An interview with Trash Heads
An interview with Trash Heads
What inspired the name of the band? What are your influences?
We had an earlier version of the band called ‘Trash The Set’ and wrote a song called ‘Trash Heads’ as an ode to our fans – the song signalled a new direction for the band and we also realised it was a better band name!
We play alternative 90s-influenced rock/grunge with loud guitars, drums and BIG choruses – think Queens of the Stone Age, Faith No More, The Wildhearts and Foo Fighters.
How do you approach songwriting? Are there any themes that you are keen to explore when you start off?
We don’t usually have a particular theme to explore, but the last couple of years the way life has been has definitely had an influence on some of the lyrics – we do try to be a bit more ‘open to interpretation’ and not so on-the-nose though, so listeners can take what they want from our songs.
Most songs usually start with one of the band demoing up the skeleton of a song or basic arrangement in Garageband/Cubase and sharing it with the others. From there if it gets the universal thumbs up we add our parts and finally get together and play it out in rehearsals. The song can then usually go through a few changes like swapping parts around to flow better or adding dynamics.
How do you approach songwriting? Are there any themes that you are keen to explore when you start off?
We don’t usually have a particular theme to explore, but the last couple of years the way life has been has definitely had an influence on some of the lyrics – we do try to be a bit more ‘open to interpretation’ and not so on-the-nose though, so listeners can take what they want from our songs.
Most songs usually start with one of the band demoing up the skeleton of a song or basic arrangement in Garageband/Cubase and sharing it with the others. From there if it gets the universal thumbs up we add our parts and finally get together and play it out in rehearsals. The song can then usually go through a few changes like swapping parts around to flow better or adding dynamics.
Why do you write the sort of music that you do?
Our music is definitely influenced by the various bands/artists that we grew up listening to – bands like Adam & The Ants, Queen, INXS which led to getting into classic metal such as Maiden, Metallica etc and then the alternative rock scene of the 90s and 00s, Nirvana, Faith No More, Queens of the Stone Age in particular. Wanting to emulate your musical heroes is a strong motive, and over time you take in other influences and song writing tricks. Also in recent years I think the way the world is has led to wanting to express ourselves in our songs.
How do you decide what songs to perform live and how do you transpose them into that live setting?
We already have certain songs that we know go down well and tend to play those as the core of our set (our ‘greatest hits’ if you will!), but we also like to pepper the set with new songs when they’re in their early stages of writing to test them out, and switch in other songs we want to try too, depending on how long a set we get at the gig.
How do you decide what songs to perform live and how do you transpose them into that live setting?
We already have certain songs that we know go down well and tend to play those as the core of our set (our ‘greatest hits’ if you will!), but we also like to pepper the set with new songs when they’re in their early stages of writing to test them out, and switch in other songs we want to try too, depending on how long a set we get at the gig.
What plans do you have for the future?
Our new single ‘Set It Right’ is out this Friday 11th June on our Bandcamp page and on all streaming platforms (Spotify etc). Taken from our forthcoming album ‘Vandalism’ which is due out in September. We’re also playing Leo’s Red Lion, Gravesend (Kent) with Follow The Hawk on Saturday 12th June, and Penny Theatre Canterbury supporting Foo Fighters GB on Friday 3rd September.