Hiya Black Hills, thanks for joining us in the virtual RGM lounge today. Grab a brew and take a seat
What was life like for you before you got into music?
I can’t remember that far back! I think I’ve always been into music as far long as I can remember. I remember the first record I bought on my own was Dead or Alive – You spin me Right Round on 12” from Woolworths, so we’re going back some years there. I mean, we’ve all been in bands on & off over the years, it’s not as if we are full time professional musicians, we’d all love to be but we all have families & full-time jobs, the music is just something we’re all very passionate about & have been all our lives.
It seems like being a social media curator has become added to the many jobs of a musician, how do you feel about this?
We’re all learning as we go along to be honest. None of us have a really strong social media presence because we’re all getting on a bit!! So it’s been a learning curve for us. I don’t think it comes naturally to any of us although some are a lot better at it than others. John & Si are getting to grips with the socials & have been putting a lot of effort into getting us noticed.
I’m not really sure that social media is a positive thing for music or musicians as it takes a load of effort to get a good following & stay relevant but then get lost in what is an already saturated industry. I also think that proper bands & musicians need to build a strong local following to keep live music venues going & build a fanbase that will actually come & see you play, where as you might have a big social media following but no one particularly local & you’re playing to empty venues. On the flip side of that it’s relatively easy to get your music out there initially, you just need to find a way to get yourself noticed over everyone else.
What’s your view on the Music industry today?
I’m not sure, I’d like to think that a good song is still a good song no matter who or where it comes from. The industry has definitely changed over the last couple of decades, going back to the earlier question, social media plays a massive – if not the biggest part in getting noticed nowadays & I think it’s a bit harder to stand out amongst the crowd.
Monetizing your work is also loads harder, you hear of bands & musicians having hundreds of thousands of streams, maybe even millions & not even getting a decent living from it, so it’s hard work & I think most of the monetary reward comes from gigging, unless you are a big selling artist of course. Then you’ve got AI being used to create pieces of music & getting streamed by the millions. Boggles the mind really!
Where do you feel you currently sit within the music industry?
We’ve had lots & lots of great feedback from every gig we’ve done with some pretty nice comparisons, from Steely Dan, Sad Café, Orange Juice & even the Style Council so we’re in some pretty good company. I’d probably class us as alternative soul, with bits of jazz, soul, funk & rock thrown in. Again, I think a good song is a good song & we all really believe we’ve got something a bit special.
Whats the biggest thing you have learned recently as you progress with your music?
It’s been a bit of a journey to get the 4 of us to where we are now. We’ve been together as Black Hills for about a year, before that it was a completely different line up & a band with too many big egos! The hardest thing to get right in a band is a good balance of people who can bounce off each other & feel comfortable together. We’ve definitely got that now, there’s no huge egos, no negativity & we’re really making good progress & some great songs.
So I suppose what we’ve learned is that getting the right people can be a long process & perseverance is a must! I suppose that’s life really? But most importantly, enjoy what you’re doing, otherwise what’s the point?
What was your best experience on stage?
I was in a Grungy type band years ago & we had a gig supporting a semi famous band, it was out of our area & no one had particularly heard of us. The place was pretty small but absolutely rammed & we went down a storm. We announced the last song which was pretty heavy & the crowd started getting up on stage & stage diving! I remember thinking “this is fu@@ing crazy, we’ve made it, I love it!!!” We hadn’t made it of course!
What was your worst experience on stage?
I was at my Brother’s wedding about 10 years ago & we were doing some acoustic songs before the main band came on. But, they’d had a free bar all day, I’d been there since morning & drinking all day. When got on stage I could hardly stand up, one of my other brothers who I was playing with was in a similar state & we were absolutely terrible. I stopped part way through the 1st song & said – to about 150 people “I can’t play, I’ll tell a joke instead” It went like this “I went into the bakers yesterday & said – you’ve got a loaf of bread there there named after me. The baker said no it’s not, that says thick cut” I then fell over backwards into a drum kit & had to be carried off stage! My wife wasn’t impressed, nor were many other people but my daughter found it hilarious. I have never been drunk on stage since.
I hear you have new music. What can you tell us about it?
It’s Ace! It’s a 4 track EP consisting of Turn Up the Radio, Until we meet again, Lost to the night & Can’t seem to Hate You. They are all pretty catchy & a mix of soul, jazz & hints of Mowtown in parts, they’re just all round good songs really. There’s some great piano on there, funky drums & bass, nice clean vocals & guitar. I really couldn’t put us into any one category but if you like good music I’m sure we’ll do the trick.
What was the recording process like?
Quite straight forward really. We recorded at Prism Studios in Stoke On Trent, we are very well rehearsed so are very tight, drums & bass got done in almost one take for each song. Then we layered the piano & keys, then guitar followed by vocals. No major problems, took 2 days for everything. It’s just nice to be in a proper professional studio & watching the process, when you hear the finished product for the first time, well, you just can’t beat the feeling.
What was the biggest learning curve in writing the new tunes?
I’ve been writing my own songs for years & don’t really have a set way of doing things. I just noodle on the guitar & some songs come to me in minutes, others I’ve had in my back pocket for years but they don’t get finished until something pops into my head I think might fit. Most of our new tunes are actually quite old & I’ve been holding onto them until the time is right, which is now!
We’ve got a good system in how we work & we got it down pretty good from day 1. I write a song, record on acoustic guitar to a click, send over to John (drummer) He records drums, pings back to me, I add guitar & vocals, then to Si (bass) then to Chris (piano/keys) Now we can all listen & when we get in the practice rooms we all have a good idea of what we’re doing. It all changes slightly as we progress but usually the songs come together pretty quickly.
Would you change anything now it’s finished?
I don’t think so, we’re all happy with the EP & excited about what the future holds.
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