INTERVIEW: NY band The American on their new studio album and musical influences.
The American are a four-piece rock band from Binghamton NY, consisting of brothers Dan and Gavin Hardy, drummer Bird-Dog and bassist Joel Shue. I was approached by the band via instagram (which I will forever hail as the best social media platform for meeting people) and checked out their new album, Manifest Destiny. The new release is their first full-length studio album and is available now through their website. Here's a brief review followed by an interview.
Manifest Destiny opens with "Nineteen", a folk rock style song which personally makes little sense to me lyrically but has some catchy riffs. This is followed by "She's His Girl", arguably one of the best tracks on the album. The song sounds like a modern day, overdriven version of Howlin' Wolf's "Smokestack Lightning", with a similar riff and vocal. Give "She's His Girl" a listen here.
Other highlights of the album include the track "Death Rattle", which sounds to me vaguely similar to something Bowie might've recorded, and "Diamond Delilah" which has an almost grunge feel to it and again is a catchy tune. This is followed by "Lake Louise", a classic country song, then "Moonlight Fell", a slower track with an ending reminiscent of something in between "Martian Hop" and a car engine. The penultimate track, "Columbia St.", is a country-style ballad with a cleaner, acoustic sound. The album ends with "Go Tell Mary", a softer mix of country and 70s rock.
The CD is packaged nicely in a digipak format and the album art (front cover above) features imagery which could be interpreted as being somewhat political. While perhaps lacking a sense of who the band are as people, the images are certainly intriguing.
Manifest Destiny combines elements of various genres, from country to blues, folk and rock. I enjoyed the country and 70s influences on the album, although at times I found it sounded a little to modern for me. I can see this CD appealing mainly to young people who have a slightly alternative style, which is why I would have to say I think it's particularly suited to today's 'hipster' market. Overall, a good listen with some interesting themes.
Dan Hardy, The American's guitarist and singer, was kind enough to answer some interview questions following the release of his band's new album, Manifest Destiny.
The band consists of myself (Dan Hardy) on guitar and vocals; my brother (Gavin Hardy) on organ, pedal steel, and vocals; Bird-dog on drums, guitar, and vocals; and Joel Shue on bass and vocals. Gavin, Birdy, and I have been playing in bands together since we were in high school. Gavin and I have been playing together since we were in diapers. The American actually started as an attempt by yours truly to make a solo record. At the time Birdy and I were (and still are) playing in an alt country band called the Woodshed Prophets. I had some songs that I wanted to record so I called Brad Morrison, a producer friend of mine, and started making arrangements. I then remembered that I had promised to play on some songs for Birdy so I said something like "hey I got some studio time with Brad, let's pool our songs". Then my brother got back from Korea where he had been teaching. I had promised him to record an album years ago so I invited him along too. At that point it was just a three piece. So, we started recording. We realized pretty quickly that there was something pretty cool happening. Brad sat us down and suggested that we take it seriously (not something that we do well). He seemed to think that we had something but needed more material. So we went back home and started writing. First me and Birdy wrote "19" then Gavin and I wrote "Go Tell Mary". It was at that point that we took the time to name the group and it ceased being a side project record. We got REALLY excited. Fast forward 6 months. At this point we had made most of the record with just the three of us. Gavin was playing the bass, organ, pedal steel, mandolin, and some guitar. This was not going to be possible in a live setting. We have always been a live band (in whatever bands we were in) and wanted a fourth guy. We decided that it would be easier to find a bass player than someone to play all the other instruments Gavin was recording. Joel Shue was (is) the bass player for a band called the Spectacular Average Boys. The Prophets and Average Boys had played a lot gigs together so I asked Joel if he would want to come to the studio for a couple of days. He did. He came up with the riff in Death Rattle. He was hired. We love him. And that's how it happened.
Who were some of your biggest influences starting out and who inspires you now?
Going in we were listening to a lot of Big Star, Bowie, Bad Finger, and gigging (in our respective bands) Haggard, Guy Clark, and a lot of country and roots based originals. We also love The Band. Now we cover a Zeppelin tune, CSNY, and Tony Rice. We all grew up playing in our dad's backing bands playing everything from folk to Motown to acid rock. That's kinda where the name came from. Our country is sort of a undefinable mix of people and our music is sort of an undefinable mix of what we like to play. So we went with The American.
Your new album, Manifest Destiny, is out now. I'm particularly intrigued by the cover art - what's the significance of that image?
I took that picture of the producer's son at a session one night. I had purchased the helmet at a yard sale and gifted it to him. After looking at the pictures (which were meant to be cute or funny) I realized that they were more than that. I guess you can't talk about America without talking about war...it just seemed to fit. People have come up with all sorts of interpretations of what that picture means. I suppose they are entitled to that. We looked at the image and all saw something different but relevant to our lives and our music.
What are some of the themes on the album, and what was your approach to recording?
The themes of the album were also sort of mixed; addiction, love, loss, nostalgia, lots of things. Gigging in the rural parts of the US is different than a lot of other places. You are usually the only band at a bar, you are expected to play for 3+ hours a night, and you are - more often than not - surrounded by people who are there to drink and play pool not listen to original music. So when you spend 15 years playing original music in crap-hole bars and roadhouses, you meet a pretty interesting cross-section of humanity. The album is about that too. I have played so many gigs that I have a hash mark tattoo to keep track of them. I am up to ten hash marks (1=100 gigs at 3 hours a pop). That gives you plenty of time to come up with problems to write about. It's the same for the other boys too.
As far as recording goes, we went to the studio with some ideas and wrote when we were in between sessions. In the past we have gone into the studio practiced up from gigging so much. This was the first time any of us had really written in the studio. We like to do as much analog recording as possible so much of the record was recorded 16 track on one inch tape. The rest was pieced together in other studios when we could swing it.
Where did the inspiration come from for the new songs? I was surprised at the similarity between "She's His Girl" and Howlin' Wolf's "Smokestack Lightning", was that intentional or a coincidence?
I would say it's a coincidence but we have been playing too many songs for too long for that to be true. I based the guitar riff on old American blues songs...Smokestack Lightning had to be in there somewhere. So I stole it from a lot of people all at once, however, I prefer to call it writing in the blues tradition. Birdy wrote the words. Any similarities there will have to be taken up with him. Although he would probably say the same thing...stealing...traditional...etc.
What's next for you? Any plans to tour?
Well, we are always writing. We definitely want to do some touring. We have also been hiring ourselves out as a studio band. We just helped cut a record for this cat in Brooklyn (straight honkey tonk) and a couple of tracks for an elementary school choir. Actually, we did a pretty haunting rendition of "Down By The Bay" for the kids. What a hoot. They weren't there when we recorded...thank god. We were payed in beer.
MUSIC TASTE QUICK-FIRE QUESTIONS:
What bands/artists are you currently into?
TV, Tom Waits, The Cramps, The Flying Burrito Bros, Smokey Robinson, Grandfunk Railroad.
Favorite song right now?
"Song For You" by Gram Parsons, you should check it out...its perfect!
Do you remember the first record you ever bought?
Well I would have been in middle school so it was probably either Counting Crows – Recovering The Satellites, or Oasis – Master Plan. I was 13 and there was very little internet access out in the sticks and only country and pop radio.
If you had to choose, what would be your all-time favorite album?
That is a really hard question. Maybe The Band – The Band? It's hard to commit. But if I was only allowed one and that's what I had, I would live.
Thanks to Dan for his time, and good luck to him and the rest of the band with their career! Hope you've enjoyed this post, feel free to let me know your thoughts on the album in the comments!
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