After a three-year hiatus, West Coast psychedelic rock n' roll circus, levitation room, is back on the radar with a hazy vendetta. After the release of their summer psych-funk ballad “Scene for an Exit,” the quartet is coming around for their second lap with their doom-wrought jam of a single, “Cool It Baby.”
Their September release marks the band’s “beginning of a new end,” so to speak. levitation room has made a name for themselves in bringing back the sitar soul of the 60’s, carrying Sgt. Pepper’s hefty legacy like a march of blue meanies (that’s three Beatles references in one, what what!) But their latest records have seen not quite a departure, but more of a side-shuffle into the 70’s. Without twisting a single knob on their pedal boards, levitation room has found themselves to be a soul successor to the funkadelic machinations of Sly, Sledge, and Stevie.
In addition to a congruent Rainbow Rock Festival appearance for their single’s release, the music video for “Cool It Baby” was also introduced to the world. Staying true to its doomsday predictions and directed by Louis Pei, the music video plays through more like a short film than a three-minute visual accompaniment. The story follows what appears to be our hero, The Guy, a slick, groovy cat in a sleek leather jacket, brought to life by levitation room's drummer, Johnathan Martin, being pursued by The Suits, played by the rest of the band, the three of whom try to “take care of” our hero at every corner, only to be thwarted at every turn by our main character’s uncharted abundance of charisma. But as we watch on, we find that the lines between good and evil in this story may not have been as clear-cut as they seem.
Saddled with the burden of the most creative and most fun music video of late 2023, and the grooviest bass line of the decade, “Cool It Baby” can only be described as a successful and hopefully continued musical endeavor for the band. To get a better look into the wickedness genius behind the single, we sat down with those accused of being members of levitation room. Unfortunately, not everyone shows up for jury duty when called, not even me! After a week of scheduling issues on both ends, we managed to trick Gabriel Fernandez of levitation room to chat about building a single, prepping for apocalypse, and get him to spill his deepest darkest secrets.
Check out the interview below!
levitation room
Rob Lucchesi