Infinite River Interview: “We are students of Can”

People often talk about shapes and colours when they engage with music. It doesn’t happen all the time, of course, but with certain bands for certain people, those sound vibrations wash over, unlocking a certain part of the mind where wonderful shapes and colours await and slowly evolve. It’s quite mind-bending when you think about it, and it’s one of those unspeakable eventualities where music interlocks with the subconscious.

This is the kind of feeling I had when listening to Infinite River’s debut album, Prequel. Regulars may remember the rambling missive inked throughout these pages a couple of months ago and, to be honest, the album remains a constant go-to.

Its architects – Michigan experimental veterans, guitarists Gretchen Gonzales (Slumber Party, Terror at the Opera, Universal Indians) and Joey Mazzola (Detroit Cobras, Sponge, Sugarcoats), and harmonium / tanpura player and electronic wrangler Warren Defever (ESP Beetles, His Name Is Alive) – shaped six beautiful compositions that represented a vessel transporting the listener to a unique, fantastical sound world. A record steeped in every fundamental of psychedelic purity, as a listener, Prequel is one of those records that render you comfortably numb.

Not many records come around like this in a calendar year, which is why it is a glorious shock that Infinite River’s second LP, Space Mirror, follows so soon. Sophomore releases are dangerous at the best of times, but just months after a debut, well… that is something few bands can truly conquer.

Luckily, Infinite River are one of those few.

With Space Mirror, it’s not a stretch to suggest the band has actually surpassed the majesty of Prequel. Again, those shapes and colours are prominent throughout these seven compositions (entitled Summer Sessions #1 through to #7). There is a slightly different feel to Space Mirror, undoubtedly more raga-inspired, as Gonzales, Mazzola and Defever become slaves to the drone, which is the vital nexus in these recordings.

Space Mirror boasts no stand out track: the record itself being the stand out. One protracted jam session that excavates down to the core of psychedelia. It’s an emotional ride and one that is quite hard to put into words, making the experience a deeply hypnotic one. Alongside Prequel, Space Mirror reaffirms Infinite River as chief exponents of the beautiful noise.

Shortly after the release of Space Mirror, which coincided with the band playing some West Coast shows, Gretchen Gonzales was kind enough to answer some of our questions about the band, their wonderful run of form, and what the future has in store.

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Sun 13: You’ve just played some shows in San Francisco, which is funny because when listening to Prequel in particular, I thought of the Bay Area! How did the shows go down?

Gretchen Gonzales: “The shows were great. We love San Francisco and Oakland – we feel right at home there. And you are absolutely correct: we see ourselves in deep musical kinship with the experimental side of the San Francisco sound.” 

S13: While you’ve all been heavily involved in the Michigan music scene over the years, can you tell us about how the Infinite River projects came together? 

GG: “The three of us were always at the same shows, always talking after using the same band references as our language. You like Can? You know the guys from Wolf Eyes? You got the recent Bulb release? We knew each other as music fans and eventually started going to each other’s shows. One late night at my house, around a bottle of Courvoisier we decided to see what it would be like to play together. When the sun rose the next morning, we were Infinite River.”

S13: Prequel and Space Mirror were recorded at the same time, however I find them very different, with the latter being more drone-based. Did you feel at the time there would be two records released and, not only that, but in such a short space of time?

GG: “They were recorded around the same time, not at the same time. I only point that out because Infinite River is a musical reaction to the world around us and to our own personal daily experiences. The two albums were recorded around the same time, but they were each recorded on days when the molecules around us were bouncing off of us with different forces and variances. We knew that they needed to be different records. They were different periods of our lives, even though they were periods that were close together. Life changes, changes so quickly. And it is great to have musical friends to mark these changes.” 

S13: What were the key influences behind both records?

GG: “The more we play together, the more we are each other’s influences. And then the obvious ones; King Crimson, krautrock superstars like Can and Cluster, amazing composers like Schoenberg, and the otherworldly sound of Malian blues. But if you ask us on a different day, we’d have a different list for you!”

S13: I find with both records that they have a real organic feeling. Did you have any initial ideas before getting together, or did these compositions take shape in the room together?

GG: “That organic feeling happens in the studio in real time. We are students of Can, who would go into the studio with thoughts and shapes and jam them into compositions. That works really well for us. Joey plays a progression, I add a noisy bed, Warren adds a moog part, and we see where it goes. We definitely don’t keep everything we do but we have been on an artistic roll as of late.”

S13: Your songs also have deep emotional intensity. Was this a key focus when writing and recording the songs? 

GG: “Infinite River is a reaction to the world around us. Our moment to moment feelings and experiences. Just as our memory is forced to take in an infinite amount of sensory data, we attempt to create a flow of that stimuli through our music. Our songs are written through our reactions to our experiences.”

S13: When listening to acts like Infinite River, I often think of the creative process. Once you enter that process, do you feel like certain aspects of it are out of your hands?

GG: “Completely! We just bring ourselves, maybe some drink or edibles. Infinite River is a creation that is bigger than the three of us, and yet it can only happen when we are making art together.”  

S13: Steve Nistor features on Space Mirror. How did that collaboration come about?

GG: “He’s an old friend, he’s usually on tour but when he’s in town we’ve gotten him to sit in with us.”

S13: Having all been in various projects over the years, have your processes changed. Are there new challenges or has writing music become easier?

GG: “You are catching us at a particular time of artistic inspiration. So, my answer will be that it is because we’re all veterans of this process, and we’re at a moment where we really are in lock-step with each other, so we can approach collaboration in a much more giving, flexible fashion. We each understand the musical voice we bring. The challenge: how to keep the goodness going (although we don’t see that really as a challenge).”

S13: You’ve all been involved with music for years now. Back when physical product was still actually the predominant form of engaging with music, did you ever imagine streaming and tech having such a big impact on how we consume art these days?

GG: “Innovation is infinite. We love vinyl, and we adore all the ways people celebrate the music they love and get turned on to new music.”

S13: How much did your initial surroundings influence the music you create?

GG: “We would say that Detroit is one of the most artistic cities in the country, there is space and place for artists to be artists. We choose Detroit because we are inspired by its anything-goes let’s-try-it attitude.”

S13: Do you see yourselves releasing more albums together in the future?

GG: “We have a dozen albums in the can. We’ll be releasing more records and hopefully getting back to the Bay Area and more cities soon.”

Space Mirror and Prequel are out now via Birdman Records. Purchase from Bandcamp here and here.