U.K. band and ATO Records artist The Heavy Heavy played its first U.S. headline show over the weekend in Charlottesville, VA. With nearly 30 shows to go, spanning from D.C. to Seattle, we caught up with the duo to see how they’re feeling.
5 Questions with The Heavy Heavy by Sam Shansky
1) Were you two the only ones involved in cutting your debut EP Life and Life Only or were there other contributing players and producers?
It was all us two, but we had our good friend Chris playing the drums.
2) Could you briefly describe the recording process for the EP and what was happening at that time in your lives?
We were living in our north London flat, working side jobs all over the city and dreaming of bigger things. We recorded the whole EP there, in our front room-turned-studio. All the instrumentation and production happened in that tiny little London flat.
3) You’re gearing up to embark on your first headlining tour of the U.S. with more than 30 shows spanning from D.C. to Seattle. Has your trajectory as a band been a steady climb, or have catapult-like moments launched you further than projected?
We’re only just getting started, so it’s certainly a catapult feeling. In January this year, we’d played 5 local shows, a month later, we were a signed band to one of our favourite labels, had amazing management, and were planning an 8 week US tour – it’s definitely not been a steady climb in the last six months!
Bonus: On tour, are there any things you hope to check off the bucket list that you only can find in the U.S.?
Golden Gate Bridge, South Pacific Highway, driving through the deserts of Texas and Arizona. Playing the Troubadour is probably the biggest performance moment for us – steeped in music history. And also eating BBQ meats, cornbread, and getting some of that sweet, sweet iced tea.
4) What groups with female-male harmonies have had the most significant impact on your art, and are you trained vocalists or self-taught?
Certainly Delaney & Bonnie, Mamas & Papas and Fleetwood Mac. Also Jefferson Airplane and Big Brother & The Holding Company. Georgie is a classically trained vocalist, and Will is self-taught.
5) There’s talk of a full-length release in 2023. What can you tell us at this time?
It’s an extension of what we’ve released so far. And bombastic.
Bonus: If you could interview any musician, who would it be, and why?
Too many to choose from:
Georgie – Aretha Franklin – because she’s the greatest singer of all time.
Will – Keith Richards – to get into his head about how he produces everything.
Bonus: What’s the best music video that you’ve recently watched?
“Sold My Soul” – Cut Worms
