Interview with Heavy Feather: 'We drove by car from Sweden to Spain, so I think we did 9000km for 11 gigs. So it was tough but very fun too.'
Swedes Heavy Feather have just released "Mountain Sugar", their second brilliant classic rock album via The Sign Records. We did not miss the opportunity to speak with Matte, guitarist of the band who kindly answered our questions.
Hello, thanks for your time, how are you?
We’re fine! The second album “Mountain of Sugar” was released last week and we’re so excited for that. Really proud of the album and glad that we can share it!
How is the reception of the album and the singles being?
It has gone well. I think it’s hard to release just singles. Everyone does, so it’s tough to reach out to everyone. It’s easier when the album comes out. We’ve been doing a lot of press, interviews like this, blogs, podcasts and magazine interviews. And we also got many great reviews on the album. So I’m really happy about that! It feels like we’re taking it to the next level!
For those who do not know the band, when and where was Heavy Feather born?
Heavy Feather was born in Stockholm I think 2017. Me, Lisa and Morgan wanted to create a Rock band that play the old school stuff, the 60’s Hard rock trio sound with a singer. Ola joined us and we started to write the first album that was recorded one year later.
How was the writing and recording process? I guess a lot of analog sound.
We started the process in fall 2019 with me recorded demos here in Stockholm, then Lisa wrote her lyrics to it and then we rehearsed it a few weeks before we hit the studio. Quite fast way to work and it absolutely worked out. Some of the songs are actually from the first album recording sessions, ideas we didn’t have time to develop back then.
The recording isn’t analog actually, but we are playing lots of old gear. I think a big part of that analog sound is psychological; it’s in your mind and fingers. It’s almost live recordings and we play like we play; the old school kind of playing. So I think we can’t sound new fashion even if we played on the hottest new gear. I’m really proud of the sound and the production. Errka Petersson, our producer did a great job!
What difference can we find in "Mountain Sugar" with respect to the previous album?
Both albums are recorded in the same studio with Erik “Errka” Petersson as producer. We’ve been working together with Siena Root for years.
The first album were 80% live recorded, inclusive the guitar solos and the vocals. So we did it quite fast, 2-3 days. "Mountain of Sugar" was recorded more like a studio album does these days, still the live feeling but more carefully recorded. We had the time to test things, experiment and try different costumes on some songs. We recorded 13 songs and 11 of them are on the LP.
More differences between the two albums were that the first one was more based on jams we did. Let’s play this riff as a sound check and then we wrote a song from it. We also drove to a house in the archipelago and wrote the rest of the songs there. I love this way of working, sounds like the cliché but its wonderful way to get things done.
The pre work on the second album was more like the opposite way. I recorded demos with “fake-lyrics” in here in Stockholm, sometimes with Ola, and then Lisa wrote her lyrics to it and then we rehearsed it a few weeks before we hit the studio. Maybe not as romantic way of working on a rock album but it gives results.
Both albums are recorded in the same studio with Erik “Errka” Petersson as producer. We’ve been working together with Siena Root for years.
The first album were 80% live recorded, inclusive the guitar solos and the vocals. So we did it quite fast, 2-3 days. "Mountain of Sugar" was recorded more like a studio album does these days, still the live feeling but more carefully recorded. We had the time to test things, experiment and try different costumes on some songs. We recorded 13 songs and 11 of them are on the LP.
More differences between the two albums were that the first one was more based on jams we did. Let’s play this riff as a sound check and then we wrote a song from it. We also drove to a house in the archipelago and wrote the rest of the songs there. I love this way of working, sounds like the cliché but its wonderful way to get things done.
The pre work on the second album was more like the opposite way. I recorded demos with “fake-lyrics” in here in Stockholm, sometimes with Ola, and then Lisa wrote her lyrics to it and then we rehearsed it a few weeks before we hit the studio. Maybe not as romantic way of working on a rock album but it gives results.
Where does your inspiration come from to compose new songs?
It depends… Sometimes I listen to some songs and think “hey, we have to write something like this” or sometimes we just jam on a basic riff and some other time it’s just a song that comes out from nowhere…
It's amazing how many bands from Sweden are doing classic rock, we just have to look at some of the bands your record label works with. How is it working with The Sign Records? I suppose that being a record label from your own country will be everything much easier.
It’s so much easier to work close with someone you know from Sweden of course; the same language does so much and it’s quite the same part of the country too. We are really proud to be part of “The Sign Family”. They have the heart in the right place and releases lots of cool, new and inspiring bands. Perfect choice for us and they are doing a great job. I’ve also been working with them before with Siena Root so it felt natural to work with them.
How has the pandemic affected you as a band?
We’re lucky because we did finish the last tour for the first album in February 2020, exactly before the Pandemic hit Europe. And right away we were working on the last details for this album “Mountain of Sugar”. So I think we got affected for the first time this summer and fall. But we still hope we can tour something this year!
In 2019 you did an extensive tour of Spain. Had you been to Spain before?
It was the first time for Heavy Feather, actually the first tour ever for us. But everyone in the band have been on tour in Spain before with other bands, for me and Lisa with Siena Root a couple of times. Ola and Morgan have been there with Stacie Collins and Diamond Dogs. I love to play there, always fun and the weather of course!!
What memories do you have of that tour? I guess you'll miss being able to play live again.
My spontaneous memory was that it was really hard one. We drove by car from Sweden to Spain, so I think we did 9000km for 11 gigs. So it was tough but very fun too. We needed that tour for learning play together.
For our part that's all, good luck with your new album and we hope to see you on tour as soon as possible and come to Spain again. Thanks!!
Thank you very much! We hope that our Spain Tour in September will happened! Keep your finger crossed!
