by JOHNSON CUMMINS

A lot of ink has been spilt on the “new psychedelic” bands, and whether they like it or not, San Francisco’s Comets on Fire may be one of the most talked-about bands happening within that loosely-defined genre right now. Last year’s Blue Cathedral was a perfect melange of ’70s riff-rock fuzz and punk-rock urgency, with delayed vocals, antique ring modulators and echoplexes cutting the mix right down the middle. The Mirror talked to guitarist/singer Ethan Miller over the phone.

Mirror: There seems to be a resurgence in psychedelic music, with a wave of new psychedelic bands using a lot of noise and breaking out of pop formats. Are you comfortable with the term “psychedelic” being applied to Comets on Fire?

Ethan Miller: I guess I would use the psychedelic tag to describe the band if I were talking to squares, but really I just think we’re like an artsy beer-bar band (laughs).

M: Why do you think there is such an interest in experimental music now, with more and more bands taking greater musical risks?

EM: I don’t know why bands like Sunn O))) will play these heavy-metal drones and tons of kids will come out. Even records like Earth’s Earth 2—when that came out and I was 15, I would be asking, “Where’s the fucking chorus?” But maybe kids have just heard enough choruses and just want to hear something interesting.

M: Do you have to push yourselves so you don’t become stagnant?

EM: I think you have to do that in life all the time. You have to make an effort not to be stagnant so you don’t just go to your job five days a week and come home to your wife and watch TV. You have to keep changing and that can be hard for some people. When you make a record, you can treat it as a blueprint for your next success, but that’s just a crime. The world changes quickly and if you can’t change as an artist, then how are you valuable?

With the Growing and the Besnard Lakes at la sala Rossa on Monday, June 20, 8 p.m., $15

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