Tibetan Miracle Seeds: Melding Sixties-Rock with New-Age Psychedelia on New Record 'Inca Missiles'

'Inca Missiles'-  Tibetan Miracle Seeds (2021)

It is only in rare circumstances that one stumbles across the likes of Tibetan Miracle Seeds' debut LP, for records such as Inca Missiles are hard to come by. Rich with spotless production and awash with mind-altering effects, Tibetan Miracle Seeds are able to pull their rawness as both songwriters and musicians to the forefront of their music with absolute clarity. Through a careful cross-breed of stoner-rock and psychedelia, TMS meld the raw energy purveyed by the guitar tones of Hendrix with the progressive song-structures of Pink Floyd, topped off by Stonesy Middle-eastern melody and instrumentation. The polished production of the record as a whole only adds it's overall listen-ability, making Inca Missiles a contemporary psychedelic-rock album, pulling in noticeable prog and psych influences without just being a carbon copy of any other sixties acid-rock record.

I spoke with the mind behind the music of Tibetan Miracle Seeds, Jack McAfee, to talk the recording and writing process of the album, influence behind both songs and production, visualisation of Inca Missiles's material through the surrealist artwork of One Hour Away and much more.

 

(DH) - How did Tibetan Miracle Seeds come to form?

(JACK) - 'Up until now Tibetan Miracle Seeds has pretty much just been a recording project. I suppose I worked up from using cheap, second-hand recording equipment for bedroom demos over a number of years, to the release of the first album. But now the COVID restrictions are easing up and venues are opening again, I am looking to take things live.'

- The music that you make can best be described in broader terms as psychedelic guitar music, also incorporating what sounds like Middle-Eastern string instruments and percussion. Has psychedelia and world music in particular always incorporated itself into your music?

- 'That is certainly the brand of music that has inspired me the most to make music. Psychedelic music for me has no set formula and that lack of boundaries allows me to be as creative as I want. If I hear something I like then there's a chance that it'll influence the songs I write, and i found I really loved the sound of various traditional world and traditional music. There's something very mystical about instruments instruments such as didgeridoos, sitars and even throat singing. If there are any throat singers out there please hit me up!'

- 'Ideas' is the leading single off of Inca Missiles, released as a stand alone single back in April 2020. Was this initially written with the intention of making it onto the album?

- 'Ideas just happened to be the first song that was fully recorded, and the rest of the album unfortunately had to be put on hold from being finished, by the pandemic in 2020. But the album had been fully written and mostly recorded by the end of 2019.'

- How quickly did the songs come together? Had you been sitting on them for long?

- 'The songs were written over the course of a year or so but there was a year delay on the overall process, so it feels like I had been sitting on them for ages!'

- Where was Inca Missiles recorded and what was the recording process like?

- 'I recorded most of the album at home which was a bit of a learning curve for me because I didn't know anything about how to record guitars et cetera in the beginning. I would argue that I still don't! I owe a lot of the knowledge that I now have to Jason Shaw, who mixed and mastered the album. The drums on the album were recorded with Robbie Wilson of The Kundalini Genie, and he pretty much bashed them all out in a single weekend. Some of the other guest performances (Jaxon Casey on harp and Paul Lefty Wright on sitar) were recorded remotely. I am lucky enough these guys are so talented, that I told them just to do their own thing and they sent back absolute masterpieces.'

- Are there any running themes conveyed throughout the LP? If so what?

- 'I didn't try to convey a message or theme throughout the album, but conceptually I wanted the songs from start to finish to be a bit like a journey, coming full circle with the final track. I didn't intentionally do this during the writing process but as the songs developed I found they slotted well into certain parts of the tracklist, with some songs in the second half of the album actually blending into each other like they were one giant song. I really love albums that do this, like 'Dark Side of the Moon', so it was exciting putting it together.'

- Can you give some insight into the name of the album?

- 'It is taken from the title track, which is the centrepiece and climax of the album. I wanted the album to have a short, punchy title so 'Inca Missiles' seemed the obvious choice. It goes well with the artwork too.'

- As previously mentioned, the album as a whole appears to be heavily influenced by psychedelia, with elements of rock and world music largely showing up throughout. Who were you listening to at the time of writing and recording that may have had an influence upon the outcome of the album?

- 'The biggest influence upon my music, probably unsurprisingly, is The Beatles. other bands and artists that were a big inspiration were The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Pink Floyd, Jimi Henxrix, Kikagaku Moyo and Strawberry Alarm Clock.'

- As an album that is considerably production-heavy, were there any albums that you referred to as a frame of reference when mixing Inca Missiles?

- 'Electric Ladyland by Jimi Hendrix, Blonde by Frank Ocean, Sgt. Peppers by The Beatles, Their Satanic Majesties' Second Request by The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd, House in the Tall Grass by Kikagaku Moyo. I wouldn't say I necessarily tried to emulate any of these albums in terms of their production style, but these were used as a reference point for what makes an album more than just a collection of songs to me. If you are going to create something, it's important to understand what the benchmarks are for the thing you are trying to create, and to me these are albums that raised the bar. If I ever make something one tenth as good as any of these albums I'll be happy!'

- What is the story behind the album artwork?

- 'The artwork is a physical hand-cut print done by a very talented artist in South Africa, who goes by the handle 'One Hour Away'. I found him through Dev Green, a fellow Dundee-based artist and his style caught my eye instantly. I think album artwork is almost as important as the music itself because it puts a sort of subliminal visual in your head when you are listening to the songs that you associate with the music. I hare when albums have really dull artwork because this is what I see in my head when I am listening to them.'

- And finally, when can fans expect to see Tibetan Miracle Seeds live?

- 'Hopefully early next year!'

Listen to Inca Missiles, out now on all major music streaming platforms.