Daiana Feuer on November 6th, 2018

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The magical town of Ojai is the playground of five-piece “psych-folktronica” band Radio Skies. Their creation story goes like this: Daniel Wright and Ethan Glazer played in Song Preservation Society, who went on tour opening for He’s My Brother She’s My Sister a few years ago, for which Oliver Newell played bass. Wright, aka Danny Boy, hired Newell to produce his singer-songwriter material upon moving to Ojai, where Newell was creating music in a trailer and shack stationed on an orange orchard. With the addition of of Eric Sullivan, who plays with Newell in another band called the Chillz, and a drummer named Syd they met at yoga, Radio Skies was complete.

The first recording the band made was an EP called “Microdose,” but the sound has evolved to encompass the full band, which can be experienced on the new album, “Double Life,” out now via Underground Sun. The song “Prism” serves as a good introduction. A positive mindful message as much imbued by the cosmos as it is the fertile soil beneath bare feet. “That track and many others on the album were created with an unusual process,” says Newell. “We did a fair amount of pre-production with overdubs, programming, soft synths, etc. Later in the process we went into a studio and all played live over the produced versions of the tracks, then took the live sounds and wove them into the produced versions. It was really fun to work on and I think gave the music an interesting character.” When all their voices join together in harmony, that’s where the good vibrations really twinkle.

||| Stream: “Prism”

||| Also: Stream “Do You Feel”

||| Also: Stream the “Double Life” album

||| Live: Radio Skies perform at Del Monte Speakeasy on Nov. 27 with Particle Kid and Lacey Cowden