The Vliets

THE VLIETS’ version of 60's psychedelic rock is everything but retro. They mix in electronic and synth-pop to their musical trips – you better think of french Air as a musical reference than The Grateful Dead or even Captain Beefheart (like their bandname suggests). Nevertheless: expect voices from the universe talking to you, psychedelic video trips and even UFOs on stage from this fantastic band! THE VLIETS “God’s Drug” EP is out now on itunes and you can listen to it on their soundcloud. Singer/guitarist/synthesizerer Ty was so kind to answer all of our questions.
Who are The Vliets?
Ty Bohrnstedt (guitar, vocals, synth), Daniel Gonzalez (bass, synth, drums), Max Anderson (drums)
What’s your music about, what does it sound like?
Mainly, the psychedelic experience and multidimensional spirits but also love. Most of the songs on ‘The Vliets EP’ were written about my current girlfriend, who I started figuring out I was in love with at the time and ‘God’s Drug EP’ was mainly about psychedelic trips or just thoughts in general. The sound is very minimalistic. I love the sound of a drone toned synth, electronic beats, driving drums, falsetto vocals and minimalistic guitar. We’ve sort of combined our love for 60's era psychedelic rock and modern age electronic synth music.
Your bandname refers to Don Van Vliet – Captain Beefheart. How does he influences your music?
Well, we sound nothing like Captain Beefheart, it’s more of a vibration thing. Every time I listen to Captain Beefheart, I immediately have the urge to write songs. No other artist really does that to me to the extent that Don Van Vliet does. He’s one of the best composers of all time, songs like ‘Peon’ and ‘One Red Rose That I Mean’ are some of the most beautiful tracks I’ve ever heard. The man was a master lord poet, lyrically and musically.
You are mixing 60s/70s psychedelic rock with 80s synth-pop in your music in a very unique, specific way – where do you draw more influences from?
Growing up, I only listened to 60's music. I couldn’t stand anything else. The first music I was exposed to by my dad was Neil Young and The Beatles around age 4. When I started learning to play music I would spend hours every night studying Jimi Hendrix’s guitar work and the chord structures of The Beatles. It’s literally all I listened to until I was about 13 years old. When Radiohead’s ‘Kid A’ came out, I started giving modern music a chance. The electronic music coming out today is some of the most exciting stuff happening in music, and it’s been a huge influence on our music. Groups like múm, The Books, Flying Lotus, and Bibio to name a few. I don’t think our music encompasses any one influence, we all have different tastes and like so many different styles.
Your EPs are available on streaming services, and for sale on iTunes or as “name your own price” on Bandcamp. Will we ever see a release on CD or vinyl?
I hope so. We’re going to get some CDs made of ‘God’s Drug’ for some touring we’ll be doing this year. If that goes well we’ll definitely get some vinyl pressed of past releases, and hopefully future releases as well.
The artwork for your EPs is done by painter Edgar Cardoze. Who is that guy? Why does his art fit to your music?
Edgar was the roommate of one my good buddies, John Stubbs. I was invited to their house for a party, and there was all this amazing art hanging on the walls. John’s mom runs an art gallery in Dallas, so I assumed he’d gotten most of it through his mom. When they told me Edgar had painted all of it, I was blown away. I immediately wanted his work to be incorporated with our music somehow. I felt like his paintings and our music were doing the same things, in terms of color, style, everything, they just felt the same. ‘Velvet Sea’ is about one of his paintings that I stared at for hours while writing. He’s definitely my favorite painter so it’s a real honor for us to be able to use his work as our album art. Some of his paintings are for sale here: cardozeportfolio.blogspot.com
What music, bands and sounds influence you the most?
These days pretty much all music. John Frusciante, Neil Young, Radiohead, The Kinks, David Bowie, Beck, Mogwai, The Velvet Underground, Cream, Grandaddy and The Beatles have all been enormous influences for both Daniel and I in the past. Our style is definitely evolving though, every day. As of the last few years we’ve been pretty addicted to Starfucker, Bibio, Yo La Tengo, múm, The Books a lot more electronic stuff. We’re definitely moving in a more modern direction, but still hanging on to that psych rock feel.
The Vliets is located in Austin and Chicago. How do you work, record, write songs together?
It’s not easy. Max is in Austin, Daniel is in Chicago and I live in Rockwall, TX. We wrote the majority of ‘God’s Drug EP’ over the phone and email. Daniel would send me parts, they’d be added to the track, and then I would record more. I’d send him an updated version of the track, we’d discuss it, make changes and do it all again. That’s basically our system at this point.
What music do you listen to at the moment?
kissed her little sister, Bibio, Cornelius, Starfucker, Sonic Youth, Yo La Tengo, Air, Here We Go Magic, Wax Stag, My Bloody Valentine, The Books, ABBA, Gidropony, Teebs and many more.
What’s your favorite song?
I don’t think I have a single favorite song, there are so many that I’m completely in love with, but I do think one of the best songs of all time is ‘I See The Rain’ by Marmalade
What’s the drug of your choice?
Dimethyltryptamine
What are your all time top 5 favorite albums?
1) Abbey Road by The Beatles
2) Kid A by Radiohead
3) Lick My Decals Off, Baby by Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
4) Niandra Lades and Usually Just a T-Shirt by John Frusciante
5) The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society by The Kinks
Why are you making music? What means music to you?
It wasn’t really a conscious decision to start making music or to love music. I just have to do it. I’ve always had a personal connection with the universe, like it was speaking to me with loud voices in my head telling me what to do artistically and letting me know what music will resonate with me on a multidimensional level. Writing music is just a communication with those dimensions. It’s like the universe hands you this idea and says ‘Do you feel this? Can you hear this? Do you understand? Build on it’. Music, and all forms of creation or action from thought, is just making third dimensional sense of those messages. Everyone has that connection to those dimensions, you just have to acknowledge it.
What are your plans and dreams for The Vliets in 2013?
We’re planning on playing a ton of shows all over the U.S. in 2013 and we’re really working at making them performances, not just us standing on a stage playing the songs like in the past. The last month we’ve been rehearsing, building machines, compiling video footage, recording audio clips, and working on lights for the shows. We’re lucky to have our good friend and amazing genius, Preston Smith, helping us plan and execute this show. He’s in the process of building a UFO that Preston will fly with a remote during some of the songs, we got it in the air for the first test flight yesterday and it’s amazing. There are a lot of songs waiting to be recorded as well, so hopefully it’ll be a big year for us.
BUSHWAH SAYS THANKS FOR THE INTERVIEW! - Bushwah

