Day 2, (see Day 1 here), of Eindhoven Psych Lab commenced with a leisurely breakfast, fit for a king, courtesy of the Hampshire Hotel – Crown Eindhoven. Offered as part of a combined early booking event ticket, it epitomises the organisers’ flawless attention to detail. This is the second year I have had the pleasure of staying in this most comfortable four star accommodation, almost literally a stone’s throw from the Effenaar venue.

By the start of proceedings on the Saturday afternoon, the temperature had dropped around 13 degrees on the previous day. This made for a welcome mellowing of pace, particularly following the previous evening’s aural onslaught – yielding endless opportunities to shoot the breeze with all and sundry fellow miscreants, you know who you all are… x

“psyche/ˈsʌɪki/via Latin from Greek psukhē ‘breath, life, soul”…

As the fundamental factors for any psychedelic experience are defined by set, setting and dosage – the anticipation enveloping this sophomore, 2015mg Effenaar event, was tangibly palpable.

“The nature of the experience depends almost entirely on set and setting. Set denotes the preparation of the individual, including his personality structure and his mood at the time. Setting is physical — the weather, the room’s atmosphere; social — feelings of persons present towards one another; and cultural — prevailing views as to what is real”. – Timothy Leary.

Photograph by Arthur Weed

Future were one of the many bands on ‘The Reverb Conspiracy Vol. 3‘ that captivated and left me wanting to hear more. Their track ‘Side Effects’, I described as, “an exquisite existential exercise in “sharp guitar riffs, cold melodies and fractured drums”” – as befits their “Cold Wave” self-classification.

 Photograph by Betânia Liberato

10 000 Russos, pronounced “dez mil russos” are the latest spell-weavers to join the illustrious Fuzz Club Records banner.

I recently commented that Casper was perhaps a descendant of the renowned 16th century alchemist John Dee – that he continues to conjure these latter-day “Nuggets” seemingly at will, suggests I may not have been that far off the mark!

The band’s press release confirms that, “João Pimenta (drums/vocals), Pedro Pestana (guitar) and André Couto (bass), emerged from what they call “a dark, decadent city of a peripheral country in a peripheral continent”: Porto, Portugal”.

On listening to their eponymous debut album, I see 10 000 Russos as being more akin to their ancestral sea-faring voyagers of discovery, or as Timothy Leary observed, “You are venturing out (like the Portuguese sailors, like the astronauts) on the uncharted margins. But be reassured— it’s an old human custom.”

Photograph by Betânia Liberato

10 000 Russos eponymous debut LP was released on 20th May and is available in digital and cd formats. Vinyl in regular edition (limited to 500), and in deluxe edition (limited to 100), the one I am waiting for, is available now for pre-order from Fuzz Club Records.

Ahead of reviewing the LP, watch this space, I asked Pedro Pestana about the world of 10 000 Russos, that he inhabits with André Couto and João Pimenta…