Thunderhawk (2009)
HOW GRAVITY WON: JOSH HALL AND HIS THUNDERHAWK DAZE
Nine months ago I found myself in the kind of existential crisis no 29-year-old should still be having. There I was, spending a perfect spring afternoon sitting outside a Whole Foods market in Portland, waiting for a friend who lived across the street. Ten minutes earlier I’d been staring at my longtime hero’s house from the sidewalk, a strange white and red castle; but now, killing time at thee ‘ol grocery store, my hero was suddenly standing at my feet, messy hair and big goofy sunglasses. Panic hits: What to say? To say anything at all? Here’s your chance, buddy! I watched as he, the former singer of seminal 90s indie rockers Pavement, shopped the aisles, going seemingly unknown despite at one time having the unique - and unexploited - ability to break up Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love. You know what I did? I dug out my cell phone gadget and called up Thunderhawk frontman Josh Hall.
Hero worship, then a steady part of my daily diet, died in that moment. I said nothing to Stephen Malkmus, my hero, instead leaving Josh a long, probably confusing phone message. The irony of the situation was that, had I not happenstantially met Josh 18 or so months prior, I likely would’ve been arrested that day for trying to spoon a minor cult hero in a grocery store parking lot in Portland. Instead, I called some guy I kind of know to tell him something I don’t recall about one of his then-just-released albums.
Hall had at some point become to me - and many in the Fort Wayne area - a real life rock n’ roll experience. A firsthand account of humble drunken genius. Thinking back to that day I called him (the Existential Malkmus Breakdown Day), Hall was living in Muncie, thinking about signing up for Twitter, crashing on Fort Wayne couches after playing shows, working full-time in Indy and self-releasing records. Today, not even a year later, Hall is living in Indianapolis, awaiting the release of his first nationally released record, crashing on Fort Wayne couches after playing shows, working full-time on music and thinking about setting up a pub tour while making his way down to Austin, Texas for South by Southwest, where Thunderhawk will take some stages and surely drink their share of Lonestar. And, yes, Hall is also still self-releasing albums (more on that later) and forcing himself to Tweet.
“I really don’t like the Internet much at all and I pretty much loathe all the social networking sites,“ Hall explained. “But if you’re in a band you pretty much have to use all those tools to market yourself and allow people to find you. So one day I broke down and finally signed up for Twitter to notify people when we were playing shows. I guess the head of Standard Recording started following me on Twitter.”
From there the ball began to roll: Mark Latta, the “head of Standard,” came to a show in Indy; Mark e-mailed Josh; Josh sent Mark the two albums he’d just self-released; Mark told Josh that Standard Recording Co. would put out, in Josh’s words, “whatever album I wanted with whatever artwork I wanted. So that was all I needed to hear. So Twitter, of all useless f&%#ing things, got the ball rolling.”
And so it finally happened: the first real steps, anyhow. Surprising, really, if you look back on the history of Hall - the days even before the Fort Wayne music scene fell nutty for a little Thunderhawk album called Gravity Wins!
“I was using a box of Thunderhawk CDs as a nightstand in 2006 and 2007 and had no plans of ever playing again until I came across Fort Wayne,” Hall said when asked about his second wind. “Now, just two years later, we’re invited to play Down The Line, which I’m told will probably sell 2,700 tickets. I just don’t understand it; an hour south of Fort Wayne I’d been in Muncie for years where people thought we sucked and I couldn’t even get a show. Fort Wayne saved Thunderhawk.”
ADOPTED SONIncreasingly over the last two years you’d see Hall around town, sometimes drinking at Mad Anthony, often on stages, occasionally practicing and sometimes just in the crowd - typically up front and paying close attention. He likes Fort Wayne bands and the music scene here enough that he claims to have based his upcoming Standard album, titled Thunderhawk VI, on Fort Wayne bands. “The whole [recording process] was based on the Fort Wayne music scene,” said Hall, who, for this album recorded dozens of songs under different styles/monikers. “I’d been playing and going to a bunch of shows in Fort Wayne for a while and I wanted to sound like all the bands up there.”