The Vliets headed straight out of Autin and into our Top Rated. With two EPs up on our site, multiple songs in the Top Rated feed, and their track “Elephant” in the #1 position on our sales chart, the Vliets could very easily be called the most popular band on Feedbands. This month, they had not one but two of their tracks, “God’s Drug” and “Chrysanthemum,” jump from New Arrivals to Top Rated in about a week. Their low-fi, psychedelic sound is indicative of Air, but these boys are not to be resigned to ‘90s throwbacks. They’ve got what it takes to compete with today’s major indie groups. We hope they’re up to the challenge. - Feedbands Radio

Though they bow to Captain Beefheart (a.k.a. Don Van Vliet), The Vliets have graduated from their guru and are now generating their own brand of post-modernistic psych rock. Check out "God's Drug EP", a 4-track master class in cool groove construction. Propelled by keys + guitar + Ty Bohrnstedt's understated, 60-ish vox, this release's confident, slow-gro compositions will lay claim to a spot on your heavy rotation list.

There's a reason these guys came in 1st in the 2012 Best of Austin poll - Check it out.

--Scott Osborn - The Deli Magazine

The Vliets pump out psychedelic rock with a hint of electronic vibrations. This dazed rock trio began in Dallas, with bimonthly commutes to Austin, and has been playing live shows since 2010. Even though bass/keyboard/drum-master Daniel Gonzalez recently moved to Chicago in 2012, the band collaborates and works through e-mail, long calls and the occasional meet-up. Impressive, huh? - The Deli Magazine

Trip rock is back and The Vliets are running with the movement. The Vliets only to have been in the game for approximately two years are starting to already gain avid followers. Their sound is rich and layered with dopamine infused visuals. Just having released their latest Ep “Gods Drug” at the end of 2012, also releasing with it the visual to the song title “Gods Drug” and “Pale Solar Stream”. All aboard the trip train. - Starchpress

Formed in Austin, TX a few years back The Vliets became part of the Chicago scene in the summer of 2012, when founding member Daniel Gonzalez moved to our fine city. This year also saw the band release their latest EP "God's Drug." Despite the distance between Gonzalez and his songwriting partner Ty Bohrnstedt, The Vliets managed to release two outstanding and physedelic videos this fall, and continue to work on upcoming releases. The band is also planning a cross country tour in 2013. Our jurors assigned them a rating average of 8 out of 10. - The Deli Magazine

In a world of straight-to-the-point hooks, the Vliets make us wait for it. And while we are waiting for the slow hypnotic section that is what I guess you could call a chorus, we're treated to enchanting synths and slightly-ominous bass. Nothing to complain about really. - NJ Underground/Fake walls

One of our new favorite discoveries the Vliets teamed up with Daniel Hunter aka Analog Rebellion to create a flaming ball of eerie psychedelic awesomeness. The blindingly hypnotic number, titled "Use Your Big Boy Words", will appear on Hunter's forthcoming album Full Frontal, due out in January. Stream the track below and then consider giving the Vliets' "God's Drug" another spin. - NJ Underground/Fake Walls

