Interview with Aleisha Simpson of Heart Avail.
Heart Avail – Music genre Alternative
Location – Spokane, Washington
Members – Aleisha Simpson (Vocals) Greg Hanson (Guitar) Mick Barnes (Bass) Seamus Gleason (drums)
– What’s new in the world of Heart Avail?
We just did a three month press release with Asher Media and got signed to Milagro records in the meantime. We also just released our 5 song EP December 7 which has been getting some great press. We are also gearing up to head to Hollywood the week of the Grammy’s and attending some of the parties and playing at the Whiskey A GO GO with the Greg Kihn band February 11. For the second year, I will also be attending parties at Sundance film festival in January,which I am really excited for. I have some great press that is coming out of it thanks to my manager Kim K. Jones and our American Publicist Josh Mitchell, and I am really looking forward to going back.
– How was it recording your EP from the beginning to the end?
Recording the EP was great. Greg and I work together on all of the songwriting and recording in his basement so its a very comfortable environment and we are able to make all the changes we need without the pressure of time.
– Will there be promo videos issued for the promotions of the EP?
Yes there were two EP videos done. One for Pink Lace and one for No Remorse
– When writing a song, is there such a thing as investing too much time?
I do not think so. I think that real feeling in music cant be rushed and the song has a story that doesn’t always come to light right away.
– Do you have any tours coming up in the near future?
We have a mini New Years Eve tour we are doing that will be three days long in Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. We are also currently working with our label and Landmark events to get a tour together for March which will also be when our first full length album will be released. We also intend on doing a full U.S tour after our Canadian tour is over.
– Could you describe some of your earliest influences in life and in music?
As a little girl I was greatly inspired by my grandmother and mom who were singers but mostly by my grandfather who wrote his own music he composed on his guitar. I used to sit with him while he sang me songs on the guitar and it really inspired me. As I got older I really looked up to singers like Sarah McLauchlan and Sarah Brightman. And then Amy Lee came out with Evanescence and I knew that was the kind of music I wanted to do. To me she was one of the first American bands to have an operatic singer with this awesome rock behind her. Later Greg introduced me to bands like Nightwish and Within Temptation, which are two of his favorite bands and I was hooked. We love the sound of symphonic metal.
– How important is it for a musician in this generation to spend time on social media?
I wish I could say it wasn’t important but that would be a lie.Social media is one of the biggest and best tools a musician can use. We now have the ability to communicate with fans worldwide and make contacts we wouldn’t be able to find without a label. In a huge DYI kind of society , being connected is huge and one of the reasons we have been able to find some many opportunities. I tell musicians all the time, if they are not tapping into social media they really aren’t that serious about music because its a huge resource.
– Is the band fans of Spotify and similar streaming services? What are your thoughts on this?
Its a mixed bag. I feel like musicians are not longer being paid for what they are worth. People want everything free and this included music and outlets like Spotify keep so much of our proceeds its a joke how much we get for streaming. At the same time it gives bands a platform to be found in. A lot of bands I love, I discovered on platforms like Spotify and Pandora.
– Where do you see music in general going in 20 years from now?
Honestly, I’m afraid of where music will be. So many new bands are just a single player and a computer and in Japan, some of their most popular music, is computer singers. And a lot of the pop singers, you don’t even know what they really sound like anymore due to auto-tune and all that other bs that hides who really has talent and who doesn’t. I really want to have faith that music wont go all digital and that we will realize that real talent is rare and raw and has feeling and that emotion is important, but we just elected Trump so its hard to have faith in people anymore.
https://www.facebook.com/heartavail/
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