#voltagehawk

[stratamuzak]

Interview with Voltagehawk

STRATA: What artists in particular you are drawn to (alive or deceased) that you listen to for particular moods? Such as happy/sad/contemplative/etc… Explain why you might listen to one artist for a particular mood.

CHASE AROCHA When I want to feel inspired I listen to a lot of the different projects of Mike Patton. Be it Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Peeping Tom, or Tomahawk, the range of styles of music is so diverse that I’ve been listening for like 15 years and I haven’t gotten bored yet, haha. When I want to relax or chill, I love BadBadNotGood, an amazing jazz artist doing incredible arrangements all in a hip-hop context. It’s great! Or Ray Lynch, I really love his writing and use of counterpoint melody. Then if I’m getting hyped I put on something like Dying Fetus or Vitriol, or Maximum the Hormone. And any other time I’m blaring Kamasi Washington, Robert Glasper and Sturgill Simpson.

DAN FENTON I think a lot of the time music finds my mood. Sort of more a spiritual or cosmic connection. When I was a kid my mom would make us watch musicals if we stayed home sick from school. Jokes was on her because I hated school but I loved learning musical scores and how to write dynamic parts and movements. The fact that people like Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, Frank Sinatra or Marlon Brand were also amazing actors only added to that unlikely education. I learned how to really feel music between that and the intense very bloody hymns we had to sing in church. I understand the sentiment but that shit is harder than a lot of black metal. “Are you washed in the blood of the lamb”. Hard core shit. Sorry, I digress. During the making of our most recent record which is called Electric Thunder and set for release later this year or early next (hard to navigate releases with all this pandemic shit) I listened exclusively to film scores, classical music and radio evangelists. I am not religious but I grew up in a preacher’s home and when I needed to get my creative push and anger at its peak, I listened to preachers who were clearly greed driven and motivated by the lust for power. It made my adrenaline rush in anger and it came out in the recording for sure. I am a huge fan of Hans Zimmer and Vangelis. Each of these artists move me in powerful ways. The juxtaposition of darkness and light both in traditional instrumentation and experimental synth based work. Just musical giants. When I am feeling frustrated about the social issues I see everyday in my East Nashville neighborhood I listen to KRS-One, Kamasi Washington, Outkast. A lot of protest music. I am in love with band IDLES from the UK. Such powerful lyrics tackling issues like the need for male vulnerability, equality for all and the  seemingly ironic brutal beat down of toxic masculinity. That band is great if you’re happy, mad, sad, whatever.

STRATA: Do you have a process you go through prior to writing, playing, and even performing?

CHASE AROCHA I do a lot of breathing exercises like the Wim Hof techniques. I have generalized anxiety disorder and I used to get horrible debilitating panic attacks, it helped me get into breathing and meditation. Anxiety will never go away but you learn ways to live with it and push through your panic. I think about how much this means to me and how long I’ve spent doing it, I try to see that I value myself as a person and then from that thinking I can just let go and play music. Only approaching it with love and not worrying about mistakes because that’s how we learn.

DAN FENTON The entire thing is one process. Like a heros journey of sorts. I listen and meditate everyday, I believe in a cosmic river of inspiration that flows from an energy that is and has always been. I believe if you listen hard enough and give yourself to the music the muse will send your mind transmissions that may only be a section of a song, or perhaps they are an entire album, but everyday I show up. A few years ago I read this book called The War Of Art, by Steven Pressfield. In this book he describes the invisible force he calls the Resistance. The Resistance may be things both “good or bad”, but they are anything that keeps you from showing up for your art. So I show up everyday, you can ask the dudes in the band, they receive a work tape maybe twice a week with new shit to try out. If I don’t feel that muse working I don’t force it, but I instead wait on further transmissions from the cosmic womb. All sounds crazy, but my story is crazy, so crazy makes the most sense. In the studio I have many processes. I found while recording vocals I perform better in complete darkness, I have realized how much I live inside my head and how active my imagination is and equally ADD my eyes are. So when I can’t see it brings to life the imagery and the passion of the song. I can see all those people I write about, all the landscapes, the love, lust, joy and pain. I also do some method stuff, keep things in my pockets pertaining to a character I may be portraying in a song. Wanna be Daniel Day Lewis shit.

STRATA: Your own current project, discuss the process your music went through as you built each layer. From beginning to the end of it. 

CHASE AROCHA This all started with our drummer Jarrad having a vision and going through trials and errors of finding the right people to execute that. Along the way Dan, Tyler, and I all came into the picture and that vision morphed into something we all felt was not even from us. Like we were an antenna receiving a signal and these riffs and lyrics quickly meshed into something I haven’t heard before. Part hard rock, part jazz, part punk and hardcore. All with this message of love and truth being the reason for living. To end the ones controlling our thoughts and dividing us or tribalism and greed. I feel like we made something worth listening to and that’s all I feel like you can really hope for.