???????????????????????? The Vliets ???EP God’s Drug ??????? Jeff Morisano ?????·?????????? Kissed Her Little Sister ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????EP? bandcamp ????·??????? - Warszawa

???????????????????????? The Vliets ???EP God’s Drug ??????? Jeff Morisano ?????·?????????? Kissed Her Little Sister ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????EP? bandcamp ????·??????? - Warszawa

Ty Bohrnstedt is the driving force behind The Vliets, a Dallas bi regional band splitting time between Dallas and Chicago. ‘God’s drug’ is a track released 4 months ago off an EP of the same title. Definitely worth your attention. - Lofiles

Ever been on LSD? Me either. No worries, The Vliets new EP God’s Drug will give you all of the euphoria you need without the illegal pressure. The duo is made up of Ty Bohrnstedt and Daniel Gonzalez who write and record all of their songs via email. The group hails from Chicago and Dallas respectively where they put out a self titled EP in July of 2011. Their new EP, God’s Drug is a four song journey of chill vibes and great ambiance that will make your day a little more relaxing and your high a lot more interesting. They have already made two trippy videos for their songs “God’s Drug” and “Pale Solar Stream” which you can check out here. If you’re winding down for your day and planning to light up one, give this EP a listen… It’ll make your high a bit more interesting. - Art Nouveau Magazine

The Vliets from Dallas in the USA has undergone some changes in personnel, but despite that is scheduling a new release for later this year - currently pencilled in as a 5 track EP - Vliets II. Keep in touch with the indie bands blog for the latest news on this release as it emerges. I have had the opportunity to take a listen to God's Drug and this sounds like the out-fit has developed to an even finer tasting wine. - Indie Bands Blog

There’s something incredibly special about this track that I’ve been having a hard time putting my finger on. Hailing from Dallas, TX, The Vliets (pronounced “vleets”) bring to the table a hauntingly nostalgic tune, fronted by the vocals of Ty Bohrnstedt (which may I add could be slightly comparable to silk) and backed by an ominous choir of ghosts who really bring the entire song into another dimension. You can easily hear all the key components that went into ‘Elephant’ to give it the level of atmosphere that it does. The dry organ delivers the circa 60’s revival whilst the jangly reverb of the guitar brings it to almost a “brumous surf rock.” Elephant by the Vliets is definitely a track to be played loud, and to do so, you can download the entire EP here. - Newdust

In case you haven’t picked up on it by now,
we’re not just a rap blog.

And although our immediate network of artists
might not always reflect the full range
of what we listen to,
we’re working to fix that
slowly but surely.

Today, we take a nice step forward
& are happy to premiere an exclusive new video
from one of our favorite bands at the moment -
the Dallas / Chicago psych rock outfit, The Vliets
w/ their hypnotic, uhhh… non anti-drug ode, “God’s Drug.”

The song is the first of two
that they’ve leaked from their upcoming The Vliets II EP,
which we’ve previously selected here -
& for the video,
they’ve hooked up w/ visual artist, ggrraasshhooppeerr
(also known as the one-man-band, Kissed Her Little Sister)
for a properly psychedelic
& pixelated video experience.

To ensure you get the video’s full effect -
be sure to watch in HD
+ turn off all the lights
& put your face as close to your monitor as you can -
it’s much more fun that way.

Also included below
is a stream of “Velvet Sea,”
the second song leaked
from the same EP,
which should be released
in the coming weeks. - FRSH SLCTS

As previously promised,
Austin-meets-Chicago hybrid band, The Vliets
have released their new EP,
as a pay-what-you-want-but-please-don’t-be-a-prick,
through their Bandcamp yesterday.

And just as we’d hoped -
it’s a well-paced & spacious,
psych-informed but not in a boring stoner way,
arty but not pretentious,
good feeling bit of escapism
that takes its time to seep in
but when it does, it sticks around.

Just you wait till the still-sleeping
“indie” bloggers elite gets a load of these guys.

Until then (& after),
you can stream the EP in full here
& support it via the link below. - FRSH SLCTS

