Psychedelic 60's Music News

The Electric Marmalade Provides a Far Out Trip With Their New CD, Voyage Through the Lava Lamp

Published, The Outpost Circle Press

September 17, 2008

Robin Reda is a private music teacher in Los Angeles. His band, The Electric Marmalade has a new CD entitled, “Voyage through the Lava Lamp.” This is a very unusual album. "It's been a concept project from the start," says Reda. "The idea was to take the sounds of bands like The Doors, The Beatles, The Byrds, other psychedelic groups, 60s, and create an authentic album of the sixties -only brand new."

"I wanted to make it a true emblem of the 60s era and I chose the lava lamp concept," Reda says, "I got this idea of making the album into an actual soundtrack for your lava lamp. Those lamps are still enormously popular. We thought the best way express that mood of the sixties was to make this CD a disc you can put in your changer and turn your lava lamp into a multimedia show."

Of the ten songs on the soundtrack, only one was not penned by Reda. The opening track, "I See You," is a cover originally recorded by The Byrds, written by David Crosby and Roger McQuinn in 1967. 60s: "I chose that song because it has the feel of a 20th Century Expressionist piece, like something from a George Jetson cartoon, --only fast and wild –60s,”

Reda recounts, "One of the coolest things about recording that song was that I actually got to chat with Roger McQuinn about it. He is one of the great rock and roll icons of the sixties and I've always admired him. He was very nice to me and very encouraging."

The soundtrack was co-produced, by Reda and Devin Thomas. Robin Reda plays guitar on all ten songs. Thomas, who was the original keyboardist with Wild Child, an L.A. based Doors tribute band, plays the Vox organ on the project. Thomas has also toured with Oingo Boingo. The drummer for The Electric Marmalade is Dave Beyer who also tours and records with Melissa Etheridge and is the former drummer for Christopher Cross.

Reda is not new to selling records. In the 1980s, he fronted, The Wail. His band was part of a genre of sixties-sounding groups during that decade known as The Paisley Underground. While playing The Whiskey A Go-Go one night, Reda met record producer, Earle Mankey.

The Wail released an album with Mankey. Reda's song, "45 Degrees (I Love You)," was picked up by KROQ disk jockey, Rodney Bingenhiemer. The song became the number eight most requested on the play-list for the year of 1985. "We were really young," says Reda, "I feel I've come a long way since then with support from my colleagues, students and audience. “Voyage through the Lava Lamp," is definitely the most way-out psychedelic project I've ever been a part of."

Reda and Thomas are now in production of a multimedia live show that will include a film, light show and sound effects along with the band playing live music. “We're planning on seeking airplay, mostly on college/web radio. Also, we hope to market the CD as a novelty item to merchants who sell anything "sixties"-especially lava lamps," Reda laughs.