Geezer are gigging. Maybe not right this second, but now-ish. The Kingston, New York, heavy trio of guitarist/vocalist Pat Harrington, bassist Richie Touseull and drummer Steve Markota released the says-it-all-really Groovy (review here) full-length last year as their label debut through Heavy Psych Sounds — it was their fifth record overall — and hit a new echelon for the band in terms of both crafted material and the flowing jams that have always been at root in their sound. Not to mention cover art. I interviewed Harrington last year when the album was coming out, so the impetus for chasing down a chat now wasn’t so much to deep dive into the songs or anything like that.

And yeah, I wanted to talk about gigs, how he felt about playing songs on a stage again after everything that’s gone down in the last year and a half. People avoid saying ‘Covid-19’ now. It’s become this unspoken presence in our lives, I don’t know if that’s out of fear, or fatigue, or if the very idea of thinking about it has become a cliché apart from either bragging that you did or didn’t get vaccinated as a gesture toward establishing political perspective, each side chastising the other.

But shows are happening and Geezer have announced a few — ideally their next album would take them back to Europe on tour, but they’re not quite thinking that grand a scale yet — so I was interested in Harrington‘s opinion on playing now and if the mindset has shifted at all. Dude’s been in bands for a long time; I figured he’d have an interesting viewpoint and I was right.

Also wanted to talk about his recent collaboration with Scott “Dr. Space” Heller on the synth-master’s solo album Alien Planet Trip Vol. 5: Search in Of… — joining the esteemed ranks of Suzuki Junzo in so doing — and to lobby as hard as I could for bringing Heller on board for a future contribution to Geezer. Make it happen! And with the synth overlays that Harrington put on the band’s 17-minute jam-single Solstice (review here), I would say the groundwork is well laid out for it. That’s a good track. You’re not going to regret getting lost in it.

Harrington is also visible on social media as a parent, and since I am too, we talked a bit about that, about sharing passions with kids while letting them find their own way, trying to strike that balance between giving space and being like, “Check out this sick-ass riff!” with our children. Other highlights include an entire section of the recorded conversation about the kitchen table and chairs behind him in the video. Yeah, that’s right. We actually do talk about the furniture. Because I am a fucking professional, no matter how much money I don’t make doing this.

And since we’re reaching the end, I’ll say too that a big part of wanting to talk to Harrington was simply that. He’s a nice guy, we’ve spoken a bunch over the years, and I just wanted to check in. So I did. Easy peasy.

Enjoy:

Geezer, Pat Harrington Interview, July 30, 2021

Geezer‘s Groovy is out on Heavy Psych Sounds and “Solstice” is available through Bandcamp. Both are streaming and more info is at the links below.

Geezer, “Solstice”

Geezer, Groovy (2020)

Geezer on Instagram

Geezer on Facebook

Geezer on Bandcamp

Heavy Psych Sounds on Bandcamp

Heavy Psych Sounds website

Heavy Psych Sounds on Facebook

Tags: Geezer, Geezer Groovy, Groovy, Heavy Psych Sounds, Kingston, New York

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