The Vliets- Pale Solar Stream - No Thoughts Magazine

The Vliets has just released a new four track EP – God’s Drug (yesterday infact – the 28th September 2012). It has been just over a year since I last reviewed The Vliets and that time has been well spent by the band. With band members relocating across the USA this release has taken a while longer than planned. Opening the release with title track, immediately it is noticeable that the sound has gained in substance, the opener is driven by a sonic bass that adds gravitas to a track that otherwise has the listener floating on the ceiling ingesting mescalin.
Pale Solar Stream takes the brain on an extended five and a half minutes of subcutaneous journey as the music melts in to the brain and flashing spectrum’s of sound disappear in to the veins, emerging in the head with astonishing power as once again the judicious use of lower register notes pulse throughout the track.
Chrysanthemum somehow seems an apposite track title to appear in this release which is deeply rooted in psychedelia and the briefest track on the release at just under three and a half minutes delivers at a higher pitch a somatosensory intensive experience.
Concluding the EP with over six minutes of music with Velvet Sea, which is an intriguing composition. This is the most overtly ‘traditional’ rock constructed track and as such makes for a diverting appendage to God’s Drug. Despite its ‘normality’ The Vliets are able to slice open the notes to aural investigation and the slowly echoing rise and fall of the sounds takes the audience on a subliminal journey across the spread of the influences which sit within the band that are often disguised beneath the transcendental meditative moods.
Despite the geographic differences, I hope that The Vliets is able to continue to work together as a constant unit as the development in sound and breadth sets the band up with the potential for an interesting future. - Indie Bands Blog

Chicago/Dallas duo The Vliets may not be breaking down genre barriers, but the music making up their first two EPs goes beyond the psychedelic, synth rock, art rock labels they put themselves in and "God's Drug" is a prevailing example of such. The surreal five-minute catharsis is presented in a self-aware tone with lyrics proving that the man behind them is nothing of the nature. The criminally underappreciated act's proficiency in delivering subtle, yet memorable hooks is also a winning trait that should soon enough earn the guys a way bigger audience than the present has afforded them. - NJ Underground/Fake Walls

The other week the Dallas and Chicago-based Vliets released a four-track EP, their second in as many years. Made privy about a day ago, I’ve noticed I’ve become exceptionally smitten with “Pale Solar Stream.” Its five and a half minutes is a steady stream of textured minimalism. Much of The Vliets’ work on God’s Drug seems this way. I don’t know that “Pale Solar Stream” is excessively complicated so much as it is fancily blanketed in piles of sound. As layered as we get to brave the Chicago winter, I guess. - Chicago Tunes

Our resident psych-inspired rock band,
The Vliets, return this week
w/ the second video from
their recently released
God’s Drug EP,
following up on the visual
for the project’s title track last month.

For “Pale Solar Stream,”
the trip is again provided by video guru,
Jeff Morisano aka ggrraasshhooppeerr
& this time utilizes an interest new editing technique,
called “datamoshing.”

Jeff explained a bit about what that means for us here:

basically you just run footage – in my case, random shit, clips spliced into 2-5 second segments… some have an offensive amount of effects blazed on em, some don’t at all, some are cropped weird, etc – then you run it through this shit and every time the computer thinks the clips has changed (because it has) you trick it into thinking it has not changed, so basically the the last frame of the old clip is stuck on the new clip as it run, and only the parts of the new clip that have movement will cut through that last frame of the old clip, so it looks like they are exploding through each other. but since it is essentially exploiting a glitch, you are not really sure what you are going to get. anyway, i am a total amateur and just experimented like a fool for a long time so that could easily be a totally wrong explanation of datamoshing (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compression_artifact)

Long story short – it looks awesome.

Put your face real close to the screen
when you this watch one. - FRSH SLCTS

The Vliets have released the second video from their new ep God's Drug. The band released the ep late last month and have been receiving a lot of well deserved praise. Ty Bohrnstedt is the driving force behind this Dallas band now splitting time between Dallas and Chicago. I haven't seen any local shows scheduled but I am excited to see the synth driven psych-pop band take the stage. - The Deli Magazine

Hard to believe, but it’s been a year since the self-titled debut EP from Dallas’s The Vliets. But hey, good news: there’s a new one on the way! Adventurously titled “The Vliets II”, at least provisionally. Still, there are more important things to worry about than the title – say, for example, whether the music’s any good.

Well, I’ve only heard one track so far, but based on that the answer is yes. “God’s Drug” heads in something of a darker direction than previous tracks, calling up images of needles and loneliness. It’s not quite Nine Inch Nails, admittedly, which on balance I’m happy with. Ty’s voice actually really suits a mournful yowl, and it’s all complemented nicely by the casually psychotic organ in the background.

The artwork once again comes courtesy of Edgar Cardoze, and fits perfectly with the psychedelic sound. Judging by this, and considering the previous record, I’d say “The Vliets II” ought to be worth looking out for come August. You can stream “God’s Drug” below. - Listen Before You Buy

?LFTF readers will recall our interview with the frontman of The Vliets. We praised them for making music that we wish people would still make. They grab elements from old psych rock bands like Pink Floyd and throw them into a blender to create this churned, slow grinding, and warm and loving rock tone. Check out their new tune "God's Drug," which is a constant-flowing balad that gracefully exits. The painting above was done by frontman Ty's good friend Edgar Cardoze; for every song he does a new painting - pretty cool to connect the aural with the visual if you ask us. - Live For The Funk

