1. How has your experience been working with Vital?
Vital has been like family to me with my music. I’ve been working with Fred since 2008 and he was friends with Chris and Billy long before that so there has been a rich history between all of us. If it wasn’t for Fred there wouldn’t be The Howlin’ Moons as we know it today, because Fred introduced me to Chris and Billy and he believed in my songs, and that’s how this whole band started. I feel like both the band and Vital have helped each other grow over the years in our art and it has been such a rewarding experience and partnership.
2. How does Homemade Vision differ from Hey Kid?
I think that Homemade Vision takes off where Hey Kid ended. It is more of a dreamy/reflective record and it showcases how much the band has evolved in the past year. The songs came together really fast on this record and for the first time in the recording process we hashed out most of the arrangements in the studio.
3. What are you most excited about with your upcoming tour?
We are slowing down a bit this fall and winter to prepare for the record release but we have some great OH, IL, WV, PA, and TN shows and festivals coming up. First one we are looking forward to is Bubbly-Q-Fest at City Winery in Chicago on Sept. 7th with Junior Brown. We haven’t been to Chicago since last summer so we are itching to be back.
4. What's your favorite venue to perform at?
My all-time favorite venue we have performed at is The Brooklyn Bowl in New York. We’ve opened up for a couple bands there several times now and I am in love with everything about it.
5. What influences your style?
I love mixing a lot of different styles together but I definitely get a lot of inspiration from 50s, 60s, and 70s fashion. My style changes day to day depending on how I am feeling, but I generally wear a lot of dresses because they are the most comfortable to me. Hats, boots, sunnies, and florals are my staples.
6. What's your favorite song to perform?
My favorite song to perform is always changing and usually is whatever song is the most “new” in the band. Right now it is a song of ours called “Your Love” that will be on Homemade Vision. It’s a very laid back swampy- song but is has a super heavy guitar solo and the beat makes me happy.
7. What's something you want your fans to know about you and/or the band?
I would like them to know how much their support means to us. It’s what keeps us going and we wouldn’t be able to play music and make music without them actually caring about what we do and spreading the word to others about our music. The fans are like an extended family to us so we can’t thank them enough!
8. What's the last concert you went to?
Last concert I went to (where I bought a ticket and it wasn’t a fest we were playing at etc.) was to see Kevin Gordon at Natalie’s. It was on a Sunday night and it blew my mind. He is such an amazing songwriter and his band was killer.
9. What is one of your favorite musical moments?
Recently, it has been this week when we got our final masters for the new record! We think it is the best recording we have done so far, so it feels very surreal that it is complete.
10. Do you have a favorite song off the new album?
Oh boy.. that one is tough. I really love how they all turned out and although they go together they are all vastly different from each other. I think right now it’s a song called White Doves, because it was an underdog track that came together last minute in the studio. We didn’t think it would make it but it might be kicking off our record, so that is pretty cool.
11. Creative process behind Electric Flame video?
The idea behind the "Electric Flame" music video began with me thinking it would be cool to work with projections and to capture a mysterious vibe in the video. Through bouncing off ideas with the Vital team in several meetings we all collaborated, bounced a bunch of ideas off each other, and created the current storyline which has a little twist at the end that is open to interpretation. Was really fun to film and the video came together very quickly and naturally.
**BONUS QUESTION**
12. Any behind the scenes secrets or tricks you've learned along the way?
Always bring backup gear to gigs in case disaster strikes. I’ve learned over the years to always have a backup guitar that is tuned up and ready to go, a backup amp, and recently discovered that I need to carry a back up bow for my musical saw as well. Be proactive people, be proactive…. also waterproof makeup in everything is amazing.. ;)
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