Heel - Sound In The Signals Interview
I recently had the chance to interview Heel. Check out the full interview after the jump.
For anyone not familiar with your band can you tell me how you got started and what got you into music?
Maggie: I met Dan about 3 years ago. He had been putting together a band for a little while and had an ad online looking for a female singer.
Dan: Yeah, I met Yuta (Bassist) shortly before and once we met Maggie the whole thing started coming together. The three of us all had the same energy and totally gelled from day 1. We started writing songs and the rest just all seemed to fall into place.
Your new EP Stranger Just The Same came out not too long ago. What went into the recording process of it and how long did you work on it for?
Dan: We had a load of material written and toured before we started so we spent a couple of days discussing which songs we wanted to record.
Maggie: We were in the studio for 10 days, then we spent a couple of months going over the mixes with Justin Hill (producer) to make sure everything was as good as we could get it.
The EP has been out now for a little over a month. How do you think the response has been so far and what songs do you think people are initially the most excited about?
Maggie: It's been amazing! We kinda just threw it out there and hoped for the best and we were blown away by how many outlets picked it up and all the awesome reviews. We love those songs and are really proud of them but it adds another level of awesome when everyone out there feels the same way.
You toured a lot leading up to this new release. What about the band has changed since that touring in terms of yourself as musicians as well as the audience you've been building?
Dan: It's really important for us to get out on the road and play to new crowds. We want our music to be heard by as many people as possible so going out on the road is where all the hard work pays off. We just got back from our UK tour and all we've done since is talk about when we're gonna do it again.
Maggie: Yeah we really love everything about touring. It makes you better as a band and reinforces all the belief you have in what you're doing.
You released a video for the lead single "Stranger". what was the video shoot process like for the video and why did you pick "Stranger" as the lead single?
Maggie: We went with 'Stranger' cos we wanted something that hits you with energy immediately for the first track. People can have short attention spans for new music so we wanted something that would announce what we're about and grab people from the off!
Dan: It's a really concise track that shows a lot of the things we love to do musically.
Maggie: We shot the video over 5 very long but incredibly worth-it days. Us and the director Mikee Goodman probably got about 10 hours sleep in all that time.
Dan: It was a really ambitious shoot done over about 5 main locations that were all miles and miles apart. We love every bit of it though, Mikee's a ridiculous talent.
Maggie: Yeah we just released our new video 'Gone' where we worked with him again. Everyone should go check it out, it's a bit special ;)
What do you have coming up for the remainder of 2014?
Dan: We started writing new material as soon as we got off tour. We're hoping to start work on our debut album before the year is out.
Maggie: Plus we're going on tour in Japan again and should be confirming those dates very soon. Should be an huge end to a great year for us!
I guess that about wraps it up. Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions. Do you have anything else you would like to add?
Dan: Just want to say a huge thanks to you guys and everyone out there who's supported us so far!
For anyone not familiar with your band can you tell me how you got started and what got you into music?
Maggie: I met Dan about 3 years ago. He had been putting together a band for a little while and had an ad online looking for a female singer.
Dan: Yeah, I met Yuta (Bassist) shortly before and once we met Maggie the whole thing started coming together. The three of us all had the same energy and totally gelled from day 1. We started writing songs and the rest just all seemed to fall into place.
Your new EP Stranger Just The Same came out not too long ago. What went into the recording process of it and how long did you work on it for?
Dan: We had a load of material written and toured before we started so we spent a couple of days discussing which songs we wanted to record.
Maggie: We were in the studio for 10 days, then we spent a couple of months going over the mixes with Justin Hill (producer) to make sure everything was as good as we could get it.
The EP has been out now for a little over a month. How do you think the response has been so far and what songs do you think people are initially the most excited about?
Maggie: It's been amazing! We kinda just threw it out there and hoped for the best and we were blown away by how many outlets picked it up and all the awesome reviews. We love those songs and are really proud of them but it adds another level of awesome when everyone out there feels the same way.
You toured a lot leading up to this new release. What about the band has changed since that touring in terms of yourself as musicians as well as the audience you've been building?
Dan: It's really important for us to get out on the road and play to new crowds. We want our music to be heard by as many people as possible so going out on the road is where all the hard work pays off. We just got back from our UK tour and all we've done since is talk about when we're gonna do it again.
Maggie: Yeah we really love everything about touring. It makes you better as a band and reinforces all the belief you have in what you're doing.
You released a video for the lead single "Stranger". what was the video shoot process like for the video and why did you pick "Stranger" as the lead single?
Maggie: We went with 'Stranger' cos we wanted something that hits you with energy immediately for the first track. People can have short attention spans for new music so we wanted something that would announce what we're about and grab people from the off!
Dan: It's a really concise track that shows a lot of the things we love to do musically.
Maggie: We shot the video over 5 very long but incredibly worth-it days. Us and the director Mikee Goodman probably got about 10 hours sleep in all that time.
Dan: It was a really ambitious shoot done over about 5 main locations that were all miles and miles apart. We love every bit of it though, Mikee's a ridiculous talent.
Maggie: Yeah we just released our new video 'Gone' where we worked with him again. Everyone should go check it out, it's a bit special ;)
What do you have coming up for the remainder of 2014?
Dan: We started writing new material as soon as we got off tour. We're hoping to start work on our debut album before the year is out.
Maggie: Plus we're going on tour in Japan again and should be confirming those dates very soon. Should be an huge end to a great year for us!
I guess that about wraps it up. Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions. Do you have anything else you would like to add?
Dan: Just want to say a huge thanks to you guys and everyone out there who's supported us so far!
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