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BIO * THERMOSPHERIC * PSYCHECLECTIC
Obscured By Biographies
"Thermospheric" (Live) Obscured By Clouds ®
"Thermospheric" (Live) Obscured By Clouds ®
2017 PSYCHEDELIC ROCK BAND OBSCURED BY CLOUDS TO RELEASE THERMOSPHERIC OCTOBER 27TH VIA PSYCHECLECTIC RECORDS
"Pink Floyd was really responsible for my love of music, and I don’t throw that band name down loosely," says William Weikart, the frontman and mastermind behind Obscured By Clouds, a psychedelic, art-rock outfit that doesn't sh
2017 PSYCHEDELIC ROCK BAND OBSCURED BY CLOUDS TO RELEASE THERMOSPHERIC OCTOBER 27TH VIA PSYCHECLECTIC RECORDS
"Pink Floyd was really responsible for my love of music, and I don’t throw that band name down loosely," says William Weikart, the frontman and mastermind behind Obscured By Clouds, a psychedelic, art-rock outfit that doesn't shy away from its heavy Pink Floyd influences. Described by Classic Rock Magazine as, "contemporary touchstones are Type O Negative and Mastodon’s artier moments… The results are exceptional and impressive," Weikart delivers a brand of stoner rock that has one foot in the classics, but isn't afraid to take charge and forge its own spacey, oft-times tripped-out path.
"I delved deeply into their music and catalogs," Weikart continues, "as I did with so many bands in an exhaustive, passionate inculcation of music and the creative process. Standing alone, Pink Floyd was everything that made music amazing, I would say. If I were laying on a beach with crashing waves in a half conscious state, there would be no better music floating across the sand than 'Relics,' 'More,' 'The Madcap Laughs,' or even early 'Tangerine Dream.' Okay, and one hundred other bands too.”
It's Weikart's unabashed love of Pink Floyd that not only named his band, but gave him the foundation for Psycheclectic, the band's eight track debut which found Progressive Magazine proclaiming that Obscured By Clouds "employs a hefty dose of Pink Floyd influence as a launching pad… into space/psych/prog realms, which also summons hints of Nick Drake, Bowie on barbiturates, and Hawkwind. The band deftly dabbles in acoustic texturing amidst flowing symphonic atmospheres."
For Weikart, however, the recording process is only a small part of the process. Weikart lives for the live show, both as a spectator and a performer. Recording five performances - four in Seattle and one in Los Angeles - during the Psycheclectic tour, Weikart's Psycheclectic Records is gearing up for the October 27, 2017 release of Thermospheric, an eight-track live album that brings Psycheclectic to life, both through an audio recording which will be released as a CD and digitally, and high-definition videos of the performance accompanying every song, which will be released on Blu-Ray. The Blu-Ray will also feature a secret track not available on the CD.
Included on Thermospheric are seven of the eight songs from Psychecletic ("Hot Little Box" is absent) and two new ones: "Miraculous" and "Bleed."
The outcome, as Weikart describes it, is "The sound of five musicians rendering their love of music through their heart into sound and the songs you hear. It is always raw and on the verge of edge of feedback or meaningful lyrical vibrance. The idea is that the vastness of our perceptions are underwhelmed by our ignorance and the only way to overcome this is to extend our attention span far into the details of meaningfulness and participation."
Of the two new songs, "Bleed" pre-dates the release of Psycheclectic, but Weikart was never quite pleased enough with the recordings, so it was excluded from their debut. However, he is very happy with the live version, and thus happy to finally see it released commercially. "Miraculous" wasn't completed by the time Psycheclectic was to be recorded, so the song got shelved — until now.
"'Miraculous' was an underdeveloped song and didn't make the cut in time," Weikart says of the song. "I was able to see through more dimension to what I wanted to say, and then later filled in the empty spaces in the process of our live performances."
Of the two new songs, Weikart decided to include them on Thermospheric because he "always likes to play new music at a gig so people can feel that they’re a part of the creative aspect of our journey. I am prepared to dare ourselves to let go and play improv, and everyone accepts the dare - we are freed in that letting go - that’s where the qubit goes musically and willfully."
