In this blog, I got to sit down with one half of the dual vocalists, Nate Hall, and talk to him about the new album, his influences, the band's origins and learning to find balance in a busy life.
MB: So, this year we had the release of your third album Small Fires, which I completely fell in love with. So, what was the thought process going into this one after Mercy?
NH: Well, we had the time to just write and focus on the songs. So, you know, we spent a whole lot of time. We were putting these songs together and picking them apart and putting them back together, and, you know, we just had a whole lot of time on our hands at that point. So, you know, we tried to use it as much as we could and make the songs the best that we could and only do stuff in service to the song, you know?
MB: Did the COVID lockdowns affect the production of the record at all?
NH: I mean, yeah, that's when we were writing it. As I said, we had nothing but time at that point. So, we just constantly worked on it. We spent a lot of hours in the shed just writing these songs and changing them. I mean, there are different versions of some of these songs that are wildly different than what it ended up to be, you know.
MB: Were they in different styles? Did some things become more electric or did some things get tempered down? What kind of changes were we looking for?
NH: A little bit of everything, if I’m honest. Like, some songs were dialled back a little bit and some songs were pushed forward more. There are a lot of different sonic treatments that we put on the songs. So, I mean, we just wanted it to feel complete. We just wanted to be prepared when we went into the studio this time because there have been times in the past when we were kind of, like, half-assed, we weren’t all the way there before we went in. So, we wanted to make sure that we were all on the same page.
MB: Awesome. Do you have any particular lessons that you took from working on the previous albums that you took onto this one?
NH: I mean, I think it's an ever-evolving thing. Every time you go into a studio and record something, I think you have to learn. So, you know, and we'll bring that into the next recording, as we're doing it, then and there. Yeah, I think it's always a process. I think every time you're in a studio, you go away with something. You definitely learn what not to do, or maybe something cool to do, usually.
MB: I liked the song “The Flood”, I was wondering how did the horn section come in for this song? Where did the idea for that come from?
NH: So, it started with a local jam band that we were buddies with. We got to talking with the sax player Casey Cranford. We just felt like “The Flood” needed something. It kind of had that feel. We talked to Casey and another buddy, Eli Frybush. The first thing we did was lay down the sax part on there and then we were like, oh, well, this needs more. This needs a whole horn section. So then Dee (David Self, guitarist) had some guys that he went to school with, he hit them up, and they came up and they laid down the trumpet and the trombone on there too. So it kind of rounded out the whole horn section for us. Yeah, it worked out kind of well.
MB: It’s got a very New Orleans sort of vibe to that song. So, I've been listening to your discography. When I found the Small Fires, I immediately went back and listened to the first two albums. The first (self-titled) album is just so different from what you became on Mercy and Small Fires. Where exactly did that change come from? I would classify the first album as country or folk.
NH: Right, yeah. So the first record is me, Dee and Larry (Larry Wayne Slaton guitar/vocals). We wrote it on acoustic guitars. Those songs never had a full band until we went to the studio. Those songs were all written, by us three, just acoustic guitars. That was it. Then we kind of built those songs into what they became in the studio.
Our buddy Jack Foster was on drums on the first record. (He plays with Sarah Shook and the Disarmers now). He's one of the best drummers I've ever played with, just because he can play to anything in any way well. Jordan Powers helped produce and record the first record. He also played bass on it. So we kind of built it up like that. We formed the songs in the studio as a full band.
Then after the first record, we started playing with a full band. So I think just playing with a drummer and a bass player, a solid rhythm section, and then us all getting electric guitars, it just naturally became louder and became more rock and roll.
That's where me and Larry come from. We grew up playing in punk bands together. That was our thing, that's what we did for years and years. It just kind of evolved into what it is now.
MB: Punk is very far distant from what I would describe Old Heavy Hands now.
NH: Oh, absolutely but it still has that rough around the edges sound. It has that old rock edge to it.
MB: So how would you describe your evolution as a guitarist? Where did you start as a guitar player? Did you start as a guitar player in punk? Or were you a bassist or singer?
NH: Well, I started playing guitar when I was young. My grandfather played honky-tonk, Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson. I grew up in the country world, you know, in that folk world. As I got older and came into my teens, I was like, “oh man, I don't want to play country music. That shit's lame”. So I started playing in all my buddies' bands. In punk bands. I started playing guitar, but everybody played guitar. So I was like, well, I'm going to be in a band, I'm just going to play bass!
So I played bass for years and years. Then once I stopped playing in bands for a while, I just didn't want to play bass anymore. Especially writing those types of songs. it's not fun for me playing bass and singing it. You know what I mean? I can't keep in time very well to sing it. So yeah, I just started playing guitar again, and I'm not the best guitar player, but I try to stick in there.
MB: Yeah, that's fair. I think the old joke is "the shit guitar player ends up being the bassist".
NH: Yeah, right, right. That was me.
MB: Do you remember any of some of the first songs you picked up and started playing on the guitar?
NH: Oh, man, the very first song that I learned how to play was “Blue Suede Shoes”. Then after that, it was “Walk The Line" by Johnny Cash. Then “On the Road Again” by Willie Nelson. Yep, those are the first three songs I learned how to play.
MB: I feel like this album, Small Fires, is such a creative sound mixture of genres all playing in one go. Is everybody in the band influenced by something else, or do you all come from very similar musical backgrounds?