Originally from Philadelphia (he moved to Indiana to attend Ball State as an athlete), Hall recently moved to Indianapolis. “I like Indy but I don’t know if it’s a good place for a musician to live yet. We’ve been playing down here for year and still nobody gives a shit about us,” he said. “It’s not like Fort Wayne. We’ll play a show in Indy and most of the dudes in the other bands won’t even talk to me after or before the show. If I go up to Fort Wayne and walk into the Brass Rail, the first thing I do is give Jon Keller a hug and usually somebody buys me a drink or two.”
Three things, it seems, keep Hall coming back. First are the fans, natch. Lots of them. Second is the Brass Rail, the place you’ll most often find Hall and Thunderhawk. Explains Hall: “the reason the Rail is so great is because John and Corey love music, do most of the booking and can be seen at most of the shows. I think that’s why people love to play there. Anything goes at that place.”
The third reason, of course, are the musicians of Fort Wayne, many of which Hall has worked with. Singer/songwriter Lee Miles had much to do with Hall’s ever-growing relationship with area players. “I asked Josh to do a show and he said his bandmates weren’t free to play on the date in question,” explained Miles. “I knew he'd played with Jon Ross before, and that Jon Keller was an excellent musician. I said ‘why not have Jon and Jon play backup with Thunderhawk?’ I think they practiced once over too many beers then came to the show and played a great set.”
Before Hall hooked up with the Miles Gang he came across Vandolah frontman Mark Hutchins, easily the most likeminded musician in town to Hall. “The thing I remember most about seeing Thunderhawk for the first time was standing side stage and watching that Canadian giant (drummer Doug Market) just beat the living crap out of his drums. That was impressive,” remembers Hutchins. “And it was just song after song and hook after hook of great stuff. We became fast friends then and there. It was so great to see them find an instant audience here, and Josh looked right at home. Eventually Josh played a couple of New Pale Swimmers gigs with me last year, and I've never seen such a quick study. Dude picked up on the stuff instantly. He lives and breathes music.”
HISTORY AND THE CANADIAN GIANT
“I think it was a greater power’s cruel joke to put Josh and I together in the first place,” explained Hall’s longest - and dearest - collaborator, the aforementioned “Canadian giant,” drummer Doug Market (6‘9“, if you‘re wondering). “If we didn't meet, he probably would have released Black Label Summer in 2001 and been on the cover of Magnet soon after. But instead we meet each other in 1998 at a compliance meeting mandatory for all Ball State athletes. Josh was wearing a Ween shirt and I thought ‘finally a cool teammate, I hope he knows how to drink!’ Turns out he knew how to drink and play guitar. After a year or so I went out and bought a PA, my girlfriend bought me a drum set and we taped a mic to a tennis racket, taped that to a light fixture and became Thunderhawk.”
Market, who worked with Hall to record what many consider to be the band’s best work, Thundherhawk IV, still plays with the band when he can. “The last two years for Thunderhawk have been interesting, and interesting is usually a good thing,” explains Market about how the band has changed. “This is a very unique situation because Thunderhawk on tape is one person, yet Thunderhawk on stage is now a mix of many different people - so it's really two different monsters. I struggle with this concept, but without question it has allowed Josh to explore new areas and that is something that is exciting to see. The advantages can be heard particularly in the last two years.”
GETTING STANDARD
In the Spring of 2009, now with a built-in fan base, Hall’s freedom as an album-maker hit a new high. He’d spent the last year recording five albums under five different band names. He then compiled his favorite tracks from those five records and assembled what would become the original version of Thunderhawk VI. “The original version was this crazy mix of songs that were intentionally all over the place style wise,” Hall explained. “The album had no cohesion; it literally sounded like a bad mixtape somebody put together, which was the idea. It was supposed to be this epic box set but things got derailed by the Standard deal and I didn’t have enough money to put out all five albums by myself.”
Hall did, however, release two of the records: Black Label Summer’s Dirty All-Star Band and Thunderhawk’s VI, both of which went out of print within weeks. He also self-released two more albums as free Internet-only releases. But, again, more on that later.
“The new version of VI makes much more sense and sounds more like an album,” said Hall. “I didn’t rerecord any of the songs but Standard rejected my initial mastering job. There were some frequency issues with it which I sort of liked. I don’t want it to be perfect sounding, so I went back and remixed most of it and remastered it. I just don’t have very good equipment and I can only make stuff sound so good doing it in my bedroom. I spend about five percent of my time writing the songs, five percent of my time recording and the rest of the time hunched over my computer trying to fix it so it sounds good.
