Day Tripping: Liverpool Psych Fest returns for a second year

Ready to freak out? The Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia is back, and, as you’d hope, it’s both bigger and better in its second year. A two-day festival of musical and space explorations (both inner and outer), it takes place on 27-28 September in the adjoining Camp and Furnace and Blade Factory venues, deep in the city’s formerly industrial Baltic Triangle. Festival organiser Tom Lynch eagerly talks of hosting “the cream of the current psychedelic crop,” adding: “It’s a dream line-up for all of us.”

Headliners include the city’s own weird-punk outfit Clinic, whose Velvet Underground-inspired racket has now been going strong for 16 years, and the motorik wash of krautrockers Moon Duo. There’s also a rare visit to these shores from punishingly loud Washington DC types Dead Meadow, and a wealth of lesser-known treats to devour, from the molten riffage of local trio Mind Mountain to Eat Lights Become Lights’ blissed-out electro-kosmische.

Those with their fingers on the pulse will be particularly excited about the critically acclaimed Hookworms, as well as the Sabbath-esque Fuzz – chiefly notable for the presence of the terrifyingly prolific Ty Segall behind the drum kit. And if that wasn’t enough, Chicago’s hipper-than-thou Trouble In Mind Records will be curating a stage, promising a veritable banquet culled from their delicious roster, complemented by their very own DJ Psyched Alex spinning his favourite mind-benders. Additional DJs include 6 Music’s Marc Riley and Finders Keepers Records founder Andy Votel.

As grand as this all sounds, it’s worth noting that the DIY ethic pervades Psych Fest’s every endeavour. Promoting alongside his regular Harvest Sun events, in conjunction with Craig Pennington of Bido Lito! magazine, Tom talks of extra-curricular plans: “We’ve started a label, PZYK, so we’ll be scouring all four corners of the earth, looking for the sounds of tomorrow.”

Indeed, the label’s first release (now sold out) was a special limited edition 7” featuring contributions from Clinic, Moon Duo, Maston and Lorelle Meets The Obsolete, while PZYK 0002 is a mix-tape cassette – limited to 50 copies – featuring 12 of this year's Psych Fest acts, which you can pick up only when buying a Psych Fest ticket at one of the three in-stores they're holding with The Lucid Dream (Sat 7 Sep at Piccadilly Records, Manchester, at 10.30am; Jumbo Records, Leeds, at 1pm; and Probe Records, Liverpool, at 4.30pm).

It’s certainly an action-packed weekend, and, bearing in mind Liverpool’s ongoing fascination with the psych sound, Tom’s keen to see the festival continue to expand. “The Northwest waters are certainly bubbling of late,” he reflects. “Long may it continue."