Psychedelic rock band Owl Fly South, a UCLA group, discusses its unique music style
Members of Owl Fly South Braeden Henderson, a fourth-year ethnomusicology student, and Oliver Dobrian, a second-year
ethnomusicology student, will be performing at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.
OWL FLY SOUTH
Saturday, 2:30 p.m.
TBA, FREE
By Dan Peel
April 11, 2012 1:21 a.m.
Correction: The original headline contained a typographical error.
The guitar string broke during their last song at Lot 1 Cafe in Echo Park. Braeden Henderson put his Les Paul on the floor, stepped onto it and began grinding the remaining strings, while Oliver Dobrian toppled his Gretsch drum set, making as much noise as possible.
For Owl Fly South, this was an act of love.
The psychedelic rock band, Owl Fly South, plays loud and lengthy songs, between six and 15 minutes long. The band consists of vocalist and guitarist Henderson, who is a fourth-year ethnomusicology student, and second-year ethnomusicology student and percussionist Dobrian.
Oliver Brown, a third-year ethnomusicology student who sings and plays guitar with the student band Free Food, will accompany them for three songs.
“You go to that part of campus expecting to have the drag of class, and then … there are people playing cool music,” Henderson said. “It’s always a good time.”
Henderson uses 15 guitar pedals to create Owl Fly South’s psychedelic sound, which he described as “spacey and trippy” with heavy drums. Henderson also runs his vocals through a guitar echo pedal.
“I feel like echo has a special power over people,” Henderson said. “The ideal way of listening to music is to be in the past, present and future at the same time. Echo (helps to) put you there.”
According to Henderson, Owl Fly South’s members come from a wide range of musical backgrounds.
Henderson’s style has evolved from quiet, folksy music, to country, to riff-rock and into his own form of psychedelic rock.
Dobrian said he used to play drums with alternative and emo groups, and now adds volume and energy to Henderson’s songs.
“We have a vast array of (musical) influence that we distill into whatever we’re doing now,” Dobrian said. “Music is an amorphous thing.”
Brown has played bass with Owl Fly South for the past several weeks. He will bring his bass, his hip-hop roots and seven more effects pedals to the show.
“(The addition of the bass) has freed up Braeden,” Brown said. “It’s hard (for anyone) to play solos and sing at the same time.”
Henderson began the Owl Fly South project in 2006 as the solo project “Owl.”
“I couldn’t find anyone else to play with … so I started making strange tape recordings in my bedroom,” Henderson said. “(Before that) I was trying to imitate (Jimi) Hendrix.”
According to Henderson, he is currently working on five albums, with styles that range from sad acoustic songs to rap beats. Once they are complete, he plans to send them to music review blogs.
“Blogs are the new big rock critics,” Henderson said. “The age of … Rolling Stone is over.”
Dobrian has played with Henderson for nearly a year and said he takes inspiration from drummers like Keith Moon from The Who and John Bonham from Led Zeppelin for their raucous stage presence. Dobrian described his own sound as thunderous and bombastic.
“Oliver’s drums sound like a car driving through your house,” Henderson said. “He is the best drummer I’ve ever played with.”
According to Henderson, psychedelic music creates an undercurrent where wordless communication becomes possible. It creates a space to relax, hang out and talk in.
“Our goal is to get on a point of communion with the audience,” Henderson said. “I want to give people (a) rush.”
Once, while playing together at a local coffee shop, Henderson and Dobrian were told by the owner to turn down the volume, according to Dobrian. Instead, they turned the volume up, blowing out Henderson’s guitar amp.
Dobrian also said that Owl Fly South and The Ten Thousand, another group at UCLA, have had a competition over who is the loudest band on campus.
“I think right now they’re winning … even though we have five people and they have two,” said Kevin Moultrie, UCLA alumnus, guitarist and vocalist for The Ten Thousand. “I think we can pull ahead and take the lead. Hopefully they stay on their toes.”
Dobrian said he wants to give students something to open their minds so they can experience music in a new way.
“We want to learn all the rules, and then break them,” Dobrian said.
