We were wandering lonely through the world like lost puppy zombies in search of a little bit more meaning. Music's always been a part of our lives. Grew up with it. Made us feel alive. It's always been the most loyal thing. We all met on Craigslist believe it or not and just got lucky. We all get along swimmingly. We have a great time together. Mike (drummer) was a college grad out in Arizona. Met him through Blaak Heat Shujaa up in L.A. Joe's a bartender and so that brings a fun dynamic. I was working on a master's in intellectual history, translating a bunch of latin bullshit and trying to be an adult before I realized that I just needed to be myself...So Heavy Glow's been great for me.
2. You were once named the High Times Band of the week. Not many bands could lay claim to that. Do you consider the sound of the band "stoner," whatever the hell stoner means. While we are at it what is stoner-rock to you? Does the tag bother you?
I'm not a big fan of the 'stoner rock' label. I haven't really come across a lot of bands that I like that are typically labeled 'stoner rock.' There's a lot of cool guitar tones, but that's about it for me. I don't see a lot of good, tasteful songwriting in it. The subject matter is pretty boring to me on the most part. Bands writing about "the fields we know" and other tired, hippie themes. I appreciate the community embracing us as they have. I think it's mostly because of the way I solo on guitar. Where else can you put us? I don't really feel like we fit in anywhere in the music climate. We're not cute or folky enough to be an indie band. Hipsters hate us. We're a hard rock band but a lot of people think of generic, stale rock when we use that term...bands like Nickleback and such. We're not a boutique band. My feeling is if you want to be the band that sounds like Hendrix or Zep then you're setting yourself up for failure. If someone wants to hear Hendrix then go listen to Hendrix. I don't know. Tags are always tough.
3. What inspires you to create the sound, feels and grooves of Heavy Glow? Is there a special place it comes from that we should know about?
Jesus.
It's definitely interesting. I don't know 'Fly By Night." Honestly, I don't like Rush either. 'Working Man's" about the only thing I can really listen to. I'm all Tom Sawyered out at this point. I think we only get the Cream thing because we're a three-piece with guitar solos.
I am definitely a white boy though ha!
5. Live experiences and Spinal Tap moments, want to share a couple?
We just played a pretty hilarious show in Flagstaff. Got billed with a folkie band from L.A. Not really a good fit. They parked their van right by the back entrance and left the door open at the end of the show. So the whole place filled up with exhaust fumes. About 150 left before we even got on stage because nobody could breath haha. I think that was the same night that Mike busted his nose while playing drums. He had a white shirt on and I looked back at him and all I could see was blood gushing from his face, all over his drums, and shirt. It was pretty epic.
6. Time to fill us in on latest recordings from the band and other projects that might be happening.....
We recorded an album back in June/July. Shacked up in a hot L.A. studio with two great producers, Michael Patterson and Nic Jodoin. BRMC was recording their album at the same time in the same room. We had to dance around all of their shit. Anyways...The new album will have 10 songs on it. The energy on it is amazing. It's everything we've wanted to put onto a record. Lots of dynamics, melodies, harmonies, without taking away the live-feel. We recorded it all live in one room like we've always done.
7. How has the band approached the songwriting for each release so far. Do you have your own little formula that works for you?
Wow! That's a great question. Well, I think we've approached every recording differently. The first EP was about "what can we do in 4 days?" The second one was "what can we do live in 6 hours because we're poor?"
"Midnight Moan" was a tough one. I had a nervous breakdown somewhere in the middle of it. Did the whole thing on our own. No producer. Studio kept breaking down...literally. We'd go in to record and the console would be broke or there would all-of-a-sudden be feedback that wasn't there. Recording vocals while I had strep throat..."Slave Dance" for instance is me screaming with fucking strep throat...whiskey and dayquil-ed up. The new album is going to be fantastic. It's still being mixed right now but I can't wait to share it. I think it's the best we've done to date.
8. The band seems pretty busy on the live front. How does each member handle doing a lot of miles and live work. Do you ever feel you are not going to make it?
Yeah we love touring. Love keeping busy and meeting new people on the road. Actually we're stuck in a hotel room right now in Medford, Oregon as I write this to you. We all watch too many cartoons. That pretty much gets us all through it. Joe loves to drive the van. He'll hog that thing all day long and then play bass at 110% later every night.
I don't ever think that we're not going to 'make it.' I don't think about making it or not making it. I have made it. If you're in a band and you make music you do it because it's who you are. If you're in this business to wait around for people to throw money at you or take you on the road with them then you're gonna be waiting a while. It just doesn't happen like that. If you want something I think you work for it. We're musicians because it's who we are and Heavy Glow is the only place in the world where we feel like we can express ourselves 100% without having to worry about anything. I have made it. We're a 100% DIY band. We own our record label. We hire our own producers. We hire merch girls and promotional teams. We write the emails etc. etc. It's a lot of work but we're living the dream. Whether there's 5,000 people in the audience or 20, we're true to ourselves and we can go to bed at night knowing that we've done everything we can without sacrificing our souls in the process.
9. What is on the horizon for the rest of 2013? More touring. More new music. The follow-up album will be out sometime this year. East Coast tour dates and we're looking at some Europe dates as well.
We're putting out a 7" release on February 12th. You can pre-order it through our website: heavyglowmusic.com
10. Any last words or rants?
'PRE-ORDER THE 7"! There's only 300 copies to play with.'
Interview By Sally Bethhall.
Official Website