Geschreven door Jessica Santiago Lopez op 2014-10-22 15:59:25
Interviews :: Interview met Shamans Harvest
Shaman’s Harvest is een Amerikaanse band dat een mix van rock, metal en country, of beter gezegd, southern of modern rock maakt. Met het vorige album, ‘Shine’ wist de band in de Verenigde Staten succes te boeken met o.a. de single “Dragonfly”, maar in Nederland zijn ze nog een redelijk onbekende naam. De opvolger van ‘Shine’ is in september uitgekomen via Mascot Label Group en deze is gedoopt tot ‘Smokin’ Hearts & Broken Guns’ (Bekijk de review van het album hier). We spraken vocalist Nathan over o.a. dit nieuwe album, het tot stand komen er van en meer.
Interview door Jessica Santiago Lopez
Q: Hi Nathan, thanks for taking the time to do this interview. How are you?
N: Doin’ well Jessica. Enjoying some awesome Missouri weather. Cold as a tit in a brass bra one day, hotter than the devil’s pecker another.
Q: Congrats with ‘Smokin’ Hearts & Broken Guns’. The record sounds amazing! How have the reactions been so far?
N: So far so good. This is an interesting part of the process. People see what you’re working on and come up with their own interpretations of what they’re hearing.
Q: Even though you just released your 5th full-length, Shaman’s Harvest is still quite unknown over here in the Netherlands. Could you introduce Shaman’s Harvest to our readers here in the Netherlands and Belgium?
N: We have the animal known as Matt Fisher on bass. Josh Hamler on guitar. Derrick Neckbone Shipp on lead and Joe Swamp Doggy Harrington on the drums. I’m Nate Hunt.
Q: For those who haven’t heard the record yet, what can they expect to hear from ‘Smokin’ Hearts & Broken Guns’, lyric and music wise?
N: It’s a dynamic record. We wound up with a piece that has listenability from front to back. It has a swampy feel to some of the tracks and some others have the straight up rock vibe. It’s got a few epic feeling acoustic pieces as well. Lyrically it’s just as much of a jambalaya as the music. I left it open for interpretation mostly, so that each listener can make it their own.
Q: Nathan, you were diagnosed with throat cancer during the recording process of the record and you underwent treatment while still recording. What was this whole recording process like for you and did it influence the record in any way? Also, how are you doing now?
N: I’m solid now. Sittin’ pretty in remission as we speak. I think it influenced everything, lyrically and composition wise. Some of the pieces got a little epic, haha. Depends on how I felt each day. If I was pissed off about having the disease, we wound up with songs like “Dangerous”. When I felt alone in the disease, we wound up with songs like “The End of Me”. On and on until we found the whole record.
Q: Other than that, how did the recording process go? Anything you did different compared to the recording of, for example, ‘Shine’?
N: Well, this was the first record ever written in the studio. As someone laid down the tracks, somebody else could write a new part in the other room. It gave us a fresh perspective. The songs could be recorded before we rehearsed the soul from them.
Q: “Dragonfly” did pretty good as a single in the States. Did that success influence the writing of this record or bring any pressure in any way?
N: Sure, there probably was some pressure to do better than the previous body of work. But there always is I think. You’ll never satisfy everyone who loves a particular song, but you have to satisfy yourself and know that what you wrote was the best song you could make.
Q: There are some great tracks on the record, but two of my favorites are “Ten Million Voices” and “In Chains”. Could you tell a bit more about those two tracks?
N: “Ten Million Voices” is one of those anthems for those that are fed up with how things are, or feeling a certain way. It says that there are millions of people like you and that you are not alone.
“In Chains” was a fun track to make. It’s got a lot of different feels to it. Modern rock, delta blues with the slide, even some Motown feel to it.
Q: A cover of “Dirty Diana” is also on the album, which you guys covered in a great way. You’ve covered this song live before, but what made you decide on adding that particular cover to the record as well?
N: Why the hell not. It’s sleazy and feels like us. Also it’s one of those songs that you will either hate our rendition or dig it, but you’ll definitely talk about it.
Q: One of the things that I love about this record is how each song sounds different; it’s not just all modern or southern rock. Which makes me wonder, what kind of music could we find you listening to on a random day?
N: All of it. Metal, blues, Motown, pop, southern rock, outlaw old school country, folk, world, classic rock… All of it.
Q: So now that the record is out, what kind of plans does Shaman’s Harvest have for the rest of 2014 and 2015?
N: We’re touring the States the rest of this year and looking to tour Europe early next year. Looking forward to seeing y’all!
Q: And my last question, do you have any message for your fans over here and our readers?
N: Thanks for giving us a listen. I truly hope it resonates with y’all. Be seeing you real soon.
