MOUNTAIN presented by Desert Daze featuring Mondo Drag and The Asteroid No. 4

MONDO DRAG // Through the Hourglass

It’s been nearly eight years since the last Mondo Drag album came out. In that time, the Bay Area psych-prog band toured the US and Europe, performed at major festivals and—once again—reformed their rhythm section. But in the context of the band’s nearly two-decade existence, this period may have been the most fraught. Vocalist and keyboardist John Gamiño lost friends and family members. Meanwhile, humanity suffered the throes of a global pandemic.

“It was a dark chapter,” he recalls. “I was going through a lot of stuff personally—there’s been a lot of death, loss of family members, and grief. Plus, the band was inactive. It felt like time was slipping away from me. I felt like I was wasting my opportunities. I felt like I wasn’t participating in my story as much as I could have.”

This feeling of time slipping away is the prevailing theme on Mondo Drag’s new album, Through the Hourglass. “For me, Through the Hourglass really encompasses the quarantine/pandemic years,” Gamiño says. “But in a way that includes a couple of years before that for us, because the band was stagnant during that time. Living with that was really impactful on our daily lives. So, the album is reflective. It’s looking at time—past, present, future.”

Luckily, Mondo Drag emerged from this dour period reborn. Freshly energized by bassist Conor Riley (formerly of San Diego psych squad Astra, currently of Birth), who joined in 2018, and drummer Jimmy Perez, who joined in 2022, Gamiño and guitarists Jake Sheley and Nolan Girard have triumphed over the seemingly inexorable pull of time’s passage.

“Astra was the one contemporary band that we felt was on the same tip as us,” Gamiño says. “We saw the similarities and felt the same vibe. Conor moved to San Francisco in 2018 and heard we were looking for a bassist, so we got in touch. For us, it was like, ‘The synth player from Astra wants to play bass for us?’ We couldn’t think of anybody more perfect.”

Perez, meanwhile, brings deep psych-prog knowledge and impeccable skill. “He’s an amazing drummer, and he allowed us to do what we’ve been trying to do,” Gamiño says. “Before he came along, it was like, ‘Where are the drummers who like psych and prog and can play dynamically?’ We ended up trying out metal drummers, but they couldn’t swing. Jimmy was the final piece of the puzzle.”

Through the Hourglass was tracked at El Studio in San Francisco, with an additional ten days of recording at the band’s rehearsal space, which doubles as a hybrid analog-digital recording studio. The album was engineered and mixed by Phil Becker, drummer of space-punk mainstays Pins Of Light. “We’re still here,” Gamiño says. “We’ve been in the studio working on our craft and honing our skills. Now we’re re-emerging for the next stage of our life cycle.”

 

The Asteroid No.4 are an American psychedelic band based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Originating from Philadelphia in the latter half of the 1990s, the band began their relocation to the west coast in 2011.

Since forming, the band has endured several lineup changes. Over the last ten years, however, they have consistently included Scott Vitt (vocals, guitar), Eric Harms (guitar), Matty Rhodes (bass, vocals). Most recently the band has added Mark Tarlton (drums) and Camilla Saufley (keys, guitar, vocals)

The band is known for their dynamic live act, integrating multi-textured guitars and reverb-drenched vocal harmonies over an unwavering rhythm section. However, it’s been their prolific recording output, including what will soon be their ninth full-length album, that’s helped build their dedicated fan base within the flourishing underground psychedelic scene. With well over a dozen compilation appearances, digital-only rarity releases, and multiple singles and EPs, the band is said to improve with each release.

The Asteroid No.4’s sound has been called a “hypnotic hybrid of several different genres filtered through the kaleidoscope of all things psychedelic.” Whether it be “Krautrock”, “shoegaze”, folkrock, or even the occasional dabbling in “Cosmic” countryrock, the band have never shied away from wearing their influences squarely on their sleeves.

Formation
The original lineup was formed in the suburbs of Philadelphia by childhood friends, Scott Vitt and Eric Harms, after years of playing in various punk, hardcore, and even a Smith’s cover band together. Throughout their high school and college years, the future bandmates submerged themselves in the “shoegaze” scene coming out of the UK in the late 80’s and early 90’s. After many months of the obligatory “mom’s basement” rehearsals, the group began to take permanent shape during the second half of the 1990s. The newly formed quartet, which also included original bassist, Gregg Weiss, and drummer, Bill Reim, began writing the songs that would become their first recorded offering. The “Mellow Beach b/w CIA Took My Dog Away” 7” single was released on their newly formed in-house label, Lounge Records.

Named after Vesta, the brightest asteroid in our solar system, their moniker is an obvious nod to Spacemen 3, the legendary UK psychedelic band, which the Asteroid No.4 repeatedly cite as a main influence. In fact, one of the group’s earliest recorded offerings was a faithful cover of the Rugby band’s, “Losing Touch with My Mind”. Released in 1998 on UK label, Rocket Girl’s tribute compilation to the 80’s legends, Pete “Sonic Boom” Kember himself, named the song as a stand-out track in an interview with Magnet Magazine.