DAN FENTON The self titled record that we have available now on all streaming platforms was two different profound stages in my life all in the making of one record. When we began, Jarrad and I partied a fuck ton, and I was descending into some serious personal shit with alcohol. It was bad, I couldn’t get through a day without way too high of a blood alcohol level. Before we finished vocals on the record, I stayed up one night working and drinking, perhaps I had never stopped from how many nights before, who fucking knows. Anyhow, I died for 9 minutes on the side porch of my house. Fully shut down, fucking dead. Mind you, I didn’t want to die, I just didn’t know how to lay off the bottle. Woke up in the ICU surrounded by my band, my wife and what few friends I had left. At that moment Voltagehawk became a complete family to me. I spent a stint in rehab (Jarrad drove me) and that was several years ago now. When I got out I went back to finish the record, make some amends and chase this thing out for real. So that was some info on the first record. The new Album which is a 13 song space odyssey named Electric Thunder, after our beloved Electric Thunder Studio owned and operated by our resident space wizard producer Geoff Piller, was not so dramatic. After I got my shit together and my mind cleared up I began to write everyday like a mad man. Song after song after song came like never before. I think we cut 15 songs out before we settled on the final 13. Our process as a band is often for myself or one of the other dudes to present a bare bones or often finished idea to the band and we run it through the Hawk Filter. The Hawk Filter is just the decomposition and reconstruction of every rough idea till it fits us. Which is silly to say because if we like, it we do it, not a matter of genre worship. Shit’s good, do it. Always do what’s best for the song.

STRATA: Can your music personally be an open door to breath and bend in the world of artistic exploration? In Other Words… how comfortable are you as an artist exploring other types of music and creating projects that might be totally  different than what you are creating now?

CHASE AROCHA There is so much great music in the world in so many styles, why shouldn’t we try to explore them all! I’m always trying something I haven’t done before, not always as a challenge, but I would hope it’s natural for people to do in art. We shouldn’t be the same people we were 2 years ago, let alone 10. I love jazz, Death Metal, and country music. If you can find a really fun and genuine way to blend those then that’s absolutely what you should do! Don’t be tied down to what kind of music you’re making and just make music.

DAN FENTON That’s all we do all day. Everything on this planet, and above it, and in it’s majestic seas and mountains, all these people of all the cultures of all the world and their energy and their culture all influence and musical inspiration is welcome. Our philosophy is never say no, and jump off the cliff, and pull yourself back up. Meaning: try all the musical options then settle on the one we believe is the most amazing. So much of our influence is from cinema and books, video games, you name it. I’ll pluck a support cable on every bridge I see ‘til I am dead just to see if it speaks to me. Sonically there are no fucking rules, and if you impose rules, fuck your rules. We love to create, to talk about creating and then to birth something new is beyond amazing.

STRATA: Are you open to change your style, genre even, and approach to how and what you create every time you enter a studio? Or do you find once you have a formula in place do you find it best to stay with what you know? Many times artists will change how they approach their songwriting and even their recording staff/producers.

CHASE AROCHA

Like I said before, I believe that you should just make music and with that should come constant experimentation. When we record we find sounds from all over the place. From children’s toy instruments, to skateboard wheels spinning to imitate rain. Our writing is kind of always evolving and changing. Dan is an amazing writer who literally has lyrics and melodies pouring out of his hands and face. Everyday he has new ideas and records and sends them to everyone. Jarrad is great at taking those riffs and making suggestions on how the structure could be of a song along with feel. I am obsessed with adding layers of guitars however I can, but I also write a lot and send tracks as well. Tyler is a tone junkie on the bass, filling in the bottom end and has such a great approach to being independent from the guitars with his lines. We send tracks back and forth to each other then we get in a room and flesh them out. The whole time in the process the songs are constantly changing and evolving into the sound we have. We are always open to change and never believe in the word No when discussing music and art. You try every idea and see what works and what doesn’t. Sometimes when one member has a vision of how a song should go and is trying to communicate that,  you should respect his idea and see it through. If it doesn’t work that’s okay, we tried!

