On July 24, St. Petersburg rock band The Venus will release a sophomore full-length that feels half a world away from the Joe Meek-inspired ‘60s space-rock on its 2018 self-titled debut. The evolution didn’t come easy.
Frontman Alexander Charos told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that The Venus’ 19-track debut was written in 2016 with a lot of psychedelics on hand; that time forced him to face pain that’d been buried deep within him. The new album, Ancestor Simulator, captures the inevitable comedown of that chemical whirlwind.
“The last few years have been spent trying to improve my life and my health,” Charos, 32, said. Quitting the party led straight to therapy where he spent four years trying to get to the root of his depression and anxiety. He fell hard into yoga, nutrition, skateboarding and the teachings of the recently-deceased psychologist and spiritual leader Ram Dass. He shed 60 pounds in the process.
“I literally look like a different person, and the songs kind of reflect the emotional and physical transformation I went through,” Charos explained.
The band—Jeremy Trevino (drums, guitar, percussion, background vocals, organ), Dylan Gunn (bass), Jackson Davis (piano), John Jenkins (congas, timbales, guiro) and Charos’ brothers Philip and Jason (drums, tambourine, guitar, trumpet and mellotron)—spent 2019 recording the album at Charos’ own Yoko Phono Recording. Production wrapped in January, and The Venus was about to order vinyl and plan tours for the west coast and Europe when coronavirus lockdowns began making the landscape for working musicians look grim. Charos knew he’d have new material whenever, if ever, COVID-19 became an afterthought, so he went ahead with the release.
But another change was also on the horizon for the first-generation Greek immigrant. Near the end of the recording process, Charos learned he was going to be a father. His wife’s first trimester was difficult, and he wrote LP-closer “Reality Suite” to express his care and that he’d be there for her no matter what. COVID-19 changed the couple’s birth plan, too; they ended up welcoming their daughter in their own backyard as the sun came up. Cat Power was playing over the speakers as their Bernese mountain dog mix, Buddy, kept watch.
“Not what we were planning for but it turned out to be a pretty magical moment and she’s a healthy baby,” Charos said.
That doesn’t mean he isn’t concerned about the world his daughter and her friends will grow up in. In notes for the album’s title track, Charos—who’s been involved in activism for the homeless over the last 12 years—calls the music “an informal journal on the American experience and karmic catastrophe.” He told CL that the record is a commentary on his experience as a multicultural millennial in St. Petersburg trying to examine himself in the context of his history and his choices. Charos—who has a Greek father and a mom who was raised in Tampa Bay—had to learn English when he got here. His family looked and sounded different; they ate different foods on their different holidays. Charos was bullied when he lived in Greece for being too American and pushed around in the U.S. for being too Greek. A lot of The Venus’ music (and the songs he recorded in his last band, Alexander & The Grapes) is about letting go of self.
“If we all face the demons within we can face the evils in this world,” he said, conceding that his experience is similar to a lot of first-generation Americans who find themselves in a strange land in strange times.
The zeitgeist is captured impeccably on Ancestor Simulator’s lyrics, but the sound is from another era. The record’s aesthetic is a result of a recent tour spent soaked in the music of the early-’70s. Before that trek, Charos would’ve never put so many guitar solos on a Venus record, but this one is full of them, along with heavy doses of bass-face low end, big-belly drum fills and horns arranged by Charos’ brother Jason (a student at the the Frost school in Miami, and a bright young star in the Bay area jazz scene). “Drag On” is a brass-drenched, acid-laced ode to the Sunshine City. “Swamp Juice” is a humid, country-rock workout. “Fringe of Evolution”—where Charos sings, “I seem to be a brief light flashing only once in this time/rare organism on the fringe of evolution/waves of life bursting into everyone”—plays like the star the aforementioned Dass rode home on. Charos said he listened to a lot of Grateful Dead over the last couple of years and wanted to make a studio album that could also take off and become something else in a live setting. Local concert goers won’t know how it plays anytime soon, but Ancestor Simulator is alive with the hopeful, progressive spirit and promise of Woodstock (you know, before those hippies became Tucker Carlson bootlickers).
