A Rock 'n' Roll Checkup with James Lowe

The King of Psych: James Lowe

I was in utter disbelief when I recently started talking with the lead singer of my all time favorite Psych band The Electric Prunes!!! James Lowe was as down to earth as it gets and was still as psyched about music and the Prunes as I was. We bonded immediately. I got the nerve up to ask him if he would possibly pose for a photograph that I could include in my Rock 'n' Roll Checkup series I've been doing this month. Lucky for me the stars aligned just right since he happened to be in town and could spare an hour during my lunch break the following day!

I've never met a cooler guy and I wasn't surprised...

As he pose in the amazing 1963 Thunderbird that was being restored at the auto body shop on Santa Monica Blvd, we chatted away about life, music and art. I'm very honored to say that I met a kindred soul and am happy to present to you all of you wind-up girls and wind-up boys a brief low down on what the King of Psych has been up to and where's he's headed.

Papa came, Papa saw, Papa conquered!

Julie Green
October 28, 2017

Julie Green: Hey James, what have you been up to lately?

James Lowe: Well, a vintage band has to keep trying to be valid and play live but the venues are limited. I prefer the smaller places where ou can interact with the crowd. Since reforming in 1999, we have gotten to play in Europe and on both coasts as well as playing in Tokyo. I have done a couple of gigs with The Fuzztones in Italy and The Out Keyhole backing me in Sicily. It is rewarding to play our songs with other band's because I never got to do this in the past. Our last gig was in San Francisco and it was like old times. Once the music starts the years melt away and it is like American Bandstand all over again.

Many people do not know we have recorded new albums since reforming. Atifact, California, FEEDBACK, (LIVE) Return to Stockholm, REWIRED DVD and CD, and the latest, WaS.

JG: What are you doing right now?

JL: I came in to town (Los Angeles) to see the SPARKS show at the El Rey. I was involved with their first two albums so I like to keep up with them (like anyone can!). The Electric Prunes are rehearsing for hopefully some more USA dates and we have been invited to play in the UK again. As I said it's a challenge to keep something on the plate when you are time traveling from 1967!

JG: What are you up to in the new year?

JL: We are going to try and focus on the USA for live dates. WE like playing here in Hollywood too. The challenge will be to get people off the sofa and down tot he gigs... We are the people who were going to change the world (right after dinner... haha).

We have some other material in the scan that we may put out on vinyl at some point but we want to play some live dates at the moment.