‘The Golden Age’ by Volume | New Album, ‘Joy of Navigation’
Exclusive track premiere of ‘The Golden Age,’ a cover of the Swedish heavy psych legends Union Carbide Productions, performed by Volume.
The track is from their upcoming album, ‘Joy of Navigation,’ which will be available for download and streaming via Golden Robot Recordings and on LP via Kozmik Artifactz on November 1, 2024.
Volume’s sound has always been rooted in raw, gritty energy, drawing inspiration from bands like The Stooges, MC5, and early punk rock. Their latest album, ‘Joy of Navigation,’ adds a psychedelic edge, with swirling layers that feel like an acid trip in a sandstorm. Collaborators like Ed Mundell and David Catching have infused new textures into the mix, enhancing the band’s already dense and heavy approach. Despite this weight, Volume isn’t afraid to explore lighter territory, as heard on tracks like ‘The Golden Age.’ The desert isolation of their hometown, Twentynine Palms, seeps into their music, creating a sound both primal and expansive. As they carry the torch of rock ‘n’ roll into the future, Volume remains fiercely committed to their raw, uncompromising style.
Volume will kick off their 2024 live shows with a record release event at Red Dwarf in Las Vegas on 11/01, followed by stops in Reno, Salt Lake City, Spokane, Seattle, Portland, Medford, Santa Cruz, and wrapping up at The Golden Bull Bar in Oakland on 11/09.
“A trip through the eternal unknown”
You’ve often described your music as “heavy as fuck,” which feels like a perfect summary of the desert grit in your sound. But with ‘Joy of Navigation,’ there’s this added layer of psychedelic swirls that feels almost like an acid trip in a sandstorm. How did that shift come about—was it a natural progression, or a calculated experiment to mess with our heads a little?
Patrick Brink: It’s always a calculated experiment to mess with people’s heads… But seriously, our music is gritty, but we’ve always had a real psychedelic edge to us. ‘Drag’ from our 7” was a total mind-bender, as are ‘Makebelieve’ and ‘Headswim’ off ‘Requesting Permission To Land.’ One thing about ‘Joy of Navigation’ and the whole record, for that matter, is that Ed Mundell really added layers of psychedelia with his echoplex. He rocks with that too.
When you’re making something as dense and thick as Volume’s sound, how do you keep from getting trapped in the weight? Do you ever find yourself just wanting to bust out of that heaviness and play something light?
As much as I like playing heavy and in-your-face, I love to mellow out and do some lighter stuff. It keeps things interesting. We’ve got a lighter one with ‘The Golden Age’ on this record, as a matter of fact. We also used to play this song ‘Comedown,’ which doesn’t have distortion and is kinda an ode to ‘Space Oddity.’ It’s a great song and will see the light of day with a proper recording on the next record.
You’ve played with the likes of Queens of the Stone Age, Mastodon, and Goatsnake—bands that live in the same sonic solar system, but all have very distinct planets of their own. How does Volume orbit in that mix? What sets you apart, and what do you feel you bring to the psychedelic-heavy rock scene that’s different from these bands?
Each of those bands you mentioned has things that set them apart—that’s why they are great and stand out as planets among the million stars. I’d like to think we have a sound that’s unique. Where lots of bands are doing the Sabbath worship thing, we’re pulling from The Stooges, MC5, Blue Cheer, garage rock, and early punk, with some Love & Rockets thrown in. So the end result is different than most in the stoner scene.
I’ve got to ask about your cover of ‘The Golden Age’ by Union Carbide Productions. What drew you to it? Were you trying to channel a bit of that raw Swedish madness into the desert heat, or was there something else entirely that made you want to tackle it?
I love UCP! And was definitely trying my best to channel their energy into our version. They are such an underappreciated band that channeled The Stooges as much as anyone—Mudhoney, etc. I always loved Golden Age and its raw sound, even with an acoustic guitar on it.
You’ve had some pretty killer collaborators on this record—Ed Mundell on leads and David Catching on production. What was the vibe like working with those guys? Did you all hole up in some secluded spot and just channel the desert into the amps, or was there more of a structured process to capture that raw energy?
The vibe was killer! It was awesome working with them. Ed’s one of my favorite guitarists from my favorite band, so I was freaking thrilled that he agreed to do the record. Dave was super chill with a lot of ideas. He is a legend. And Mike Amster from Nebula/Spoon Benders laid down the drums and set the bar for the rest of the record. His style is intense, perfect for what Volume does.
As much as I would have liked to take our time hanging out more and experimenting with sounds for days, we were under a tight schedule. So there was a lot of structure, but the immediacy added a killer flavor to this album that I think would be missing if we thought about it too long.
It’s been a journey from ‘Heavy As Fuck’ to ‘Joy of Navigation,’ with a bunch of twists and turns in between. Looking back, how do you feel the band’s sound has evolved? What’s the constant thread running through all of Volume’s work, and where have you completely shattered your own expectations?
It has been a journey! For the most part, it’s been pretty wild, especially getting to play with such killer musicians. Although there has been some evolving between the demo and our latest record ‘Joy of Navigation’ (a trip through the eternal unknown), I think people will be pleasantly shocked with some of our newer songs that will be on the next record. It still has that psychedelic rawness that’s a common thread, but there are songs we have now that get stuck in your psyche more. All I ever wanted to do when I was young was to release a 7” record. We’ve done that and more. Next stop: the universe!
You’ve drawn inspiration from bands like The Stooges, MC5, and Black Flag. Do you think there’s still room for that kind of raw, punk-rooted energy in today’s music? Or do you feel like you’re waving a flag for a dying breed?
There’s always room for raw energy in music! How much room can be debated, but it ebbs and flows. Back when we started in the ’90s, the stoner scene had more bands like us—The Glasspack, Bad Wizard, 500 Ft Of Pipe, Space Probe Taurus—but nowadays, the majority of the stoner scene is more Sabbath or heavy progressive type sounds. But hey, we’re still going to wave that flag no matter what.
Your hometown of Twentynine Palms is as much a part of Volume as your instruments. That kind of desert isolation seeps into the music, but I’m curious—when you’re deep in the recording process, do you ever feel like you’re summoning something primal out of the sand, or is it more like the desert just quietly haunts everything you do?
I was born and raised in the sand, so the desert is embedded in my psyche. I’m usually never consciously feeling like I’m summoning something from the desert. It’s just what I know, and its extremes (freezing, blistering hot, isolation, etc.) influence me in a variety of ways. They all rear their heads when I sit down to write or record.
There’s a lot of talk about bands drawing from the past, and you’re not shy about your love for those late ’60s and ’70s experimental, free-rock vibes. But when you say you’re carrying the torch of rock ‘n’ roll into the future, what does that look like for Volume? Is the future a continuation of that raw freedom, or is it something completely unpredictable?
It’s a continuation of that raw freedom. So much music nowadays is just all filler and nothing killer. We have to keep carrying the torch so that the young kids and the next generations know what it feels like to hear an amp turned to 10 with a guitar jamming on a killer riff. Forget all this AI nonsense and pop crap that keeps getting churned out. Long live rock ‘n’ roll!!
Finally, if you had to pick one track from Joy of Navigation that perfectly captures the essence of Volume—the past, present, and future all rolled into one—what would it be? And what kind of trip should we expect when we press play?
I would say ‘Mercury Pull.’ Expect to be taken to planet Volume, where your head floats above the soundscapes, and you won’t ever want to come down. Get on this trip… my head’s on Mercury, and it’s about to explode…
Klemen Breznikar
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Golden Robot Recordings Official Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / YouTube
Volume | Interview | ‘Requesting Permission To Land’
