An insightful interview with Insomniac
Written by Scott Bel(rai)zer | March 8th, 2024
Listening to Insomniac is akin to taking a long, peaceful walk across a barren plain. A majestic journey to the stars. A hike up and down a beautiful mountain—including insightful, inspiring peaks and abyssal valleys that will swallow you whole if you go too deep.
But what is Insomniac? Who is Insomniac? We pulled up a chair with drummer Amos Rifkin and vocalist Van Bassman (both A-Rippin’ production wizards, full disclosure) to get the down low on what it takes to be that down low and, in true Insomniac fashion, high above and beyond, man.
SB (Scott Belzer): Dude!
VB (Van Bassman): Sweet!
SB: What is Insomniac? How long has this project existed? What is its current incarnation?
AR (Amos Rifkin): Insomniac started in 2017 and began gigging in 2017 with a slightly different lineup than its current form of Alex Avedissian & Mike Morris on guitars, Van Bassman on vocals, Juan Garcia on bass, and myself drumming. This lineup debuted back in July after a 5-year hiatus.
SB: How did this project begin? How has it evolved?
AR: Al and I had been casual homies for a bit but we started jamming together just to see what would happen and it quickly became obvious that we were onto something cool. We wrote the core of the initial set list together and upon realizing we needed more personnel, our search quickly led us to Mike who had a really sweet psychedelic style of guitar playing on display with his previous bands Brass Knuckle Surfer and Novocaine and when we started jamming with the 3 of us, it was tangible magic in the room.
Before long, we’d added Jamie Smith formerly of Bleach Garden & Canopy on bass and vocals to complete the rhythm section and started demoing our initial recordings. Stenvik Mostrom from Dropout/Dead Oath wound up completing the first lineup as a standalone vocalist, and we went into the studio to track what we’d hoped would become our first record, but after Sten had to step away unexpectedly in the middle of recording and us parting ways with Jamie, Mike’s BKS bandmate Juan wound up stepping in and we recruited Van to be our new vocalist, which signified a shift away from harsher vocals to more a cleaner delivery and overtly psychedelic vibe instead of a metal leaning sound.
Van spent the entirety of the pandemic writing new vocal parts and lyrics and we began rehearsing with the new full lineup post-shutdown. 2022 was spent with Kristofer Sampson recording our debut record, which we’re currently shopping for label interest and are hoping to release next year.
Those who remember the first iteration of the project have been particularly stoked about how things have evolved since, so we’re all excited about our path ahead!
SB: There are elements of desert rock, psychedelia, and stoner metal in Insomniac’s sound—what are some of Insomniac’s biggest influences? How would you describe Insomniac’s sound to the uninitiated?
AR: Al might list some guitar influences for this project as Bert Jansch or Gábor Szabó as well as some Armenian musicians and sitar players, and Van’s vocal delivery has gotten a lot of grungy Lane Stayley/Jerry Cantrell comparisons, but it seems like a very unique sound coming from a really wide variety of musical backgrounds for us all. We’ve had a lot of people tell us that our music made them sound like they were full-on tripping, which is probably the best comparison a psychedelic band could hope for!
SB: Seeing Insomniac live is a truly visceral experience. Is that intentional?
VB: Absolutely, we’re all riding together. Every sense. Every moment. Be present.
SB: Visuals seem to play a pretty important role in your live show, whether it’s Tibetan prayer flags or a meticulously synchronized video. What’s the story behind that?
VB: Our current happening is a journey to the center of yourself to find your harmony in the universe. Every event allows us to share that moment of enlightenment, together.
To present this visually we sought multiple elements that guide us through the voyage. The lion’s share of the footage was collected as Alex traveled around the world. He compiled terabytes of video from every climate you can imagine. This was combined with my assorted footage of dark rides, rollercoasters, and fun moments – with some stock footage thrown in for good measure.
If the rooms melting outside of that it’s likely your individual experience, enjoy it.
SB: There seems to be an overall mission to Insomniac beyond music. What sort of wisdom or message are you guys bringing to the masses?
VB: Joy.
AR: On a personal level, this project is the embodiment of my creative spiritual expression, and the result has been essentially a guidebook to connect to the universe through our music and its path. The majority of my life had been lived largely in the dark with that kind of stuff, so to be able to connect to music in this new and exciting way after already devoting my life to it has been extremely fulfilling.
SB: What does Atlanta offer this particular blend of music? Are there other Insomniac-esque projects out there that no one knows about?
AR: I haven’t found anything that’s an exact fit for the vibe necessarily, but bands that are heavy without playing metal specifically, and bands that bring a distinct vibe and feeling to their music that’s similar to what we do are definitely out there. Dead Register comes to mind for sure, and our friends up in Wisconsin, Vanishing Kids, also bring that heavy psych vibe as well, albeit a lot more dreamy sounding than our music.
SB: What sort of advice do you have for folks that see Insomniac and immediately think, “I wanna do that shit. This is my type of shit. This shit is on my level.”
VB: Do it. Find your center and make a circle, spin around till you like the sound. Share it or don’t. The art you make for yourself will stand on its own. Even if you’re telling a fictional story, the truth matters. Your friends and bandmates are more valuable than gold and ribbons. Drink some water, call your mom.
SB: What’s one thing most people don’t know about American nu-metal guitarist Wes Borlan?
VB: His name is an anagram for “Son Warble”.
-Scott Belzer
Insomniac takes the stage on March 19th at Boggs Social & Supply with The Obsessed, Howling Giant, and Gozu. Tickets are on sale here.