#hotflashheatwave

Floating - A lot of people describe that listening to music makes them feel like they’re floating. Is there a certain emotion or sensation that you want your music to evoke in those listening to it?

Every song evokes a different emotion so it really depends on the track, but usually it has a lot to do with what the meaning of the song is to me and how I want the lyrics to impact someone. A song can be sad, but have a happy melody so the meaning can have a kind of silver lining to it. The Beatles would do that all the time with their songs which has made a big impact on how we craft our tracks and present them to the listener.  

Head in the Clouds - Is there a particular headspace that you have to be in to write your music? Has it differed between your releases?

For me (Adam) I try to find a place in my mind where i’m having fun and experimenting. It’s kind of a flow that you can’t force, but you can cultivate through a healthy lifestyle or trying new things. Maybe one day you wake up early and go on a run and it puts you in the perfect mindset or maybe you wake up hungover at 1 pm and you just have this idea that you have to record. There’s many ways to find this place, but there’s never one way to get there and when you do get to that space it’s never exactly the same. Nick is just generally most productive when he’s in a good mood, and so he needs that as a prerequisite for writing. Ted typically needs to be feeling very inspired and motivated to express a specific emotion that he is hoping to evoke in the song.)

Glo Ride - What 3 songs are on your essential road trip playlist currently?

‘Nevermine’ by Forth Wanderers, ‘Maybe you’re the reason’ by The Japanese House, ‘New Magic Wand’ by Tyler, the Creator

Grapes - What sort of ‘fresh’ take do you think your latest release “Mood Ring” has brought to your live show?

‘Mood Ring’ has made our live set more dynamic. It gives us a chance to break up the rock n roll songs of our previous records with chiller, groovier, and more psychedelic sounds. On our headline tour in Feb/Mar this year we wrote the setlist so to cultivate a specific journey and arc through our music, where the energy ramps up and then ramps down, to people have time to catch a breath and a different vibe.

Sky So Blue - If you could describe your music as the ideal weather conditions for listening to it, what would they be and why?

Any kind of weather is good for listening to music in my opinion. Sunny days lend themselves to more upbeat and energetic songs, but also a dark and rainy day is great for a sad song or a love song where you could just curl up in your bed and blast some tunes.

Trust - Do you ever find your trust in your artistic abilities wavering while creating new music? How do you bring yourselves back to center when this happens?

Absolutely, but we have each other to help ground each other. We all have very similar songwriting sensibilities and a collective ear that we have cultivated over many years together as bandmates and friends and so at this point we feel pretty comfortable with each other and can trust the other bandmates for advice while we are going through a period of personal uncertainty.

Dreaming of U - What’s a dream you have for Hot Flash Heat Wave for the rest of 2019?

One dream we all have had that is coming true this fall is going to tour Europe. We can’t wait to go play our music outside the US and meet people in countries around Europe and the UK. Truly a blessing and a dream come true. Also that our next release turns out really good! We hope to grow our audience as well, so our music can reach more listeners and potentially impact their lives, as our past music has already done. That is one of the most rewarding aspects of this line of work.

Written by Ashton Carr