DAN FENTON Voltagehawk is ever evolving. As it stands, we spend way too much time trying to pigeon hole what people will refer to our sound as. I don’t care what you call it as long as it moves you. I listen to everything from John Coltrane and Tom Waits to Napalm Death and Motorhead, Antonio Lucio Vivaldi to Kamasi Washington. IDLES and Bad Brains. If you refuse to evolve as an artist, experimenting, growing, trying new methods, all these elements then you cannot grow as a human being. Too many people are happy where they are, just okay, making the same music that their dads made and trying to cosplay some kind of yesteryear. We don’t do that shit, we’re us, that’s it. We grow, when you hear the Electric Thunder for the first time you will understand everything. If you burn some sage next to a photo of Carl Sagan while you listen to Electric Thunder, you will see the cosmic river in your minds eye. The world is full of people with a blockage in their brain. They cannot see that this bullshit we call a life is just a series of labor for hire gigs that leave us rapidly in the middle. We’re trying to break away from it all and follow our feathers, our truth, our search for enlightenment on our hero’s journey. I’ll leave you with this. Know Thyself.

[fullaccessdetroit]

VOLTAGEHAWK Release Live Performance Lyric Video for "Straight Razor"

VOLTAGEHAWK Release Live Performance Lyric Video for “Straight Razor”

East Nashville, TN based Hard Rock band VOLTAGEHAWK has released the official, live performance lyric video for their newest single, “Straight Razor.” Originally premiered on Ghost Cult Magazine, “Straight Razor” is off of the band’s upcoming LP, Electric Thunder, to be released via The Label Group / INgrooves, and was recorded at Electric Thunder Studios with Geoff Piller and mastered by Brian…

[ghostcultmagazine]

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO PREMIERE: Voltagehawk - “Straight Razor”

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO PREMIERE: Voltagehawk – “Straight Razor”

Badass rockers Voltagehawk have brought forth their killer new single and video for  “Straight Razor” and we jazzed to bring it to you here at Ghost Cult! The hard-grooving, guitar solo-slinging, members of Voltagehawk jam with an unbridled passion for the almighty Riff on the track, and the video is a fun mash-up of a performance clip and a lyric video!  The band has made fast fans and allies in…

[doyourememberrocknrollradio]

Voltagehawk - All I Want For Christmas Is You

[rockrevoltmagazine]

VOLTAGEHAWK Release Live Performance Lyric Video for "Straight Razor"!

VOLTAGEHAWK Release Live Performance Lyric Video for “Straight Razor”!

East Nashville, TN based Hard Rock band VOLTAGEHAWK has released the official, live performance lyric video for their newest single, “Straight Razor.” Originally premiered on Ghost Cult Magazine, “Straight Razor” is off of the band’s upcoming LP, Electric Thunder, to be released via The Label Group / INgrooves, and was recorded at Electric Thunder Studios with Geoff Piller and mastered by Brian…

[soundkharma]

@voltagehawk has released their debut full length album Electric Thunder! Check out the sick new video for featured track "The Cosmic Hangman"! ▶️ link in bio (new music drops). #newmusic #wednesday — view on Instagram https://ift.tt/3g0qy1K

[halestormfanz]

Halestorm performing at the Basement East tonight in Nashville #halestorm #lzzyhale #joehottinger #arejayhale #joshsmith

Credit to @voltagehawk

[johnerigo-blog]

VOLTAGEHAWK - release "Straight Razor" Live Performance Lyric Video, the band's upcoming LP "Electric Thunder" to be released later this year #Voltagehawk

VOLTAGEHAWK – release “Straight Razor” Live Performance Lyric Video, the band’s upcoming LP “Electric Thunder” to be released later this year #Voltagehawk

VOLTAGEHAWK – release “Straight Razor” Live Performance Lyric Video, the band’s upcoming LP “Electric Thunder” to be released later this year #Voltageha   East Nashville, TN based Hard Rock band VOLTAGEHAWK has released the official, live performance lyric video for their newest single, “Straight Razor.” Originally premiered on Ghost Cult Magazine, “Straight Razor” is off of the band’s upcoming…

[metalshockfinland]

VOLTAGEHAWK Release Live Performance Lyric Video For "Straight Razor"

VOLTAGEHAWK Release Live Performance Lyric Video For “Straight Razor”

East Nashville, TN based Hard Rockers VOLTAGEHAWK have released the official, live performance lyric video for their newest single, “Straight Razor.” Originally premiered on Ghost Cult Magazine, “Straight Razor” is off of the band’s upcoming LP, Electric Thunder, to be released via The Label Group / INgrooves, and was recorded at Electric Thunder Studios with Geoff Piller and mastered by Brian…

[fullaccessdetroit]

VOLTAGEHAWK Gifts MARIAH CAREY'S "All I Want for Christmas is You" with Hot Horror Cover & Official Music Video!

VOLTAGEHAWK Gifts MARIAH CAREY’S “All I Want for Christmas is You” with Hot Horror Cover & Official Music Video!