"'Bleed,' he continues, "is a song originally written, but never fully released, and now we have a live version and this is the first time it's officially released, which works for me. People could see the new song live without a preconception of it because it's new. If I can include the audience in a truly live experience, I want to try something new in bringing out the soul of progressive ideas about music and instrumentation. It’s okay to play what you feel and not cut yourself off from the love you feel for the raw instrument in your hands: keys, strings, sticks on your fingertips can’t be too far off and away from our spirits."
That is why Weikart is so proud to bring Psycheclectic to life with Thermospheric.
The opening song, “Soft Cheeked and Worried” flows out of the introduction with the sonic imagery of drifting desert clouds holding the darkness yet unrevealed, the light on a the next horizon, and the unknown. The song begins starkly barren with only one rhythm guitar juxtaposed against thunder, then flourishing instrumental entrances prevail, the grand piano’s frenetic unleashing, and the warm tones of an endless sustain of electric guitars just on the edge of feedback, before the darkness falls and such feedback envelopes the clouds of sound. This song draws through stark verses and descending chromatic virtually atonal choruses, stop CODA’s, and concludes with a droning wall of sound of beaming e-bow guitar sustained feedback and oscillating synthesizers. The music video shots of the band on stage use so much strobing on the Blu-ray that we need a WARNING for people who may be triggered by flashbacks and seizure safety protocols.
“Zoë Zolofft” holds true as an obscure Syd Barrett-esque song in homage, a song about a girl, a sitar, and modern pharmakinetics; and concludes with the sonic imagery of the splintered spokes of a broken and wobbling wheel via Mitch Mitchell backwards Hendrix-ian backward beat.
“Faiths’ Soul” ingathers all the world’s religiosity and dogma versus meaninglessness and distortion that subdue our consciousness and participation; such capacity to think beyond these limitations and endure has it’s own source and singularity beyond ourselves, the weight of humanity, and modern cultures’ illusions.
“Consider This A Message” strikes the oceanic waves pounding the hull of the ghostly ship of fools sinking, the crew clawing climbing overtop to reach the mast and be the very last to sink. Star-crossed and untoward, the fated take the longest road.
“Cast Close the Gate" is a three-minute song with the obligatory grand ending of feedback unlike anything you may have heard before. The feedback on the guitar at the end of the song alone will reset the gauge for guitar weirdness. The guitar sounds like a space-craft crashing on a forbidden planet.
“Love’s Love” has a more mellow cadence, that ascribes the duality and simultaneity in few words with a Floydish-ly acoustic accompaniment.
Ending with "The Drip Feed (Spoken Word)," the entire album has an intriguingly measured intensity revealing the themes of modernity in all their complexity and simplicity.
If you have never heard Psycheclectic, Thermospheric takes it to another dimension for you. If you have, Thermospheric steps out from behind all veils, preconceptions, or limitations here. This album is a very eclectic amalgam holding potential for an introspective journey waiting for discovery.
"The instruments produce the thematic thermospheric elements; there's a lot of sound and instrumentation going on here," Weikart says of Thermospheric. "The lyrics are the indulgence of commentary over the complete unknown and jagged structure of the raw instruments, semi-tones, and chords. The instrument becomes a beast, a spear, a vast bow, a laser landscape set fire by a sheet of sound and feedback, a weapon of love to subdue and maybe even slay. The venue becomes the sound reflecting off the back of the room."
If one thing is clear, it's that words are unable to describe Weikart, Obscured By Clouds, and Thermospheric. One must listen to the album themselves, preferably on headphones, in a dark room, to fully grasp the entirety of Obscured By Clouds' vision.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT ALEX STEININGER AT IN MUSIC WE TRUST PR.
"Thermospheric" (Live) Obscured By Clouds ®
"Thermospheric" (Live) Obscured By Clouds ®
"Thermospheric" (Live) Obscured By Clouds ®
"Thermospheric is an exceptionally well recorded live album conveying a strong sense of immediacy, where improvisation can be particularly exciting.
