‘The Eighth Note’ is 8 quick Questions with Wellington Musicians.
A chance for us to catch up with people & see what they’re up to, or introduce you to a new musician/band and their music.
Today’s guest is Sean from heavy rock group Hault, who have just released their debut EP.
Who are you? Tell us a bit about your music:
Consider us a Gen X band! We are a Wellington based 3 piece playing original heavy riff based stoner rock with a grunge rock twist! The band consists of myself, Sean Fitzpatrick on bass, Grant Lister on drums and Mike Cole on guitar / vocals. Mike is responsible for penning most of our current songs though we are all now actively making contributions.
What have you been working on lately? Any new tracks or albums on the way?
We have just released our first studio EP with 4 songs entitled ‘B Side’ It was recorded here in Wellington at Blue Barn Studios with James Goldsmith (same place and man who did the Beastwars album) and then mastered by Mike Gibson at Park Road Post.
Where is the best place people can follow you & find your music?
Our website. Music is available on our Bandcamp page. We are currently waiting for the music to be confirmed for Spotify, iTunes and so forth, so it will be available there soon.
What were the 3 most influential albums to you growing up?
Speaking for myself (Sean) I was a massive fan of The Who – especially the Face Dancers album, believe it or not. I was later really taken with progressive bands like Rush – Hemispheres sticks out there for me. Later I would say the King’s X album Dogman – especially in terms of using 8 and 12 string basses…I use an 8 on some Hault songs.
Which other Wellington musician (s) would you most like to work with?
It is a shame Beastwars have essentially retired as their audience and ours would be very similar. We have had the joy of playing with many other brilliant up and coming local acts that people really should pay more attention to. Ultranauts for example are writing brilliant songs – also Electric Goat and Greene King have a sound that works with ours. Captured Kings are a band of young guys who I enjoyed playing with – they do old school European Power Metal – not like our sound at all but those guys are going to go far. The important thing is playing with bands who have a similar audience to yourself – that way you know you are going to deliver a good night for the people who paid at the door.
What’s your favourite Wellington venue to play in?
We play at Valhalla a lot – it is about the only decent place in town for a band like ours. It has the right vibe and Ben has always been a huge support for Hault.
In your songwriting or composing (or the band’s songwriting) how do the compositions and songs take shape?
We were lucky when the band came together that both Mike and I had a lot of songs we had written previously. Some were complete, some just ideas – but we have been playing mainly Mike’s compositions until recently when a few of mine were added to the set. Trick has been to find songs one has written that suit the style of the band.
Where/when is your next gig?
We are playing in the first heat of the Battle of the Bands at Valhalla October 11. There is also a 99% chance of a gig at Lovelands, Porirua on October 7th so stay tuned!