?Music today is obsessed with producing the craziest electronic bleeps and blurps you can come up with, but what happened to the tunes of yore? Not that we don't absolutely love and appreciate that kind of music, but you know, when people could just lay back, roll up a j, and listen to an entire Pink Floyd, The Beatles, or Yes record... the type of music that's not just a fleeting moment drunk by some hyped and farsed fad. It was a time when artists produced albums and not singles, when sampling was frowned upon because it wasn't considered original and therefore not creative enough for commercial release, when what you could do with a guitar completely overshadowed what you could do with a computer. Where the fuck did all those bands go?
Enter The Vliets. This four-piece band from Dallas, Texas was first introduced to LFTF by our main man Skrause. They make music we wish people could still make by pulling from elements of classic rock, psych rock, and psych folk to the point that their music doesn’t belong in this era and is timeless.
Tell me about you guys.
Our band name The Vliets (pronounced 'vleets') is in reference to Don Van Vliet aka Captain Beefheart, one of my all time favorite musicians and artists. I started this band about 2 years and we've had many different members. Right now the band consists of myself, Daniel Gonzalez, Luke Ferrell and John Solis. I play guitar, bass, synthesizer, piano, drums. Daniel is on bass, drums, synthesizer. Luke is synthesizer, piano. John is drums. Our dynamic is unique, as in we don't get together as a band and jam and write and figure things out. If I write a song, I will write it in it's entirety and record each part as well, and the same goes for Luke and Daniel. After the songs are recorded, we then know how all of our parts are intended to be played, we learn them, and play them live. I have 5 or 6 new songs I'm in the process of recording right now that the rest of the band hasn't even heard, and I know Luke has been working on a few that no one has heard yet either. I used to desperately want a band that could get together on a daily basis, be best friends, all be on the same page, and just make good music. But I found after trying to write with many people and be like that, that being a band is a very delicate thing with lots of ego's involved, and I hated it so this situation is perfect right now.
I love your writing style of everyone kind of doing their own thing and then learning each tune from each other. Do you think this hinders your process though? Has it ever been the case that you just really do not like a tune that someone else wrote or someone doesn't like your tune? What do you say in a situation like that?
It doesn't hinder my process, I usually write most of the parts on the spot during recording and I have to be completely alone when doing so. It's difficult for me to write with others, and I've found that when I have collaborated it never turns out right and there's always something about the song that will bother me. Anytime a song comes to me, it's when I'm on the piano and my mind is blank with zero influence on what I'm actually playing, then something comes. I have to be alone while I'm doing this, anyone there is a distraction. Any song that I've written that I really like has been done that way and it's what's most comfortable to me.
There have definitely been times when one of us hasn't liked someone else's song, and it's a pretty awkward situation when that happens. It hasn't happened lately, but it did a lot in the past. Everyone who's been in the band is pretty passive aggressive though, sometimes when situations like that would arise, I'd start hearing about things others members had said about me to other people who weren't even in the band..So it's definitely a delicate matter. Sometimes feelings are hurt and people get pretty pissed off and will talk shit about you behind your back. But it's the same as if we were all writing a song together and someone didn't like a specific part someone is playing, rather we're all writing an album together and the songs are the parts, if that makes sense.
Tell me about your writing process.
To me, the process of writing music is a spiritual experience and/or communication with inter-dimensional spirits. I've never sat down and been like 'oh I want to write a song that sounds like this..' it doesn't work that way, and comes through in the music and feels contrived. Anytime I've written something that I actually like, it's come from somewhere else. It's a meditation of sort, your mind goes blank and you're playing your instrument, and then something is coming out of you that took no prior thought, it's just a thought, idea, image, or feeling that is being transmitted through you from another dimension, and you're just the instrument to pull it out of one dimension, and into this one. Then it's my job to take these messages or thoughts or whatever you want to call it, and arrange them and make sense out of them. I usually achieve that state by playing piano or synth, then once I figure out the basic chord structure of the song, I record the keys, and gradually add the guitars, bass, drums, vocals, etc.
I agree with you that writing music is a very spiritual process. To emulate is to not be true to yourself. At some point though all ideas have been recycled and an attempt to make it your own becomes less apparent to the listener. So I guess my question is how do you know when you've been inspired? How do you know it's coming from your spiritual base and not from merely a combination of other sources? Could a combination act as a vehicle through which spiritual insight emerges? Does all that make sense?
