Immersive Psychedelia
Grand Rapids, Mich.

“It feels good to get into weird stuff,” Heaters bassist/vocalist Nolan Krebs says of the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based trio’s predilection for deep, spaced-out, fuzzy psychedelia that only comes from a full immersion into the darkest recesses of the form. Yet, for all the deep probing and exploratory stabs into the musical unknown, and for all the reverb, feedback and fuzz, Heaters also intersperse nuggets of 1960s West Coast psych-pop whimsy. The band’s preference for vintage tube amps and analog synthesizers lends itself to the jaunty, surf-garage instrumentals that contrast the heavier, more pressing numbers found on recent debut Holy Water Pool. Such tunes—coupled with subtle country twang—were inspired by essential, early psychedelic-rock soundtracks, particularly from acidand biker-flicks. “We certainly all feed creatively off of science fiction and atmospheric Westerns or whatever we might be into at the time—whether sonically or just by exercising our imaginations,” Krebs says. Already an Austin Psych Fest veteran, a mere two years after forming the project, Krebs is optimistic that Heaters’ brand of psych will flourish. “I don’t think any of us feel like ambassadors for the genre or anything, but hopefully, people are just getting drawn back into music with that emphasis on creativity and abstraction.”