...Weikart's swaggering, Jim Morrison-like...and San Francisco-scene Summer of Love... ...Echoes of Nick Cave's Southern doom rock... The vocals ...music...set mind altering moods
"Thermospheric is an exceptionally well recorded live album conveying a strong sense of immediacy, where improvisation can be particularly exciting.
...Weikart's swaggering, Jim Morrison-like...and San Francisco-scene Summer of Love... ...Echoes of Nick Cave's Southern doom rock... The vocals ...music...set mind altering moods, lyrics being a prime component."
- Marlin May
Progression Magazine
ProgressionMagazine.com - 2017
"Taken from the psych-art rock outfit’s upcoming live album Thermospheric, “Soft Cheeked And Worried” is a searing blast of dreamy riffs set against shifting soundscapes that ebb and flow with storms of synth-laden grooves, layered guitars and the kind of percussive primal stomp that will keep this track in your head all day.
'The instrument becomes a beast, a spear, a vast bow, a laser landscape set fire by a sheet of sound and feedback, a weapon of love to subdue and maybe even slay. The venue becomes the sound reflecting off the back of the room.'"
- Alex Green
Stereoembers Magazine 2017
http://stereoembersmagazine.com/exclusive-video-premiere-obscured-clouds-soft-cheeked-worried/
"Yes, early to mid-Floyd is used as a starting point, but what the likes of "Faith's Soul" and "Soft Cheeked And Worried" revolve round is much tougher and rougher than you might expect, even if there are numerous textures and an intentional fragility revealed in places. Frontman (and band leader) William Weikart also possesses a more forceful vocal attack than you might expect, leading a decidedly psychedelic experience to ultimately feel far heavier than initially expected. In fact with a style that at times reminds of Justin Sullivan of New Model Army, much of Thermospheric hits like a hybrid between aggressive rock and the race for space.
- Steven Reid
Seaoftranquility.org 2017
http://www.seaoftranquility.org/reviews.php?op=showcontent&id=20384
“Faiths’ Soul” ingathers all the world’s religiosity and dogma versus meaninglessness and distortion that subdue our consciousness and participation; such capacity to think beyond these limitations and endure has it’s own source and singularity beyond ourselves, the weight of humanity, and modern cultures’ illusions.
“Pink Floyd was really responsible for my love of music, and I don’t throw that band name down loosely,” says William Weikart, the frontman and mastermind behind Obscured By Clouds, a psychedelic, art-rock outfit that doesn’t shy away from its heavy Pink Floyd influences.
"Recording five performances – four in Seattle and one in Los Angeles – during the Psycheclectic tour..." "Thermospheric, an eight-track live album that brings Psycheclectic to life... high-definition videos of the performance... The Blu-Ray will also feature a SECRET TRACK not available on the CD."
- RJ Frometa
VENTS MAGAZINE 2017
"The group’s ‘Psycheclectic’ made a strong impression back in 2009 with its combination of Pink Floyd progressive rock alongside a range of other rock influences.
Weikart’s vocals head towards the lower registers, at times coming off sounding a bit like Danzig. It’s the type of track that lulls you into a hazy fog but holds your attention the whole time through with sudden melodic transitions and some spontaneous soloing. The video’s worth checking out too, as trippy imagery is superimposed over the group’s performance.
...They’ve put together a live album that has production values on par with some studio efforts. Consider This A Message is one of the darker, moodier tracks the band has to offer, but if you dive into the rest of the songs you’ll discover a diverse listen that spans the entirety of the rock spectrum."
-Chris Dahlberg
ToMetal.com 2017
https://tometal.com/video-premiere-u-s-psychedelic-rock-band-obscured-by-clouds/
2017 VENTS MAGAZINEInterview with Willaim Weikart & RJ Formenta (Vents)
How was the film experience?
"We thought it best to show our actual live performance along with the cinematic video of the stage overlaid with imagery ascribing the lyrics and song concepts in an Art Film genre approach. The video has some stunning choice footage of 1080p HD multiverse as an exploration into all light forms so the stage comes alive with the selected tasty bits that warm the dimensions of the heart; the heart of love vs. the heart of darkness also shown. Victory only lasts when from the heart that is truly in love."
