Sky Chefs
From an eccentric & idiosyncratic garage studio known as the Whack Ark, Dale Nicholls returns with a brand new Sky Chefs album titled Aquarians available September 29. Embracing analog tape recorders, antiquated instrumental items, consoles, an iMac called Gozer; the wild new record sporting classic comic book/graphic novel style art by Chris Kursel & a manifesto that states:
AQUARIANS love in the age of Kali Yuga
AQUARIANS = The third Sky Chefs album, their second of 2017
AQUARIANS take depression naps in dogpound doorways
AQUARIANS = Sunburnt ballads & pockmarked pop songs
AQUARIANS shake off tangible anxiety
AQUARIANS = September 29, 2017 on Whack Ark Records (W.A.R.)
AQUARIANS are the saints of bruised fruit and bloodshot eyes
Offering up a world premiere listen to the new Sky Chefs single “Martial Arts Academy”; Dale does that crazy big festival spanning sound thing that is fused according to the artist’s own set-up & wild-eyed sensibilities. With weird mash-ups of warped historical hodgepodges arranged in a free-play of concepts & notions, Nicholls fine-tunes that perfect fuzzy effect & orchestrated shine that bridges classic concept records with big festival stage festival fodder of today’s era. Sky Chefs shake up modernist hysteria and spin them around & around in a blur of free associative array of items that feel almost more relevant now than they did way back then. Nicholls summons up a cryptic kind of wisdom brought about by a steady diet of vintage gear & a psychic sense of past masters & madams where a very unique utility of pop craft connects the yesterday with the arrival of the tomorrows that are just beginning to get woke.
We caught up with Dale from Sky Chefs in the following insightful interview session:
Give us the latest words on what’s good in LA right now?
Soaring housing costs! Constant sunburns! Road rage! Expanding tent cities! Galbi-jjim! LA is great. Pinnacle of the Wicked West. Some days I love it, some days I loathe.
Interested in hearing about the making of the new third Sky Chefs album Aquarians.
Wrote most of the songs in a homesteader cabin in Joshua Tree, made quick demos, booked two days with Chris Schlarb at Big Ego Studios in Long Beach, and tracked 80% of it live with the band. Then did acoustics, Leeann, Lucy, my vocals, synths, and weird bits at my place. Ran synths through pedals, drums thru amps, tweaked tones with tape delays.
Describe the latest audio alchemy at work these days in your studio dubbed Whack Ark for Whack Ark Records (W.A.R.) and what sorts of innovation do you have brewing as of late?
Finishing up a five song EP for early ’18. Have about nine tunes in the can for LP #5 [Pillagers]. Latest favorite thing is projecting Twin Peaks on the ceiling while I record. That, or the Brooks Falls live bear cam.
What sorts of mixed martial arts and the like informed the rocker “Martial Arts Academy”?
The world that song lives in is a combat survival school. Where you learn skills to fight evil and protect your loved ones, racking up psychic scars in the process. Life, basically.
Fellow LA artists & local activists that you would like to recognize?
He recently moved to NY, but Chris Kursel is a dude people should know. He did the art for Aquarians LP and the singles. His work is smart, funny, dark, and extremely relevant. These almost primitive stream of conscious drawings. Fear, loathing, love, hope. Marvel at his Instagram @chriskurselart and his site.
2018 wishes?
Make records, hang with Kana, eat stone fruits, witness dolphin stampedes, not get nuked or Trumped.
Sky Chefs’ new album Aquarians will be available September 29 via Whack Ark Records.
