his face on one of the cymbal stands and ended up in the hospital… that was too much punk for me sorry lol.

HA: In a warehouse party once the band seemed to come up through the floor during the set. Haven’t seen that before or since.

7. Being away from the stages since last year, where is the one place you’d visit when the restrictions are lifted?

RM: Would love to play in San Francisco, CA. I have a special love for that city since I went to college there and besides London it’s my favorite place.

HA: I’d second that – I stayed in SF in 2010 and it was some of the best times. Once it’s cooled off a bit I’d like to visit the Sierra Nevada too. Other than that I’d settle for the maldives!

8. What’s the one record you own but wouldn’t ever admit to owning?

RM: Tears for Fears lol.

HA: Tough – there are certain things I’ve bought especially when I first started buying music aged 12 that I don’t listen to much these days. Maybe the Beautiful South?

9. What have you been listening in the last few weeks?

RM: I have been listening to a lot of this new post-punkish bands from Eastern europe like: Holygram, Molchat Doma, Velvet Condom, etc… and Blood Red Shoes which I have always loved!

HA: I just checked out Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard and think they have a really cool “post” classic rock vibe. I didn’t think you could get away such a clear nod to those references but they are doing it and now I want to too! Turns out if you do it with integrity, passion and intelligence that transcends any genre – I feel bad I’d maybe forgotten that – Long live rock n roll!

10. Are there any releases you have planned in the near future?

RM: Yes we have so many songs now that we are planning to release soon, some are already finished and some we are in the process of recording… so stay tuned!

Check out ‘Retro Psycho’ below.