The legendary Paisley Underground band Rain Parade recently released their new album ‘Last Rays Of A Dying Sun’ via Label 51.

‘Last Rays Of A Dying Sun’ manages to sound both like a lost classic and the groundbreaking work of an unknown new artist, emerging from their secret lair with a record ready to change the world. Matt Piucci and Steven Roback have been writing songs together since 1981, and are co-founders, along with David Roback, of Rain Parade. Their debut album, ‘Emergency Third Rail Power Trip,’ released by Enigma Records in the US and Demon Records in the UK in 1983, is internationally recognized as a masterpiece. The follow up EP, ‘Explosions In The Glass Palace’ (Enigma US; Demon UK 1984) was recorded after David Roback left the band; it garnered the same high praise, and its reputation has been increasing ever since. Sid Griffin, author and leader of The Long Ryders has said: “We were in the Paisley Underground with Rain Parade back in the 1980s… ‘Explosions In The Glass Palace’ is and will forever be the BEST recording from a Paisley Underground band, be it us, The Dream Syndicate, The Bangles, The Three O’Clock or whomever.”

“We strongly felt that we needed to offer the world a unique sound”

It’s incredibly exciting to sit down and discuss your upcoming album, first in a very long time actually. How have you been lately? Have you found the isolation creatively challenging or freeing?

Matt Piucci: Steven Roback and I did a two week UK tour with The Dream Syndicate in March, it was fun and difficult, but an absolute blast overall. We had some uninvited microbes that derailed a few aspects, but we met a ton of people and saw old friends.

The pandemic was good for us in certain ways. It removed a lot of distraction, and there weren’t a lot of other things to do. Walking in open spaces, less crowding, clearer skies. Of course, the sickness was horrible, not diminishing that.

How long did you work on ‘Last Rays Of A Dying Sun’? What can you tell me about the material written for it? Is it mostly new material or did you also revisit some older unfinished tracks?

Matt Piucci: The actual LP is released on Label 51 Recordings, a brand new item and a sister to Flatiron, and we are the first release. A blessing and a curse, no?

We took a couple of years to write, practice, arrange, record, overdub and mix. All the recordings are new, there are a few songs that are very old but have been rearranged, the rest is relatively new, from the last five years, or even brand new.

Where did you grow up and what was the local scene like? What kind of records and fanzines would we find if we would travel back in time in your teenage room?

Matt Piucci: My family moved every 4-5 years, high school and college were in the Midwest. I really only know about a few “scenes” if you will. As a teen, I went to a lot of classic acts with my older brothers and with friends from 1972-1975. Saw The Byrds, Bob Dylan with the Band, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Grateful Dead, Alice Cooper, Mott the Hoople, and others.

When I went to college in 1975, punk hit shortly thereafter. In Chicago, I was blown away by Skafish, then that older stuff seemed…old. In Minneapolis we saw the Talking Heads, Ramones, The Clash, B-52s, Devo. Life changing stuff, skipped Disco and went straight from Hippie to Punk.

Steven Roback grew up in LA, which was totally different than my upbringing.

You were originally called The Sidewalks while still at Carleton College. How do you remember those early days?

Matt Piucci: At Carleton, after the punk hit, David Roback and I formed The Beatniks, which included John Thoman. We covered The Clash, Sex Pistols, Ramones, Iggy Pop, The Modern Lovers. We played two shows in 1977 (I think), and that was it.

But David Roback and I vowed to form a band eventually, and when I moved to LA in the Spring of 1981, Rain Parade was born, although we didn’t call it that right away. The Sidewalks was a name for what became Rain Parade in LA in 1981, several years after the Carleton College experience for David Roback, Matt Piucci and also John Thoman, who replaced David Roback in Rain Parade after we did our EP in 1984 as a four piece (Matt Piucci, Steven Roback, Will Glenn and Eddie Kalwa). The songs ‘Look Both Ways’ from the extended UK release of ‘Emergency Third Rail Power Trip,’ and the song ‘Bitchen Summer,’ a David Roback’s surf tune that The Bangles did, were what The Sidewalks sounded like.