That's a good question. You're right that ideas are definitely recycled, which can be good or bad. The act of listening to music and being greatly affected by it is the same sort of spiritual connection as if it presented itself to you and directly made it your song. For example, the other day I was listening to Radiohead and there was a way that Thom sang a line that invoked so much emotion that I immediately had to go write music and it wasn't because I wanted to write something that sounded similar to what I had heard, it was the feeling I got from it that made me excited to create. The way I think about it is that you're not inventing music, time or sound when you write a song, you're simply manipulating things that are already possible. I didn't invent the specific chords or notes I use in a song, I try to connect to the spiritual realm to find the feelings to translate through a recording with my instruments.
There will definitely always be an influence from artists I listen to and love, but I think that's more of a style thing than the actual writing, and hopefully it's not such an influence on my style that I'm just a knock off of others. I'm certain that all of my writings have come from a purely spiritual place, even if the inspiration was stemmed from another song, I believe that's just as communicative with the spiritual realm if the inspiration is the feeling, not the actual notes and melody being used. So to answer your question directly, yes a combination would definitely act as a vehicle for spiritual insight.
How do you know when you've finished a song?
There's a point when the song just feels right, and if it doesn't, it's not done. Sometimes I end up with a lot of instrumentals, because I believe that was the best way to get the emotion across, and adding lyrics and a melody would've been contrived therefore ruining the true nature of the song.
You seem to have a very calculated approach to writing music. You know what works for your style and what doesn't. With that said, what do you think is missing from modern music and why is it missing? Do you feel like some artists are really forcing artistic expression?
As far as what's missing, I'm not sure if it's the case for every city, but in Dallas it's more about acting like a band and doing things on stage that bands are expected to do or what you've seen bands do before, and that's not conducive to an artistic environment. It's kind of like I have friends that I'm super comfortable around and I know I could say anything to, like if I cried listening to a beautiful song or something and they wouldn't make me feel weird about having an emotion like that. I have other friends who would think I was a pussy for saying that because that's not typically socially acceptable. I want to feel like I can do anything on stage and experiment and fucking jam sometimes, and unfortunately Dallas isn't wired for that. Maybe other cities are different. So other than the live aspect, I don't really think that there's anything missing from music today, I'm excited about a lot of the new sounds coming out. Especially in electronic music.
Yes, definitely. Having a band and wanting it to make money or be popular basically means starting a small business. I think more times than not, bands will have a target audience and that really comes through in the music, it sounds bland and contrived. I don't like to talk negatively about bands, but The Black Keys are one who fit that description and they are everything that's wrong with modern music, in my opinion. It's just a style, with zero artistic substance and is totally forced. Besides, why not just go all the way and listen to The White Stripes, right? I think John Frusciante is the best example of everything that's right with modern music. The guy really does it for pure artistic expression. He's quit the Red Hot Chili Peppers twice after making them famous because he felt he was compromising his artistic integrity. Apparently right now he has the better part of 300-400 songs that he may not even release because he doesn't want it to become a product and I really admire that. Don't get me wrong though, I'm not saying it's wrong to be famous or make money off of your music, but you can easily separate the artists from the suits.
Where do you want your music to take you?
I'm not sure. I don't know what I would do if a label wanted sign us and release albums and go on tour and all. I would only do something like that if it made it to where all I had to do was focus on writing music all day. That would be the best case scenario. Otherwise I'm completely happy recording songs on my own and releasing them on the internet.
What do you think about social media?
I think social media is great. It's how I've gotten my music out there. Among Twitter, Facebook and SoundCloud I've been able to reach hundreds of people with my music and have made friends with other artists in the process. We're based out of Dallas, and play in Dallas but no one really knows about us here. We have more people listening to our music in other countries than we do in our own city, and that's all due to blogs like LFTF and social media. Otherwise, I doubt anyone would ever hear our music.
What's in store for The Vliets in the future?
Who knows. In the immediate future, I have probably 20 new songs that are pretty much done and need to be recorded. So we'll play some shows here and there and hopefully release a ton of songs over the course of the year. - Live For The Funk