The new version of the record, which features a bulletproof new tracklist and hits shelves on March 23, will be released as an LP with CD package.
BUSY DAYS AND BREWPUBS
“I’m excited about touring and playing more shows,” said Hall when asked about his record deal. “I got laid off on Christmas Eve so I almost need to play more shows now. And, according to my record contract, I’m supposed to play 80-100 shows in 2010, which is fine by me if they keep throwing us bigger shows like SXSW and the Mid Point Music Festival in Cincinnati and the Broad Ripple Music Fest.”
Upon learning that he was soon to lose his job, Hall sent me a text message: “I’m going to lose my job soon. Time to make the best Thunderhawk album ever.”
Nice attitude. But I couldn’t tell if he was serious or not. “I am serious about making the best Thunderhawk album ever,” he told me. “I just figured I’ll have more time to work on songs since I won’t be at work all day. If I sit down with a guitar for 20 minutes I’ll have a song written, usually its hard to find time to even sit down for half an hour.”
Such is Hall’s reputation. During his 18 or so months as an adopted Fort Wayne musician Hall was commuting an hour each way to work daily, putting in 50 hours of desk work a week, driving up to Fort Wayne often to play shows and writing and recording five albums. Drinking, too.
“If he were just prolific, it'd be one thing,” laughed Hutchins. “If he put out great stuff every so often, it'd be awesome. But the guy churns out quality songs so often that it makes my head spin. His musicianship is outstanding, his studio skills are impeccable, and, best of all, he never panders to the bottom line. I'm so glad people are finally picking up on the fact that folks like this don't come along every day.”
Some 12 years later, sure, but people are finally coming around. So much so that, as mentioned above, Hall is slated to play at SXSW this year. “Standard recently informed me they have confirmed dates for us at SXSW at the end of March,” explained Hall. “My real plan is to do a brewpub tour from Indianapolis to Austin. I’ve had it mapped for weeks now, we’re gonna drive down there and hit as many local brewpubs along the way as we can. There are 29 right along the path through Missouri, Oklahoma City, Fort Worth, etc. We’ll worry about the shows after we get down there, that’s all secondary to the brewpub tour.”
THE BIG SHOW
Originally slated for a January release, VI has been pushed back. Bummer, considering Hall had already set up an album release show at the Brass Rail for January 16.
“The official national release date is March 23, but we’re looking at doing a special Fort Wayne release on March 12 or 13 before I head down to SXSW,” explained Hall. “We’ll actually have the vinyl copies at that time. So for the January 16 show we’ll be exclusively previewing stuff from the new album and even some newer Stun Guzzler and Killer Robots From Space stuff.”
Stun Guzzler and KRFS stuff, you say?! Even better!
KRFS and Stun Guzzler, two of Hall’s many recording monikers, are in all actuality, the two latest chapters in the Thunderhawk book. Sure, VI will be the new album come March 23, but most hardcore fans heard all those songs back before the initial pressings went out of print over half a year ago. The KRFS and Stun Guzzler albums, on the other hand, are new.
The KRFS album, titled Powerlifting, hit the Internet as a free download-only release in September. It’s already become a fan favorite, many even calling it his best work to date.
And then we have the garage rock of Stun Guzzler‘s Simple Twist of Hate, pretty much the newest record on the planet. “I somewhat recently decided to bring back Stun Guzzler, which was my band in high school,” said Hall. “We got last place in my high school battle of the bands and I’m 30 now so I’m having this midlife crisis. Time to bring it back. I want to enter a high school battle of the bands and rock the hell out of it. I think we’d win it this time or at least not get last place.
“So I released the Stun Guzzler album on the Internet on December 31, 2009. It’s just sort of a way to end out the decade and the year. I think it sounds a little bit like the Rolling Stones, maybe. I want to be in the Rolling Stones someday because those guys will never die and I mean that in the abstract and literal sense.
Head over to http://sites.google.com/site/thunderhawkkills/ now and download the Stun Guzzler and Killer Robots From Space albums for free. But, before you do that, mark your calendars, both for the March 23 album release and the January 16 Guzzler/Robots/VI Preview show at the Brass Rail.
Not sold? How about some closing words from local music hero Matt Kelley: “Thunderhawk’s performances have been some of my all-time favorite nights. Followed by some of my all-time least favorite mornings.”
Photos by Joel Faurote // More at www.thunderhawkband.com