hAND are a piano-led
gothic band from Horsham in West Sussex. Fusing prog music with
heavy metal riffs this alternative three-piece have already received
some fantastic press and recognition for their original,
non-standard sounds. Taking influence from Siouxie and the
Banshee's, Killing Joke and Dream Theatre their mysterious, rock-opera
music is becoming a favourite of many in the UK goth
scene.
Music Mog features music new and old - signed and unsigned,
developed and developing, so we took the time out to chat with
this rising act from the dark side.
We caught up with Kat Ward,
vocalist and front woman of the band...
Hiya Kat, we're loving the deep sounds and gothic
feel to your band.. But the name...What's with that?
Our name hAND is actually an acronym for 'harmonic assesment
of negative dialogue'. We were trying to describe our music via
our name. It came about back when we first formed. Me and Kieren
(guitarist) took our sounds and auditioned for a drummer in
2006, Cris was the right guy for the job so we went from there,
the name has stuck with us.
Well you've certainly got the creepy 80s goth sounds down
perfectly, what inspired Manuscript your biggest track to date?
That would be my book of disturbing poems, it's hidden away
so nobody can see it. I always had music played in the house as
a kid. I grew up with the 80s sound and that's definitely
where our old school goth influences come from. All of us
in the band express our emotions through what we play, one day
we'll be jamming upbeat happy tracks, the next day the sound
will change to something dark, aggressive and angry. We're a
very moody band!
How do you feel about the British goth scene right now?
Have you been getting much play in the clubs?
It feels quite fragmented and localised at times. In
Northern England there seems to be a really healthy club scene
with dedicated goth nights running regularly. They've also got
gothic festivals throughout the year, Southern England on the
other hand doesn't seem to have a centralised goth scene at all.
It's unfortunate for us as that's where we live.
Not many heavy acts opt for a female singer either - do
you think you've attracted more attention because of it?
That's difficult to judge. We do seem to get more of a
response at times, especially from girls but having never played
in another band it's difficult to compare. I think having
a female singer that also plays in the band is quite unusual and
people find that interesting.
We keep attracting the audiences because of how we
play. Musically we still retain the 80s goth sound but mix
it up with a lot of prog phases and interludes. It's great
because we can surprise the audience with sudden energy and pull
of striking contrasts. The lyrical structure of our songs
is very different to some acts; we don't use verses or choruses
in our songs. Most of our lyrics are written as poems then
offset to music.
You've been gigging around the UK for quite some time
now - any touring nightmares?
Yeah we've had a couple...Our worst gig was definitely at a
social club in Southampton. We drove for over two hours to get
to the venue, once we made it there we found two rooms with no
stage, no proper PA system a few chairs scattered about and a
make-shift bar!
We ended up playing to our parents and a mature gentleman
with a hearing aid who didn't really like our music much.
Our parents had just split that week, so the show was quite a
difficult one.
What about your best gig?
Our best gig? That was a fairly recent one, at the Laserhub
in Crawley. We played our new material for the first time,
the venue was packed and everyone went crazy!
Your second "E.P Shadow: Word Pain" was produced
by Chris Hamilton of Fony-producing fame...How did he come
across your music?
Chris is great, he runs his own recording studio near to
where we live. He heard our tracks and wanted to go from there.
He has a real feel for music, a top class producer. We're hoping
to work with him again in the future.
Ah the future - we're looking forward to hearing more from
you guys, what have you got in store for us?
Loads more song writing and gigging. We'll be recording a new
E.P soon and hopefully get some more merchandise printed. Other
than that we'll be promoting ourselves all over the place and
hope to play a few festivals over the summer. So keep an ear out
for us. We're also working on changing the job situation. Right
now we all work full-time during the week, dedicating weekends
to the band, the sooner we can make our living from music alone,
the better.
And finally, this wouldn't be Music Mog without a
pussy question - do any of you own a cat?
Sorry, none of the band own a cat but I'm called Kat..Does
that count?
That will do...A bowl of milk is winging it's way to you
Kat!
Special thanks to Kat and HAND for taking the time out to
chat with us..For further information about the band be sure
to visitwww.handtheband.com
And don't forget to check out their
video...
Next Upcoming Gigs
April 8th - Face Bar, Reading as part of Silkfest
(over 40 metal bands kicking ass! £18) May 11th - The Bridge House, Horsham with support from
The Collector
