Henry Chadwick has been an artist on the rise for the past couple of years, and 2018 saw no sign of the artist slowing down. His phenomenal new release “Marlin Fisher,” grabbed the ears of fans and critics alike with his honest and heartfelt songwriting. We caught up with Chadwick as we head into 2019 as he talks the past, present and his already on-a-roll future.
-Your new record Marlin Fisher is an album that struck me immediately. What went into creating the piece?
Thanks! I’m glad it struck you. A lot went into the creation. It wouldn’t have turned out the way it did without the stellar production of Rob Schnapf and engineering prowess of Brian Rosemeyer. I wrote and demoed a bunch of songs over the course of a year. Rob has produced some of my favorite records, and I had a connection through my manager, Adam, who sent over the demos. Rob liked the demos, and so we made it happen! I played my last tour with the band I used to drum for, The Coffis Brothers, and took a flight the morning after our last show in Denver to LA, where I couch surfed for a month and recorded the album! It was an unforgettable, immersive experience in a comfortable and creative environment. I played most of the instruments myself with the exception of some exceptional bass playing on a couple songs by Jonathan Flaugher and some tasty guitar licks played by Rob. It’s also worth mentioning that we broke new sonic ground with the use of the Meowsic, a cat shaped keyboard/vocal mic that is available for $30 at Target. They had it lying around in there and I sang into it as a joke to double vocals on the song “Something Wrong”. We all liked the sound, so we doubled most of the vocals on the album with it.
-When forming a song, what steps does the band take to create your vision? Typically how long does it take you to build a song from start to finish?
For a lot of the songs I’ll have a demo that I’ll build up by myself and then I’ll take it to the band, who will start by recreating it and then add their unique spin and stamp to it for the live show. Since the songs on the album came together pretty quickly, I sent my band members rough mixes as we were finishing them, and they are hard-working whiz kids who already learned all the songs by the time I got back in town.
– When first creating your music, how did you decide on and form your sound?
I used to write and play in a more pop-punkish band in High School. I liked playing that stuff but it started to feel restrictive or too deliberate and specific. When I was demoing my first batch of songs for myself, I just wanted to turn off that filter and make something different that I felt included more of myself and more of the things I liked. I like a lot of music from a lot of different decades and genres and I liked the idea of a mishmash of everything. Most of the time, the less I think about it the better it turns out.
– When did music profoundly start to have an influence on your life?
As early as I remember really. When I was super young I played with those button books, where you press a button and a sound or song comes out to match with the pages on the book. I loved those things a strange amount, passed the age where I should have. Then I remember going through my parents record collection when I was a kid and getting obsessed with The Beatles and Spike Jones. Weird combo. But I would just listen nonstop and ask questions and it fascinated me endlessly. I moved on to their CD collection and remember listening to Nirvana’s Nevermind for the first time and the Pixies Bossanova. And just obsessively listening nonstop. Nevermind became my lullaby in my disc man most nights. I would take stacks of CDs and sit in my room with my headphones and listen to anything from The Kinks to Beethoven to Beastie Boys etc.. I’d read the liner notes and try to absorb it as much as I could. I started finding music on my own and the obsessiveness continued. I started tinkering with writing songs at a pretty young age and was pretty sure early on that I wanted to make music.
– What sparks your songwriting creativity? Is it more of a storytelling aspect or a personal aspect?
I’ve always had trouble with really literal story songs. I appreciate them, but I always feel like they sound cheesy when I try to write them. I think it could be argued that there are sort of abstract storylines in some of my songs, but I always was drawn to songs that mask it in some cryptic metaphors or just snapshots of situations. I like lyrics that leave things up for interpretation. I tend to want to write when I am in a reflective sort of mood. I don’t know if it’s a happy or sad feeling, but it’s when I start thinking about the big picture of everything. I’ve never been a religious person, so I don’t feel like I have answers to the big questions, which can be overwhelming. I think that’s usually when I start to feel the old creative juices a’flowing.
– With a chain of new singles and videos on tow, how do you plan to close out the year?
I have a few shows in the works and I’ll be doing more touring as the new year rolls around. I’ve been writing and demoing songs and I’m looking forward to digging into those some more as well.
Find Henry Chadwick via http://www.henrychadwick.net/
