Never where you’d expect her to be, La Priest is nevertheless back at the Ground Control to present her third album, Fase Luna.

Comfort zone? Not for Sam Eastgate, better known as LA Priest. He first came to prominence as a member of the English dance-punk band Late of The Pier, then embarked on a whimsical indie bromance with Connan Mockasin in Soft Hair, before finally going solo in 2018 under the name LA Priest with his debut album Inji.

Released on the legendary Domino Records label (Arctic Monkeys, Cat Power, Franz Ferdinand,…), Inji lays the foundations for shaky, slightly psychedelic indie pop. But Easgate isn’t the kind of guy who puts the same soup in the same pot twice, so his second album, GENE, will be an opportunity for him to rethink his working tools, particularly the percussion. GENE is also the name of the drum machine he created especially for the album.

It’s a home-made drum machine that will take him on the road as he receives commissions from all over the world. It was during one of these commissions that he found the place and inspiration for his third album, Fase Luna. Invited to Belize, he found himself blocked at the border by travel restrictions due to covid. Falling back on Costa Rica and Mexico, he began composing Fase Luna with the directive not to use synthesizers or drum machines. Out with the machines (and GENE…), the LA Priest of 2023 is more organic than ever. And all to the delight of Ground Control.