Oakland’s Glowing Brain doesn’t do subtle. Their new album, Memory Distortion, is a full-throttle assault, part punk, part metal, all feral energy.

From the opening track, a dizzying barrage of D-beats and fuzz-drenched leads, it’s clear this is a record for pit dwellers, night shifters, and the chemically compromised.  Tracks like “Creeping Debt” and “Bummer Machine” hit hard with themes of modern dread, while “Dying on the Vine” leaves no room to breathe.

We caught up with Conrad Nichols (vocals, bass, guitar), Doc Miller (guitar, vocals, synthesizer, organ), and James Lyter (drums and percussion) from the band ahead of their Summer Distortion 2025 tour (kicking off June 12th) to talk about the new record and why the world still needs dangerous music. 

It’s a lengthy interview, so buckle up and enjoy!

Interview with Glowing Brain

Third Eye: You’ve said your sound is for the fuzz freaks and lifers. Who do you think Memory Distortion is not for?

Doc: MEMORY DISTORTION is not for cops.

Conrad: Memory Distortion is not for straight-edge people – sober is fine but no bros.

James: If you are just stopping by the subculture for a few years to ride the trends and wear the right t-shirt, you probably won’t like our band and that’s fine. We are not for tourists.

Third Eye: How has the Oakland scene shaped your sound or attitude as a band? Are there any local bands or venues that have been especially influential?

Doc: When we started the band, a lot of our peers were doing the pop-punk-through-a-chorus-pedal-and-calling-it-post-punk thing, and that really bummed us out. As such, the initial idea was more to stand in opposition to what was happening, than to emulate any particular contemporaries or forebears. Probably the closest example of a local luminary would be Annihilation Time, who although they originally hailed from Oxnard, relocated to Oakland and ran a punk house for over a decade.

Conrad: I think everyone’s local scene influences them, even indirectly. There’s too many good bands from the bay area to mention but Comadre was a big influence on me, more so in the way they functioned than their music – they showed a younger me about the DIY punk ethic, culture and community.

James: The Oakland scene has a rich history, but also kicks ass right now. I know it is not very dystopia of me to sound so positive, but I can live with that. We all love Annihilation Time and I think that shines through in our music. I also really dig Ancient Rage, Deathgrave and Vorlust right now, all bands that are active and absolutely ripping. It feels like bands from Oakland are not afraid to get the van to go prove it on the road and that has influenced our work ethic too. 

Third Eye: What has been the weirdest show or crowd interaction for the band? Bonus points if someone tried to hand you a sword.

Doc: We played a show in LA a few years ago to a sold out crowd. To be fair, the locals were Early Moods and Death Chant, so the crowd was the to see those two bands. That being said, the vast majority of the audience watched our whole set, sort of clapped between blocks of songs, and then proceeded to ignore us for the rest of the night. Utterly bizarre.

Conrad: The first time we played in Arizona – the sound guy was clearly on something heavy and was not all there. He told us that the bass was way too loud … my amp wasn’t on yet and I wasn’t even holding a bass.

James: No swords but, a few years ago we played a packed show in LA with some very excellent bands. As we were playing people were headbanging and dancing and seemed into it, but the second we got off stage nobody spoke to us at all, not even a passing “nice set dude” or whatever..

We sold no merch. Nothing. I still think about that show and wonder what the hell happened. Like, if they hadn’t stood up front and bounced around throwing fists in the air, that would have been one thing… but they did those things and then didn’t wanna talk to us at all. Very weird.

Third Eye: What’s the story behind “Creeping Debt”? Just a clever pun or something darker?

Doc: In the Bay, as pretty much everywhere in the country, the rent is too damn high. Same goes for necessities like food, water, electricity, and generally the cost of living. Debt anxiety is a simple fact of life for the vast majority of people, regardless of employment status or ability or whatever, and none of us are strangers to that feeling. Also, yeah, Conrad came up with the title and we had a little laugh to keep from crying.

Conrad: It really started as a working title that was just a pun on the Metallica song but that drove the lyrical direction. Living in the Bay is expensive and I was constantly finding myself drowning financially. Hating unchecked capitalism, hating your job, hating the “grind” – never really goes away huh? 

James: Lyrically, that’s something Conrad would have to elaborate upon. However, there is an inherent darkness surrounding that song. During Covid, Doc got hit by a car and broke both of his legs. While he was recovering, Conrad and I decided to continue working on music.

We were tremendously unsuccessful and unproductive during that time. We would meet up to play music and end up partying really hard together in the practice space. It was our only real outlet since the world was shut down. However, somewhere through that haze we wrote “Creeping Debt.” I feel like I can hear our shared frustration, angst and decreasing sobriety in that song.

Third Eye: If each track on Memory Distortion were a weapon, what would they be?

