Burn Fetish to release Psychonauta at the Entry

​Burn Fetish's latest album, Psychonauta, shows a band striving for both their and our fulfillment. They labor over the years that span the ending of childhood and the introduction into adulthood.

Musical talent must be in the blood; lead singer and guitarist, Sam Frederick's mother is Mary Jane Alm, a music mainstay in the Cities who recently released her first collection of songs in 25 years.

Gimme Noise spoke with the band before their album release at the 7th Street Entry on Saturday.

Band Members:
Sam Frederick:Guitar and vocals
Stone Thompson:Drums
Will Block:Bass

Gimme Noise: I hear a lot of '90s influence in the music, particularly "Twisted Grin," what did you grow up listening to? 

Burn Fetish: Well, we all definitely listen to a wide variety of music; that's been one of our strengths as a band since the beginning. We all draw from a wide variety of influences -- '90s music definitely being one of the more prominent. That's what we grew up listening to, bands like Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Nirvana, etc., so in a way, there are elements of that music that are permanently part of us as musicians. At the same time, we tend not to think in genres. There's good music and there's bad music regardless of the style or the genre. Hell, I'll take a good pop singer over a bad rock band any day of the week.

Where did the name Psychonauta come from and what was the ultimate direction/goal of the new album?   

The name loosely means "explorer of the mind"; the songs on this record follow an introspective and meditative theme that can be associated with the exploration of your own personality and your own thought processes. As far as the direction of this album, I find that it is a more extreme album in all senses, steeper dynamic changes, more intense moods coupled with more lyrical depth -- all being in comparison with our previous EP. 

I think I speak for all of us when I say success is defined in a musical sense by finding your audience and connecting with them as well as making music that means something to you personally. "Making it" as a musician to me is making a living as a musician whatever that may entail; it would be nice to play the largest gigs humanly possible and we will strive for that continually.  At the same time, "making it" means that we have reached our peak potential; we are nowhere close, and I'm looking forward to seeing what we can accomplish.


There are multiple things that drive any musician to do what they do. Music is so engraved in the way that we think and the way we live our lives. I know I would be miserable doing absolutely anything else.  It's really more subconscious than anything; it's this silent need to create music. Everyone enjoys listening to music, whether it's to cheer you up on a bad day, or to blast in your car on a Friday night. If we can make a song that connects with people in some way, that's when it all pays off for me. That's something we definitely strive for.


In the digital age that we live in it is essentially impossible to keep your music from getting uploaded and downloaded for free; some people don't like this at all. I however will take the free publicity in order to spread the music as far as it can go and get as many people at the shows as possible -- we are a live band after all. The music industry does continuously move towards the digital side of things, which hopefully will cause a rebound in the amount of live shows and good live acts, most musicians find their revenue in their merch and ticket sales anyway; I like the direction the music industry is heading.

How did you come to the conclusion to have the CD release at the Entry?  What can we expect at the CD release show?

It's a very intimate space with a stage that's very low to the ground; we enjoy being close and involved with our audience, and there's nothing better than an energized audience. We've also seen a lot of bands play there and we just enjoy the venue in every aspect.