Review Fix chats with Spain singer Josh Haden about his new album, “Sargent Place†and his new association with Dine Alone Records. Holden also discusses his love for performing live and how producer Gus Seyffert affected the overall sound of the record.
Humble, Haden brushes off the band’s 20-year legacy, appearing on David Letterman and even opening up for Nirvana- and decides instead to keep things current, insisting to focus on the current.
Review Fix: How does it feel to be a part of Dine Alone Records?
Josh Haden: Dine Alone is the first record label for North America I’ve been signed to in over ten years. They are really taking a chance on me. I’m happy to be working with them, they are such huge fans and supporters of my music.
Review Fix: What makes this new album different?
Haden: That is a good question, and I’m not sure I can answer it. I try to make the best records I can, and leave it to the listener to determine the similarities and differences.
Review Fix: What was the creative process for this album like?
Haden: I really don’t have a creative process. It’s whatever works at the time and under the circumstances. For this album, I presented a bunch of songs to the band and we worked them out in practice. Most of the songs weren’t very good. Of the songs that seemed OK we demoed them and chose the demos that sounded best, and presented those to our producer Gus Seyffert. And of those Gus chose what he thought were best, and also of some music ideas that didn’t get demoed. Then we recorded those in about five days and chose from that batch the ones that worked well. Those songs got the additional production and showed up on the album.
Review Fix: Is there a song on the album you think your loyal fans will really dig into?
Haden: It’s really hard for me to say. I think every fan is different and has different tastes when it comes to my songs.
Review Fix: What song on the album are you the most excited about?
Haden: Again, it’s really hard for me to say. I’m excited about all of the songs. Just to complete ten songs and be happy with them is a feat for me. So I’m excited about all of the songs.
Review Fix: What makes you different from other artists?
Haden: I don’t think I am different from other artists. We’re all working with the Pythagorean musical scale and confined to that. Lyrically, our languages are also pretty confining.
Review Fix: You’ve done a lot in your career. What are you looking to accomplish now?
Haden: I don’t know if I’ve done a lot in my career. I’ll let other people decide that. I don’t have much of a choice on the things I do, since my destiny was already established before I was born. I don’t know what I want to accomplish, aside from maybe making another Spain album. I have some ideas for it but it’s still a little early to be putting them into process.
Review Fix: What did you grow up listening to? How has it affected your creativity?
Haden: I grew up listening to so many different kinds of music. I was born before CDs and mp3s existed. When I was a toddler I used to listen to vinyl records on headphones and get lost in the cover art. The Beatles’ Revolver had a big impact on me when I was three years old.
Review Fix: What inspires you to perform?
Haden: Everything literally inspires me to perform live. I enjoy being able to wake up in the morning and make coffee. I enjoy the weather even when it’s cold and rainy.
Review Fix: What do you do when you’re not performing?
Haden: Sleeping usually.
Review Fix: What are your hopes for 2015?
Haden: I don’t have any hopes for 2015. I’m not able to look that far ahead into the future. I do have hopes for tomorrow morning and afternoon, but not for the entire year.
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