A Chat with Neil Levin (01.09.26)
Sauntering across the sonic realms of blues, classic rock, hip-hop, psychedelic rock, and the self-defined cosmic blues, Neil Levin takes you on a journey in his sound and style. A force in the California jam band music scene and advocate for DIY recording methods, Levin inspires change, revives spirits, and embraces a zealous sincerity with his music. We speak with Levin about his new single, ‘Pill’, what music means to him, advice and much more.
OSR: Cliché, but what drew you to music? What made you decide to pursue a career in music?
Levin: I grew up surfing, and did it pretty competitively for awhile, had sponsors, the whole deal, but I always had music in the background because my Dad is a musician. At some point, I started making music to put into surf videos to accompany the surfing. I also started making hip-hop music early in high school because that was the thing to do. It didn’t make me the most popular kid in high school, but that was my introduction to making music.
I grew up listening to classic rock and sounds from the 60s and 70s, but being in high school in 2014, the “in” thing to make was hip-hop. I was making all the music behind the beats and everything. I was also a pretty decent guitar player, and I used to think it was cool that I could rap and play guitar, lol.
Towards the end of high school, I had a bit of an awakening after a life-changing car crash and some psychedelic experiences with different songs from the hippie days. The path led me straight to psychedelic rock, which in turn led me to the jam band scene. I haven’t looked back ever since.
In 2018, I started jam band Counterconformity, and it took over my life, in a good way. I was no longer rhyming sentences in a talking fashion over a computerized beat; I was now singing real songs I wrote, with a real band assembled by fate, and I was improvising with my guitar every night, reinventing the songs each time. The surfing career took a back seat to what was becoming a full-fledged music career. Now, 8 years later, I’m a solo artist; I have my own sound, cosmic blues, and I play 150 shows a year and regularly release music. It’s as full-fledged as it gets, and it’s all in the name of preserving that classic blues/rock sound for the next generation. In 2025, I also got my MA in music from Berklee, so I got the musicianship to go with everything I do.
OSR: What does music mean to you?
Levin: Music is a language. It has punctuation, pauses and communicates emotion. Music is the universal language. As cliché as that sounds, it’s one of the only languages you can go sit in a room with anyone, regardless of the language they speak, and communicate sonically with them. It brings people together in a way I’ve never seen before. Even the most corporate, pop filth brings the right people together there to receive it, and that’s powerful.
Music is used in every facet of life. When people are hanging out, they don’t put a movie on, or a painting on in the background; they put music on. It creates the atmosphere and provides a real-life soundtrack for the task at hand. That’s what music is; it’s a sorcerer’s tool, used to bring people together. After going to school for music and developing a deep understanding in the context of jam banding, which is basically jazz in a rock context, I feel more connected to what music really is than ever. It’s unexplainable, but I can show you if I had a guitar 😊
OSR: You recently released your single ‘Pill’. What can you tell us about ‘Pill’? Is there a particular backstory or theme?
Levin: ‘Pill’ fits into the overarching narrative of my new album, False Flag. The album deals with dissolution and oxymorons within the current American Dream. ‘Pill’ represents the world we trust and put our faith into. When you take a pill, you hope it makes you better, but a lot of the time, it can be a systematic tool to make you feel worse, and then you need another, different pill to fix the effects of the last one, and so on, in an endless cycle. I felt like that, in a way, was a perfect metaphor for the current American Dream, while also having some literalness with how amazing health care is in this country.
OSR: A lot of your work blends melancholic lyricism with rich instrumentation. How did you balance the heavy themes of ‘Pill’ with an arrangement that resonates without feeling overly dark?
Levin: In a sense, ‘Pill’ has a shred of irony layered within it, where the subject matter is something that can be deduced as somewhat of a heavy topic, but on the surface, its lyrics are very playful. There’s obviously the “Woo!” part, and I think when the universe downloaded this song onto my brain, the “Woo!” was definitely highlighted and bolded, I knew a song about pills and heads exploding needed to have a lighthearted feel, because it can be a dark topic, especially when talking about all the repercussions of going down a path of addiction, even if it’s prescribed addiction. One thing I do, and I know a lot of people do, is let out a big “Woo!” whenever they get past something. Kind of like a sigh of relief. In the context of the song, it’s kind of like a sigh of relief. Your head’s about to explode, then it does, but you actually feel better… WOO! Hahaha.
OSR: What do you hope people take from ‘Pill’, and what do you take from the single?
