Everything you need to know about the 2018 Ottawa Psychfest. Festival organizer John Westhaver provides some background on this incredible evening of trippy tunes and graciously offers up a top 5 primer list to help initiate the curious into the wild world of psych rock!
ABOUT CARDINAL RECORDS
Cardinal Fuzz Records was started as an extension of the UK based Optical Sounds fanzine in the summer of 2010. Head honcho Dave Cambridge; a longtime music fanatic, was noticing so many wicked new bands had no vinyl releases and the underground psych scene was not getting much attention paid to it. The Dead Sea Apes , The Janitors and The Cosmic Dead at this point in time were rendering some of the most exciting music in the genre. Driven by his major love for the legendary UK psych behemoths Spacemen 3 and Bristol's The Heads, these 2 bands formed the spiritual guidance and groundplan for Cardinal Fuzz and the rest is history and ongoing.
THE CARDINAL FUZZ ROSTER
Lot's of "different" and very innovative music here. As a fan of the label from the very first release I have become a devout follower of CF.
ABOUT THE NAME
Both the fanzine Optical Sounds and the label Cardinal Fuzz were named out of love and respect for 2 of Dave's favorite bands, the former for American garage psych band The Human Expression and their 1966 single "Optical Sound". The latter a track by The Heads!
CROSSING PATHS
Dave Cambridge first crossed my path in 2010 as he had "discovered" my long running radio program on CKCU-FM called Friday Morning Cartunes and The Birdman Sound Blog. He was mostly interested in The Band Whose Name Is A Symbol and what they were all about. 5 whole years later we picked up the original conversation and Cardinal Fuzz has since become the main vessel for music by TBWNIS.
Short note on Ottawa Psychfest 2018....a real Cardinal Fuzz showcase
As all artists have been released or are associated with the label. The Golden Rule is a brand new psych/drone duo based in Manchester, UK and feature Dave Cambridge (guitar) and Brett Savage (guitar) of Dead Sea Apes fame (one of my favorite bands...all their records are exceptional and highly recommended). These two cats make their official debut @ House of Targ on July 7th! I am excited by this too no end!
BIRDMAN SOUND ESSENTIAL PSYCH WAX
As a great reference point to what this mini-fest is all about, here are 5 essential LPs that sum up the embodiment of Ottawa Psychfest...please enjoy and come out to see this unique event.
OTTAWA PSYCH FEST 2018
SAT JULY 7 @ House of TARG
SHOOTING GUNS (Saskatoon Heavy Psych) + HAWKEYES (Kitchener Space Rock) + THE BAND WHOSE NAME IS A SYMBOL (Ott Psychedelic) + MARK ALEXANDER MCINTYRE + THE GOLDEN RULE (U.K. Psych)
Adv tix available at Birdman Sound or get 'em at the door