‘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 The Heathen Collective.
Who are you? Tell us a bit about your music:
The Heathen Collective are: Aaron “Goose” Gunn / Vocals, Rowan Reidy / Guitar, Dhanesh Parmar / Guitar, Daniel Palmer / Bass, Sarah Scanlan / Drums.
Our music is a mash up of different sub genres of heavy music. We try our best to write music that is filled with groove with a very slight hint of progressive elements. The lyrics are mainly written about corruption and life experience. With that said, we don’t take ourselves too seriously. We like to have fun onstage and turn our live shows into a comedy show of sorts. The way we see it, if we don’t enjoy ourselves neither will the crowd. Its all about the Rock ‘n’ Lolz!
What have you been working on lately? Any new tracks or albums on the way?
We have recently re-recorded and re-released our first full length album “Reflective”. In the next few months we will be re-recording the leftover tracks from the original recording sessions for Reflective and releasing them as an E.P. We are also working on songs for the next album which we are hoping to start recording before the end of the year.
Where is the best place people can follow you & find your music?
Facebook is where you can keep up to date with gigs, releases etc.
Our music is available on Bandcamp for purchase and streaming. But we also have our videos and music on Youtube.
What were the 3 most influential albums to you growing up?
There is a lot more than 3 albums but the 3 albums that have influenced the sound of our music the most in one way or another are:
Master of Reality – Black Sabbath, Chaos A.D – Sepultura, The Shape of Punk to Come – Refused.
Which other Wellington musician (s) would you most like to work with?
We are hoping to get Brendan Kent (Kairillion Theory) and Ngarewa Reid (Order of Diptera) to guest on one of our recordings in the near future.
What’s your favourite Wellington venue to play in?
It has always has been and always will be Valhalla.
In your songwriting or composing (or the band’s songwriting) how do the compositions and songs take shape?
Usually it starts with Aaron writing the skeleton of the song which he then shows to the band to get their opinion. Once the song is accepted, the band learns it and adjust their parts to their own personal styles. Other times an idea is triggered by Dhanesh which Aaron will then take and turn into a song.
Where/when is your next gig?
Our next show is in Auckland at the Ding Dong Lounge on Saturday July 7th.