San
Franciscan power trio Hornss have been in business for about six
years. They released their demo-record “The Red Death” in 2012,
then it took two more years to finish the debut full-length “No
Blood No Sympathy” and now they've prepared sophomore album
“Telepath” which will released on 18th
of November by Ripple Music / STB Records.
Some
could ask – why should I pay attention for this band? Probably
because they professionally perform a powerful blend of doom, stoner
and punk! Yes, something like Saint Vitus did in their earlier days
but with slightly better production (and another lineup). Mike
Moracha (Vocals/Guitar) and Nick Nava (Vocals/Bass) are here to tell
few stories about how they forge this infectious doom’n’roll.
Hello Hornss! How
are you? How effectively do you spread “Telepath” vibe?
Nick:
we recorded Telepath in the Sierra Nevada foothills at Louder Studios
with Tim Green. We stayed in a cabin away from everything and only
came out to work in the studio. It took us 5 days I believe. We
stocked up on beer, Mike's homemade Cider, Tequila and weed and just
relaxed and concentrated on the work of getting those songs onto
tape. We had been working on Telepath for about three years before we
went into the studio but a lot of what ended up on the record was
written during or right before it was recorded. I wrote some of my
lyrics just hours before recording them.
It sounds like you
had pretty nice romantic vacations there! Did you face any
difficulties during this session? Did you come at the studio with all
ideas already in your heads?
Mike: We started
drinking at 8 a.m. and the recording sessions didn't start till
around 1 p.m. That was the hard part...
Nick:
It wasn't all drinking though, there was also some swimming and
BBQn'! But seriously, I spent most mornings working out lyrics and
experimenting with synth sounds and playing acoustic guitar.
When I was looking
for information about Hornss’ lineup I only found out that Hornss
is power-trio with – Nick Nava, Mike Moracha and Bill Bowman. Are
you together since the release of “No Blood No Sympathy” debut?
Nick: Yes same
lineup, you can't replace any of us without changing the vibe and
sound of HORNSS. It's like a really good BBQ sauce that grandma
learned from her grandma. Original recipe!
I was surprised with
that well-balanced combination of doom and punk rock. So what’s the
story of your relationships with punk scene? What did you take from
it?
Mike: I started
listening to hard rock like KISS, Queen, and AC/DC in the 70s as a
kid. My older cousin gave me some Dickies, Adam and the Ants, and
Cramps records in the early 80s, but I was still a hard rock/metal
kid till the end of 9th grade when I started skating and buying as
much punk as I could find. I don't remember a time I didn't like the
Ramones though, they are above genre labels.
Okay, Mike, now we
know about your punk rock background, you speak damned confidently
about it. But then I have to ask from where you guys draw all your
doom influences?
Mike: Well, I liked
Sabbath from a pretty young age...who didn't like Sabbath in the
1970s?? St. Vitus in High School...when the Melvins released Ozma I
really got back into listening to heavy music again. I don't know if
we really play doom or not...we always just say "heavy music for
fellow dirtbags"!
Nick: Heavy
music has always been a part of my life. As a kid the album MY WAR by
Black Flag put a lot of those false distinctions between punk and
heavy slower music to bed. The band FLIPPER and the Butthole Surfers
and of course early Melvins we mixing things up in original ways back
then.
“Telepath”
has nice artwork. I just can’t avoid the question about its origin,
so who’s its author? How did you explain that you wanted from him?
Nick: Dennis
Dread did the art and lettering, I first heard of him through his
work on Darkthrone and Dead Moon records. The actual Ouija board
plancette was made by Mike and we had the artist Hannah Wednesday
draw the eye design on it.
Mike: We all
throw ideas around and once we agree on something, I'll usually do a
mock up. First LP, we sent a rough sketch to Cory at Dirty Needle and
let him go to down and recreate it how he saw fit. Last LP we came up
with the concept for the cover, I carved the Ouija planchette,
Bill's friend took the photo, I did the comping and color work. Nick
wanted Dennis Dread to do the back cover, so we told him what vibe we
wanted, and let him do his thing. We're really happy with the way it
turned out, especially the special editions. So basically, we concept
it, but trust the artists to do what they do best.
Do you have an album
of any artist which artwork is something ideal for you? A perfect
example of rock or metal artwork!
Mike: I'm a fan
of Drew Struzan and Mike Diana.
Nick:
Obviously Dennis Dread. Also Dirty Donny and Skinner do great things
with album art.
Do you have a vision
of ideal sound for Hornss? How did you achieve it during the work
over “Telepath”?
