Freedom Hawk Blog

http://www.metalglory.de/interviews.php?nr=742

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“70’s Inspired Heavy Rock at its Best....”

Peace,

Freedom Hawk

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“Freedom Hawk” is your second Full-Length Album and hit the Stores just a year after your Full-Length Debut called ‘Sunlight’. It’s a masterpiece of Stoner-Doom/ Heavy Rock, and was one of the most impressive Releases in this Genre 2009. Are you still satisfied with the Album in all the Detail, and what are your expectations for this Album?

Yes we are very satisfied with the Album. It’s actually awesome to us to see that it is doing well. It is a snapshot in time from our songwriting from our first demos - 5 songs remixed, Remastered and 2 songs re-composed and re-recorded. It’s a rawer version of us. Our expectations for this album are to introduce Freedom Hawk to a wider audience and thanks to Meteor City for putting it out.

What’s the Fans and Press Opinion about the new Album so far? - especiallay here in Europe.

So far the reaction to the album has been all positive musically besides the usual stereotypes of having a name like Freedom Hawk

For me, your new Album sounds like the nearly perfect liaison of Stoner, Rock and traditional Doom which is strongly influenced by Black Sabbath (especially the vocals reminds me to young Ozzy very often). How would you describe your music to somebody, who never heard about you?

We would describe our music as Heavy Rock with a vintage 70s groove and a touch of classic metal.

Which Bands are your main influences and an inspiration for you – personally and for Freedom Hawk?

Personally it depends on who you ask and it varies widely but we all meet in the middle at - Black
Sabbath (deep tracks more on the blues side), Kyuss, Thin Lizzy, Deep Purple, Pentagram, COC, AC/DC, Misfits, Bad Brains, Iron Maiden, Blue Cheer, Zep, Scorpions (70s), Tull, Soundgarden, George Thorogood to name a few...everything around that genre. And everything on all that is heavy. Our inspiration was to play music that we listened to but weren’t hearing in our home town, beer, life experiences and a little help from Mother Nature…

Let’s have a closer look to “Freedom Hawk” now. Take our Readers through the Album in your own Words, please. What are the main differences to your previous Album? Tell us about the Songs in general…

The main differences to our previous album is the songwriting is the begining of Freedom Hawk and is much more of a raw party rock album with some metaphors to personal life experiences..Also we are only tuned down a half step but on Sunlight we are tuned down a whole step and drop tuning more.

And about the Tracks…:
“On the Other Side” is about walking through the woods as a kid seeing the boogy man and escaping.

“Universal” is about being too drunk to walk and your friends helping you out. Basically its TRs life as a young boozer and luckily havin’ good friends to help him out. Everyone needs those…

“My Road” is a metaphor for life’s journey…

“10 Years” is about imagining being in prison and being locked in a dark cell and wanting to see the light of day.

“Bad Man” is about being in a bad relationship and not getting out..."I’m a Bad Man...And you’re a Bad Girl”

“Jay Walker” is about getting drunk on Johnny Walker and fighting

“Hollow Caverns” is originally about blowing off your girlfriend to go surfing but after the song was written it can be interpreted as your now dropping into your grave and now 6 feet underground.

My personal favorites on “Freedom Hawk” are ’On the Other Side’ and ’My Road’. From your point of view: Which is your favorite Song and reflects Freedom Hawks Music in the best way and why?

Bad Man is usually our live closer because we extend it and we add extra flair. It has become our encore song somewhat. People go crazy during a live show when we play it. But out of the two you chose On the Other Side since we play it early in the set this is what sets the mood for the set. It really gets people going and sets the hook.. We don’t play My Road much but since it is re-composed and newly recorded it seems fresher..we are kind of suprised it is doing well.

The Album is quite short. Appr. 33 minutes playing Time. But the Songwriting is without any doubt absolutely awesome. The Songs are short and very catchy. But nevertheless they are very Heavy, powerful and straightforward Stuff. Which is the most important element a song must contain, to become a really good song for Freedom Hawk and how does the Songwriting proceed in general in Freedom Hawk?

… it must meet the approval of every band member. But we know it’s a really good song when everyone feels good about it - all the elements Drums, Guitars, Leads, Bass, and Vocals.
The songwriting proceeds by each band member bringing an idea to the table, we jam it then tweak it adding things here and there then figuring out a singing pattern then putting lyrics on it.
We write songs together as a band.

The Lyrics are always of interest: Is there a lyrical Concept or what do the Lyrics Deal with?

The lyrics deal with personal experiences that people can relate to.

Switching to more common Topics. Tell our readers about the History of Freedom Hawk. I’m sure not many of our readers will be very familiar with the Band.

It was just a good time, party and jam on Saturday afternoon with TR, Lenny and Mark. We weren’t really an official band until Matt [Cave; guitar – d.Verf.] joined the band in 2004. He was playing in a Prog rock band but he wasn’t having any fun and wasn’t really into what they were doing. We asked him to come and jam with us one afternoon, he dug what we were doing, it all felt right and we never looked back...we officially became Freedom Hawk once he joined.

When you became a complete Band in 2004/2005 you had to fight some unfavorable circumstances, especially in the U.S. I think. This whole ’New Wave of American Heavy Metal’ thing became bigger and bigger and other genres suddenly had to challenge the dwindling interest and support of their Fans. Do you agree with this statement or what was state of affairs at that period? How did things changed since you started playing together as a Band?

It had no effect on us. We just started playing in 2005. Now we have a good label behind us, better music, and more exposure.

And can you tell a bit about the Scene in the U.S. nowadays?

The scene in the US is killer but a little over stimulated at the same time and there is too much to choose from for the average listener. But you can always find good music if you look hard enough. There are some killer f***’n bands if you search for them. We have had the opportunity to share the stage with some unreal bands and make friends with a lot of cool people. There is a shit load of great bands either out big or just coming out of the east coast of the US.

Are there any younger and unknown Bands that should be checked out by the European Fans? Which Bands impressed you during the last months?

ASG, Valkyrie, Thunderlip, Collosus, Beaten Back to Pure, Irata, Throttlerod, Mortal Man, (Damn) This Desert Air and more...there a lot of younger unknown bands but our whole scene is pretty unknown you just have to look...check out our websites and you’ll find some.

How important are the so called “New Media” for a young Band like Freedom Hawk? – Put the case that you decided to start in the Eighties or early Nineties…

Very important for exposure and accessibility to our music and the band. The internet and social networking websites (myspace, facebook, etc.) and independent music avenues (CD Baby, Discmakers) have helped us immensely.. Especially Stonerrock.com, All that is Heavy, and iTunes.

Before we come to the End of this Interview: What can we expect from Freedom Hawk in 2010? – Any Plans for Touring in Europe, a new Album or festival Gigs in Europe this Summer for example?

You can expect a new album that we are writing right now (we have 7 songs in the bag..working more as we speak)...and so far we think its going to be some of our best stuff. At least we hope so. We are still working on plans for 2010 touring wise...and always looking for the right opportunity to present itself.

Thank you for answering our questions. Some finishing words to our Readers and your Fans out there?

Now go buy this album and if you haven’t bought Sunlight go get that one too....also make sure you check out Meteor City Records lengthy catalog of great music. Thanks for the support everyone and thanks for listening and reading...we appreciate the interview!

~Peace&Rock~
Freedom Hawk

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