Josh Onstott of Other Lives debuts new material, upcoming album

Josh Onstott is moving on.

Don't worry. The Stillwater-born act Other Lives remains active, but Onstott has relocated to Los Angeles with a rush of creative energy. Onstott fronts New Mystics, a project he's kicked around for a while but is finally charging up for a busy 2017.

"What I enjoy about this project is that it's less tailored and tucked in than Other Lives," he told The Oklahoman. "There's more electricity and grit, as opposed to string and horn arrangements. I've taken a more autobiographical approach to the songwriting and imagery as well."

Check out a fresh song from New Mystics and be on the lookout for the upcoming album "The Modern Age is Over."

I caught up with Onstott via email to chat about the new song and developing project.

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Q:  Can you tell me a little bit more about New Mystics and how it came together? Also, is Other Lives still going strong?

Josh Onstott: New Mystics was created from a batch of songs that I wrote, produced and recorded on my own this past year after I moved to Los Angeles from Portland. I brought in a friend of mine named Hugo Nicolson (Radiohead, Father John Misty, Local Natives) to help me push it to the finish line as a co-producer. Other Lives is still active. I think Jesse and I are always fantasizing about making all types of records. That being said, I wanted to write, produce and record an album on my own. And that's what I did, with help from some pals.

Q: Anyone else notable helping with New Mystics material? 

Onstott: In the studio, we did bring in a few great players to polish it up a bit and glue it all together. Mainly drums (Josh Adams) and electric guitar (Benji Lysaght). Jesse Tabish and I co-wrote "Modern" together. 

Q: What else can you tell me about the song "Modern" and how it came together?

Onstott: The first time (Jesse) showed me the idea, we worked on it a bit, and I kept coming back to it because of the riff he showed me. I knew it would never see the light of day if I didn't put it on my record. So, we had a chat about making that happen. Jesse flew down to Los Angeles, and we ended up recording the structure together in the studio, and then I tracked vocals and other instrumentation on top of that.

This song took on an entirely different meaning after the election. Initially, the tune was about a young desire to get out and do something creative. It's about losing your upbringing/religion and trying to reinvent the way to be as a human being. But also sort of being met with this screwed up 21st century world where your dreams fail because the “modern age is over,” meaning that your generation has been shafted. That sounds kinda dark. [Laughs]