Read more at: http://ventsmagazine.com/2017/10/09/interview-obscured-clouds/
"The songs are also so much more than just a tribute to this hugely artful time in underground music; the greatest compliment I can pay the band is that this feels like music that Floyd would perhaps have continued to create had Syd Barrett been able to keep a hold of his sanity and musical creativity. …I really am a huge fan of eccentric’s in music which this album really embraces (I also get overtones of one of British rock music’s great eccentrics, Julian Cope, throughout the mix, particularly in the vocal style), it is music designed to not only challenge but to also scare and disturb, music that takes you to different places, from the Indian sitar on the Barrettesque Zoe Zolofft to the industrially horrific guitar feedback on Cast Close The Gate.
…This is proper deep, meaningful, eccentric, dangerous and ultimately excellent rock music for grown up explorers of disturbing soundscapes that need a cautionary warning about the amazing head(y) …capabilities of Obscured by Clouds.
-Jez Denton
Progradar.org - 2018
http://www.progradar.org/index.php/2018/05/24/review-obscured-by-clouds-thermospheric-by-jez-denton/
Interview with William Weikart from Obscured By Clouds – by Jez Denton
After thoroughly enjoying Obscured By Clouds live release, ‘Thermospheric’, Jez Denton asked a few questions which William Weikart..
JEZ: I really enjoyed finding out about your music when I was asked to review your live album, ‘Thermospheric’. In that review I made the comment that this could easily be the sort of music that Pink Floyd might have made had Syd Barrett been able to stay in the band. How important is early Floyd as an influence on your music?
WILLIAM: "Thank you Jez, we aim to absolutely inspire and reach further into the quantum perceptive transformative states we all seek in music, life and beyond. We are honored by your forum and clearly open minded focus to include our new music, new videos, and lyrical elements through the journey into musics’ vast continuum. We do crave the moments you may have in the first listen, having worked on these pieces so arduously over time as we reach the path and goal we set forth for ourselves. Each song is a lifetime unto itself for us.
We do love Floyd and Syd, David, Roger, Nick, Rick and company, so we won’t hide it. That is the only thing we won’t obscure. Though truly we all are an amalgam of so many bands, we started off to compel local Floyd fans to participate through our obvious namesake. Had we not heard from the Gilmour clan via phone and email we may have changed our name, but once we got the old pat on the back from Mr. Floyd we were off and running! And the name has taken on new meaning in a world where “the cloud” and clouds now represent a virtual Orwellian oversight.
We honor the name by staying in the genre, but beyond that I think what you are seeing/hearing in our music is our continuing narrative of society’s estrangement from the people/musicians/artists who vitally hold out for their dreams to bring change and new being to the world. We are holding the symbols and archetypes up to the light revealing the darkness of tyranny, oppression, faith, hope, happiness on the very edge of the cobalt blue abyss questioning the universe into the light that leads a way out of the indefinability of societal delusions."
Read the Interview at Progradar.org
This is a live recording to celebrate the release of Obscured by Clouds' debut album Psycheclectic. Not being familiar with that album, the songs get some description here, as well. This earns the prog tag for its Pink Floyd influenced style of music/ That's mixed with a David Bowie and Nick Drake cocktail with some metal thrown in from the background of founding member William Weikart. This all culminates for an interesting mixture of colossal proportions, while obviously paying homage to said artists. Six cuts from the album are featured with two new previously unreleased songs added to the show for something new."
- Larry Toering
Music Street Journal
http://www.musicstreetjournal.com/index_cdreviews_display.cfm?id=106013
"Psycheclectic" Obscured By Clouds ®
"Thermospheric" (Live) Obscured By Clouds ®
"Psycheclectic" Obscured By Clouds ®
Seattle-based “…Obscured By Clouds unquestionably have immense potential.” “…The results are exceptional and impressive.” – Classic Rock Magazine
“…Obscured By Clouds unquestionably have immense potential. …Heavy psychedelic twists…The band manage to create pieces that veer from the more extreme, doom-laden riffs to the occasional l
Seattle-based “…Obscured By Clouds unquestionably have immense potential.” “…The results are exceptional and impressive.” – Classic Rock Magazine
“…Obscured By Clouds unquestionably have immense potential. …Heavy psychedelic twists…The band manage to create pieces that veer from the more extreme, doom-laden riffs to the occasional lilting ballad, and surprisingly it’s a blend that works well.” - Classic Rock Magazine Presents Prog! AUG 2009 (London)
“…Contemporary touchstones are Type O Negative and Mastodon’sartier moments. …The results are exceptional and impressive.” Classic Rock Magazine (UK) April 2009.