NH: I mean, we are all influenced by different stuff. It all comes through, especially on Small Fires, I think. At the same time, me, Larry and Dee all work together in a tattoo shop, and we listen to music all day long. You know what I mean? So we're constantly, I guess we're all on the same page, just because we do have very similar influences and that all comes through. Then Josh Ko, our bass player, is more of a kind of classic rock bass player but he can do anything. Then Chez (John Chester, drums), he's a rock and roll dude, thick and thin.
So most definitely everyone has their influences that we kind of bring to the table. I feel like at the core of it, me, Larry and Dee have very similar influences. At the same time, it's very broad. I don't just listen to one type of music, I listen to everything. I think good songs transcend styles. I don't think it matters. If it's a great song, you can do it any way you want to and it's going to be a great song no matter what. That's kind of the way we approach things. I'm really loose with it. I don't have a dead set on this. Like, how this song is going to be in the end. It's more as case of, let's just play it and let's just feel it out. When the feeling's right, we know we struck gold.
MB: Yeah, I definitely feel that, because the album goes from “All The Time In The World” to “Coming Down” and the shift in style, it's almost like musical whiplash.
NH: Right! But it works all the same.
MB: It's one of the reasons this record has been in my rotation consistently this year. Just speaking for yourself then, who are your influences? Who do you look up to the most in terms of music?
NH: Oh, man. Gosh, it kind of ebbs and flows. I mean, it always changes, because there will be a time when I'm just nonstop listening to the Stax catalogue. Then I'll go and I'll listen to early Hot Water Music for months nonstop. It's hard to pinpoint one anything exactly, because it's pretty broad, man. I mean, I'm influenced by a lot of things. I love The Boss, man. Bruce Springsteen is one of my favourites of all time. He's rock and roll soul to the core. He can do anything. I'm into it. My playlists are nuts.
MB: Let's broaden it out then. If you could say, let's do five or six artists who you could just rattle off, and you would just listen to them. It doesn't matter what time of day. You could just play their music. Who would they be?
NH: Okay. All right… Bruce Springsteen, Willie Nelson, Sam Cook, Parliament Funkadelic. Gosh, let me see. Maybe I'll go back to country music, we'll just say Johnny Paycheck.
MB: That works for me. It's just trying to nail it down, but I like it!
NH: Yeah, I mean, it's something.
MB: So, in terms of the singles that have come out for Small Fires, you've put out a few music videos. Which of the music videos do you think is your favourite in terms of the finished product that you were just happiest to put out there?
NH: Man, I feel like the “Coming Down” video was a lot of fun to make. We did that in my garage. I had a buddy bring his old Cadillac over, and then we just set it all up and just had a good time.
Man, they were all fun to make. It's all weird to me, just because I'm not used to being in front of a camera like that, so it's a little odd, but once we get in there and we start hanging out and bullshitting, it's fun. They're all fun to make. I've enjoyed every one of them.
I would say probably "All the Time in the World" was the most fun. Because it's just us hanging out, and Larry kind of directed us all, so it was pretty awesome. I didn't know Larry was such a good director. He had a vision and he knew exactly how he wanted it to be, and that's good because I don't have a vision for videos. It's not how I do things. I'm kind of dead in the water when it comes to that, so it was good that he had a vision. He was good at directing us and I think it came out awesome. It was a lot of fun to make.
MB: I think my favourite song on the album is probably “Between You and Me”. It hit me hard in terms of the lyrics. Could you shed some light on some of the inspiration for the lyrics? Because it's clearly a personal song for the band.
NH: Yeah, so Larry wrote that song and he just lost his grandfather. His grandfather, Ray, was a big influence. I knew him and he was a great man. That was a big loss for Larry. That song came from a big place, a lot of years, a lot of time. Man, it couldn't have come across any better. I don't think there's any way to make that song any better than what it is. It's a heavy one, dude. It's a great song and Larry really put it out on the line on that one.
MB: In terms of the deep cut of the album, “Scoreboard Lights” is probably up there for me as a good one. It's such an interesting record as a whole. I don't want to put you on the spot, but if you had one song off that record that's your go-to for listening to it, what's your choice?
NH: The good thing about being in a band with two different people who sing is I can listen to it. It's weird for me to listen to my stuff after it's made. My wife listens to it and I hear it pretty often. However, I’m with you “Between You and Me”, that's mine too. It's the jam. That's one of my favourites to listen to and it's one of my favourite songs to play. That's my number one, yeah.
MB: This is just my last question. What is the hardest thing, professionally or personally, you've had to overcome and how did you overcome it?
NH: Oh, man! I have to say, finding balance and I still haven't overcome it yet.
So I guess balance, to me, is just balancing everything. Like balancing work, music, and my home life. I have a very big family. I have four kids. I have almost five grandchildren now. So my kids have families very young. So I try to be present here when I'm at home. I try to be present with everything. When you're pulled into so many different directions at the same time, it's very difficult to balance that. Then when you can't balance, things suffer. Whether it be professional, personal, home, music, art, whatever.
So for me, the hardest thing, and this is a constant struggle, it's never-ending for me. I haven't figured it out, but I sure as hell try. The balance to where you're happy and everything's happy and not giving something or taking away what you're giving, whether it be your family or art, it's hard to focus on it all. I've worked hard to try to maintain that balance of things because I want to be able to give it all when I can, I don't want to give 20%. I want to give 100% all the time.
For me, I think the hardest thing is balancing life. That goes with anything.
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Great interview Mick! 😄
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