“American Blight”—recorded during quarantine as a late addition to the album, with members of The Venus turning their parts in from home—shines a light on the fight unfolding outside of Charos’ window. Some of the characters in the three-and-a-half minute song are drinking champagne while a new civil rights revolution starts to roil, but so many others on the cut are marching in the streets against police brutality, all in the face of a coronavirus that’s upending everything else.
And with the Fourth of July approaching, Charos didn’t mince words in discussing what the holiday means in 2020.
“As we become more aware of our history and truly living into the words of our constitution we see that July 4 was only an Independence Day for white people,” Charos said. In his eyes, now is an opportunity for the country to examine itself and ask itself how it can lean deeper into the ideal of equality and justice for all.
“We need to honor days like Juneteenth with equal reverence. The anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, the Marriage Equality act are also just as momentous,” he added. Justice for Black Americans and Indigeous people is long overdue, he said, and until the U.S. truly addresses its original sins, then real progress will always be out of reach.
“Until we all are afforded freedom to live and love without fear of persecution we have to keep fighting,” Charos explained, adding that the last few years, while peppered with inner healing, had also left him burned out.
Still, the protests, and seeing his generation say “enough is enough” to police brutality and systematic racism, have inspired him to believe that momentum is back in progress’ corner. He hopes that music, in its own way, can help cut through the bullshit and assist people in connecting with something beyond themselves.
“I’m more hopeful now for our country than I’ve been in a long time. I hope that we can keep this momentum going and actually change policy and vote out the final old guard of racists and bigots,” he said.”Don’t stop protesting and don’t stop singing.”
Look for a full stream of the album on Bandcamp. Read our full Q&A below.
This American Blight" feels like a song for right now. How long was the writing and recording process for this album? Just trying to paint a picture of the time you spent thinking about this record, writing it then getting it to tape at Yoko.
We actually finished the album right before everything started shutting down, with the exception of “This American Blight” which was recorded in quarantine with everyone doing their parts from home. We added that song cause if we're gonna put out music right now we wanted to say something about what's happening in the world.
Thinking about sessions in a closed studio, was the record hard to complete in the age of coronavirus?
I wrote and recorded this record throughout 2019 and we had finished production in January 2020. We were literally about to order vinyl records and plan a tour out west and to Europe. Then the lockdowns hit and we realized that the landscape for working as a musician is going to be grim for the time being. I felt that by the time we would be able to perform and tour again that we would have all new material so I decided to go ahead with releasing the album in 2020.
What about the protests?
When the protests began I felt really inspired by the way my generation has mobilized and really said “enough is enough.” All the things coming out in the news are nothing new in our country. We just have cell phones now to capture it on video and hold these people accountable. I know it's a crazy time to put out music but these protests seem to be the one good thing this year and it seems to have the momentum to affect real change. Rather than be silent in these times we want to share our music with the world. Music has a way of cutting through the bullshit and getting people to connect with something beyond themselves. I encourage all artists to dig deep and keep putting out music during these wild days.
Ancestor Simulation sounds like a new band in a lot of ways.
The new sound came out of immersing ourselves in the music of the early 70s while on tour. Lots of drum fills, bass face, horns, and unabashed guitar solos. A few years ago I would never have put this many solos on an album but I just wanted to have fun and make a record that could lend itself to improvisation. I listened to a lot of Grateful Dead the past couple years and I wanted to have songs that work as a studio album but could also really take off in a live setting and become something else. The last few years have been kind of transformative for me and I've challenged myself in a lot of ways and I think the lyrics reflect that. The first record written in 2016 was written with a lot of psychedelics on hand. Those times forced me to change my way of thinking and face some deeper pains. This record is the inevitable comedown of that chemical whirlwind. The last few years have been spent trying to improve my life and my health. Quitting the party life sent me straight into therapy where I stayed for 4 years trying to get to the root of my depression and anxiety. I got deep into yoga, Ram Dass, nutrition and skateboarding. I lost over 60 lbs in the process. I literally look like a different person and the songs kind of reflect the emotional and physical transformation I went through.
How much did knowing you and Katie were becoming parents influence this record?
While we were wrapping up the recording of the album I found out I was going to be a father. My wife had a really difficult first trimester and it was scary at times, the track "Reality Suite" is one I wrote during that time. It was my way of telling her how much I cared for her and that I was going to be there for her no matter what. COVID-19 changed our birth plans and we ended up having Stella at home watching the sun rise over our backyard as she came out listening to Cat Power with our dog next to us. Not what we were planning for but it turned out to be a pretty magical moment and she's a healthy baby.
