PHOTO: © Mondo Drag

Mondo Drag (us) & Early Moods (us)

Name: Mondo Drag (us) & Early Moods (us)
Start: 2026-10-11T19:30+0200
End: 2026-10-12T06:00+0200
Location: MS Stubnitz

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In the organizer's words:

heavy psych | krautrock | space rock | doom | heavy metal

It’s been nearly eight years since the last Mondo Drag album was released. During that time, the Bay Area psych-prog band toured the U.S. and Europe, performed at major festivals, and—once again—reformed their rhythm section. But in the context of the band’s nearly two-decade history, this period may have been the most challenging. Vocalist and keyboardist John Gamiño lost friends and family members. Meanwhile, the world was in the throes of a global pandemic. “It was a dark chapter,” he recalls. “I was going through a lot of personal stuff—there had been a lot of death, the loss of family members, and grief. Plus, the band was on hiatus. It felt like time was slipping away from me. I felt like I was wasting my opportunities. I felt like I wasn’t playing as active a role in my own story as I could have.”

Early Moods’second album, *A Sinner’s Past*, is the ultimate blend of classic early ’70s proto-metal, ’90s grunge riffs, and timeless songwriting, delivered with explosive youthful energy. The Los Angeles-area quartet burst onto the scene fully formed with a sound that somehow simultaneously merged gritty underground Street Doom with slick “big-box” heavy metal melodies on their self-titled RidingEasy debut album in 2022. And it’s the band’s highly skilled musicianship, paired with exquisite aesthetic taste—in addition to their killer live show—that has made them an instant fan favorite.

Mondo Drag

This sense of time slipping away is the central theme on Mondo Drag’s new album, *Through the Hourglass*. “For me, *Through the Hourglass* really encapsulates the quarantine and pandemic years,” says Gamiño. “But in a way that also includes a couple of years before that for us, because the band was stagnant during that time. Dealing with that had a huge impact on our daily lives. So, the album is reflective. It’s about time—past, present, and future.”

Fortunately, Mondo Drag emerged from this bleak period reborn. Freshly energized by bassist Conor Riley (formerly of the San Diego psych band Astra, currently of Birth), who joined in 2018, and drummer Jimmy Perez, who joined in 2022, Gamiño and guitarists Jake Sheley and Nolan Girard have triumphed over the seemingly inexorable pull of the passage of time.

The result is a dazzling and often plaintive reflection on the hours, days, and years—not to mention experiences—that make up a lifetime. The two-part opener “Burning Daylight” smolders with melancholy, offering a whirlwind of multicolored and hallucinatory imagery. “It’s about the California wildfires and a feeling of helplessness,” Gamiño explains. “There’s a juxtaposition between the dark lyricism and upbeat music, which is meant to imply a sort of delusional state—and choosing our own delusion to overcome the crushing despair of reality.”

Mondo Drag fans might be surprised by this blend of harsh reality and literary surrealism, but it’s a perfect example of how the past few years have shaped Mondo Drag—and Gamiño in particular. “On all of our previous albums, the lyrics were more psychedelic and out there,” he acknowledges. “This is the most personal material I’ve ever written, so I’m definitely feeling vulnerable on this one.”

Early Moods

A Sinner’s Past takes those elements several steps further, drawing inspiration from Soundgarden’s immense sonic depth, the low-mid fuzz-drenched tones of Sabotage, and the classic ’70s melodies and structures of the Ulli Roth-era Scorpions. The latter, in particular, inspired the album’s intricate tonal shifts and shimmering twin leads.

“I’m very proud of these songs,” says guitarist Eddie Andrade. “We did a lot of different things, took a lot of chances, and showed a lot of growth, and I think people will pick up on it. I was trying to use more open chords, rather than the typical styles. We’d just come back from touring with Candlemass and Pentagram; sharing the stage with our heroes really fired us up. We went into the studio just hungry to record.”

The album was recorded near the band’s home base in Pico Rivera, CA, by Allen Falcon of Birdcage Studios, who also mixed their debut album. “He’s a good friend of the band, and we wanted to feel more comfortable in a relaxed environment for this,” says Andrade. “He had a lot of input, and his ideas had a major impact on this recording.” The band began recording in May 2023, then worked on the album on and off for three months between tours, which also contributes to its highly polished sound.

Early Moods was founded in 2015 by Andrade and vocalist/keyboardist Alberto Alcaraz after a few years of playing in thrash and death metal projects, before the two realized that the classic doom metal they’d grown up with was what they really wanted to explore. After going through a few lineup changes while delving deeper into the diverse influences that were drawing them in, Early Moods arrived at the sound and lineup that helped them grow their local fanbase. The band released their debut EP, *Spellbound*, in 2020 on the German label Dying Victim Productions, followed by their self-titled debut full-length album on RidingEasy Records in 2023. Early Moods consists of Oscar Hernandez on lead guitar, Chris Flores on drums, Elix Felciano on bass, Alcaraz on vocals/synth, and Andrade on guitar.

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