Ethan Miller is stoked. His band, Howlin Rain, is in the middle of
recording its third album with none other than label head Rick Rubin
serving as the project’s producer. Add to that the fact that the band
is going to be playing a hometown gig for the first time in nearly a
year and be doing it with a few lineup changes on top of that. “The
last time we played Oakland was at a house party,” Miller explains.
“We’ve got our heads down, working really hard on writing and trying
not to be distracted. We’ve got a few summer festival gigs in Europe
but we’re trying to lay low from playing live. That said, it’s nice to
get out and keep the wheel turning a little bit and test a couple of
new songs live. There’s also a little revamping and realigning of the
sound.”
That realigning would be the addition of new drummer Raj Ohja and
the departure of guitarist Mike Jackson. It’s just the latest
evolutionary step for Howlin Rain, whose roots can be traced to
Miller’s first band, Comets on Fire. Known for its extensive use of
Echoplex, often rendering vocals unintelligible amid clattering
psychedelic freak outs that fell somewhere between Hawkwind and Blue
Cheer, Comets earned themselves touring slots alongside fellow noise
rockers Sonic Youth and Mudhoney. And while the Santa Cruz outfit ended
up getting its fair share of critical acclaim and a sweet label deal
with Sub Pop, the democratic nature of the creative process found
Miller yearning for a more personally driven project. “We were having a
great time in Comets, but we were kind of confined by some of the
members’ jobs and/or families. It was a really slow process writing
music and getting stuff done with Comets, even though it was a really
rewarding one,” Miller says. “I wanted to have something that could
kind of have a single leader and flow a little more to my own pace.
Eventually, I think it kind of took over for me at least and became
where I wanted to focus my energies.”
Those energies yielded Howlin Rain, a group with more of a melodic
tenor whose 2006 self-titled debut rings with the kind of tie-dyed
country rock the Dead and the New Riders were dabbling with back in the
early 1970s. And while Comets continues in a kind of indefinite hiatus
that was solely interrupted by the band’s appearance at Sub Pop’s 20th
Anniversary show last year, Howlin Rain recorded its sophomore effort
Magnificent Fiend. Now signed to Rubin’s American Recordings,
Miller and company upped the ante significantly with the addition of
Joel Robinow, a Santa Cruz acquaintance he knew from the band Drunk
Horse. By adding this multi-instrumentalist with an impressive mastery
of the Hammond B-3 organ to the mix, the dynamic of Miller’s band
changed to that of an acid-rock, groove machine that evokes images of
Steppenwolf and the Brothers Johnson breaking bread with Melanie. Songs
like “Dancers at the Edge of Time” find Miller’s Axl Rose-like yowl
wrapped in distorted riffs and pumping organ runs that give way to
“Lord Have Mercy,” a slice of cosmic gospel music that eventually
explodes into a joyous mix of unbridled choral accompaniment and potent
shredding.
With this kind of an eclectic and earthy vibe going on, it’s no
wonder that an iconoclast like Rick Rubin would be intrigued enough to
work with Howlin Rain. It’s a welcome and challenging development for
Miller, an admitted Type A personality who needed to adjust to his
label boss’ approach — one that dictated not worrying about
hitting specific recording and release dates, instead focusing on
getting the songs right with the players. “It’s a little unnerving not
to have dates on the calendar or anything,” Miller admitted. “But when
I realized that we’re trying to make the best record we’ve ever made
and have an opportunity to go well beyond what we’ve ever been able to
do because we’re without these time constraints, I realized that
if I’m working at McDonald’s in a few years, at least I’ve taken time
in my life to just cool that shit out and try and make an incredible
record.”