“Trippy textures and trances melt into ominous simmering…psychotronic sensations before slowly coalescing together again." Creem Magazine & Detroit Metro Times Sept 2008.
“They resemble a more inspired Soundgarden with a bigger paintbox… It’s an aural entente between UK and US psych templates, no less…” Shindig! Magazine Dec 2008.
“There is so much going on within this album that it takes many plays to fully explore the multi layers and sometimes disguised dimensions it contains. The production…is first class. …not only rewarding but is also fascinating and compelling. It is a brave move…” Blog Critics Mag/Seattle Examiner Online Aug 2008.
“And the thing is, these kids rock. …Different songs (would) be described as everything from classic rock to feedback experimentation to folk to perhaps even Celtic in its epic descriptions of landscape and emotional impact. …Works as an homage to Syd Barrett in a "song about a girl, a sitar, and modern pharmakinetics… …with a Floydishly acoustic accompaniment." Blog Critics Mag/ Seattle Examiner Online July 2008.
“Weikart formed a new personalized approach to Pink Floyd's music without covering their material, but instead attempting to expand on it from his own perspective. …Their sound also reflects the spacy, electronic-induced psychedelia of that era with modern sound reinforcements and technological digital enhancements.” - All Music Guide
Tour Photos
TOUR - RADIO - INTERVIEWS
RADIO PLAY:
2017:
- Listen on WCBN - University of Michigan. Michael Nastos “Thermospheric” http://www.wcbn.org/
2009-2010:
- KNRK 94/7 & HD Altn. Portland.
- KUFO 101.1 Classic Rock Portland.
- KISW 99.9 Classic Rock Seattle show support.
- KEXP Seattle in library.
- KCRW support.
- Interview on WSHC 89.7 West Virginia w/ Olivia Maxwell.
TOUR:
Los Angeles, California:
- The Whiskey a Go-Go – Friday, August 28th, 2009.
Seattle, Washington:
- The Comet Tavern – July 3rd, 2009.
- The Columbia City Theater – Friday, June 26th, 2009.
- LASER LIGHT SHOW in Seattle, WA – The Columbia City Theater January 22nd, 2009.
- Studio Seven – July 29th, 2009.
Oregon: Veneta, Pacific City, Portlandia:
- The Aladdin Theater – Friday, August 22nd, 2008.
- The Doug Fir 830 E Burnside, August 12th, 2009.
- Berbati’s Pan Saturday, September 12th, 2009.
- Music Millennium In-Store Performance August 21st, 2008.
- Dante’s – July 1st, 2009. w/ ARZ/Ramble On.
- Oregon Country Fair - Veneta, Oregon
- Cape Kiwanda Longboard Classic - Pacific City, Oregon
INTERVIEWS:
- 2017 VENTS MAGAZINE Interview with Obscured By Clouds William Weikart & RJ Formenta (Vents) -- How was the film experience with Thermospheric?
"We thought it best to show our actual live performance along with the cinematic video of the stage overlaid with imagery ascribing the lyrics and song concepts in an Art Film genre approach. The video has some stunning choice footage of 1080p HD multiverse as an exploration into all light forms so the stage comes alive with the selected tasty bits that warm the dimensions of the heart; the heart of love vs. the heart of darkness also shown. Victory only lasts when from the heart that is truly in love. And Pink Floyd is in my soul."
Read more at: http://ventsmagazine.com/2017/10/09/interview-obscured-clouds/
- Progression Magazine 4-2009
- Blogcritics.com
- INK19.com
- Cosmogaming.com
Tour Support:
Tokyo, Japan - Honda Motors & Yahoo select 120 million projected listeners to hear OBC’s song “Cast Close the Gate” on their streaming music widget 2009.
