PHILADELPHIA – ESPERS INTERVIEW

They wear flairs and have hippie hair, but don’t be fooled into thinking that Espers – today featured on Practice Space – are a boring psychedelic folk band. They told us that they live in a commune that practices free love and shared vice. And we believe them. Then they told us that their music wasn’t psych-folk but rather, “a sherpa to guide all through the foothills of paranoia. It is a good, honest companion and friend…”

Are you a boring folk band?
Boring? Are we boring? Considering that we are a commune that practices free love and shared vice, I don’t know – that’s up to you to apply standards to and decide.

Does being lumped in with the whole free folk thing stick in your craw?
The greater interest in the ‘folk’ stuff of recent years allowed for exposure, sharing and travel for a good number of artists, so that is a good thing. A lot of us have been afforded great opportunities and friendships that continue to grow and morph and expand. It feels like the beginning. This isn’t temporary, flash-in-the-pan music to any of us. There is no real emotional connection to it though, no opposition or partisanship.

One good thing about the free folk movement was the way it dug up a load of amazing old relics that people had forgotten about. How was it working with all the people that started what you are finishing?
The friendships we have made with heroes of ours are unreal, maybe the most rewarding thing that has arrived out of all of this. Michael Hurley, Clive Palmer, Bridget St. John, Bert Jansch, Vashti, Gary Higgins, Mike Heron – they are all now close friends as well as mentors, and it is just awesome.

If you could only have one track to listen to forever and ever what would it be?
That’s a tough one, but I’ll bite. Uhhh… “Hold Me Back” by Patto.