BY DYLAN LONG Sitting down for 5 minutes and watching a Mild High Club music video is a journey. The solo project founded by jazz studies major Alex Brettin turned full band serves as a portal to another dimension; their very own dimension, crafted by the sights and sounds of who knows how many acid trips. Signed to Stones Throw Records, the band has two full albums out and have embarked on a lengthy countrywide tour in support of their latest album, Skiptracing. In advance of Mild High Club’s PhilaMOCA show tonight with Louie Louie and Point Breeze Country Club, we got on the phone with lead vocalist and founder Alex to discuss sex on planes, drugs and baby starfish.
PHAWKER: Hey Alex, this is Dylan from Phawker. How’s it goin’?
ALEX BRETTIN: Hey man, I’m good.
PHAWKER: So, Mild High Club. I’m assuming that’s a knock off of the Mile High Club, which is a club reserved for people who have successfully had sex on a commercial flight. Are you apart of that club, and if you are what is your advice for others who aspire to join?
ALEX BRETTIN: I’m not apart of the Mile High Club yet, so I can’t say, but I am apart of the “ate pot brownies on a plane and fell asleep” club.
PHAWKER: What is the worst part of living in Los Angeles?
ALEX BRETTIN: Probably either the cars or the smog. Just driving in general, there’s a lot of cars.
PHAWKER: Let’s talk drugs. How many times have you taken psychedelic drugs, and what was your best trip? Where were you, who were you with, etc.
ALEX BRETTIN: I’ve probably taken 4…20…69 trips all over the world, in various incarnations and with various groups of my friends; strangers as well. I couldn’t put a number on it.
PHAWKER: Is there any trip that stands out amongst the rest of them as best or worst?
ALEX BRETTIN: I mean… they’re all tight. There was one time where my friends and I went to the beach and we discovered this crazy cycle of life in a tide pool. During low tide we found a ton of baby starfish that came in, like a whole colony, and they were super weird and moving all around and shit. That was one of the coolest trips.
PHAWKER: Is there any drug you would never take under any circumstance?
ALEX BRETTIN: I wouldn’t take a bunch. I wouldn’t take rat poison, I wouldn’t take Wikki Stix, nothing that would kill me.
PHAWKER: No research chemicals?
ALEX BRETTIN: No, those are kinda cool I guess, I don’t know. I don’t really know what to say, my mom is probably gonna be reading all this… so I think I wanna keep all that off the records for now.
PHAWKER: If you could be any cartoon character for a day, who would it be and why?
ALEX BRETTIN: Hmmm. I would definitely be this one guy, I forget who he is, he wears a fez and he’s a mole. [His name is Morocco Mole. — The Ed.] I’d be Woody the Woodpecker… dude I’d be all of them, I love cartoons. Especially from the Warner Bros closet. Definitely not Disney Channel or any of that. Road Runner would be cool.
PHAWKER: Last question, your bio says you’ve worked with Ariel Pink. I was wondering if you could tell us something about him that people would be surprised to know, or wouldn’t suspect of him.
ALEX BRETTIN: *pause* Shit, I don’t know. I feel there’s everything out there about him ever. I’m sure people have said it before but he’s a very, very nice guy. Yeah. He’s a genuine sweetheart, always been a great friend.
PHAWKER: Thanks for your time man.
ALEX BRETTIN: Yep, no problem.