Band of the Month - Thunderhawk

My initial reaction after listening to Thunderhawk’s new album, Thunderhawk VI, was, “What the fuck was that?”

Josh Hall, leader and songwriter explained to me, “It really is a fake compilation of several bands I made up- ranging from punk, alternative country, psych pop, and straight up Indie rock.” Hall wrote and recorded four completely different albums, one for each of the aforementioned genres. Mind you, this was all done in his bedroom. The marquis songs from each of these concept albums, Thunderhawk I-IV, formed Thunderhawk VI.

Before he was thirteen, he was playing the complete works of Scott Joplin, American rag-time composer, on the piano. By the time he reached high school, he discovered Indie rock and classical music was out of the picture for this Philadelphian-turned-Hoosier. Thunderhawk got started in 1998 in Muncie when Hall and his friend Doug Market (drums) got together at Ball State. They met on the volleyball courts and immediately got along, sharing similar interests and tastes in music. Other members have come and gone over the years, but the duo, along with Drew Sexton and Justin Darrow, have been the steady, driving force of Thunderhawk. At Ball State, the band recorded several albums, including what Nuvo calls a “Twenty-two song Indie classic of the need-to-know variety” drawing comparison to bands such as Pavement and Guided by Voices.

Not long after Josh put the compilation VI together, Standard Recording approached him about releasing his music. While unwilling to produce and release all of the albums (each one had a different band pseudonym), they did agree to release the alternative country recording as a digital-only copy called Black Label Summer as a bonus for ordering Thunderhawk VI through Standard Recording’s website.

But back to the album. Everything was recorded directly into Josh’s computer and edited with the PC version of ProTools. Essentially, Hall writes, records, and e-mails the tracks to the rest of his band mates and they all get together after learning their individual parts. Don’t think that this is a thrown-together record. Josh, who grew up outside Philadelphia, chose to attend Ball State because of their renowned music-engineering program.

Thunderhawk never really had a following in Muncie, and the same happened in Indianapolis. In 2006, the band dissolved with the exception of Market and Hall. At a personal low point in his band’s career, Hall’s baby, Gravity Wins! (an album he had written and recorded entirely by himself) almost succumbed to the natural force. His roommates stopped him just before throwing his computer over a balcony, saving Gravity Wins! and the band. The album was a huge hit in Fort Wayne, and Thunderhawk started gaining steam. The original band members got back together and started practicing and recording again, creating the albums used to create Thunderhawk VI, which was actually completed by October 2008.

Hall, a complete audiophile, is extremely excited about the vinyl release of Thunderhawk VI. The A side is all Indie rock, with a touch of punk, and the B side is predominantly alternative country and as Hall felt almost obligated to mention, “It comes out blasting a twangy ‘Dead is the drunkest you can get.’” It is very much a concept album, and he is very proud to call it such.

The album, while very eclectic, is surprisingly coherent. I did find that my favorite songs were those with that alternative country style, with rich vocal harmonies and fresh, wicked honky guitar riffs that lend homage to The Rolling Stones.

There will be two release shows for the Standard Recording vinyl release. For those of you in the Fort Wayne area, Thunderhawk will be at the Brass Rail on Friday, March 12th, and for the Indianapolis-based folks, they will be at Local’s Only on Saturday, March 13th. If you can’t make it to either, you’re probably seeing them at South By Southwest between March 18-20th.

LISTEN TO THE RECORD ON MFT HERE - http://www.musicalfamilytree.com/band/thunderhawk

For more information about the band, follow them on:

Myspace
Twitter- Thunderhawkband
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