Band Interview: The Native Howl
Games, Brrraaains & A Head-Banging Life are proud to bring you an interview with bluegrass/thrash metal crossover band, The Native Howl.
1. How did you get started as a band?
I met all my bandmates in roughly the same time period, around 2005. Went to high school with Josh, and our band Clean as Dirt often gigged with Chandler’s classic metal band Ancient Chaos. I met Jake through his cousin, C.A.D.’s former guitar player Teddy. While continuing to write, record, and perform with Josh in our band, I started an acoustic duo with Jake.
We recorded our first album “The Revolution’s Dead” at our self-owned/operated CAD Studios, after my first band’s namesake. After releasing our sophomore full-length record “Inukshuk,” we brought Josh in on drums. Mark Chandler joined shortly after, and we released our EP “Thrash Grass” in March 2016. It seemed to become inevitable that we would all compose and perform music together.
2. How would you describe your sound?
Our latest release “Thrash Grass” through self-owned/operated Clean as Dirt Records was our attempt at combining two of our favourite genres: Thrash Metal and Bluegrass. Through our stringent compositional techniques, we tried our hand at combining the aggression and intensity of thrash with the melodicism and precision of bluegrass.
3. What bands/artists would you say have influenced your style of music?
Me (Alex) – Metallica/The SteelDrivers/cKy
Josh – Metallica/Kanye/Michael Jackson
Chandler – Iron Maiden/Metallica/Black Sabbath
Jake – The Dave Matthews Band/Old Crow Medicine Show/Fleet Foxes
4. Has the rise of YouTube & music streaming helped or hindered you as a band?
It has absolutely helped us! We made a promo video for our song “Thunderhead” that is now at over 13 Million views, and the full music video on YouTube has over 500K views as well. We have found that if you construct an organic and unique product, mass exposure can only help you.
Full “Thunderhead” Music Video:
5. What do you enjoy doing when you’re not making music?
When we are not making music, I enjoy riding my motorcycle and spending time with my English Bulldog Django. Jake and Chandler love fishing and camping, and Josh loves being with his son Levi.
6. What are your future plans musically? Tours?
We plan on releasing our next album in early 2018 under Clean as Dirt Records, as well as continuing to tour around the country the rest of 2017!
We’d like to thank The Native Howl for taking the time to speak with us & Stencil PR for arranging it. You can find out much more about the band on their official website, through Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. You can buy/listen to some of their music over on Bandcamp, SoundCloud, Spotify, YouTube & via Apple Music below.
