Miles Michaud’s Allah-Las on their evolution from 60s rock to modern experimentation

Transmission 092: Interview with Allah-Las

Allah-Las is a rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2008 by Miles Michaud (vocals, guitar), Matthew Correia (percussion, vocals), Spencer Dunham (bass, vocals), and Pedrum Siadatian (lead guitar, vocals). The members, who met while working at Amoeba Records, initially focused on 1960s garage rock and surf music. Their debut album, released in 2012 and produced by Nick Waterhouse, introduced a sound that mixes elements of psychedelic rock with other influences. Over time, their music has incorporated elements of krautrock and electronic music, reflecting their expanding interests. Subsequent albums, including Worship the Sun (2014) and Calico Review (2016), show a shift toward more experimental and introspective compositions. Their latest album, Zuma 85 (2023), marks a new phase in the band’s musical path.

Allah-las’ official site & Instagram

What were some of the formative influences that first drew you towards the sound that defined your band?

It’s changed a lot over the years. When we first started the band, we were really into 60s garage rock, the Nuggets compilations, British Invasion stuff – the Who, the Kinks, the Beatles, of course. But our tastes have developed over time. We’re more into some electronic music and krautrock and other alternative scenes throughout the years. These have all bled into what inspires and influences us.

Can you pinpoint a turning point when the idea of forming a band crystallized from casual jam sessions?

Maybe after just two weeks of playing together, we got invited to play a show in somebody’s backyard on Halloween. We played without any real songs, just improvising things. I would improvise lyrics over the music. After the show, people actually said they quite liked it. We just kept playing anything we could find in LA for four years before we made a record. Once our first single and record came out, we realized that maybe we could do this as our jobs. We’ve been doing it ever since.

How did you come up with the name of the band?

As I said, we were together for two weeks before we played our first show and had to come up with a name for the bill. We thought it sounded reverent and spiritual, but also harkened back to the Shangri-Las or the Laws. It was kind of tongue-in-cheek, but also reverent as well.

How would you describe the atmosphere of the Los Angeles music scene when you first started out as a band?

It was very centralized. The internet was still very new in many ways, especially the social media aspect. A lot of people who played shows together shared rehearsal spaces. We got to know many bands back then, which is how we got access to playing all the shows we did. It was a small community centralized around Silver Lake and Echo Park. That scene still exists, but people have moved out of that part of the city because it’s gotten way more expensive. It used to be a cheap place to live, and now it’s really expensive.

What were the most significant obstacles you encountered during the creation of your first album?

Getting the money to pay for making it was really difficult. Choosing which songs to record was challenging because we had many songs that have now been lost to time, never getting recorded. We’ve moved on from that sound and era. The engineer, Mike McHugh, was a brilliant man but sometimes hard to work with. All in all, it was a great experience.

What was the inspiration behind the album title, “Worship the Sun”? And how does it reflect the mood of the record?

That record is a little more reflective than our first one. Our first record was very garage-rock with lots of songs about girls. “Worship the Sun” was more reflective, laid-back, and focused on writing. The first record was really a collection of songs we had been playing live for years. For “Worship the Sun,” we took time to write songs that were more experimental and technical.

What was the process of harmonizing surf rock, psychedelic music, and 60s revival influences into your sound?

We just try to make something that never sounds too much like anything else. If what we’re creating sounds too much like something that already exists, we’re not going to like it. That’s our only guiding principle. In doing that, we interpret different inspirations and bring them into our sound. We’re always trying to do something new and different.

What conceptual ideas or experiences shaped the creation of “Zuma 85” and how does it represent the shift from your earlier work?

That record was written mostly in the studio all together. I had a couple of tracks that I had demoed and brought to the band, but mostly we spent a lot of time in a studio north of San Francisco in Stinson Beach. We went there for three different sessions, and the natural world around that area had a huge influence. The studio itself had a huge influence on what came out of us. I think that experience was the most cathartic and redeeming experience we’ve had in the studio to date.

Which album do you think has had the most significant impact on your career, either in terms of growth or exposure?

I think the first record is still the most famous and popular. But in terms of our personal growth, either “Zuma 85” or “Calico Review” is where we started to really experiment in the studio and be conscious about exactly what we wanted something to sound like. We were able to achieve that rather than relying on other engineers or producers. We took the reins and feel completely fulfilled in the way we’re able to create a record.

How do you go about selecting the right instruments or equipment for the particular textures in your music?

We have a pretty good ear for sound, coming from when we were just collecting records before making music. We don’t really seek out one sound. We like to incorporate different sounds, instruments, and tones into different songs based on what that song needs. Again, always trying to make something unique and different. We use all kinds of instruments from the 40s to the 80s, 90s, and modern instruments as well, depending on what kind of sound we want at any given point.

What’s your next project?

We’ve been recording some demos at a studio in Topanga Canyon, California. We have a big collection of demos right now that we might release as instrumentals, but we’re not sure yet. Either way, that material will be making it onto our next LP, which we’re trying to finish and possibly release next year.

Photos courtesy of Allah-Las

Matteo Damiani

Matteo Damiani is an Italian photographer and author. Curator of the sites Retrofuturista.com; weirditaly.com; china-underground.com and others