Side Stage Magazine: I read one of your interviews where you mentioned that Chassit is a continuation of your previous release. Is this a concept record with a continued storyline?
High Priestess Nighthawk: Not lyrically or somatically really, but musically, kind of. The first album we ended with the cello outro in E minor. Then we started this record with a cello intro in E minor. Then we go right into the first track. The first song is … I’m trying to explain and also be distinct. The first song is … Oh, God. I probably wrote it like seven years ago and in the first album, I borrowed a riff from that first song. Also, in the second track on the new album, there’s a turnaround from one of the songs on the first album. If you listen carefully … I’m sure that all eventually try to point them out specifically and have time markers, but if you listen to both of the albums, you can kind of hear some similarities. They’re, literally, like 30 seconds or maybe 1 minute, but they’re in there. They’re like little Easter eggs.
Now I know what to look for… What was the inspiration for this record?
Gosh. I guess I started reading The Dark Tower a long time ago. It’s seven books. It’s a shitload of pages, pardon my French, and it was like I had blasted through the first three books and then took a break and then a couple of years later, I started reading them again and there are just these sort of these weird things that I was noticing. There are some strange parallels sort of between what was going on in the book and what was happening in my own life. Not anything that’s ever happened to me is even remotely close to anything that Stephen King has ever written about, but I started seeing certain things, certain numbers, and started hearing songs on the radio all the time. I was just like, “Okay, well, maybe I should write a record about this book or series of books,” and so that’s why the album name was Chassit. It’s sort of repeated word, throughout the series.
I did want to make it longer… It’s supposed to be seven songs for seven books kind of thing and then we got held up in mixing and mastering, so it’s just the four. If I can … I don’t know if it’s good to admit that I wish we had done more, but I’m happy with how it turned out. Each of the songs is named for something in the books and the last song is I think Stephen King, probably a King Crimson fan. There’s a character in the book called, well, the Crimson King, so the last track is an homage to both King Crimson and Stephen King.
Was there any material that wasn’t didn’t make it onto the record that may be released as bonus material?
Certainly some things on the back-burner. I had sort of three other songs in mind and then I also had a secret track in mind for the book that comes after the seven books because I’m such a nerd right now. I think that stuff, we’ll probably use. Then I don’t know if it will be the same somatically. I might change a few words around, so it doesn’t have anything to do with Stephen King, but there’s plenty more material where that came from, so we’ll definitely be using some of it on the next record.
Is this something the band is into, incorporating horror and fantasy genres into music?
I think for this record, it is that way because … I mean it’s Stephen King so it’s hard to get around the horror element there. I wouldn’t say that we’re particularly into… I think there are a lot of bands who do it really well. They write records about Lovecraft and we never really set out to be spooky. If we are, it’s just a fortune of byproduct. I mean the first album was definitely more ethereal and atmospheric. I think this new album is a bit angrier, but like I said, we never really set out to record anything with horror genres in mind.
How was the recording process like this time around?
Well, the previous record was a different line up and that took longer. Not necessarily having to do the quality of musicians that I was playing with. This record, we cut it in one day. We hadn’t practiced in about two weeks and it was like a scheduling conflict after scheduling conflict and so we had this recording date set up and we’re like, “Alright. Well, I guess we’re just going to do it.” It was hot. It was so freaking hot. It was probably July and so we were recording in a friend’s studio. When he’s recording, he has to pull the bay door down. It’s like 100 degrees and we’re doing multiple phase of these songs, but we managed to get everything done and record it in about eight hours. Then I came in and did some overdubs and vocals and stuff. This was easy and then it got held up for almost a year and mixing and mastering for a number of reasons. Next time, I think we are going to record in my house with our setup. Yeah, next time. Also don’t think that we found someone to record us to portray our sound accurately. Does that make sense?
Not that I think either of these records have sounded bad and I don’t think that they did a bad job or that we played poorly, but I’m very much looking forward to finding that person who really knows how to capture us on … Well, not tape, digitally anyway.
Yes it makes sense. My friends who are musicians they have said somewhat of the same thing. They know what their sound is, they know what they’re looking for, but when they’re in the studio they’re really critical. It’s always, “ This wasn’t what we were going for and it doesn’t capture the essence of the band.” So they just end up doing it on their own.
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. It’s so much different. Also, we recorded a year ago so all of these songs sound so much better now because we’ve been playing them for a really long time and we’ve been able to kind of flush them out and the guitar sounds better, the bass is tighter, the drums are tighter. I mean the drummer and I have been playing together … We were two-piece for a while, so we really got the chance to get the rhythm section tight and then the guitar just opens like a whole other world, but it’s always a struggle between “How do I put out of …” I hate saying product but that’s what it is. “How do I put out a product that is like an accurate reflection of what people are going to see or hear when they come to a show?” You don’t want people to buy the record and be like “Waa!” Then they come and see you and then they’re like, “Oh, this is awesome. Why wait so long?” It’s the internal struggle, I guess.
Did having a lineup change did affect the recordings or the songwriting?
I’m the primary songwriter so I would say as far as songwriting goes, no, but definitely the way that they were interpreted. Well, if we’re talking strictly recordings, the first record was just supposed to be a demo that we were going to put out ourselves. We weren’t really ready for anyone to be like, “Hey, can we put this out for you?” We’re like, “Oh, yeah. Totally,” but this was a bit more of a concentrated effort. Then sadly, our guitarist was leaving to go be an astrophysicist
Wow.