East Nashville, TN based Hard Rock band VOLTAGEHAWK gets into the Holiday spirit with a sexy, heavy re-interpretation of everyone’s least favorite Christmas retail standard, the 1994 MARIAH CAREY Award Winning “All I Want for Christmas is You.” Giving the bubbly classic a metal kick wasn’t enough, though, with the new and upcoming rockers putting together a Frankensteinesque music video narrative…

[ghostcultmagazine]

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO PREMIERE: Voltagehawk - “Recrimination”

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO PREMIERE: Voltagehawk – “Recrimination”

When we last met our intrepid heroes Voltagehawk they had dropped some killer new singles and fun visuals from their upcoming new full-length album – Electric  Thunder. Recorded with Geoff Piller, Mastering by Brian Lucey at Magic Garden Mastering (Black Keys, Ghost, Arctic Monkeys, Dr John). The album sounds like a sexy space opera, not unlike Ming The Merciless watching Jodorowsky’s Dune. After…

[jdrespling]

VOLTAGEHAWK Releases Official Lyric Video for “Modern Gasoline”

East Nashville, TN based Hard Rock band VOLTAGEHAWK has released the official lyric video for “Modern Gasoline.” Created by Jarrad James, “Modern Gasoline” is off of the band’s debut, self-titled EP.

“From an exciting new modern band comprised of two New York punk rockers, a classically trained guitarist, and a rhythm keeper from the delta, this track (album) takes you on a sonic journey thru…

[rockrevoltmagazine]

VOLTAGEHAWK Gifts MARIAH CAREY'S "All I Want for Christmas is You" with Hot Horror Cover & Official Music Video!

East Nashville, TN based Hard Rock band VOLTAGEHAWK gets into the Holiday spirit with a sexy, heavy re-interpretation of everyone’s least favorite Christmas retail standard, the 1994 MARIAH CAREY Award Winning “All I Want for Christmas is You.” Giving the bubbly classic a metal kick wasn’t enough, though, with the new and upcoming rockers putting together a Frankensteinesque music video narrative dripping with equal parts sex and carnage, creating the ultimate Christmas song experience for rock and rollers who love tasty licks and heavy riffs and gore.

“We all know this song sucks, so we made a version that doesn’t.” – VOLTAGEHAWK

Click HERE to Download / Stream “All I Want for Christmas is You”

  Hell-bent on pushing the sonic envelope, East Nashville rockers Voltagehawk quickly set a ground rule that “NO” was not welcome in the creative space.

While recording at Electric Thunder Studios with Geoff Piller, Mastering by Brian Lucey at Magic Garden Mastering (Black Keys, Ghost, Arctic Monkeys, Dr John, Marilyn Manson) the band put together an energetic, fast paced, melodic opener set and quickly found themselves supporting national touring acts including loud rockers Beasto Blanco (Chuck Garric of Alice Cooper) [Rat Fink], as well as pop punkers The Pink Spiders [Geffen], bluesy rockers Goodbye June [Earache, Interscope] and stoner powerhouses Duel and Toke.

Follow VOLTAGEHAWK Online: Official Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

VOLTAGEHAWK Gifts MARIAH CAREY’S “All I Want for Christmas is You” with Hot Horror Cover & Official Music Video! was originally published on RockRevolt Mag

[metalshockfinland]

VOLTAGEHAWK Release Video For MARIAH CAREY's "All I Want for Christmas is You"

VOLTAGEHAWK Release Video For MARIAH CAREY’s “All I Want for Christmas is You”

East Nashville, TN based Hard Rockers VOLTAGEHAWK get into the Holiday spirit with a sexy, heavy re-interpretation of everyone’s least favorite Christmas retail standard, the 1994 MARIAH CAREY Award Winning “All I Want for Christmas is You.” Giving the bubbly classic a metal kick wasn’t enough, though, with the new and upcoming rockers putting together a Frankensteinesque music video narrative…

[antiheromag]

VOLTAGEHAWK Gifts MARIAH CAREY'S "All I Want for Christmas is You" with Hot Horror Cover & Official Music Video!

VOLTAGEHAWK Gifts MARIAH CAREY’S “All I Want for Christmas is You” with Hot Horror Cover & Official Music Video!

East Nashville, TN based Hard Rock band VOLTAGEHAWK gets into the Holiday spirit with a sexy, heavy re-interpretation of everyone’s least favorite Christmas retail standard, the 1994 MARIAH CAREY Award Winning “All I Want for Christmas is You.” Giving the bubbly classic a metal kick wasn’t enough, though, with the new and upcoming rockers putting together a Frankensteinesque music video narrative…