It’s been a while since we Intro‘d The Vliets, and as I said then I’ve been looking forward to hearing some more from the Dallas outfit. Head honcho Ty Bohrnstedt got in touch to pass on their latest track, “Velvet Sea”, and I’m glad (though hardly surprised) to say it doesn’t disappoint.

One of the things that I enjoyed most about Ty’s song-writing was his ability to channel his influences without sounding like a cheap knock-off – and when your influences are the likes of The Beatles, Captain Beefheart and Radiohead, that’s both impressive and delightful. “Velvet Sea”‘s outro – with its pedal bass and bluesy guitar-licks – certainly put me in mind of this one track called “Come Together”. Perhaps you’ve heard of it.

One comparison I’d draw that might raise a few eye-brows, and perhaps Ty won’t thank me for it, is early Snow Patrol. If your only experience with them is “Chasing Cars”-era, Grey’s Anatomy-friendly tracks, you need to check out their first two albums. And hell, I’m not the only one who likes them…

Anyway, another solid track from The Vliets. I should mention that the artwork was done by Ty’s friend Edgar Cardoze – and it’s actually the source of inspiration for the track. Which is pretty cool. You can check out “Velvet Sea” for yourselves below. - Listen Before You Buy

The Vliets are a five-piece group from Dallas, Texas. Skrause, the dude who does the monthly mixes for LFTF, introduced them to the LFTF crew. We were instantly hooked. They make music we wish people could still make by pulling from elements of classic rock, psych rock, and psych folk to the point that their music doesn’t belong in this era and is timeless. You’ll hear a lot of Pink Floyd in these guys. If you want to learn more about The Vliets, I’ll be posting my interview with their front man, Ty Bohrnstedt, on LFTF this week. - Portals

It would have been easy to pass The Vliets by, on the basis they were cashing in, but that is far from the case. The Vliets from Dallas, USA, are a band I expected to pop up via Banter-Media, but it was a member of the band who made contact, so thanks for that Ty.
Ty Bohrnstedt (piano, drums, bass, guitar, pedal steel and sitar), Daniel Gonzalez (piano, bass, glockenspiel, and sitar), Luke Ferrell (piano, trombone and flute) and Adham El-Effendi (rhythm guitar, bass and tambourine) a combination of classically and self taught musicians combine to make a sweet sound. - Indie Bands Blog

School started back up last week, so an S.A.T.-style analogy is probably appropriate right about now. Here goes; Smith Westerns : The Beach Boys :: The Vliets : The Beatles. Mark Dallas resident Ty Bohrnstedt's newish pysch-tinged project (pronounced 'Vleets') as the next 'local band to watch,' if you will.

Grab a bunch of free downloads over at their SoundCloud page, and keep an eye out for their upcoming full length likely due out this fall. - Subservient Experiment

Psychedelic I'm super excited about the direction psychedelic music is taking. Tyler Bohrnstedt (aka The Vliets) is a one man project out of Dallas who has been consistently releasing stellar tracks that encompass a wide variety of sub-genres and influences. You hear every great band from the 60's and 70's in the work Tyler does. He just finished recording an eponymous debut EP and is expected to release a full of the album by late-summer/early-fall, so keep checking SFTT. - Earmilk

FOR PETE'S SAKE THIS IS G L O R I O U S. Velvet Sea by The Vliets is music for angels to float on all the while sipping appletinis and tossing pearl snaps at smart humans down below who have the foresight to look up and catch them. The Vliets are one of those beautiful pearls. Now open your arms & close your eyes; you are in for a wondrous surprise. The song opens with the exquisite lines:

Floating through this hole of mine, drinking bottles of clementine
Take my hand and a hidden face, swim to the lion for a warm embrace


Read more: http://www.kdge.com/pages/diva.html?article=9615093#ixzz24rMYcDJW - 102.1 The Edge kdge

The Vliets are another blast from the past, although this time presenting a more schizophrenic assortment of influences from ‘60s rock to today’s concoctions. The slowly chugging guitar twang that kicks off “Beneath the Paisley Sky” brings to mind the Allman Brothers, as does the sweltering yet concise guitar solo at the 01:32 mark that appears sporadically throughout. But the verses introduce concepts more grounded in psych-pop, delicate and hook-friendly to the touch like Olivia Tremor Control and Circulatory System. This one-man-band from Dallas is fronted by Tyler Bohrnstedt, who has a wonderful grasp of nostalgic rock songwriting.

Despite his prevalent songwriting skills, Bohrnstedt is still learning the ropes of production. “I know nothing about mixing or recording,” he mentions. Despite the inexperience, he certainly knows enough to enjoyably showcase what success may come for him in the future. The shrill organ-like stutter throughout “Women Are Cocaine” finds his voice too far behind in the mix, as if to show a lovable insecurity in regard to his vocals. He possesses the frail sort of whimper that encompasses many lost gems from the ‘60s and ‘70s. These songs are surely to receive more polished mixing in the future. Since it’s easy to tell the excellent quality of Bohrnstedt’s songwriting and lovable showcasing of DIY concepts even with the audible budgetary constraints, I doubt Bohrnstedt’s efforts will get lost in time like many of his influences. - Obscure Sound

If you’re the sort of person who reads this blog regularly, you probably know where Radiohead got their name from; but can you tell where Dallas boys The Vliets (pronounced like “vleets”) got theirs? If this seems like a very obvious question to you, then congratulations: you officially have some serious musical chops. If not, I wouldn’t worry. The answer is that they’re named after Don Van Vliet, better known to the world as Captain Beefheart. Pretty cool, huh? If I’m honest, I’ve never managed to listen to a whole Beefheart album without my brain turning to mush, but then I guess that’s the point. There was something about a valley and wind singing? I dunno.

