By: Christian Rojas // @thriftycollective – Back in the 60’s, the famous psychedelic proponent Timothy Leary took up residence in a 64-room mansion called the Hitchcock estate in Millbrook, New York to study LSD, its effects and possible benefits for the human condition. He believed “A psychedelic experience is a journey to new realms of consciousness. The scope and content of the experience is limitless, but its characteristic features are the transcendence of verbal concepts, of spacetime dimensions, and of the ego or identity”.
Over 50 years later, a resurgence of Leary’s meta-existential mindset has resurfaced in the musical force that is The Millbrook Estates, a five person psych-rock ensemble based out of Austin. Their focus is on inspiring others to make the most of themselves and learn to love each other through the stimulating capacity of music. Imagine a modern day Beatles that already has a uniquely well-defined sound reminiscent of the simpler kukukachu walrus days.
One of their breakthrough performances occurred at their favorite venue, the Electric Church, a true mecca for all walks of life which features mesmerizing liquid light projections and a truly intimate atmosphere that is still friendly to those not 21+. You can find them soaking up the ethereal vibes even when they are not performing, as they say “it’s never a bad day to go to Church”.
On their inspiration: “Artist wise we jam out to Todd Rundgren, Marvin Gaye, and the Mars Volta; our lyrical inspirations tie back to eastern spirituality a lot as well as philosophy, psychology, and intertwined personal experiences”.
When asked what the overall objective of the band is, drummer Doran Rawlinson stated, “Our mission is just to get people to look within themselves to find understanding of human nature. The human mind is so vast and capable of existing from so many different perspectives, we just want to encourage more thought. We must take our consciousness seriously if we’re going to preserve our existence”.
You can catch The Millbrook Estates at their next show with fellow psychedelic rock aficionados Boogarins June 21st at the Sidewinder in Austin, Texas and their music will be available online at the end of August.
Band members: Doran Rawlinson (drums), David Rawlinson (guitar/vocals), Ricky Acosta (bass), Eric McKeefer (synth), Everett Bergstedt (guitar)