Artist: Freedom Hawk

Genre: Stoner/Doom Rock

Label: Small Stone Records

Link: http://www.freedomhawkband.com/

Member:

Matt Cave - Gitarre
Lenny Hines - Drums
T.R. Morton - Gitarre, Vocals
Mark Cave - Bass



Time For Metal / Rene:
Hi Freedom Hawk,

I'm very pleased, that you are interested in taking an interview with us, after "Holding On" received good notes on our website.

After your first record "Freedom Hawk", the Feedback for "Holding On" is also very positive. Does this show to you, that your way of advancing in music was the right choice?

Freedom Hawk / Matt:
We are beside ourselves with the positive and encouraging feedback from the pros, peers, and friends

Freedom Hawk / Mark:
We think so…we feel our song writing as a band has gotten better to us for this new album for sure and we seem to be gelling more as a unit as we have progressed. We took our time too so that may have helped. As in any record some songs come to you as a band right off the bat, some make you pull your hair out.

Freedom Hawk / Lenny:
Yes, it is definitely encouraging to see how well “Holding On” is being received.


Time For Metal / Rene:
The music you're playing does not forgive any failures. So I'm very glad to see that you developed your way of playing Stoner Rock with some Doom-Influences, while the music still sounds very modern and varied. What was your impulse to do this?

Freedom Hawk / Matt:
It comes from our varied and eclectic tastes in music

Freedom Hawk / Mark:
No impulse we just like that style of music coming from the southern sludge/grime/boogy and 70s metal/heavy rock bands but also don’t jam together trying to sound a certain way while also recognizing that we need to jam together and not try to sound like this or that. How do you power up the rather dry Stoner Rock the way you do? T.R’s smoky garage

Freedom Hawk / Lenny:
To be honest, there was no impulse or premeditation to what we wrote for “Holding On”. Our approach for this album was the same approach we had for “Sunlight” and “Freedom Hawk”, which was to create a recording of based on a collection of riffs and ideas.


Time For Metal / Rene:
Good Songwriting is essential in the music business. Would you please tell us, how you're proceeding, when you're writing a new song?

Freedom Hawk / Mark:
We put together songs when someone has brought a riff in during a jam session or on the fly or two of us or one person brings in a 70-90% song then we track on a 16 track with a room mic in our rehearsal space. Do the songs almost write themselves or is it hard work for you? All depends but lately it seems some new stuff not on the record we’ve been jamming lately that are not complete songs yet are coming real easy but so did some of the songs on the new record.

Freedom Hawk / Lenny:
Some songs write themselves and some take a little bit more work. The ones that write themselves come quickly, usually within a few days of jamming. The ones that take more work tend to stay on a 16 track recorder until it is either worked out or used for parts for another song.


Time For Metal / Rene:
How long did it take for your new record from the very beginning to be finished?

Freedom Hawk / Matt:
Riffs can come fairly easily, but songwriting can be an arduous task.

Freedom Hawk / Mark:
Well… tracked the drums, rhythm and bass tracks in August of 2010 and it took till Oct 10 to come out on CD. Vinyl will be complete and available March 27.

Freedom Hawk / Lenny:
We started recording in August 2010 and I think we finished in March 2011. The rhythm tracks were recorded during the first few weekends and the singing and solos were added at various times during the following months.


Time For Metal / Rene:
In your music, the listeners can find anything - from hard riffs up to softer parts. How did it come to this split between those styles, or was it planned even before you went to the studio?

Freedom Hawk / Mark:
It was a year’s worth of writing so it came out that way. When we play it in our rehearsal space it’s one long song.

Freedom Hawk / Lenny:
All four of us have different tastes in music which comes out in the ideas and riffs brought to the table. It could be said that the diversity in our music is a direct reflection of our personalities and how we approach the writing process.

Time For Metal / Rene:
If you want to, could you please tell our readers about the meaning of "Holding On" track-by-track?