Doc: LHP – mace

Revenge Pinata – whip

Crude Bastard – dagger

Bong Exhaust – stone hammer

Memory Distortion – shortsword

Hole in the Skull – claymore

Creeping Debt – spiked gauntlet

Bummer Machine – night stick

Dying – hatchet

Chilling – harpoon

Conrad: Long Hair Punks – 20oz Hammer

Revenge Pinata – Louisvill Slugger baseball bat

Crude Bastard – Jake The Snake’s signature DDT finishing move

Bong Exhaust – Weapons-Grade-Potency Cannabis

Memory Distortion – Neurotoxin

Hole In The Skull – Trephines and Bone Saws (it’s in the lyrics, after all)

Creeping Debt – Desperation and Anger

Bummer Machine – Pen sharpened into a shank

Dying on the Vine – Scythe and Shovel

Chilling Technology – the world’s nuclear stockpile and covertly administered DMT

James: LONG HAIR PUNKS – baseball bat

REVENGE PIÑATA – butterfly knife

CRUDE BASTARD – a knife on the end of a boot, like that one guy has in ‘Roadhouse’

BONG EXHAUST – nonconsensual gravity bong rip 

MEMORY DISTORTION – tripwire 

HOLE IN THE SKULL – attack dog

CREEPING DEBT – sleep deprivation tactics

BUMMER MACHINE – bare fists

DYING ON THE VINE – hand grenade

CHILLING TECHNOLOGY – futuristic space weapons that i don’t really even understand (yet)

Third Eye: Touring this summer … what’s on the stereo, and what’s the survival plan when the van’s A/C dies in July?

Doc: We listen to a lot of podcasts. Drifter’s Sympathy is a favorite, as is Demo-Listen. Besides that, we usually listen to a lot of classic rock, or things that are generally not hardcore or extreme metal. We love that stuff, but it’s nice to give your ears a break when those are the bands you’re playing with every night.

James will probably do an all night drive and blast Against Me! all night while me and Conrad put our earplugs in and try to sleep. I’ll probably have an all night drive where I blast Malokarpatan and Master’s Hammer and James and Conrad put their earplugs in and try to sleep. And Conrad will probably DJ the other 95% of the time.

Conrad: We usually don’t listen to too much overtly heavy and loud music on tour since we get enough of that every night. I’m predicting a lot of George Jones, Fela Kuti, Paul McCartney’s RAM, and hopefully a killer band we play with that is yet unknown to us. Lots of podcasts, no doubt.

James: The stereo goes in many directions. We will rock, don’t get me wrong, but we keep the heavy music minimal since we are perpetually nursing ringing ears and hangovers.

Lotta Neil, Magnolia Electric Company, ZZ Top and shit like that. We also jam on podcasts just to keep the van vibes mellow and restorative. If somebody is doing a marathon shift at the wheel (usually me or Doc) then all rules kinda go out the window and the driver rides their own vibe, man.

Third Eye: Lastly, which Judas Priest album really is the best, and why is it Sin After Sin? Or have you changed your minds?

Doc: It’s Sin After Sin because Simon Phillips absolutely smokes on that record. I feel a little guilty saying that so soon after Les Binks’ passing (RIP), and don’t get me wrong, the drumming on Stained Class and Killing Machine is great. I mean, the main drum beat for ‘Exciter’ is one of the earliest examples of the Motor-beat, maybe only preceded by Deep Purple’s ‘Fireball.’ 

But for me, there’s a fluidity to Simon Phillips feel and phrasing that makes Sin After Sin stand out among Priest’s catalogue. The drums on Dissident Aggressor are punishing and unrelenting, and he makes it sound like it’s no big deal.

Additionally, the lyrics on ‘Sinner’ are some of my favorite Priest lyrics, just really cosmically brutal stuff. Oh, and the vamp on ‘Last Rose of Summer’ is a great little hidden treasure of the album. The song itself is kind of a throwaway ballad, but the last 90 seconds is untapped sample gold. Plus you’ve got ‘Raw Deal’ which is one of the most blatantly gay-positive songs in the Priest repetoire. 

Even though it precedes the leather-and-spikes era of the band (y’know when Halford convinced a bunch of homophobic jocks to dress up like a Tom of Finland sketch) it still tickles me to no end that a bunch of asshole tough guys walked around for years thinking that song was about “heavy dudes” who were “looking for some action” complete unaware of the double meaning. 

Not that the intention was to troll the fans, and in fact by most accounts, Halford’s struggles with coming out publicly were fucking harrowing, but I’ve always found joy in anything that makes fools of the bigoted.

Conrad: I’m not even gonna touch this one. Go off, Doc.

James: Man, Doc fucked me up with Judas Priest. I was always a casual fan but since joining a band with him I have become a feind. I think it’s still Sin After Sin but I feel like I should yield my time to The Doctor. Definitely ’70s era Priest above all else.

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