Levin: I hope people just enjoy it for what it is; it’s a song with multiple meanings. I know I gave a very loose ‘behind the mask’ of the song above, but it really is a song that just deals with the false flags in our day-to-day life, and that can mean anything to many different people. Whenever I write a song, I try to keep an element of multi-meaning across songs. Songs like ‘Sonora’, ‘Brave New World’, and ‘Reckoning’ are some of the first songs that come to mind that really have multiple meanings if you go looking, but on the surface, they have a literalness to them. I try and do this with every song I write; those ones just come to mind as full-on examples of that. I’m always a poet at heart.
OSR: You released an official music video for ‘Pill’. What can you tell us about it? Was there a particular mood or emotion you were trying to translate visually?
Levin: We are so lucky to work with incredible director and filmmaker Amanda Nigro. She always has a vision whenever I show her the song, and we bounce ideas back and forth, but ultimately I end up just seeing her vision on the visual side because she’s such a master. We had a fun day filming at a little mountainous spot by the beach, and we just had fun with it. Everyone leaned into the playful nature of the song, and we just wanted it all to feel organic. In a sense, the song itself had an organic and nature-y feel that felt like we were returning it back into the wild.
OSR: Looking at your back catalogue, do you feel ‘Pill’ is a strong representation of who you are at the moment and why or why not?
Levin: I think ‘Pill’ is one of the more different songs I’ve made. It’s still within the cosmic blues genre, but it has a different feel than a lot of the other stuff I’ve made. ‘Pill’ might be the most lighthearted song I’ve ever made, and even though the backdrop of the theme can be dark, sonically, I’d put this song on at a party over a funeral. My music has always been a tool to explore the unknown, the beyond, and this song, in all of its joy, is still dealing with that in a way. So circling back to whether the song is a strong representation of me in the moment, I’d say undoubtedly yes, but it also represents that I’m still on this journey, making music that tries to answer questions or shed light on something “you really outta know.”
OSR: With an extensive live performance history, which of your shows is the most memorable and why that gig?
Levin: Our Three Rivers shows we do are definitely some of our favorites. We do 2 nights in a row up in the beautiful mountains at Three Rivers Brewing Co. right next to this lake, and we do unique set lists each night, no repeats. This is a fun show because we are really in it the whole time trying to make fresh sounds on top of our vast catalog, and our fans really show up for that. We call it Cosmic Blues weekend, and it really is a weekend-long party. Next time around is September 26 and 27.
OSR: Do you have any advice for new artists?
Levin: Don’t stop, literally. Everyone who’s ‘made it’ says this same thing. The truth behind this is, there were a lot of people who started music careers alongside me, but since 2018, 8 years later, I feel like I’m the last man standing, and every year I watch an influx of new naive artists joining the scene, and ones who had been around, fade away. Whether they lose the drive or aren’t popular enough by their own standards, quitting means you were half-a**ing it from the start. You didn’t believe in yourself, and there’s a real product there. You have to be willing to sleep in the mud for it. I have never cancelled a show. I’ve been as nice as I can be to everyone, no matter how they treat me, and I try to never say no to a show as long as it’s feasible.
Reputation is important, and I’ve made sure people know they can count on me. The key is to always be around, always be there, so you can catch the next ladder the universe throws you. If you stop, you throw it all away. Venues forget about you because there’s so many artists, and if you decide to give it a go again later on, you’re starting over. Everything that has ever happened in my career has led to the next thing, and I have been non-stop since 2018, with no quitting in sight, and the world just opens up more and more.
OSR: What can we expect from Neil Levin in the future?
Levin: You can for sure expect my new album False Flag to land in 2027. Shows are only gonna get bigger and farther away, which is the real goal at this point. We are on track in 2026 for surpassing last year’s 150-show mark, and this fall we will embark on our biggest tour yet, playing pretty much everywhere in California. I’m gonna keep making music that inspires me, and try and be the best musician I can be, so my fans get the best show possible every night.
OSR: Do you have a message for our readers?
Levin: You are here because you are all a rare breed of music fans, the kind that go out and seek the music that inspires them. You aren’t fed what Big Pop Music is selling you, and you dive deeper. The world needs more people like you, so my only message to you- more like call to action – is to keep being you, keep exploring and diving deeper into what this all means. Use the music you resonate with as your guide, and if you find a really good song, always tell your friends; spread the gospel. I’ll see you on the road. 😊
Many thanks to Neil Levin for speaking with us. Find out more about Neil Levin on his official website, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Spotify.
This artist was sent to us by ManagerLab.
