Pennsylvanian experimental pop band Black Moth Super Rainbow released their debut album, 'Falling Through A Field' in 2003. Their fourth album, 'Eating Us', is set for release next week via Memphis Industries and sees the band step away from their traditional lo-fi sounds, thanks to production work from Dave Fridmann (MGMT, Weezer, Thursday). Frontman Tobacco also has a solo album coming out on Anticon in July, but that's another story; here we catch up with him to talk all things Black Moth Super Rainbow.

Q1 How did you start out making music?
Noisy guitar four-track stuff in high school. Way before I knew what synths were, I only knew how to rip tape with guitars and vocals through a distorted amp.

Q2 What inspired your latest album?
It was mainly the answer to everything I had done before. I never wanted to make psychedelic music, so I tried to turn down whatever seemed psychedelic about it. We brought it to Dave Fridmann to do the final recording and mixing so it would have a bigger hi-fi sound and I really wanted to make something that seemed like a summer record, but gets moodier the more you listen to it.

Q3 What process do you go through in creating a track?
Usually a lot of messing around until I get lucky. Lots of happy accidents, melody by melody, until it turns into a song.

Q4 Which artists influence your work?
Butthole Surfers, Longmont Potion Castle, Odd Nosdam, and for this record I wanted to go a little more Simon & Garfunkel.

Q5 What would you say to someone experiencing your music for the first time?
Try to forget anything I or anyone else has said, and hear what you want to hear in it.

Q6 What are your ambitions for your latest album, and for the future?
I hope someone hears that it's a pop record, and you don't have to be stoned to listen to it. After this, I'd like to just move on to something else and get back to my lo-fi ways.

published june 2009