It has always been important to me to find music that speaks to human emotion. When I first happened across Seattle’s The Head and The Heart last year, I remember feeling awakened. Their debut self-titled album touched me in such a profound way that it has become a daily listen.
Thankfully, I got to see them perform at the Beachland Ballroom last year. Very few music experiences have moved me as much as that one, so to me it was very important to chat with a member of the band and get to know the person behind these songs that have had such a huge impact on me.
When did you begin playing music?
I grew up going to church, and I sang in worship groups and stuff like that. In high school, my dad, who also played the guitar, bequeathed his old acoustic to me, and I took guitar lessons for a little bit, but I wasn’t really good at practicing scales and all that sort of stuff, but I kept playing it. When you’re in high school, you have all these emotions, and you don’t know what to do with them, so I started writing songs. They were mostly all bad. Then in college, I was in a couple bands and loved it, but they would always be together for a year and break up. There was never a real chemistry, I guess, looking back, compared to this band.
How do you think you cultivated that chemistry?
I think the first thing that was apparent when we started this band was that everyone has an opinion and is willing to share it. There are a lot of bands that have one person who writes the songs, and everyone else sort of writes other things, and they just play along with the songs the other person wrote. The cool thing about this band and everyone wanting to be in on writing the songs is that there’s a lot of give and take and compromise and a lot more communication than a lot of the bands I’ve seen or been in; it just brings you closer together, so this feels much more tighter knit. I’ve never been a part of something like this; it’s like being in a relationship with five other people. It’s definitely pretty rewarding.
What music inspires you?
I don’t know. I think I have an appreciation for music that’s kind of clever and well-constructed, and I think we try to do some of that with interesting arrangements and key changes in some songs. But I think being a songwriter, I’m more focused on writing songs that I believe, that are real life, that show that person is actually feeling that kind of thing. I got into a long time ago and recently got back into Bon Iver, and I feel like you hear his voice, and I feel like I believe anything he says. There’s people like that all over. I think that being able to trust the songwriter a little bit is something that’s really big to me.
Is music a cathartic experience for you?
It definitely has been. Growing up, that was one of the things that made me want to start playing music, just going to shows, and no matter what I was going through, there was this release from going to a good show; being able to forget anything that I was worrying about was huge to me. I always imagined myself being able to make that sort of difference. I always imagined and wanted to be able to do that, even for just one person, with my music.
I remember last year in Cleveland the band dedicated “Rivers & Roads” to an audience member who had shared with one of you that the song was used at his friend’s memorial service. Does it still catch you off-guard how deeply your music touches its listeners?
Yeah, that was one of those moments where you just feel completely rewarded for what we do. Which was really cool.
You’re playing a few festivals this summer. How does performing for such a large audience compare to
performing in a smaller venue?
I think I probably like headlining shows better because part of the beauty of shows for me was when I knew the band and knew the words and could just get lost in the songs. You see that at our shows, and that is really personally rewarding to me. The fun part about festivals is that there are a lot of people who haven’t heard of you or maybe have heard of you, but are like, “Oh, my gosh, I didn’t know what this was,” so that’s cool.
Do you find it harder to connect to the audience at a larger venue?
Every time you get used to playing a certain sized venue and then you move up to playing a bigger venue, you have to figure out how to play music to the back of the room again. That’s what I’m concerned about—getting the people in the back to feel it. I think every time you move up to a bigger sized venue, it’s a little disconcerting at first, and you have to change the way you play to convey a bigger emotion, so the people in the balcony are feeling it. I think there are bands that are great at that, that can touch the people in the back just as much as the people in the front, which is a talent that we don’t have, but I think it is something that you develop as you play bigger places.
Which should you follow—your head or your heart?
I think I said it in the song! You know. actually my opinion has changed. In “Heaven Go Easy On Me,” there’s a line “don’t follow your head, follow your heart,” which for me, personally, was the most rewarding. But I think what it is, is that I could do what makes the most sense, and I could subdue the things that I’m most passionate about, and I did that, and that didn’t make me happy. But there are other people who have done what makes the most sense to them and not followed what they’re passionate about who were satisfied.
It depends on who you are, if you’re more logical or a more passionate person, or however you call that. I think everyone is different, and everyone strikes this balance with how much they’re comfortable with leaning back on what makes sense versus taking a chance on what doesn’t make sense or may not make sense that they truly care about. I think I struck up a debate by naming the band The Head & The Heart and by writing that line. I think that’s one of the cool and crazy things about people, is that everyone is different and everyone strikes a different balance in order to be the best they can be.
Ohio, we are blessed to have The Head and The Heart in Columbus at Newport Music Hall this Saturday. Hopefully, you grabbed tickets to this show because it is SOLD OUT. If not, be sure to get yourself to the nearest The Head and The Heart show! Your weary soul needs healing.
