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Haven - photo from http://www.haveninfo.com
You're due to start a nationwide tour after a long time out of the limelight, how does it feel to be back?
Gary:It's a relief more than anything really, more so because Nat's getting better, (guitarist Nat suffered from Bells Palsy during the recording of the album) it was a massive worry, I mean the fact the album was pushed back was so hard but obviously our main concern was just him getting better.
Have you worried at all about the reaction you'll receive after being away?
Gary:I think it's more of a case of we were worried that we'd get onstage and completely forget what we were doing! We did three intimate gigs a few months back at king tuts in Scotland, the ULU in London, and manchester as well so it was really nice to be able to play all the new songs. It was completely alien to everyone but they were really well received.
How would you describe your sound?
Gary: That's difficult because it's changing all the time, 6 months ago it was very melodic, but I think it's got harder now. We're listening to a lot of groove music so I think that's definitely influenced us.
You've got a new single out this month as well as the new album, 'All For A Reason' showcases a more mature sound for Haven, was this a conscious effort or was it just something that happened naturally?
Gary: I think it was definitely deliberate, we were very happy with 'Between The Senses'though. We knew we wanted to work with Dave Eringa but we also wanted to continue with Johnny Marr as well. The songs worked well though, I think we were worried about it sounding a bit disjointed as an album but it was a risk we wanted to take and I think it's paid off!
What has been your best gig?
Gary:For me it would definitely be T in The Park, I loved it, it was such a special weekend for me.
How about your worst gig?
Gary:Before we had a record deal we played the Monarch in London, it was such a terrible gig! Everything that could possibly go wrong, went wrong!
What advice would you give to someone who is just starting out in a band, is there anything you wish you had known at the start?
Gary:I think the main thing is not to be too preoccupied with getting a record deal , you can get so worked up with trying to get an actual contract. When you start out you seem to think of the deal as the "prize", when the actual prize is songwriting. From personal experience when I stopped devoting my energy to getting a deal, and switched all my attention onto writing the songs then it all fell into place.
What is your favourite song of yours?
Gary:At the moment it's 'What Love Is', from the new album.
There seems to have been a revival of more melodic indie-type music recently, do you think there is any particular reason behind this, perhaps a backlash against the american grunge that had dominated for years?
Gary:I think with any new trend it will always hit saturation point,where the attention then shifts away from it. For instance we've been inundated with american bands doing garage rock -which is great and I think it will always exist- but you can only take so much of something! When we released our first album we were lumped in with a lot of other bands that were around at the time, I think that's harder to do with us now.
What are your plans for the coming year?
Gary:We're hoping to get another record out. We're already writing and demoing, we don't want such a big gap between the albums this time, it's not in our nature!
Haven's new album 'All For A Reason' is released on March 29th.
Gary:It's a relief more than anything really, more so because Nat's getting better, (guitarist Nat suffered from Bells Palsy during the recording of the album) it was a massive worry, I mean the fact the album was pushed back was so hard but obviously our main concern was just him getting better.
Have you worried at all about the reaction you'll receive after being away?
Gary:I think it's more of a case of we were worried that we'd get onstage and completely forget what we were doing! We did three intimate gigs a few months back at king tuts in Scotland, the ULU in London, and manchester as well so it was really nice to be able to play all the new songs. It was completely alien to everyone but they were really well received.
How would you describe your sound?
Gary: That's difficult because it's changing all the time, 6 months ago it was very melodic, but I think it's got harder now. We're listening to a lot of groove music so I think that's definitely influenced us.
You've got a new single out this month as well as the new album, 'All For A Reason' showcases a more mature sound for Haven, was this a conscious effort or was it just something that happened naturally?
Gary: I think it was definitely deliberate, we were very happy with 'Between The Senses'though. We knew we wanted to work with Dave Eringa but we also wanted to continue with Johnny Marr as well. The songs worked well though, I think we were worried about it sounding a bit disjointed as an album but it was a risk we wanted to take and I think it's paid off!
What has been your best gig?
Gary:For me it would definitely be T in The Park, I loved it, it was such a special weekend for me.
How about your worst gig?
Gary:Before we had a record deal we played the Monarch in London, it was such a terrible gig! Everything that could possibly go wrong, went wrong!
What advice would you give to someone who is just starting out in a band, is there anything you wish you had known at the start?
Gary:I think the main thing is not to be too preoccupied with getting a record deal , you can get so worked up with trying to get an actual contract. When you start out you seem to think of the deal as the "prize", when the actual prize is songwriting. From personal experience when I stopped devoting my energy to getting a deal, and switched all my attention onto writing the songs then it all fell into place.
What is your favourite song of yours?
Gary:At the moment it's 'What Love Is', from the new album.
There seems to have been a revival of more melodic indie-type music recently, do you think there is any particular reason behind this, perhaps a backlash against the american grunge that had dominated for years?
Gary:I think with any new trend it will always hit saturation point,where the attention then shifts away from it. For instance we've been inundated with american bands doing garage rock -which is great and I think it will always exist- but you can only take so much of something! When we released our first album we were lumped in with a lot of other bands that were around at the time, I think that's harder to do with us now.
What are your plans for the coming year?
Gary:We're hoping to get another record out. We're already writing and demoing, we don't want such a big gap between the albums this time, it's not in our nature!
Haven's new album 'All For A Reason' is released on March 29th.
© 2003 Jen Thomas
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