Anyway, if the name didn’t make it obvious, Vliet’s front-man Ty Bohrnstedt is a bit of a Beefheart fan – in fact, the Captain is his “favourite artist, second to The Beatles, of course”. Of course. It’s a great travesty that, to this day, people still have to specify how much they love The Beatles: why doesn’t it just go without saying? Since this is analogous to saying that the religious figure you most admire is Jesus himself, it shouldn’t be too surprising that The Vliets make some pretty damn fine music.

In theory, they’re a five-piece, but they take a slightly unusual approach to how they do things: each band-member writes and records their own songs in their entirety, and the other members only get involved for live gigs. I’m entirely behind this: so many bands are dominated and often destroyed by one or two members holding complete creative sway, whereas this seems to give every member a chance to shine. Debut EP “The Vliets” is all Ty’s work, so we’ll just have to wait and see what sort of direction Dan Gonzalez, Luke Ferrell, Jonathon Merla and Adham El-Effendi take things. Between them they play pretty much every instrument under the sun – half the time they seem to have taught each other – so expect it to be pretty varied.

Focusing on Ty’s work for the moment, then: I was really impressed. He certainly has good taste – cited influences include John Frusciante, The Kinks, Radiohead, Beck, Neil Young … the collective quality of whom could probably be summed up as “stellar” without ruffling too many feathers. What really counts, of course, is that you can hear the influences. The opening of “Beneath The Paisley Sky” is more than a little similar to Paul McCartney’s “Every Night”; the rest of the track features classic “White Album”-era riffing. “A Vessel Of Cells Without An Ego, Hardly One” has the same droning feel as “Morning Mr Magpie” (Yes, that’s a “King Of Limbs” reference; no, I don’t apologise.); while the EP as a whole has the same mash of blues and modern oddities as “Odelay”.

So far, so good. Like I say, I’m looking forward to hearing the different approaches taken by the other members, but Ty has certainly kicked things off with a bang – and he’s only 24, damn him. The EP’s opening track “Elephant” has maxed out its downloads over on Soundcloud (you’ll know why when you hear it), but you can download it below, along with the rest of the EP. Trust me when I say it’s totally worth your time. - Listen Before You Buy

If you’re the sort of person who reads this blog regularly, you probably know where Radiohead got their name from; but can you tell where Dallas boys The Vliets (pronounced like “vleets”) got theirs? If this seems like a very obvious question to you, then congratulations: you officially have some serious musical chops. If not, I wouldn’t worry. The answer is that they’re named after Don Van Vliet, better known to the world as Captain Beefheart. Pretty cool, huh? If I’m honest, I’ve never managed to listen to a whole Beefheart album without my brain turning to mush, but then I guess that’s the point. There was something about a valley and wind singing? I dunno.

Anyway, if the name didn’t make it obvious, Vliet’s front-man Ty Bohrnstedt is a bit of a Beefheart fan – in fact, the Captain is his “favourite artist, second to The Beatles, of course”. Of course. It’s a great travesty that, to this day, people still have to specify how much they love The Beatles: why doesn’t it just go without saying? Since this is analogous to saying that the religious figure you most admire is Jesus himself, it shouldn’t be too surprising that The Vliets make some pretty damn fine music.

In theory, they’re a five-piece, but they take a slightly unusual approach to how they do things: each band-member writes and records their own songs in their entirety, and the other members only get involved for live gigs. I’m entirely behind this: so many bands are dominated and often destroyed by one or two members holding complete creative sway, whereas this seems to give every member a chance to shine. Debut EP “The Vliets” is all Ty’s work, so we’ll just have to wait and see what sort of direction Dan Gonzalez, Luke Ferrell, Jonathon Merla and Adham El-Effendi take things. Between them they play pretty much every instrument under the sun – half the time they seem to have taught each other – so expect it to be pretty varied.

Focusing on Ty’s work for the moment, then: I was really impressed. He certainly has good taste – cited influences include John Frusciante, The Kinks, Radiohead, Beck, Neil Young … the collective quality of whom could probably be summed up as “stellar” without ruffling too many feathers. What really counts, of course, is that you can hear the influences. The opening of “Beneath The Paisley Sky” is more than a little similar to Paul McCartney’s “Every Night”; the rest of the track features classic “White Album”-era riffing. “A Vessel Of Cells Without An Ego, Hardly One” has the same droning feel as “Morning Mr Magpie” (Yes, that’s a “King Of Limbs” reference; no, I don’t apologise.); while the EP as a whole has the same mash of blues and modern oddities as “Odelay”.

So far, so good. Like I say, I’m looking forward to hearing the different approaches taken by the other members, but Ty has certainly kicked things off with a bang – and he’s only 24, damn him. The EP’s opening track “Elephant” has maxed out its downloads over on Soundcloud (you’ll know why when you hear it), but you can download it below, along with the rest of the EP. Trust me when I say it’s totally worth your time. - Listen Before You Buy