Boston-based, indie/psychedelic band Mind Debris stopped by 88.9 WERS to play some songs for Wicked Local Wednesday. After their set, WERS’ Lily Doolin sat down to talk with them about how they met, where they find inspiration for their music, and why they perform acoustic sets in the middle of a snowstorm.
How did you guys meet, and what was the experience of starting this band together like?
Michael Beckhart (guitar, vocals): We met in our college dorm, we were floor mates. We actually met outside of the building. I think Diego at the time had another band, and he wanted me to play with them. He still actually has the same band [laughs]. It’s called something else now, they’re way different than they used to be. They’re called Lady Goldenesque, everyone should go check them out. In the summer, we started creating music together as opposed to just playing.
Diego Valencia (keys, vocals): There was a project we were a part of, and the plan was just to get together for a week in some random house and compose and record an EP in that time, so that was the first time Michael and I did music together. We came out of that like, “oh, we can actually do this.” [laughs] We came back to Boston and we were like, “we should start something together.” That’s how Mind Debris started.
I actually wanted to ask about your name. Where did that come from? How did you guys come up with it, and can you share with us the significance?
MB: [laughs] Well, it took a long time to come up with the name. Initially, we were called Allston [everyone in the room laughs].
DV: [laughs] That’s really on-brand, but I can dig it!
MB: Originally it was Allston, but I think at this point we’re already done writing our debut EP, which is five tracks. Just the nature of what the songs were about and the lyric writing were pretty stoic, and philosophical, so we decided to name it Mind Debris.
Yeah, that’s really interesting. I want to hear a little about how you guys would describe your sort of sound to maybe someone who’s never heard you guys before. In general, what are you guys going for when you write and produce your music?
DV: I’d say we’re indie alternative rock with a splash of psychedelic. I like it, I like it.
MB: Psychedelic indie-tronica. [laughs].
DV: I mean, yeah, I guess that’s even better [laughs].
[Laughs] That’s hilarious. Where do you guys find inspiration for your music? Do you have any local influences, or is there anything that stands out to you that you wanted to emulate? Or is it that you guys find inspiration anywhere?
MB: I think we just enjoy making music, and that’s how inspiration gets to us—just by making. At some point, we just get inspired and find super nice sounds. We have bands that inspire us of course, like Grizzly Bear and Radiohead, but we try to go for our own sound. As far as lyrics go, I think we just like to have deep conversations in parties, and that’s where our lyrics come from.
Where did you guys play your first show in Boston?
MB: Our very first show was hosted by an Emerson [College] student. It was called Firehouse. [Everyone in the room lets out a big “ah.” Laughs.]
MB: Alright, it’s popular!
Ah yes, we know, we know it well.
MB: That was our very first show [laughs]. It was great.
DV: When was that? September 2018?
MB: Actually, I think it was April 2018. So just about a year ago. That was our first show.
What was it like debuting your music to a large audience? What was that experience like?
MB: We were nervous. We were all nervous. Especially as artists, we all think we’re our own worst critics. I remember finishing the show and being like, “man, we rehearsed this and it didn’t come out the way we wanted it to,” but everyone came up to us and was like, “that was amazing.” Even the host said, “I’m not worthy of having you guys here, you should be playing at better venues.” And we were just like, “awesome, we’re onto something.” We were very nervous and clouded by a lot of judgment at the time.
I saw that you guys do these really cool performances where you just go out to Mystic River or other places and just play your music. How has that come about?
DV: One of the big things is that we like to explore different arrangements of our songs, and we have this harder rock thing going on, but we also like to explore super acoustic stuff. We love Boston and how cold it can get, how mysterious it can get, and it’s just a matter of combining those two elements. That aesthetic of the cold, the water, and the plants and stuff mixed with our acoustic versions of songs is great.
That’s so interesting. I saw you guys do one in the middle of a blizzard, I was just like, “wow, that’s really hardcore.” [laughs]
DV: [laughs] Yeah, we may have suffered a bit.
MB: Ugh, my hands got so cold [laughs]! I’ll also say, jumping off of what Diego said, that we get a lot of inspiration from Boston, from Boston’s weather and how you get so cold that you get kind of introspective. It makes you write about certain things, so a lot of our songs are about nature or the weather.
Boston is the perfect place to do it. Now, you guys mentioned you have a set of two singles coming out, is that it?
MB: So we actually have a double single, so they’re two different songs but on the same release.
Do you guys have anything you guys are working on now, anything you’re planning on releasing soon?
DV: Yeah, so these singles are going to be the first in a series of singles leading to an EP. We’re expecting to release it in August.
Can you tell us anything about it? What’s the vibe, or what’s it going to be centering around?
DV: At the moment, I think the best guess you can get is by listening to the music we’re releasing now.
Where can Boston see you guys perform next?
MB: We’re playing on the 3r d of May at the Lilypad. We’re playing with other awesome bands, Why Another, they’re a local band, as well as Insurrekto, and it’s their debut.
DV: Definitely check them out, they’re awesome.
Where can people find you if they want to listen to your music?
MB: Anywhere!
DV: Our website is mind-debris.com, and we have a Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
MB: Yeah, and our music is up on all streaming services.
Thank you guys so much for stopping by, it was great to chat with you.
