WORDS: Mariel Zayas-Bazan
PHOTOS: Michael J. Lopez
For one long weekend each year, America’s Glitter Gulch dulls with doom.
It began in a small California warehouse in 2013. Now, five years later, it’s a hotel-wide, Sin City takeover. If we have any doubts about the state of metal today, the Psycho Las Vegas fest lays them to rest.
“I think [the heavy scene] is fucking great,” says Will Lindsay, guitarist and vocalist of Chicago-based doom band, Indian. We chat about this era’s industry over $13 Budweisers and self-deprecation, a couple of days before Indian’s crushing Sunday set will flatten out The Joint, a venue at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.
“This [switch from major to independent labels] kind of had to happen,” he begins. Some say it really kicked off in the early 2000s. Will agrees, and breaks it down simply: “These big labels thought they were gonna turn every band into fucking Mastodon with huge recording advances, and then the bottom fell out.” Still, this shift made experiencing touring bands more accessible than ever. “If you’re a full time band, you have to be on the road constantly...you can’t really put out a record and sit on royalties,” he continues.
“You gotta bust your ass and fucking do it.”