Founding Beta Band Members Return as the Aliens

You might be familiar with a similar story from a band called Pink Floyd, but when original Beta Band frontman and psychedelic enthusiast Gordon Anderson left the band before they found fame, the cause was listed as "mental illness." It's been reported that Anderson was schizophrenic but in interviews since then he has said that he doesn't believe in schizophrenia. In 2007, he told the Guardian that he believed he was possessed by a demon.

Reunited with his Beta Band mates John Maclean and Robin Jones in a new band called the Aliens, Anderson has managed to pull off the full Syd Barrett cycle, although hopefully with a happier ending. "John and Robin and I always wanted to continue to make music together, but with them having so many commitments in the Beta Band, we got little chance to ever knuckle down," Anderson tells Spinner. Regrouping as the Aliens in 2005, the trio has spent the last few years making up for lost time. On Oct. 20 they will release their new album 'Luna,' which will also be available as with hardback 60-page book as part of a special edition limited to a thousand copies.

"The dynamic is very different, I think," Anderson says, comparing the Aliens to the Beta Band's early days. "We're all individuals and I'm not someone else, neither is the music, and John and Robin do what they want usually, and one plus two plus three isn't always nine, if you know what i mean."

Actually, we don't. But we do know that the album sounds great, any way you add it up.