Bay area psych rockers The Gentle Cycle have just released their debut LP, and will give send anyone a copy in the US that donates $18 or more to Planned Parenthood, ACLU, Oxfam, PBS, or Dakota Access Pipeline Fund. A donation of $5 will give the donor a download link as well.

‘I have strong socialist beliefs, and in this current climate it feels right to do whatever we can to help get funding to these noble organizations’, says Gentle Cycle’s Derek See.

With a painstaking attention to detail, these songs were filtered through a cool grip of vintage guitars and components, like an antique Echoplex tape delay and a funky old spring reverb unit. They even recorded on a 1970s Tascam 388 analog reel-to-reel, replete with a deadstock spool of old quarter-inch tape. But Derek's melodic musings come from an abstract foundation that's more modern and forward thinking than most musicians beholden to period-correct tones. Listen to The Gentle Cycle and you'll hear a band that somehow balances universal emotions with astral, atmospheric sonic architecture.

The San Francisco based psych revivalist band, The Gentle Cycle has released a new single entitled, Follow Light.

With a painstaking attention to detail, these songs were filtered through a cool grip of vintage guitars and components, like an antique Echoplex tape delay and a funky old spring reverb unit. They even recorded on a 1970s Tascam 388 analog reel-to-reel, replete with a deadstock spool of old quarter-inch tape. But Derek’s melodic musings come from an abstract foundation that’s more modern and forward thinking than most musicians beholden to period-correct tones. Listen to The Gentle Cycle and you’ll hear a band that somehow balances universal emotions with astral, atmospheric sonic architecture.

The new San Jose based 60s revivalist rock band, The Gentle Cycle has just emerged into the Bay Area music scene! The band's music has a bit of a lofi, vintage sound which makes sense because the band features the prominent local record collector, Derek See.

The Gentle Cycle is See´s current and main music project. He also plays occasional guitar with Myron & E,  The Rain Parade and The Chocolate Watchband. It's always exciting to see new bands emerge, even when they consist of a group of accomplished, experienced musicians. A new group is a new group and we welcome their creative pursuits and look forward to seeing them grow!

You can check out The Gentle Cycle live at The Knockout of January 9th with The Hellenes and Light Fantastic.

Editor's Note: Jonathan Cárdenas of Pow Magazine and San Francisco Great Society put a lot of time into curating this exclusive peek at the upcoming festival, Gathering of the Tribes. This fest celebrates and works to promote and preserve the spirit of psych music in San Francisco. Founder, Dennis Gonzales is very passionate about his work and his efforts to support psych musicians from all over the US. The Bay Area is lucky to have him and the community of amazing promoters and musicians who help keep the spirit and tradition of supportive, familial music and arts communities alive and well. -je

The Gathering Of The Tribes is a festival centralized exclusively in itself and its own breed of musicians and artists. San Francisco has had other festivals in past years, but this one aims to showcase the Bay Area’s breed of psychedelia and its sub-genres, as well as celebrate its musical and artistic ancestry. The name is borrowed, or you could even say revitalized—resurrected—from the Human Be-In that took place in Golden Gate Park, January 14, 1967. This is when Haight-Ashbury became symbolically immortalized as a counter-culture mecca. Our festival celebrates San Francisco’s past and present, and aims to push forward its music and arts in a positive and progressive direction, preserving it for the good of the Bay Area and to keep things groovy.

“We are the San Francisco Preservation Society—God save the Acid Tests, Beatniks and notoriety.”

Hopefully you got that reference. But no, we’re the San Francisco Great Society. 

Founder, Dennis Gonzales: I've been running Pow Magazine since 1986 and being entrenched in the music community for several years as a social media journalist, I can tell you SF music is not only alive, it is about to explode into a new movement unlike anything seen since the first music scene in 1965. Everything about our Society and our festival is a familial, grass roots effort.  Amoeba is sponsoring the event—they too have promoted it on their Facebook page as well as Twitter. Pow Magazine, Counter Culture Artist Management, and Innerlight Presents are altogether presenting this festival. We have reached out to the best of the Bay, and most have said “yes.”

Clay Andrews of The Spiral Electric and Innerlight Presents: If the festival is comprised of bands that are all touring and far away, and everybody has all their records—that’s great and all; you have to bring people to the event, but at the same time it’s like—don’t just throw a fest where you just bring an import of things because that’s not really doing anything for the local scene. It’s not exposing people to what’s actually happening right now in their backyards.

Derek See SF DJ, musician and music collector: One thing I’m especially excited about is hearing and meeting bands that I don’t know even though they're local. Because of what i do for a living, i have to get up real early in the morning on weekends—I do go out and see live music when I can, but never as much as I’d like to, whereas at this festival I’m just super stoked to be able to experience and hang out with like-minded folks.

Performing at SFGS: Gathering of The Tribes
at Public Works in San Francisco on September 13th

The Gentle Cycle
Buzzmutt
The Spiral Electric
LSD and the Search for God
Down and Outlaws
Cellar Doors
Down Dirty Shake
The Love Dimension
Mark Nelsen
Sea Dramas
California Raga Association
Lee Gallagher and the Hallelujah
The Green Door
Carlton Melton
Mystery Flavors
The She’s
Electric Shepherd
Zodiac Death Valley

Visuals by:

White Light Prism - vimeo.com/user6728976
Mad Alchemy - www.madalchemy.net
Andy Puls - www.videopaws.com

DJs:

Abel Oleson
Derek See
Michael Tarin