Described as the love child and dirty blues, His Master’s Voice are a band who are out to rock your socks off.
I first heard the band from drummer Rene Harvey, as he tattooed my chest. “You gonna come see my band?” he said.
Formed in Auckland a couple years ago, they have a new release out, Possession, and are touring the North Island. Here’s what Rene and his bandmates Jesse Sorensen, Az Burns and Brandon Bott had to say ahead of hitting the road.
WHERE DOES THE NAME HIS MASTER'S VOICE COME FROM?
AB: It's completely original, certainly not from a record company.
RH: Actually it's a painting: the dog looking into a phonograph.
AND THE DEVILS BLUES?
RH: That's something we considered with the name.
BB: Instead of describing ourselves as being different genres we'll just make our own.
I'M CURIOUS TO KNOW WHERE YOUR ASTHETIC INFLUENCES COME FROM ... THE DIM LIGHTING, SKULLS AND CANDLES.
RH: Skulls and candles? I did that once and got mildly told off for it. I'd like to have candelabras around everywhere because, obviously, we praise the darkness.
AB: I'd just like to be able to see my instrument.
BB: We haven't really gone for an image, just how we normally dress and what lights are there at the time.
AB: Sometimes we get to use both of them.
JS: There's usually one or two showers involved. Spick and span before a gig.
THE WRITING PROCESS ...
JS: Someone will bring a riff to the table or even a drumbeat, a vocal, a bass line.
RH: The important thing being beers, if you've got beers then you can create rock n roll.
JS: A dim light and some beers.
BB: It's good if we haven't played for a couple weeks, maybe missed a practice. First thing we do is jam ...
RH: ... and come up with something spasmodically awesome.
IS THERE ANY KIND OF THEME THAT COMES THROUGH IN THE LYRICS?
RH: Life. Life in general. The lyrics come from Jesse.
AB: And he won't tell us.
JS: It comes from me growing up, always involved in music. I have a little scrapbook; when we started the band it was basically my library. Just a bunch of lyrics, ideas for riffs... but it all came together.
WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BEING ONSTAGE AND BEING IN THE REHEARSAL ROOM?
AB: Lots of people. And those two lights we were talking about earlier.
RH: We're writing our music and perfecting it in the jam space, and when we're going live that’s when we're hopefully so well rehearsed that something else takes over and you're not worried too much.
AB: It's a lot to do with crowd response.
BB: Best example is ‘Lucid Dreams’, that was written a week before the gig. What's on the album is the third time we’d played it end to end, and the first time live. Case in point of how things just fall out.
I FEEL WHEN LISTENING THAT IT'S LIKE WITNESSING ONE SOUL BEING PLAYED TELEPATHICALLY THROUGH FOUR BODIES, BECAUSE THAT'S HOW IN-TUNE TO EACH OTHER YOU ARE...
BB: I've never been in a band like it. You can't put it into words. You know what it feels like but can't say it.
RH: It’s not a job; it’s a complete pleasure jamming with these guys; being creative, not having any boundaries and everyone having their say. It's really important.
DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE GIG?
AB: Wicked one at Kings Arms.
BB: Two nights in a row ...
AB: ... but this one was particularly good; crowd was real responsive. Gave me goosebumps.
WHAT'S THE BEST THING A FAN'S SAID TO YOU?
AB: I had a dude come up to me and say I was the white BB King and I nearly fell over.
JS: Biggest reward for me: bit of a smile after a gig.
BB: It's pretty cool when someone first sees the band, they're always surprised.
RH: We get lots of people tripping out, coz we're different.
HOW WOULD YOU REACT IF FANS WERE TO GET A HIS MASTER'S VOICE TATTOO?
AB: We implore that. In fact, if you do that you get a free album.
RH: If someone actually did, that'd be amazing. But I'd rather something that symbolises the band because their tastes may change later on in life.
BB: The cover art actually started as a tattoo on Corey's knee.
HOW DO YOU PERSONALLY THINK HMV SHOULD BE LISTENED TO?
RH: With a stereo.
AB: Through your ears. Some speakers.
BB: Live.
WHAT HAS IT BEEN LIKE RECORDING YOUR FIRST CD?
RH: Pretty much none of us slept. Too excited.
BB: We went totally old school with the way we recorded, reel to reel ...
RH: ... old-school tape like they used to in the ’70s; inspired by The Doors, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, who used to stand in a room together and play as a band; a human feel from musicians playing honestly together.
BB: Nothing took more than a couple takes.
SO WHAT CAN PEOPLE DO TO SUPPORT THE BAND AND ACCESS THE MUSIC?
RH: Come to gigs, buy CDs, buy merch, wear our t-shirts and inform people on what they’re missing out on.
AND YOU'VE GOT A TOUR COMING UP?
RH: Caveman Events. Kenny Rooster, awesome dude, is putting in so much energy. We're playing lots of small towns. Make it possible to come back again by coming out this time round. It's going to be an awesome night.
FIND out when His Master's Voice are heading to your town on the band's Facebook page.
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