Bruce Licher, who was born in Los Angeles and attended the UCLA, was a co-founder of the seminal band Savage Republic. Relocated to Arizona, Licher formed the Scenic with James Brenner of Shiva Burlesque (better known as Grant Lee Buffalo). The group debuted with the single Kelso Run (1994).

Incident At Cima (Independent, 1995) is a collection of brief instrumental pieces that evoke the landscape and the wildlife of the desert (sometimes literally, as in the distorted winds of The Shifting Sand, sometimes lyrically, as in The Mid Hills and Down Black Canyon Road). The music of Scenic is driven by guitar and drums, and enriched with exotic spices, but sails towards the same destination as Steve Roach's electronic music. At the same time, the atmospheric blend of harmonica, flute, accordion and mandolin recalls western and sci-fi soundtracks while skirting surf music (The Kelso Run, Incident At Cima, Bossa Dune, On The Dune). Their vignettes float lazily in the scorching mid-afternoon sunshine. Carrying On To Cadiz and Chiriaco Summit, the two standout tracks, best summarize the mood, bridging Pink Floyd-ian psychedelia and south-western atmospherics.

Aquatica (World Domination, 1996), featuring multi-instrumentalist Robert Loveless (formerly of 17 Pygmies) and an arsenal of exotic instruments, does the same things but dedicating them to Greece. The music is still that strange, almost “architectural” form of ambient music evoking majestic spaces and the desolation of ruins. The arrangement of The Tones Of Peloponnesus consists of wind puffs and guitar drones. Dronia lets guitars swing in a sea of percussion. Sidereal Hands plays chamber music for flute and zither in a swirl of noise. In Et Tu Dronius the guitar marks time while a string section intones a celestial theme. And several of the most brilliant cues are found in the short interludes of a minute or two. With this second album, however, Scenic decided to move away from the austere purism of their early days and move closer to the song format (albeit unsung). Thanks to the supervening rhythm, to the alternating of cello and trumpet, to the languor of the first guitar, and to the strong melodic theme of the other guitar, Ionia instead resembles a movie soundtrack, but with psychedelic overtones. This effect is reinforced by the orchestral theme of All Fish Go To Heaven and by the symphonic jubilation of Angelica, in which the guitar is often smothered in keyboard phrases. The melody is even stronger and captivating in Parisia, which a harmonica places in a “western” setting. The tour de force of the record is Modula Raga, which sums up their inspirations (psychedelic, ethnic, ambient, blues-rock) in an intense and tumultuous guitar jam. In short, Scenic unleash another masterpiece of instrumental rock music.

Four years later, Licher continued the journey with a three-song mini-album, Spheres (Independent Project, 2000). His inspiration travels to a Lunar Afternoon and to Riding The Arctic Express. He designs magic landscapes, fantastic variations on the desert he lives in, and then puts them in (very slow) motion. Spheres seems to take off for other planets. Those, too, are deserts.

The Acid Gospel Experience (Hidden Agenda, 2002) delivers another dose of trance-inducing desert rock from another world. However, the 19-minute A Journey Through the Outer Reaches of Inner Space and the Monet-equivalent fresco of Under A Wig are more ambitious than anything Licher has attempted before.

The four-song EP The Long Sun (St Ives, 2005), particularly the 13-minute title-track, bring echoes of a music that seems to exist in a parallel universe (both metaphorically and in practice).