Okta Logue never moved anywhere else. The band's own workspace in Griesheim near Darmstadt in southern Hesse serves reliably as a creative laboratory for a pleasantly modern reading of psychedelic rock. In the office of their Berlin label, singer Benno Herz and guitarist Philip Meloi talk in a good mood about the creation of their third album "Diamonds And Despair".
eclipsed: When you hear your music, you think of waves, surfing, West Coast feeling. Only a few people would bet on a band from Hessen...
Benno Herz: A beautiful association, we definitely like California, sixties surf sound and the lifestyle associated with it - which is admittedly far from our life in Frankfurt or Darmstadt.
eclipsed: You already know America quite well, you were there twice on tour. This is still very unusual for German bands.
Heart: Sure, that's something special for every band! When we started putting together twenty-minute songs in our rehearsal room in Griesheim near Darmstadt in 2008, nobody thought that we would eventually have such a platform or play in San Francisco. But it was an organic process, it didn't hit us like a truck. Our US tours 2013 and 2014 were super exciting and great, also for us as friends and people. It's already the "big America" and we were curious how people would take us in: a German band, with this kind of music, in English.
eclipsed: Is classical Americana sound part of your musical DNA? The new album often features slide guitars and a relaxed sound like you know from chillers like Tom Petty or The War On Drugs.
Philip Meloi: The War On Drugs are great, their latest album has flashed us all pretty good! Our song "Distance" is something like an homage, we wanted to explore this sound world and connect it with our elements.
Herz: In general, American pop culture is a great inspiration. We all grew up with it - from Dylan to Francis Ford Coppola movies, it's a huge cultural influence. Of course, the vastness of the country also has its fascination.
