The
band’s self-titled debut album was universally hailed by critics indeed we remarked
that
“The album was a fantastic debut album that
takes influences from a whole range of bands but still maintaining their own
identity. Now
armed with a new label and a soild gold sophomore record, I envisage a lot
of buzz being generated around the band, in the same way as Windhand garnered a
few years back.
Today
Dave Gates, guitarist with Season of Arrows
discusses their new album but first we premiere a new track from the forthcoming
album.
SL: Dave, good talking to you. Could you give us an insight into
how you started playing music, leading up to the formation of Season of Arrows
Dave
Gates, (guitar): Well once I learned how to play “Wild Thing” on guitar I knew what I was
born to do. Ha! No really, both Brandon (Shepard, guitar) and myself grew up
listening to metal and punk rock. We were influenced like most people from the
early days of Black
Sabbath, Metallica, Danzig, AC/DC, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Iron
Maiden and later on Melvins, Godflesh, High on Fire, Torche, The Jesus Lizard, ISIS,
The Sword, early Mastodon, Neurosis, etc..
We love the intensity and
energy those bands seem to carry with their music. Brandon, Brad (Lawson,
drums) and myself all played in a hardcore metal/rock band called Fall With Me
for about 8 years in the late 90s. So we have been friends for a long time and
played many shows together. That chemistry is hopefully brought out in the way
we play together now. Like all good bands, it’s hard to keep it going, so
eventually that band ended. Several years later, Brandon and Stormie(Wakefield
We started a new band and
added Shawn (Van Dusen) on bass and Brad on drums and called it Bleeding Heart
Blues. We felt that we might want to bring in a drummer that will
add to that dynamic and I’ve been friends with Brad since the 6th grade. Shawn
also brought a new powerful sound on bass and is Brandon
Everything clicked right
away and we started writing songs quickly. In less than 6 months we were in the
studio recording our first full length self titled album as Season of
Arrows. We signed with The Path Less Traveled Records (Normal, IL)
and got lots of good reviews and played with some awesome bands like ASG,
Neon Warship,
Windhand,
and Scorpion
Child to name a few. Fast forward to two years later and we are
about to release our second record which we recorded with the very talented
Mikey Allred of Dark
Art Audio. Mikey did our first album and he has worked with several
great bands like Yaujta, Greywoods, All Them Witches, Inter Arma,
etc..
SL: For folks unfamiliar with your band, is there any bands on
the scene past and present that you would use as a reference point band to
describe your band, and who or what continues to inspire you and push you to
try new things?
Dave
Gates: We try not to pinpoint
any particular sound and just play what we feel. There has been a few comparisons
like Windhand,
Pallbearer,
or insert any doom metal band with a female singer. lol! You would be very
surprised of what each member in this band listens to in their spare time. Not
all of us are even into doom sludge metal for example. I think what continues
to inspire us is that feeling we get when we write a new song and we work on it
over and over until it gets to where we want it and then you get that feeling.
There is nothing like it, especially when you are on stage and it is all
clicking. I constantly go out to random shows and find myself impressed with so
many awesome underground bands, many that are not that well known. We go to
some black metal, hardcore, hip hop, post rock, ambient, blues and some good
ole fashioned classic rock shows.
SL: What can you tell us about your upcoming record and where do
you feel it sits within the context of current doom scene?
Dave
Gates: It’s very dark and
haunting sounding, full of rich heavy guitar tones, with lots of textures and
soundscapes. We find that sometimes less is more. On this record, we really
wanted to let the songs breathe a bit more and let that open space shine
through, especially in our riffs. I hope that the current doom scene is into
this new record, but you never know what people are going to be into. We do
this because it is a part of us and we can only hope that many people will be
able to identify with this record on their own personal level. Perhaps it will mean
something different to them, which is always very interesting to us.
SL: Does anything spring to mind when you think about the
completion of your upcoming record and how is the mood in the camp at present?
Dave
Gates: We feel that it is a more
focused, stronger, and darker sounding album than our first and we are ready to
start writing for the next one before too long! I think in the end, if you stay
true to who you are, your unique sound will be created.
SL: What stands out as your overarching memory from the
recording sessions?
Dave
Gates: For one, we had all kinds
of tuning issues with the down tuning and low open notes resonating throughout
both guitars at times. :) No, honestly it was really cool. Mikey is awesome to
work with and also very encouraging in what we do. I was impressed that Brad
knocked out all the drums in the 1st day of recording. I also thought it was
cool for us to leave our heavy music comfort zone and try to explore other
influences like we did on the song “Bellow”.
We broke out the acoustics and played with some really interesting sounds, even
had Mikey play keyboards on it as well to fully capture that mood we were going
for. That was really special and completely different for us. We wanted
Stormie's vocals to be in the forefront of this particular song. Not sure we
will ever play that song live, but we feel it helps break up the heavier songs
on the album.
SL: With a solid gold album in the bag, how is your schedule
shaping up over the next 12 months?
Dave
Gates: We hope to play several
shows within the next year, hopefully a few more festivals too. Soon we will be
in talks with our friend Joshua on doing a real music video, think David Lynch
meets Alfred Hitchcock mood. Our next show is here at The End with Kyng
and a great local band called Howling Giant. I believe that you have
featured them on here before. One of our big goals is that we would love to
play in Europe . So, stay tuned and be sure to
follow us Facebook, Instagram or Bandsintown.
SL: Finally, do you have any final comments/word of wisdom you’d
like to bestow upon us?
Dave
Gates: We want to thank The Sludgelord
for all of your support. Without underground music sites, it would be even
harder to get your music out to people all over the world. We’re also very
excited to join Static
Tension Recordings (Portland ,
OR
Nothing says Happy Fucking
Halloween, like a new Season of Arrows record. As far as advice, we
have been playing music for a long time now and we try learn from our mistakes
and continually push ourselves to grow as band. Don’t give up the fight and be
sure to stay true to who you are.
Thanks again, we hope you
enjoy this special song stream of “New
Sorcery” today.
