Wellwater Conspiracy’s debut album Declaration of Conformity is being reissued via God Unknown Records on 22nd September.
Formed by Monster Magnet’s John McBain and Soundgarden’s Matt Cameron & Ben Shepherd in 1993 in some downtime from their day jobs and side project Hater (who released a self-titled album in 1993), Wellwater Conspiracy set about immersing themselves in the dayglo world of sixties psychedelia, channelling the vibrations of Syd Barrett’s Pink Floyd and the 13th Floor Elevators to produce the garage lo-fi-lysergic assault on the senses that is their debut album Declaration of Conformity, originally issued on Steve Turner’s Super Electro label in 1997.
This coming September 22nd will see the release of a remastered vinyl pressing with extra tracks and new artwork taking influence from Blue Note Records fabled artwork. The bandcamp download will feature two bonus tracks – Akka Ragga by Shocking Blue and Late Night by Syd Barrett, both with Josh Homme on guitar and bass.
“Remastered from the original DATs. Yes, DAT tapes. This was the 90s” John McBain wrote on his Instagram, “We recorded on a variety of machines. 4track cassette, Otari 5050 1/2 inch 8 track and the ever dependable Tascam 38. I transferred everything to digital at a high rate and ran the tracks through some select analog tube outboard gear and my Western Electric 111c transformer unit pulled back some of the low end (those Tascams are dark. Great for drums, but they can very quickly turn your mixes into a muddy mess) and this is the result“.
Pre-order now: godunknownrecords.bandcamp.com
Born in Reggio Emilia in 1980. He created pearljamonline.it in 2001 and wrote the first edition of “Pearl Jam Evolution” in 2009 along with his wife Daria. Since 2022, he is behind 2 podcasts: “Pearl Jam dalla A alla Z” and “Fuori Orario Not Another Podcast”. He has collaborated with Barracuda Style, HvsR, Rolling Stone, Rockol and Il Fatto Quotidiano. He continues relentlessly to try to find “beautiful melodies that say terrible things”.
Favorite song: Present Tense
Favorite album: No Code
Favorite bands/artists other than PJ: Tom Waits, Soundgarden, Ramones, Bruce Springsteen, IDLES, Fontaines D.C., The Murder Capital, Dead Kennedys, Mark Lanegan, Cat Power, R.E.M.