Catching a Wave with HORSEHEAD

– You have an upcoming record, congrats!…what was the driving inspiration behind the release?

Thank you very much! We’re really proud of how it turned out. As with all our previous releases, the songs at the very least start with some small piece of real life. For example, the title track for this record started out loosely based on my parents’ relationship of nearly 50 years, but it turned out to really be about two childhood sweethearts growing old together and all the major milestones that go along with that. The rest of the record came from similar life events, big or small, from us or people who are close to the band.

–When forming a song, what steps do you take to create your vision? Typically, how long does it take you to build a song from start to finish?

I don’t have any real defined way of creating a song that I’ve been able to recreate. I can say for sure, however, that the songs on this record were written fairly quickly. Most of the songs on Pageant Wave took about 30 mins to an hour each to write. I tend to not really care as much for the songs I’ve written that I’ve had to labor over. This record also marks the first time that Kevin (Inge) brought in a song (Come To Me) that he’d mostly written the lyrics for and it’s ended up being one of my favorites of the new batch. And I think, in the same way, that song came fairly quickly to him.

– When first creating your music, how did you decide on and form your sound?

When we formed Horsehead, I was in the studio with Kevin making what I thought was going to be a solo record. While working on those initial sessions, it felt too much like a band to call it anything else. We came from a band that toured hard playing more raucous, MC5 and Stooges type of music and as that band began to splinter I was absorbing more Byrds, Burrito Brothers, Stones, Tom Petty and George Jones. As with most songwriters, what I was absorbing began to sift out and the music started to take on a bit of different slant and has just organically changed as we’ve changed some members over the years and learned to function as more of unit, I think, than ever before.

– When did music profoundly start to have an influence on your life?

I honestly can’t remember a time when music didn’t profoundly influence my life, but I can remember a few major points that galvanized my love. With my father being a Baptist preacher, I began singing solo in church on Sunday mornings when I was 3 years old and getting positive feedback does wonders for a young ego. At around 12, I remember walking into my older brother’s bedroom and seeing him swaying from knocking out a few airplane bottles of liquor to the sound of The Doors first record. I’ve always looked up to my older brother; at 12, I thought he was the coolest person I’d ever seen. At 20, I toured the US with my first, real traveling band and I learned so much from the guys I was in a band with. I also learned I’d never want to do anything else.

– What sparks your songwriting creativity? Is it more of a storytelling aspect or a personal aspect?

I can never tell where the spark will come from. I’ve written a song inspired by a painting by Andrew Wyeth and I’ve written a song about Bebe Neuwirth’s stalker. I try to take the spark whenever and from wherever it comes. So, I would say it’s a bit of both.

– With a new release in tow, what other surprises do we have before the end of the year?

I can’t say that we have any big surprises in store to close out the year. I had major heart surgery (replacement of my ascending aorta, aortic valve and pulmonary valve) in the middle of making this record and am just getting back into the swing of playing again. In fact, I just started standing up for the entirety of rehearsals. Next year, our hopes are simply for as many folks to hear the record as possible and hopefully hit a few festivals in the Summer. Thank you for helping us spread the word on this record!