Freedom Hawk / T.R.: I usually come up with a vocal pattern by recording onto my 16 track. When I do this a lyric will stick and that will be the theme to work off of and I try to create a story. "Thunderfoot"was written with Marks help. It started as "Thunderfoot" because Lenny does a lot of bass drum work, I think he came up with the name while we were in the song writing phase and it stuck. That song is about a giant indian, in my head it's "Apache Chief" from the Super Friends, who is chasing after me. Why I don't know? "Living for Days" was inspired by the movie "Dragonslayer" and the Steven King book "Eyes of the Dragon". The chorus "living for days eating the dragons heart" was inspired by "Eyes of the Dragon". "Edge of Destiny" is about making big life decisions, that can be scary and timing is everything."Her Addiction" is about a girl who has a serious drug issue and is stuck in a rut. She can't get away from the bad influences in her town so she is destined to fail. "Nomad" is about a sniper that is choosing his next target and of what the man about to be killed is thinking. The message is how fast a bullet can end a life and what could have been. "Magic Lady" was originally written and recorded on an unreleased demo back in 2005. It used to be our closer for live shows. We thought it was good enough to see the light of day. It is about smoking the pot. "Bandito" is about a member of our band we call him Smokey Man or Weedeater, he smokes more than anybody but never has his own shit. His excuse is that he left his at home. If you listen to the song it sounds like the police are trying to get your money, so it can be interrupted whichever way suits you. "Flat Tire" was inspired by my dads last marriage, it got ugly. "North Swell" is also from that early demo. It's about nor'easters' winter storms we get here on the east coast of the U.S. The strong north east winds give us good waves and we get excited about surfing. "Standing in Line" was inspired by my relationship with my wife before we were married, it's kind of a love story. "Faded" I don't really know what it's about I experimented a lot. I think sort of a new age spiritualism that my mom talks about all the time. Also at the time there was a lot crazy shit going down around the world. When I was trying to find a vocal pattern a lot of the lyrics came out and when i listened back to the recording I wrote them down and used them. Last but not least "Indian Summer". The lyrics were written in the middle of the winter and last winter here in Virginia was long, cold, and depressing! It's about daydreaming about warm weather and how that can bring you out of the winter blues.

Time For Metal / Rene: There's one important question left about "Holding On": The cover shows breaking waves and
a lighthouse. What did you have in mind, when you picked this picture as the cover for your record?

Freedom Hawk / Mark:
Alex Von Weiding did the painting and he did a killer job...he’s one of the best. The primary theme came from TR…it has symbols in the art that relate to each song (storm, surf, lady, lighthouse, sea monster, dragon, etc.)…and a surprise on the inside cover to Alex’s credit. The lyrics are on the inside cover too so that will give you some hints to the theme of the album and corresponding symbolism in the artwork. The lyrics were given to Alex in advance so maybe that helped him as well.

T.R. Mortons vocals are often compared with Ozzy Osbourne. What does this comparison mean to you? Does it make you smile sometimes or is it just annoying? It’s a great compliment…but it’s his natural voice. We never identified with the John Osbourne comparison until the critics made the comparison. It becomes repetitive.. It is what every critic compares us to..we’re surprised no one has compared him to the Nudge… maybe next album.

Time For Metal / Rene:
Since it's a long way from USA to Europe, what does the feedback from Europe mean to you? It means a hell of a lot. Do you make any differences between the press in the USA and from other countries?

[color=#00FF00]Freedom Hawk / Mark:
Well it seems we are getting a wider response from Europe right now and it’s killer

Freedom Hawk / Lenny:
Receiving positive feedback and having fans that enjoy our music is a great thing, no matter what part of the world they are in.

Time For Metal / Rene:
On your homepage are no tour dates visible for the next time. Will there be some gigs for your new album and if so: will there be gigs in Europe?

[color=#00FF00]Freedom Hawk / Mark:
We have some now but none in Europe at this time. There will be gigs in Europe if we have an agency to help us.

Freedom Hawk / Lenny:
There will be, and have already been, shows to support the new records. For the most part, our touring has been limited to the East Coast of the U.S. You can never tell what the future might bring, so some European dates could be in our future.


Time For Metal / Rene:
Every musician has idols. So which artist(s) is(/are) your idol(s)? Which artists inspire you and why?

Freedom Hawk / Lenny:
John Bonham – Pounding the drums
Neal Peart – Technical skills
JP Gaster – Finesse
Keith Moon - Showmanship

Freedom Hawk / Matt:
Hendrix-bad ass chops, beautiful songwriting, and studio pioneer Page, Blackmore, Michael Schencker, Clapton, Beck, Iommi, Di Meola, Steve Morse, Marty Friedman, Vai, Satriani, etc., etc., etc.

Time For Metal / Rene:
Would you tell our readers about the most positive and the most negative experience in your career?

Freedom Hawk / Mark:Most positive would be releasing our new album and releasing it on Smallstone. Supposedly you're not able to finance your live with the incomings of the band. How does your everyday life looks like and how significant is the music to it?

Freedom Hawk / Matt:Time not playing music, guitar, is wasted time.

Freedom Hawk / Mark:
We all have day jobs and families so we have to work every day so playing music is a release on life’s pressures and also a really enjoyable outlet.


Time For Metal / Rene:
At last I want to give you the chance, to tell our readers whatever you want. Thank you for the interview and best of luck for your future plans.

Freedom Hawk / Matt:
Thanks Mom, Dad, Danielle, Stimpy-Indian Summer, family, friends and especially Freedom Hawkers world-wide

Freedom Hawk / Mark:
Thanks for reading…and listening everyone. We appreciate the interview too…luck is
what we need.

Freedom Hawk / Lenny:
To our fans: Thank you! We appreciate your support and hopefully we can make a
European tour happen real soon.