Interview: The Homesick
Netherland youngsters, The Homesick, describe recording their excellent new record, Youth Hunt, in their parents' basement.
Youth Hunt is the band's debut full-length record. Since releasing the first EP in 2013, how has the band's sound changed?
Some less lo-fi as from the Twist Your Wrist EP, probably a higher amount of post-punk and having experimenting some as well. With our latest album we also tried to make a more complementary sound by making use of more instruments.
What were some influences for the new record?
Very much depending of very different music we like. Like static music, noise, wavy music music from the 50’s, 80’s, etc.
For those who may not be familiar with where you're based, can you describe Dokkum, Netherlands and what the music culture is like there?
Dokkum is a small town in the north of The Netherlands. It has the most services and is in a agricultural region. Tourist come for the Saint Boniface statue and chapel. There are not many concert facilities. There sometimes are some local bands playing in a cafe or something but most bands play in the big cities in The Netherlands and Dokkum is far removed from that. However, there is a yearly big metal festival called Dokk’em Open Air where bands from all over the world play. Most people in Dokkum like the most popular pop music like probably everywhere but beside that also heavy metal and hardcore (a subgenre of electronic dance music) music is relatively popular.
The new record has a much more full and powerful sound than some of your prior work. What changed on the recording or production end for Youth Hunt?
We did almost the whole production process self at Elias his dad’s house, besides the mastering of the album - a mastering person with the right gear did that. We tried to record the album as good and professional as we could. Elias is also very experienced with recording artists and we have bought new gear and used an analog mixing table to record the album. We also used a tape recorder for recording the album which had influence on the sound as well. We have tried to find the right acoustics in the house and with all that together we have done the recording process.
How did The Homesick form as a band? How does each member contribute to the songs?
We’ve met each other something like 4 years ago. Erik met Elias because they had the same drum teacher. Elias knew Jaap because he knew his sister and knew from him he had had kind of the same taste in music. In the beginning we made very reverb style shoegaze music. Every band member contributes his own contribution. At the writing process in general one band member has an idea, mostly Jaap or Elias, which we work out together. In general every member makes his own parts they play in the music and together we choose the construction of the song and make one whole of it.
What type of things inspire creativity for you guys?
I think just to make music we like, and in a way we like to do it and make music in a way in which we express ourselves.
A previous release of yours contains a song dedicated to Johnny Cash. How has Johnny Cash or other American artists impacted your musical career?
It is music we like to hear as well as other American artists we like.
How has your youth been a factor in your songwriting and general mentality as a band? Any notable pros/cons to being a young group?
There might be different interests per age what can influence the music. Next to that there is no huge difference by making music when you are younger or older in my opinion but it definitely has influence on the way you deal with the situation. Being more aware of what you do is what we think is the biggest difference.