What about The Unconscious with Matt Piucci, Steven Roback and Susanna Hoffs? Did you do a lot of shows?

Matt Piucci: Steven Roback would have to answer that, that was a Berkeley thing with David Roback, Sue Hoffs and Steven Roback, not me. I’m pretty sure they never played anywhere.

So when did Rain Parade begin playing shows together. The first single was self-released, right?

Matt Piucci: We released our first single in early ’82, I believe? Our first show was later in May at the Cathay de Grande. By pure chance, that was with Green on Red, who were brilliant, and those guys remain our friends to this day.

Your debut album is a truly incredible release that aged so well. What was the story behind writing, recording and producing ‘Emergency Third Rail Power Trip’?

Matt Piucci: We took a long time to refine our songwriting and arrangement skills, so by the time we started recording that first LP, we had already done a single and multiple four track recordings, and had the concept down.

We resolved to make sure each song had something unique, whether using a sitar, or backwards guitar, or weird keyboards, whatever. Every song started out simpler than what you hear, at least in terms of arrangement and instrumentation.

Would you share your insight on the albums’ tracks?

Matt Piucci: We just tried to make every song a unique thing, distinct from all the others. For example, ‘Kaleidoscope’ has fuzz guitar and sitar, ‘This Can’t Be Today’ has that pan flute sound like ‘Baby You’re a Rich Man,’ ‘Look at Merri’ has the time signature change form 4/4 to 3/4 and back. Things like that.

Were you inspired by psychoactive substances like LSD at the time of writing the album?

Matt Piucci: I was already done with all that before playing in Rain Parade. The Beatles said it best – George Harrison said that you only had to do it once (I did it maybe a handful of times). And Ringo Starr said that psychedelic experience informed what they recorded, but they were never high when they were working. David Roback and I tripped in college a couple times, maybe, but I never have with Steven Roback. By the time the Rain Parade started, we were through with that stuff. Drugs don’t really help when you are trying to record, although maybe smoking a little pot. And it gives you a different perspective that engenders song ideas, but that is about it.

What were circumstances at the time that led David Roback to leave the band to form Opal?

First it was Clay Allison, before Opal, both with Kendra Smith.

Matt Piucci: Without getting into any gory details, I will just say that three songwriters in one band is a very difficult thing to pull off. David Roback was a great artist and he wanted to run things his way, which is perfectly understandable. How it happened isn’t really important, what ultimately happened is that the world got another good band (Opal), but also still had Rain Parade.

The follow up EP, ‘Explosions In The Glass Palace’ was another high caliber recording. What was it like working on it in comparison to your debut album?

Matt Piucci: In many ways, it was easier. We didn’t argue as much, Steven Roback and I really hit our stride writing together. We also had a great producer, Jim Hill, who continues to work with us to this day. It was rewarding and fun to record all the guitars myself, except the acoustic on ‘Broken Horse,’ which is a beautiful finger picked part by Steven Roback.

What kind of gear did you have in the band? Tell us about effects, pedals, et cetera.

Matt Piucci: I wish I could remember exactly. I’ve always used the same 1963 Gretsch Tennessean on every recording I have ever done. Played that through a Roland JC-120A with an internal distortion unit. Added delay in the studio. Later switched to Fender Super Reverb. David Roback used Rickenbackers (6 and 12) through a Fender amp with a Morley fuzz/wah. Will Glenn used Hammonds and Farfisas, but also a Korg Poly 6. Steven Roback had a Les Paul Studio bass and later a Fender Jazz. Pretty sure Eddie Kalwa played a Ludwig kit.

How do you think you managed to create such an intoxicating atmosphere with your instrumentation, making your music a timeless piece?

