Premiere: The Great Beyond's psychedelic campfire "Automatic Love" from the upcoming album "Heaven is a Room"

AP Review

The Great Beyond aka Spencer O' Karma is one of those divergent thinkers who might just see things differently than most of us. On the bell curve of life he may click in the abnormal category which is a good thing for all of us. Normal is boring after all and doesn't serve up progressive ideas in business or politics and especially doesn't create interesting inspired works of art. O'Karma probably is the kind of artist who has to express himself in many ways and as The Great Beyond will be releasing his debut full length album "Heaven Is A Room" via Magic Nothing. The album is a wide eyed work of indie / experimental pop / rock with psychedelic and glam leanings. 

The first Official Video from "Heaven is a Room" is the beautiful Automatic Love. It, at it's core, has a folk heart and feels like a sing-a long song around a psychedelic campfire. The chorus with it's stacked harmonics and comfortable progression is captivating and when the lead guitar breaks happens (with what sounds like a bevy of lead lines forming additional rhythms) it sounds so very heavenly.
-
Robb Donker




Side notes: 
The Great Beyond is Spencer O'Karma. O'Karma works the midnight shift at a university library, paints, meditates, writes novels, makes videos, and lives.

All songs written, performed, and recorded by Spencer O'Karma.
Mixed and sequenced by Zack Fischmann and Spencer O'Karma.
Mastered by Dan Destiny.
Cover photo and layout by Elias Wynshaw, TGB logo by Spencer O'Karma.

THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
Spencer O’Karma sent me a text in 2017 saying he moved to LA and wanted to meet up. We hadn’t spoken in 6 or 7 years — last I heard he was painting and chasing love out in New Orleans.

We grew up together in the SF Bay Area music scene playing packed house punk shows at 924 Gilman St. and other local spots. He had a band called Parasites, GO! that everybody was hyped about. They played our tour kickoff when I was in a band called Shakey Bones opening for the Abi Yoyos on a national tour in 2006. The first show of the tour was a sold out show at The Smell in Los Angeles with Thee Makeout Party (founders of Burger Records), Ty Segall’s band before Traditional Fools, and Mika Miko (went on to form Bleached). We were several years apart so he must’ve been 16 or 17 at the time.

Now he’s knocking on my door in Los Angeles in 2017 and hands me a cdr when he walks in the door. He tells me about writing a bunch of songs with Tony Molina (Matador records / Melted) and Matt Bleyle (Violent Change) and I get him a job through my friend Mandla (The Ugly Sweaters) working the graveyard shift at a university library. O’Karma spends late nights in the library studying meditation and working on his first novel about a kid on the spectrum who’s obsessed with The Beatles. O’Karma describes himself as a vampire — he’s an actor too, he could definitely play the part.

I must’ve listened to that cdr over 100 times. It’s raw and surreal, reminded me of The Clash, The Replacements, Brian Eno, and Big Star, but weirder.

We spent the next few months working out a track list and O’Karma recorded some new tunes with a bit more of an electronic Kate Bush vibe. We distilled it down to 13 songs from over 100 demos, and we remixed everything to make it hit as hard as it could. It’s raw and punk but there’s pop hooks bleeding out everywhere.

The result is Heaven is a Room, O’Karma’s first full-length under the name The Great Beyond. The album is 100% written, recorded, and performed by Spencer O’Karma. He did the art and made his own videos too. I love it so much I decided to start a record label, Magic Nothing, and this is the first release. I hope you dig it.

- Zack Fischmann, 2019