WATCH: What is Stoner rock?

• How did this genre come about?
• It's a fusion of two genres

Many people know psychedelic music from the movement during the 1960s.

However, some bands combined the sound and feel of psychedelic music with the low chugging tones of heavy metal to create an entirely new sound.

Stone Tortoise is a local band that considers themselves part of the heavy psychedelic movement or “Stoner rock”.

“It was rooted at one point when the Beatles dropped to D, and other bands were probably like ‘oh sh- listen’” drummer Matt Ellis told Kelowna10 after a rehearsal session, explaining how the Beatles tuned down their instruments to create a heavier sound. “You can be heavy without being like a heavy metal band.”

Stoner rock is predominantly a genre where the songs feel like a wall of sound; riffs crash over the crowd as everyone moves to the music.

They say the process of writing a Stoner rock song is a lot about improvisation.

“Someone thinks of some kind of riff, and then we probably play that riff for about 20 minutes straight and everyone tries things out and makes different noises and makes different sounds.”

The band’s name is rather curious, until it's explained.

“Well, we’re slow and we’re heavy… kind of like a Stone Tortoise. Slow and heavy wins the race,” Ellis said.

He had been sitting on the name for a while, pitching it to the band he and bassist Tommy Thammavongsa were a part of, only to have it shot down.

But when that band broke up and a new one was formed, they needed a name.

So, Ellis brought “Stone Tortoise” back up and the name stuck.

The group , which also features Jeff Coleman on lead guitar, will be part of the upcoming “Tune It Down, Turn It Up” Music Festival, highlighting heavy psychedelic and Stoner rock groups locally and across BC.

They will be part of the first wave of bands performing at Mission Taphouse on July 8th, which they consider to be the only venue that will host bands playing this sort of genre in Kelowna.

“It’s always developing, every year it seems like psych is developed a little bit more in one direction” the forth member of the outfit, guitarist/vocalist Bliss Ducharme explained.

She said this weekend’s event will be the band’s first festival they’ve ever played at.

The festival has various local bands playing at Mission Taphouse on the 8th, with more bands coming from all over BC to play at Bull Mountain on the 9th.

“I think we’re looking forward to having the community together again […] everyone gets to party and express ourselves and listen to what they like and what they create.”