Matt Piucci: We strongly felt that we needed to offer the world a unique sound, which I think we did. I still don’t hear anyone who sounds just like us. So every song got something unique, it was informed by early Pink Floyd/Syd Barrett, Love, The Byrds and The Beatles, all of whom had interesting sounds and arrangements.

How do you see ‘Crashing Dream’? What are some memories that the album brings back?

Matt Piucci: We feel those songs all hold up. What we would probably do differently, if we could change the past, would be to stay with Enigma and our producer Jim Hill. Island insisted upon a guy who was in over his head and not the right person for us. Nice guy, but the wrong producer. Some of us were not as prepared as we should have been, and that shows too.

“Music is, and will always be, a primal and atavistic inspiration”

And this brought us back to your upcoming album, how would you compare it to your debut? Now, much older, are you still driven by the same enthusiasm for the music?

Matt Piucci: Music is, and will always be, a primal and atavistic inspiration. Obviously, we are in our 60s now, not our 20s, so that informs what we do. But we also still have all the same influences, it’s not like we tried to incorporate EDM or hip hop. Not that there’s anything wrong with those styles.

Can you share some further details on how your latest album was recorded?

Matt Piucci: Sure, we wanted to do it around home, not even going to SF across the Bay. It was all recorded in Oakland, except a few overdubs down at Jim Hill’s studio in LA, like some of our guest singers – the Peterson sisters from The Bangles, and the guys from Brian Wilson’s band.

“You can build a really cool attic first, or a beautiful porch, and then assemble them together later”

How do you usually approach songwriting? What kind of role does improvisation have when it comes to creating together?

Matt Piucci: Steven and I have written probably 100 songs together in various ways, so every possible combination of improv, words, melodies, et cetera have happened at some point. The coolest thing about songs is that it’s not like a building where you have to start with a foundation, then walls, et cetera. You can build a really cool attic first, or a beautiful porch, and then assemble them together later.

What are some future plans?

Matt Piucci: The LP came out the first week of September. We will play some shows in California, then record a few new ones this fall for an EP that will come out early next year. That could include an outtake from this LP. Possibly go to the Pacific Northwest, and we hope to go to Europe next year. We will continue to write and record, as we feel that is what we do best.

Together with Steven Roback, you have since worked together on various projects, including several albums by Viva Saturn and the Hellenes; as well as 3×4. Would you like to tell us how those projects differ? Are you currently working on something that you would like to mention?

Matt Piucci: They are all almost exactly the same people. Viva Saturn ended in the late 90s, but those were Steven Roback’s songs that John Thoman and I were extensively involved in. The Hellenes are my songs, but John Thoman is on all of those too, and Steven Roback was heavily involved in the first one, both writing, playing and producing. The most recent Hellenes ‘I Love You All the Animals’ has John Thoman as well, but also everybody on the 3×4 recording, including Steven Roback a bit and Derek See, now in Rain Parade. Also Stephan Junca, who is now Rain Parade’s drummer for 3×4 and our new LP and in The Billy Talbot Band (from Crazy Horse). Finally our pal Mark Hanley, who was in boatclub with Stephan Junca and I, plays on about half the new Rain Parade LP, the second Hellenes LP, 3×4 and The Billy Talbot Band. Phew, that was a lot!

Looking back, what was the highlight of your time in the band?

Matt Piucci: Now is always the highlight.

Which songs are you most proud of?

Matt Piucci: That’s like picking a favorite child. But I will say ‘No Easy Way Down’ because no one sounds like that, and you can hear that in bands like My Bloody Valentine, which Kevin Shields has acknowledged.

Where and when was your most memorable gig?

Matt Piucci: Several come to mind, but probably our very first, because we waited so long and met our dear friends in Green on Red.

Thank you for taking your time. Last word is yours.

Matt Piucci: We just are so grateful that what we have created is so important to some people. And particularly the musicians who came later who said the same – Teenage Fan Club, Ride, The Stone Roses, My Bloody Valentine, The Charlatans, Beachwood Sparks… There are many and that makes us very happy.

Klemen Breznikar

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