Your family is Greek. Can you briefly explain your American experience? How do you get to a point where you are making a record that is a self-explained, “informal journal on the American experience & karmic catastrophe”?
My father is Greek and I was raised over there for half of my childhood. My mother is from the Tampa Bay area from Scottish ancestry. When I was in Greece I was looked at as an American kid, and when i moved here I was treated as a Greek kid. I was born here but left for Greece as a baby and moved back here at the age of 9. I had a thick accent and had to learn how to read and write English. My family looked different, sounded different, we ate different foods, we had different holidays. Anything different about you in those days was low hanging fruit for bullies and ignorant people. These days people seem to be more open minded, I have a lot of hope for the future generation. In a way I never felt fully Greek or fully American because I got treated as the other from both sides which is maybe why I identify more as just being a human. Governments and nations are specks on the timeline of the continuum of lifeforms this planet has seen. The survival of our species depends on us taking a cosmic perspective on our existence and an ethos of love and acceptance for the many ways we all express our humanity with the time we're given. But i think my experience is similar to a lot of first generation Americans who find themselves in a strange land in strange times. Our parents took a chance and moved here with nothing and we're born into two worlds trying to make sense of it all. Our country has a lot to reckon with to begin the healing process, namely justice for Black Americans and indigenous justice. Until we truly address the original sins of America we will never achieve real progress.
What's the Fourth of July mean to you these days?
As we become more aware of our history and truly living into the words of our constitution we see that July 4th was only an Independence Day for white people. We need to see it as an opportunity to self examine as a nation and ask ourselves how can lean deeper into equality and justice for all. We need to honor days like Juneteenth with equal reverence. The anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, the Marriage Equality act are also just as momentous. Until we all are afforded freedom to live and love without fear of persecution we have to keep fighting.
There are a couple times on the record, especially on “Drag On”, when you can feel that energy Jason brings with his horn-playing—could you talk about choosing when/why you wanted those sounds on the album?
Back to the record. Jason is such a great trumpet player and arranger we had to get 1 proper horn section out of him for this project. It's been amazing to see him grow as a musician. "Drag On" is a song we went full vibe on, its probably my favorite track on the album. It features Philip on drums and bass, Jeremy on guitar and organ, and Jason on horns. I'm playing guitar, mellotron, and percussion on the track. Its a groovy, acid laced ode to St Pete.
There are also field recordings on here (thinking of the dog barking on “Subterranean Exploration”), which make for (1) an album that feels like it’s a slice of real life and (2) create tension/atmosphere—when did you know the album needed that kind of texture?
"Subterranean Explorations" is one of the darker tracks and features vocals from my dog, Buddy. He's a Bernese mountain dog mix and he has a pretty scary bark. Jeremy and I were recording acoustic guitars and Buddy started barking at something but we just kept playing. It kind of fit with the eerie vibe of the song so we just left it in and it influenced the lyrics. It really sounds like he's in the room with you, you kind of do a double take. The first record had a lot of interludes and instrumentals so we wanted to keep that theme running through into this album as well even though most of the tracks are a bit more structured. Adding interludes and field recordings are kind of a way to cleanse the palate as you move through the songs. Venus records are meant to be journeys, preferably listened to on headphones in the dark with some potent grass on deck.
You’ve been outspoken about your stand on BLM. This record is an edict on how American history got us here. What’s it like to be a non-Black artist releasing music at a time when the world at large is in the middle of what could be the biggest civil rights protest in its history?
This record is a commentary on my experience as a multicultural millennial in St. Petersburg, FL trying to examine myself in the context of my history and my choices. Letting go of self is a theme that runs through all of my music from the Grapes and the Venus. If we all face the demons within we can face the evils in this world. I've been involved in activism for the homeless in St Pete since I was 20, and I'm now 32. The past few years I honestly burnt out and had to do a lot of inner healing. Seeing my peers and the new generation take to the streets and call out police brutality and systemic racism has been so inspiring that I'm more hopeful now for our country then I've been in a long time. I hope that we can keep this momentum going and actually change policy and vote out the final old guard of racists and bigots. Don't stop protesting and don't stop singing.
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