Amazing interview with Howling Tongues…. discover their new album with us!
RYL: You just played at NASCAR, how was it? Excited before taking the stage?
HOWLING TONGUES: It was a cool experience to be able to play for all the NASCAR fans.
They seemed to really like rock’n’roll music and the show that we put on.
RYL: Your self-titled album has just been released and is a huge success, critically, but also, and especially, from the public. Lyrically speaking, what did you want to communicate with it?
HOWLING TONGUES: We just wanted it to be something that the listener could put on their record player and connect with lyrically and musically.
Their first impression is the most important and we feel a lot of people listen to what’s being said the first time they listen to a new band or album.
After that initial listen, they sorta hear the musical intricacies that we slip in here and there.
RYL: “Gotta Be a Man” is a great song and rapidly becoming a fan favorite. Please tell me what you remember about writing it.
HOWLING TONGUES: Musically it came pretty quick, as most of our songs tend to start out with a big musical idea and we normally work it out in our rehearsal space.
Lyrically, we think it speaks for itself.
RYL: How was recording this new album? You did it in Nashville, correct?
HOWLING TONGUES: We did it in Nashville at Sound Emporium. It was a great experience for the band, we learned a lot about recording, engineering, producing, and writing.
Working with Stan Lynch and Billy Chapin was amazing because they’re great teachers when it comes to all of that. We did the album completely to tape, so no computers and no one in the band had ever done that before except for Stan and Billy.
We really wanted to do it all analog cause a lot of our favorite albums were done to tape. I think Stan and Billy might’ve been skeptical about us recording 10 songs mostly live in 8 days, especially with all the technology available out there today. We recorded it to 2” tape and mixed it down to ¼” tape in 13 days total.
We will always do our records to tape from now on, it just works with our workflow and sound that we’re trying to go for. We’re confident that we can make just about any sound in our head by using instruments, analog outboard gear, and studio tricks.
RYL: Our favorite song off the album is “Strange Way to Say Goodbye”. What it does represent for you?
HOWLING TONGUES: It tells a story about someone who can’t let this girl go when she’s already gone. This song is definitely emotional and we really played to the dynamics with the more down verses and the loud hitting choruses… The whisper to the thunder.
We love writing dynamic songs like this.
RYL: Which verse of any rock song do you like the most? Your “all-time“ favorite.
Thomas: “If everybody’s grateful, how come nobody’s satisfied.” – ‘Words’ by Ryan Adams
Taylor – “When I’m sad, she comes to me with a thousand smiles” – ‘Little Wing’ by Jimi Hendrix
Tylor James – “I’m so unsatisfied” – ‘Unsatisfied’ by The Replacements
Nick – “If the sun refused to shine, I would still be loving you. When mountains crumble to the sea, there will still be you and me.” – ‘Thank You’ by Led Zeppelin
Brandon – “I ain’t never been to Vegas but I gambled up my life. Building newsprint boats I race to sewer mains. Was trying to find me something but I wasn’t sure just what. Funny how they say that some things never change.”
– ‘Oh My Sweet Carolina’ by Ryan Adams
RYL: Tell us everything about “Fade Away”.
HOWLING TONGUES: On that song, Taylor kind of talk-sings the verses, which was inspired by a Jimi Hendrix/Tom Petty type of verse. The lyrics get trippy and we love playing the bridge section of that song live.
That piano riff in the bridge is insane, Thomas played that on a grand piano and the keys wouldn’t snap back fast enough.
Not many people can pull that off at that speed with that much of a stretch.
RYL: When you wrote your most recent song, what was it about?
HOWLING TONGUES: We’ve been writing and recording demos for the next album and already have a good bit of songs finished.
The most recent one is about a woman that is knowingly doing things for others’ approval that are killing her on the inside, but she continues to do it regardless. We’ve been working on the next album quite a bit and hope to get into the studio to record final tracks very soon.
RYL: Tell us about your summer touring plans.
HOWLING TONGUES: We’ve been lucky enough to get the opportunity to play some great festivals this summer and we’re continuing to tour around the Southeast.
If you go to our website you can see our schedule and hopefully we’ll be playing all over the US by the end of the year.
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