Categories
GUEST EDITOR

The Black Angels’ Alex Maas Is A True Believer: Maas Nursery

Phosphene Dream, the third album from MAGNET faves the Black Angels, marks a big step forward for the Austin, Texas, psych quintet. The band signed to the Blue Horizon label (run by industry bigwigs Richard Gottehrer and Seymour Stein) and worked in L.A. with veteran producer Dave Sardy (Oasis, Rolling Stones), marking the first time the group recorded an LP outside of its home base. The Black Angels also recently upped their profile with a collaborative appearance with UNKLE on the soundtrack to The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. (We hear the track, “With You In My Head,” is played at a pivotal scene in the film, but when it comes to movies, we are more Black Swan than Bella Swan.) The band also backed Austin legend Roky Erickson (though the fruit of that labor is still up in the air, release-wise) and is still working hard on its annual Austin Psych Fest. And if that wasn’t enough, the Black Angels will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new Q&A with vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Alex Maas.

Maas: This is a magical place where I was fortunate enough to be raised. It’s a 14-acre nursery in Seabrook, Texas. If my dad was born in the 15th century, he would have been a merchant traveling around the world trading spices and creating a small empire. My parents’ nursery in Seabrook is not just another garden center. Ancient pottery, arrowheads, antique swords and paintings make their business stand out amongst all the other nurseries in Texas or anywhere else. They made their business a destination for anyone living in Texas, and they did it through hard work and innovation. Capybaras, wallabies, ostriches, emus, axis deer, Vietnamese potbelly pigs, tortoises, African crowned cranes, peacocks, monitor lizards, ferrets, pygmy goats, mastiffs, longhorns, chickens and even a lemur have lived at the nursery at one point. If you ever go to Houston, you need to go this place. If you like bamboo and all things cool, this is your place.

Video after the jump.