Mike: I'd like
it if no one could place who or what we sound like. If we sound like
a few different things, that's great...but I don't want us to fall
into any one sound like a "Kyuss band" or a "Sabbath
band". The stuff I write, I just try to make up a song I'd like
if it wasn't our band.
Nick: I wouldn't
say it's a vision or concept really. Our songs do tend to work out
naturally but there is a lot of work and cooperation and trust that
goes into writing a HORNSS song.
Men,
there are a bunch of interesting titles in album’s track-list –
“St Genevieve”, “Mazanita”, “Sargasso Heart” and etc.
Seems like you have a rich imagination! What is it all about?
Mike: Nick wrote
the lyrics on those! Mine are all over the place, but range from
books I've read to little stories I make up. "In fields of Lyme"
is about aliens sending bugs to Earth that cause all the humans to
die, then once the Earth has healed itself, they blow the ticks away
and inhabit our planet...meanwhile "Old Ghosts" is about
growing up skateboarding.
Nick: All of the
songs have a deeper meaning, more than one meaning and sometimes no
meaning.
Metal-archives point
that Hornss lyrics are about “Science Fiction, Drugs and
Conspiracies”. How do these things connected in your songs?
Mike: Hopefully
very well!
So
can you say that Hornss is about conspiracy of scientists influenced
by drugs? Or how would you resume Hornss’s message?
Nick: It's about
whatever you want it to be about.
Mike: I want our
music to be the soundtrack of a flesh rotting krokodil high.
With new album you
switched from Riding Easy to Ripple Music who release new album in
collaboration with STB Records, do you feel a difference in a work of
these labels?
Mike: STB is
more punk rock.
Nick: Riding
Easy was a great place to start and we are happy with that first
record, it gave us a lot of opportunities, We are excited to be
working with STB and Ripple now and really looking forward to the
next album!
Hornss is signed now
on the label with serious reputation. How you are serious consider
pushing the band further? Or is the status of weekend warriors enough
for you?
Mike: We're
working on new songs for a 3rd album, and so far I think it will be
my favorite. Hard to predict what life vomits on you, but we are
looking to do another European tour before too long.
Nick: We have a
new album to work on and a Euro tour in the early planning stages,
other than that we are taking it one day at a time and just trying to
pay rent and keep beer and food on the table! the life of an artist
is not very glamorous.
I see that you
already know how the next album will sound, what kind of ideas do you
put into it?
Mike: Mine are
varied, but death and the 6th mass extinction are up there...Nick and
Bil always have great ideas, so pretty excited to start working on it
all -- our records are pretty collaborative.
Nick: I'm
leaning towards more straight ahead hard rocking with some ZZ Top
grooves provided by drummer extraordinaire Billy "Ten Toes"
Bowman.
Your music is
perfect for live shows, how often do you play gigs? And what are
highlights of your live experience?
Mike: Nick and I
have played together for like 25 years, and a few favorite shows have
been opening for Radio Birdman in Germany, opening for the Melvins
and Acid King in 1994, and opening for Turbonegro with Plainfield in
the late 90s. As for HORNSS, we play once a month or so...some great
shows have been with YOB, Fu Manchu, Fatso Jetson, Bang, Elder,
UFOMAMMUT, Big Business...lots of great local bands too. Too many to
mention. Playing the same festival with Alice Cooper, Arthur Brown,
and Blue Oyster Cult wasn’t too shabby either!
Speaking about mix
of doom and punk it’s easy to come to definition with Saint Vitus
or Satan’s Satyrs. This blend is original, though it isn’t
unique. Did you cross with these bands on your road?
Mike: I've been
a fan of St. Vitus since High School...I don't think of them as a
punk band though, even though they toured with Black Flag and were on
a mostly punk label. Satan's Satyrs sounded really good when I saw
them. I think people should just play what they feel, and not worry
too much about anything else. If it's good, I'll listen to it. When
we started we did want to have a bit of the early SST vibe
though…heavy music for punks, stoners, and dirtbags.
Man, you’re from
San Francisco, how does the city influence on you? How much of its
culture in your songs?
Mike: That's a
tough one cause it's not the same city we moved to in the mid ‘90s.
In the beginning it had a pretty big influence with its thriving
music and art culture and fantastic crystal meth. There's still a lot
to love here, but along with it is anger and frustration. Maybe that
seeps into the music, or maybe the music is one of the few things we
have left here.
Words by Aleks
Evdokimov and HORNSS