Interview des Soft Hearted Scientists
Warning: Use of undefined constant - assumed ' ' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /home/clients/0f8bcf4e9ea7de3ac6519c0679a4fb84/web/dossier.php on line 76
Introduction
Warning: Use of undefined constant - assumed ' ' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /home/clients/0f8bcf4e9ea7de3ac6519c0679a4fb84/web/dossier.php on line 76
- English version
- Version française
English version
AlbumRock : You sing, play guitar, keyboards and percussion for the band. Could you tell us when you started learning an instrument and what gave you the will to be a singer/musician ?
Nathan Hall : I started playing guitar when I was 19. I only became a songwriter much later and then took an interest in very detailed arrangements involving keyboards, synths and sound effects.
AR : Who are your main influences ?
NH : The Byrds, The Incredible String Band, the first 2 Pink Floyd albums and the first 2 Super Furry Animals albums as well as early Gorkys Zygotic Mynci. The Beatles goes without saying as their chord sequences in songs from 1963 to 1966 especially are astonishing and I'm now obsessed with middle 8s because of them.
AR : What was your motivation for launching a solo career in 2017 ? What are the main differences between Soft Hearted Scientists and Nathan Hall & The Sinister Locals ?
NH : Just bad stuff happening in my life that made being in a band difficult. Sinister Locals is maybe more quirky and odd than SHS. But now I'm obsessed with real drums and hi fi studio production and having our genius producer to do huge amounts of editing and experimentation so the focus is the next SHS album.
AR : At first, it seemed that your plan was to continue releasing SHS albums while you were starting this solo career. It actually ended up as a 6 year gap without a new SHS album. What delayed the work with SHS so much ?
NH : Real life challenges and then the pandemic meant Waltz of the weekend was started in 2019 but not finished until 2023. Sinister locals stuff is mainly recorded at home so even the pandemic had no effect.
AR : Is music your main occupation ? Since you've started The Sinister Locals, you've released a new album every year, how do you manage to keep up with such a pace ?
NH : I had to leave my job in 2021 to care for my mother and making music kept me sane. I write things most days and put them on my phone. 2 days off and I feel weird! I have no time to waste. I can't think of anything more valuable I could very doing.
AR : You have 2 drummers on this album. How did this comme about ?
NH : Frank the producer is a polymath and great powerful precise drummer. Spencer played on the first 2 albums and has the Ringo/Keith Moon enthusiasm so I asked them both to play on the album on the tracks I thought suited their style.
AR : Your music sounds very 60s influenced. Do you consciously aim for such a sound ? Do you also feel inspired by artists/bands from other decades ?
NH : We aren't a retro band but most of the music I love comes from 1964 to 1968. But I love Kraftwerk, the Sex Pistols, early Super Furry Animals and early Gorkys, Air, the Beta band, the Strokes, some White Stripes and even some Wet Leg! And loads of 1940s music too. If it's good it's good.
AR : There are many new ingredients on this album : electric guitar solos, classical guitar solos, orchestral arrangements ("Gadzooks!"), trippy ambient dub endings. Could you tell us who all these new ideas came about ?
NH : A lot off arranging is done at home on Reaper, but I took full advantage of Frank's studio, playing skills, editting skills and as we mixed the album new ideas kept coming such as the ridiculous over the top "Gadzooks!" arrangement. I asked Frank to turn it into a psychedelic Jame's bond theme at the end so he did a string arrangement. We also transplanted in new middle sections at the mixing stage on several songs. I also asked him to turn "The Things We Make" into a dub at the end and he did it right there in front of me.
AR : Could you explain why "Gadzooks!" is both an interlude in "Rode My Bike" and a song on its own ?
NH : The band told me rode my bike needed a middle 8 so i wrote one and we inserted that and it was too good to just leave it as a short middle 8. I could hear it becoming something much bigger. And it did. And I wanted 12 tracks on the album not 11!
