Who are your biggest influences?

When the band started I had just gotten turned on to stuff like the Nuggets comp, King Khan and the BBQ Show, Natural Child and The Stooges. When I met our old drummer Glenn, he had this vast knowledge of 60’s psychedelic music already and turned me on to some really good stuff like West Coast Pop Art, The Golden Dawn, Blue Cheer, Hawkwind, and Can. That kind of stuff was definitely a major influence and target for our sound over the years. Over time we’ve changed our songwriting process and because of that it feels like the musical style choices we make are more informed by each other’s playing. For me, songwriting at the moment comes from all of us playing together. Whatever seems to come out of that naturally will then remind me of something I like, and then I’ll lean into that style naturally.

Now that we have Shaun and Nikki in the band, a lot of the stuff we’ve been playing instinctively has been way more in the pocket and kind of segmented into rhythmic patterns. Personally, that has led me to start listening to more stuff like Funk and Afrobeat for inspiration. Everything comes in waves though. That’s just my take on things now. Our sound definitely gets pushed in a lot of different directions, it’s part of what makes writing so exciting.

I think psychedelic people are the initiators of the changes we need to see in the world and anyone who can make music that reflects that honestly is psychedelic as fuck.

What do you think makes psychedelic music psychedelic?

That’s an interesting question. The meaning has definitely changed for me over the years. Everyone would probably say something different. In the context of our band, I’ve often written lyrics, made musical and conceptual choices based on my or my friends’ experiences. When the band started and I was first getting into tripping, it used to be more about the tones, effects, and attitude of the music. All of that stuff definitely makes for some killer psychedelic music, but I do think psychedelic music is a lot more than that. I think it can be music that speaks to the true human experience beyond our culture and idealisms. It can be music that can get to the heart of the experience we’re all having on or off of chemicals, and convey it universally in a truthful way. I think psychedelic people are the initiators of the changes we need to see in the world and anyone who can make music that reflects that honestly is psychedelic as fuck. It doesn’t always have to be so serious. It’s also great to listen to music designed to take you to these places and see for yourself. Psychedelic music for me is mostly about the intention I suppose. It’s kind of psychedelic even trying to pin down what it is. It’s infinite, it’s a spectrum, it’s vibrations, it’s primal, it’s vessels speaking in tongues for the mother souls of the cosmos to impart their wisdom.

How did you come up with the band name?  I know that Frankie is, or was, Dylan’s cat.  What about the Witch Fingers part?

Frankie was and is my mystic realm traveling brother. He is now living his best life in Ohio with our friend Ginny. Ginny is a true beam of love and kindness, she’s been taking care of Frankie ever since I moved out to L.A. She sends me videos of him frolicking in the sun across giant fields. Witch Fingers comes from a psychedelic experience I had but mostly it’s just an aesthetic choice. I think it’s cool that our band name is based on this specific moment in my life. It’s nice that it can serve as a reminder of the journey we’ve made to get to where we are today. Frankie’s been with us the whole time too, what a legend.