BY REV. ADAM MCKINNEY for WEEKLY VOLCANO | 11/13/26
Sometimes a change of scenery is exactly what’s needed in order to unlock new modes of artistic expression. If David Byrne, Chris Frantz, and Tina Weymouth had stayed in Providence, Rhode Island, where they’d met as college students and formed a preppy art-pop trio called the Artistics, that might have been how they’d stayed; going to the multicultural mecca of New York City helped them become Talking Heads. When the band left their native Canada and toured with Bob Dylan, that enabled them to land in West Saugerties where they could write “Music from Big Pink.”
Cooper Gillespie hails from Tacoma, but leaving for sunnier skies was what led to the creation of the synthy, psych-dream-pop outfit called LANDROID.
“I basically moved away from home as soon as I could, because I just wanted to see the sunshine,” says Gillespie. “So, I moved to California, where I met Greg [Gordon], and we started playing music together. About 10 years ago, we decided we needed a change of pace, so we moved out to the Joshua Tree area, to a little, teeny, tiny place called Landers – about 3,500 people. And the people that live in Landers are called Landroids. I had been searching for a good band name my whole life, and had so many sucky ones, and when I heard the word ‘Landroid,’ I knew that was the band name I had been looking for my whole life. So, we became LANDROID.”
LANDROID’s first album, 2019’s “Imperial Dunes,” is a striking contrast of styles, with two covers reflecting their dueling interests: their swooning take on Elvis Presley’s “Don’t Be Cruel,” which signals their cinematic ambitions and penchant for David Lynch worship; and their version of Plastic Bertrand’s “Ça Plane Pour Moi,” showing Gillespie and Gordon’s punk roots, while also carrying an icy, Krautrock-ish groove.
Eventually, Joshua Tree native Nigel Roman came on board to transform LANDROID into a trio, and this new configuration created the 2026 LP “Constellation.” While the music on the album is still recognizably LANDROID, the expanded lineup is reflected in the more widescreen grandeur of the sound. Some of the braintickling psychedelia and cosmic-brain-wonder of mid-00s Flaming Lips is present, as well as a generally more driving and muscular sound.
“I think we became much more psychedelic when we moved to the desert,” says Gillespie. “There’s so much wide open space, you can see the stars every night. When I first moved there, someone said, ‘You’re going to see a lot of strange things in the sky, and just know that it could be the military base, but it could not, and we just don’t know.’ I feel like there is a lot of mystery, and it’s one of the last places where you really feel the unknown.
“The wild thing about living in the high desert is that it has got a thriving arts and music scene,” Gillespie continues. “Sometimes, I feel like I’m busier there than when I lived in Los Angeles. There are so many incredible musicians and fine artists, whatever you’re into. It feels very vibrant. But, there’s also a lot of people really into UFOs, and a few aliens living among us, so we’ve got it all.”
Yes, in case you were wondering, the people of Landers are into aliens; if I had told you that two of their most prominent landmarks are a giant boulder and a wooden dome called the Integratron, you might’ve been able to guess the alien thing yourself. The music of LANDROID isn’t really of the hippy-dippy, Voyager Golden Records variety – really the band naming their current tour Tears in the Rain, after the iconic line in “Bladerunner,” should give you more of a comparison point. Songs like “Say My Name,” from “Constellation,” would fit nicely into the neon, rainsoaked, technodystopia of Los Angeles in “Bladerunner.”
Somehow, Gillespie fled the orange night skies of Tacoma, found herself under a blanket of stars in the Mojave Desert, and wound up making the kind of music that Rutger Hauer could deliver a monologue to.
But which of the several different cuts of “Bladerunner” is best?
“This is going to be super controversial, so some ‘Bladerunner’ people are gonna come after me for this,” says Gillespie. “I actually like the original, with the voiceover. And I know that’s not the ‘cool’ one to like, but I like it. It feels more like film noir, and I enjoy that everyone likes the director’s cut better, but I’m sticking to my guns on that.”
Alright, don’t tell anyone else, but I agree.
LANDROID will be playing on Friday, November 13 (spooky!) at the New Frontier Lounge, with Batnap! and Mechanical Plague. Doors are at 7pm, and the show starts at 8pm. Tickets and more info can be found at newfrontierlounge.com.