Yeah. I mean we told him if anybody’s going to be on Mars, it should be him and we mean that in a nicest way possible, of course.
We’ll have yet again another guitarist and the sound will change a little bit, but I’m looking forward to having a bit more of a collaborative input as far as the songwriting process goes because it’s like I wrote all the songs and then I found people to play them and then I wrote all the songs and then I found people to play them. It’ll be nice to have some input from everybody.
I was curious if being the principle songwriter if it can get frustrating?
I mean you definitely don’t want to recycle your own riffs too many times. I did on this record and that was intentional, but you don’t want to.The goal is always to keep moving forward. You never want to plateau. It can be frustrating, but I think the longer we play together and the longer we learn how we want to write music together, it’ll just get better.
Which song on the record was the hardest to write and which one of those songs is your favorite?
Oh, man. I don’t know that any of them were really hard to write. I would say the last track in the chord of the Bastard King just because of the slight freak out at the end. There were a lot of toms so I think it was just making sure that … I’m trying to figure out how to word it. Like making sure that the drums on that track were kind of sharp because we really … It’s a great drum part and so that’s like the busiest part of the record, I think. Recording-wise, I think that was probably the most challenging. I don’t know. I can’t really say which one is my favorite. I guess I just sort of look at them as all one song with a couple of seconds of silence in between. Really, I like them all if I got to be honest. My favorite one to play is probably Earth and Machine, though.
Why?
It’s the first track … Well, it’s the first song that we play in our lives and the four opening notes are just so attention-grabbing, that it’s just … You go, you play a show, and you get in there, you set up, and maybe you’re playing a show where people have never seen you before, and you always have that like, “Oh,” everybody is moving around, talking, or whatever, and then we start playing and you look up and there’s more people. Then the next time you look up, there’s more people and then there’s more people. Everybody really seems to like that song first too. It’s very selfishly, I guess, it’s just kind of awesome because you’re like, “Yeah, I’m going to play this note” and everybody is going to come in here and they’re going to be like, “What’s going on?” I hate sounding like self-serving but it is a very good feeling when you get the impression that you’re doing something right, so that’s the kicker.
Are there any touring plans? Do you guys have shows coming up?
We do. I think we’re going to announce on Monday. We’re going on tour with Pilgrim for I think about 10 days in March and that will be all up on the east coast. We have a show with Windhand on that tour in Richmond. Then we’re also playing two really awesome festivals this year, but neither of them have been announced. I don’t know if I’m stepping on anybody’s toes but we will be playing Psycho Vegas this year.
Any shows in New York City
Yeah. We just got asked to play with King Woman at Saint Vitus.
I was thinking, actually, when I was listening to your music earlier that the sound that you guys have, that will be perfect for that venue.
Oh, yeah. We played The Obelisk All-Dayer up there at Saint Vitus and that’s the first time. I’ve been before, but this is the first time playing. There’s something about it. It’s like kind of one of those things. It’s just like, as a band, you’re like, “Man, I really want to play in Vitus.”
That venue is awesome and if I were a musician I would want to be there too. There is something about maybe it’s the dim lighting or the kind of crows it attracts, But I think that venue is perfect for those who want to check out new bands especially in the stoner and doom genres.
We were fortunate enough to have a protectionist with us. He’s in like Indonesia now, I think. We have people all over the place, but yeah, I’m very much looking forward to coming back and it’s a great show to be on. Also, the label that our tape is coming out on Tridroid, the owner Christine Kelly, She’s up in Brooklyn as well so we have her, our Brooklyn fam up that way.
By the way how old were you when you started playing?
I think I started playing the piano when I was seven maybe and then I played the cello for a long time. I was classically trained and then I was just like, “Man, I need to be amplified.” I bought a bass and played in a couple of bands. I tried to start a band before Heavy Temple and Heavy Temple is like the phoenix rising from the ashes of the previous band. I’ve been playing music for a really long time, but I think Heavy Temple … Trying to get a functional band together has probably been about a decade in the making.
If you don’t mind me asking, when you’re classically trained, you’re, obviously, playing a certain way, but when you’re playing rock, there’s really no formulas to stick to. Is it easy to switch. Playing more freely if that makes any sense?
No, it makes sense. I definitely think that being classically trained has helped my, I guess, my mastery as far as other instruments are concerned. Not to say that I’m a master at the bass but … I mean when you look at certain kinds of metal, there’s classical music all over the place. Tchaikovsky was super brutal, so is Beethoven, so I can only speak for myself, but I think that having the classical background definitely helped me. I’m trying to figure out how to word it. It broadens your horizons, especially when I have friends with kids and they’re like, “Oh, I want to get my kids into music and stuff.” I always personally recommend that everyone starts out on keys because then you can read both, you can use both hands, the things that happen in your brain while you’re reading music and playing piano, I can’t even really begin to understand, but it helps.
Like I said, there’s a lot of really awesome classical music out there and getting into like more technical black metal and stuff, you can definitely hear some of it in there. It translates, but it’s nice to not have to read someone else’s music and just to be able to write your own notes, but it’s nice to just be able to play whatever you want and draw from your experience and history playing other people’s stuff. The same thing goes for filling in on bass or guitar or drums for other people’s bands. You start to just pick up these … You pick up little things that are outside of your own box, so it just makes you a better musician, I think.
Well thank you for your time all the best to you and the band and I will keep an eye out for your show in March at Saint Vitus.
Thank you. Just find us on the internet somewhere and keep us posted and we’ll keep you posted.
