Brother Hawk puts on its morning jacket, unhitches its crazy horse, and gallops off in the direction of a big pink house somewhere over the hills and faraway. With this much horsepower at your command, why would you need to reinvent the wheel?
Their blend of Southern fried blues rock is firmly rooted in the earthy tricks traditionally traded for at the red clay crossroads but their live performances convey an electrified ebullience that blasts them into the stratosphere. On stage, they’re riding rockets fueled by a vicious cocktail of sweat and hellfire. An uncut, undeniable purity of purpose is palpable when the band is firing on all cylinders. Brother Hawk’s sound is the sunset that the hero rides into. It’s red hot white light. It’s honest emotion. It’s alive.
In this interview, we discuss influences, the newest project, and more.
Full Q&A, links, and video streams below.
Let’s dive a little deeper into You, the artist and your music. What attracted you to this genre(s) or style(s)?
I think what attracted me to rock and guitar in particular is the passion. Stevie Ray Vaughan was the man who made me really want to play guitar. I saw his Austin City Limits late one night when i was 8 years old. It totally blew my mind. He put every ounce of himself into every note. I wanted to be that passionate. I wanted to be able to lose myself in something like that.
How long have you been creating and sharing your music with the public?
We’ve been doing that with Brother Hawk since 2011, but we’ve all been in bands pretty much our whole lives. Nick and I started our first band together when we were 9!
Who or what influences your playing and/or writing? Also, what motivates you to keep going?
Everything and everyone i come in contact with influences my writing in one way or another. It’s all life experience. I’ve always got my ears open for inspiration, although a lot of one liners are straight from my dad haha. The motivation is easy to find when it’s all you’ve ever wanted to do, but seeing the results is huge. Having people tell you that they love your music or that it helped them through a rough time or that it touched them in any way is extremely gratifying. You don’t set out to create with those situations in mind but they’re a beautiful side effect.
Were you trying to accomplish anything specific on this new project? Creatively or otherwise?
We were trying to make a statement as a band about who we are. We’re relatively unknown, so we wanted something we’re 100% proud of and something we feel like is a true representation of us to be the first thing people hear.
What was the last song you listened to?
Be a Part by Dinosaur Jr. Their new record is incredible!
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
Vinyl. It’s just more of an experience. Also if I’m listening to Vinyl i pretty much know it’s a record i really love and want to listen to front to back. Mp3s are for one hit wonders haha.
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
I prefer apple music because it organizes my library like my iPod used to, but i miss some of the spotify live sessions. They should share those with itunes! haha
Other than the digital era overwhelming us with access to an abundance of music, what are one or two of the biggest challenges you face when trying to attract listeners to your music?
Giving them a reason to care i guess. It’s just like you said, people are bombarded with things to listen to on a daily basis on the internet, and if they’re like me most of the time they’re disappointed. It’s all about your fans liking it enough to share and really endorse it. The things that get through my screen are ones recommended by people i trust, i’m sure that’s the case for most.
Do you gig, tour or perform? Do you ever live stream? Where can music lovers see you live?
We tour! We’ve got some southeast/gulf coast dates left for summer and then we’re in Europe for all of October. We don’t live stream but we do have lots of live videos on our YouTube channel.
Where is the best place to connect with you online? Discover more of your music?
Facebook, twitter, etc. You can get to everything from Brotherhawkatl.com
