This week rather than the typical audio interview, Andy of ‘RCM Lost On Radio’ podcast fame caught up with our Band Of The Week, The Lonely H via email. Here is what Mark Fredson from the band had to say.
Hey guys, how are you doing? What have you been up to today?
Doing well, heading back to Nashville right now. In the heartland currently. Corn on either side of the road.
You have a new album. I’ve been listening over the past few days and must say it is really great! Congratulations. Have you been getting lots of positive responses to it so far?
Everybody seems to like it. The only bad review was that the song “Riding the Clutch” sounds too much like Bon Jovi. I can live with that.
This is your third album, right? The debut came out in 2009. Was the process of writing and producing this one different? Was it enjoyable?
4th album actually. The first of which was released in 2006 when we were sophomores in high school.
How does a typical Lonely H track come into being? Does one of you take the song-writing role and then the others slot around, or is it more organic and collaborative than that?
I (Mark) usually write the songs and bring them to the guys, but we’ll occasionally come up with something on the spot and I’ll mush mouth lyrics until I find some.
You describe the songs as chronicling dissatisfaction and emptiness, filling the voids of life in the most wholesome ways possible. Is there a concept to the album or is this a general philosophy that you have towards songwriting?
I’m just trying to write about what I know. And I don’t know much about wholesome ways of dealing with things. I’d rather right about my own shortcomings in regards to relationships and life in general. There’s no conscious decision made before a song is written about staying within the confines of a certain theme. Sometimes it’s as simple as writing a song based off of one line that randomly comes to me. “When You Don’t Call Me” is like that.
What are your plans for the rest of the year? Do you have some live shows lined up?
I wanna record at least an EP by the end of the year. And then hit the road hard in promotion of both the record and the EP. I’ll keep y’all posted.
Well, thanks so much for joining me today, and congratulations on being the RCM Band Of The Week. We’re just about out of time for today. Before we finish is there anything you’d like to plug? How can people get hold of the album?
Check out the video for “Waiting On a Broken Heart”
[youtube width=”640″ height=”360″]http://youtu.be/E64Cd5RM_lY[/youtube]
The new, self-titled record The Lonely H is available on Spotify, iTunes, Amazon and all other digital dealers.
