PRINT

Interview with Black Hearted Brother

December 9, 2013
Jon Berrien
Latest posts by Jon Berrien (see all)

 Black Hearted Brother, the new project of Neil Halstead, Mark Van Hoen, and Nick Holton, just released their first double-LP, Stars Are Our Home. It is a beautiful, experimental album with plenty of space-rock elements! GroundSounds recently caught up with the guys to talk about their latest project and more, check out the exclusive interview below. 

Can you tell us about the creative process involved with bringing Stars Are Our Home to fruition?

Mark – It was a long and complex process, involving a lot of sending ideas back and forth. A lot of editing and moving things around, a great deal left on the cutting room floor. There was an awful lot of editing, both within tracks (some were even created via the editorial process) and by choosing to omit quite a few songs. Nick’s approach he says was to do things outside of our comfort zone…but I think for me this record allowed us to do things that we couldn’t normally do without the complementary roles of the others in the band.
 
Nick – The creative processes were really joyful, like firing off a track to Mark 3000 miles away and getting back lord knows what, or working closely with Neil on something that was equally ours was great fun and very spontaneous, throwing our psychedelic sink at it. I have to say it was over all hard work but all albums are. 
 
How long did it take to create Stars Are Our Home and what inspired the album title?
Mark – it took quite some time, in fact about 4 years form start to finish. Although there was about 18 months of complete inactivity during that while we were doing other things. It was a long process because of the nature of being apart and collaborating via the internet. But then, it would have been a completely different record if we had been together. In some ways, it’s a technological record because it would just not have been possible to make it say even 10 years ago.
 
Neil – Mark made an amazing solo record and Nick & I recorded my third solo album ‘Palindrome Hunches’ so we didn’t waste time.
 
Nick – I think actually as torturous it was at times the length of time gave us a chance to really focus and make the cohesive album you hear today. 
 
Can you tell us about making the video for “My Baby Just Sailed Away”? Who came up with the idea/concept? Who came up with the synchronized moves in the pool?
Mark – The idea was initially Neil & Nick’s, they shot the material and directed it when they were over at my place in Woodstock NY. A couple of friends of ours – Steff and Christine – were over for the day and came up with some fine robotic zombie dancing! After everyone had gone back home, we looked through the footage to discover that we really didn’t have enough material to make the video as intended – which was going to be a kind of pastiche of the film “Sexy Beast”, so I ended up editing it to be much more layered and FX based.
 
Nick – Well we thought we had a story to tell. On returning from the US with hours of material shot at a very high res we quickly realised (some quicker than others) that we didn’t have it. Original idea was a ghost story with an eighties coke head rock star as our main character and he is repeating the mistakes of another version of himself and ultimately dies at the hands of the ghost of rock n roll past. Anyway we didn’t do that and our dear Mr Van Hoen saved the day & made the amazing, spooky, funny video you see today – hooray.
 
What do you make of Russell Brand’s now famous video calling attention to the current state of politics and his disgust with the system? Do you agree?
Mark – I agree with many of his sentiments, except for abstinence from voting. I hope that he puts some of his ideas in motion, and uses his celebrity and personal wit to garner support. He should instigate the formation of a new political party in the UK, that does away with all the trappings of the current parties and political system.
 
What inspired your song “UFO?” When you think of the prospect of alien life, is that a subject that scares you or excites you?
Nick- An article Neil had kept from a ‘fine’ English newspaper who had run this story about Hillary and her friend who were abducted by aliens when they were young women. It was Neil’s idea to write about this powerful theme – he is really deep. ‘Is that a subject that scares you or excites you?’ Alien life is mildly interesting but doesn’t preoccupy me anymore than Gandalf. 
 
If you were forced to pick one song from Stars Are Our Home to represent you as a band, which would you choose and why?
 
Nick – Quite hard to pick one song but I’d pick ‘This Is How It Feels’ as it has a good spirit to it and it feels like our space-rock ‘Good Vibrations’.
 
Could you guys share some life advice with us?
 
Nick – “There are people wearing frowns who’ll screw you up but they would rather screw you down” A Lee 
 
The name “Black Hearted Brother” conjures up some intense emotions. How did the band name originate?
 
Nick – Within a thick air of intense emotion.
 
Will you guys be touring soon?
 
Neil –  We’d certainly like to, and are looking into the practicalities now.
 
What are you guys currently working on? What’s next?
 
Neil – We are all constantly making music, various projects…including making a start on the next Black Hearted Brother LP…we’d like to make it in less than 4 years this time!
 
Nick – I am busy writing some stuff to share with the other two via the web and hope to get down to Neil in Cornwall before Xmas. Other than that I am putting out an album I finished before this album by a band called President Sweetheart. Also been knocking about with Paul (from Black Hearted Brother’s backing band) and his band Milky Moon with an aim to finish his album sometime soon…. Oh yeah & I’ve been in the studio a bit with the amazing The Dreaming Spires who I wrote some songs with too. Crikey! I seem like a busy lad.

You may also like