Interview with Slim | By Jones V
How did you come up with your band name True Widow? How did you all get together?
Dan and I had known each other for years. He had just moved back to Dallas from Boston and had a few songs he wanted to jam. After striking out a few times with drummers he convinced me to give it a try (I play a few instruments, but at that point drums was not on the list). We started having a real good time coming up with tones and monster riffs. Then it was time to find someone to (wo)man the bass. Dan said he had female vocal parts in his head and wanted to hear how they would play out. A month or so later a mutual friend turned us on to Nicole. It was a match made to be! The three of us hung, jammed, and partied for months before talk of a show ever happened. Up to that point we were all happy just doing it for ourselves. It sort of became our get away from everyone’s reality. Eventually others became interested and a show was booked. A few names had been thrown around up to that point but one day Dan hit me with True Widow and just like everything else between the three of us it just seemed right.
Your style is often described as a hybrid of stoner rock/shoegaze. How would you describe your sound? What are your influences music wise?
I started throwing stonegaze out there because I saw a nightmares worth of genres being thrown at us and figured if it was going to happen we might as well have a hand in it. It beats the hell out of nu-gaze and some of the others that have popped up in the last few years!
Influences are all over the place for us. We all have things we’re into that the others like and then there are things we all really like. The common denominators would have to be album production and instrument tonality.
How would you describe your new album Circumambulation? What is different from your last album As High As the Highest Heavens and From the Center to the Circumference of the Earth (besides the fact that you chose to go with a much shorter title this time
Things have always come pretty natural for us but writing in the style we’ve chosen can get a little tricky. I’d have to say the overall vibe is darker which we tried to represent with a black cover. The sounds are a bit more bleak in parts and we did very few overdubs to add a sense of isolation. With song structures we tried to take what we had done in the past and simplify it. Probably sounds crazy if you’ve heard the previous albums but that was our thought process.
What has been different working with a bigger label like Relapse on this release?
Not all that much really. They operate in a way that almost makes you forget how big they are. It’s been awesome so far! I’d have to say the amount of press has been the biggest difference.
The video for your song “AKA” (2009) was filmed in Sweden by director Mats Ek. How did that come about?
Mats sent us an email just to let us know he really dig the album. He also sent a link to his photography (mostly skateboarding stuff at the time) and that started the two of us on a journey that would become the “A.K.A.” video. Several emails went back and forth hammering out a vague storyline and camera tricks. We wanted it to be as white as possibly so then we just waited for the snow to hit. The week before Christmas he sent us stills from the shoot and the week after Christmas we had a badass (my opinion) video. The end cost for the whole thing was two LPs, two CDs, & six t-shirts. Plus a promise he could shoot a new video for the second album and that we would be in it. Shortly after “A.K.A.” came out he brought himself to TX and we made the “Skull Eyes” video. If there were any way to make it work we would love to do a third video with him for a song off the new album.
On your new album you also have a song called “Trollstigen.” Do you have a special connection to Scandinavia?
Not really. We listen to some music from there and all want to visit someday but that’s about it. “Trollstigen” was on my potential song titles list and Nicole and I thought it fit great.
What are your plans for the rest of 2013?
We were in TX in November for Fun Fun Fun Fest, and currently on our second tour of Europe. Once that wraps up I’ll be climbing into bed for some serious hibernation!
Purchase Circumambulation here: iTunes | Physical
True Widow ranked #40 on our “Top 100 Metal & Rock Albums of 2013” list!
View the list here: newnoisemagazine.com/top-100-metal-rock-albums-2013
True Widow Tour Dates:
Dec 14 – Manchester, UK @ Manchester Academy 2 w/ Kurt Vile
Dec 15 – Glasgow, UK @ Arches w/ Kurt Vile
Dec 16 – Bristol, UK @ The Fleece w/ Kurt Vile
Dec 17 – Brighton, UK @ Concorde 2 w/ Kurt Vile
Dec 18 – Haarlem, Netherlands @ Patronaat w/ Kurt Vile
Dec 19 – Paris, France @ LA GAÎTE LYRIQUE w/ Kurt Vile
Dec 20 – Tourcoing, France @ Le Grand Mix w/ Kurt Vile
Apr 10 – Tilburg, Netherlands @ Roadburn Festival
