Forged in the hills of Kentucky and tempered in the mountains of Colorado, Saddle of Southern Darkness is rapidly carving a path across the country to deliver you a sound as tenebrous as it is true.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with the band about their motivation, their upcoming release, touring and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Hello SOSD, what is your motivation for creating music?
My motivation, I’d have to say, is an underlying need to add color or flavor to my daily life and what better way than through artistic expression? I’m a very logical person with very rigid perceptions of the world and things can become a bit colorless or stale if I’m not taking the time to really allow myself to explore the various aspects of my humanity.
If you weren’t busy being an independent band, what would you be doing with all your time?
I very much enjoy learning and would likely be a full time student of many industries, disciplines and fields of study if I had that sort of time. Unfortunately, time is limited and you’ve gotta maximize the time you’re given while balancing the ebb and flow of day to day existence.
Tell us about the new upcoming release.
I’m absolutely thrilled for everyone to hear it. I’m also very proud of the guys and what we’ve managed to create with this release. It’s, what I feel, to be the culmination of many years of trial and error and a great direction for Saddle in the grand scheme. It slaps hard without a doubt.
Any tour plans?
The boys (Trent and Chase) will be hitting the road this September through October with a couple hired guns, if you will, to continue carving a path and embedding our sound across the U.S. and to support the release of The Feral Few. This tour is also the first run under BSQuared MGMT. In the past, Chase Williams had booked all tours and shows DIY with great results, but, with growth comes more room for support and team development, so, we’re excited about that. Unfortunately, this will be the first tour myself (Rob Van Natta AKA Big Bubby) will be missing due to personal matters.
What musicians would you most like to tour or work with?
I like a large variety of music across many genres, but, some artists that I think would make sense for our project that I’d like to work with would include; Lonesome Wyatt, Jay Munly, Jack White.
I also feel that our music is very cinematic, in a sense, and would do well with darker television series’ and films of the likes of Rob Zombie, Robert Rodriguez or Quentin Tarantino.
How would you describe the sound of your new album?
The name speaks for itself. The Feral Few. A handful of wildly vicious songs that will provoke a bit of animalistic or primal emotional and instinctual reactions within the listener. It’s also recorded completely analog, so, if you get the vinyl record you’ll experience a 100% analog sound which, in our opinion, is a lot more raw, powerful and real.
Where did you record the new music and what is your process when in the studio?
We recorded at World Famous Studios under Pete De Boer in Lakewood, Colorado. Pete has quite the setup and talent. We started with the rhythm section (bass and drums) being recorded live, using only a single take of both together. The following days were utilized to bring in the other stringed instruments, followed by vocals and developing the sounds you will ultimately experience when listening to the record. As I said before, it was done completely analog on tape as per Pete’s recommendation for our sound and we couldn’t be more pleased with the results. We had a lot of fun in the studio and made more than just professional relationships in the process.
What was the first piece of music you remember purchasing with your own money?
I bought a Vanilla Ice cassette and an Ace of Base cassette on the same transaction with my allowance back in 1992. I may or may not still listen to either or both.
When can we download the new album and will it be available on Vinyl?
The EP drops August 2nd. Our first single “Killbilly” will go live June 2nd across several streaming platforms. Keep your eyes peeled for a video, as well!
The Feral Few will, indeed, be released on vinyl as to be fully experienced in its intended analog format.
