June Album of the month: Blue Weekend by Wolf Alice

1) Harker tell us about your band and where your based?
 

Hey Kess! We are Harker, a fuzz / punk / indie band from Brighton, UK – we like to call the kind of music we play 'EMOGAZE'. For us the music we play is a blend of all the melodic Punk bands we love such as Jawbreaker, Superchunk etc – combined with a strong lean into the sound of the Dischord records roster. Music with bite!

2) Your new album AXIOM is our album of the Month for May, tell our readers what they can expect from the album?
 

Thank you so much for supporting the new LP, album of the month is something we're pretty excited about!
 

When it came to writing the new album, we knew that we wanted to develop our sound from beyond what we did with our first record 'No Discordance'. A lot of the first record was written in-between member changes, and are lyrically on a more personal level in relation to my bouts of depression. I think about half the albums songs were finished before Matt (drummer) and Phoebe (bassist / vocalist) joined up.
 

So this time round, 'Axiom' is a much more collective effort – and we feel it captures our sound more so than ever before. We're all very diverse music listeners in the band, and we wanted to throw in some more 'outside' influences you'd not catch on a Punk Rock album.. This album we really focused on change – so that was our main drive, not to rewrite the same album again and again in a little Pop Punk bubble. We're a bit tired of algorithm fed pop-music that is feeding the industry and charts currently, so expect to be SCARED and get your ears hurt at points!!
 

It's also a lot more politically driven. It's probably not a surprise to some readers that we are very outspoken against the current UK government, and a lot of the tracks are aimed at tackling the problems they have created. There's also some stabs at the cult of personality, police oppression and environmental change.. issues that currently aren't being addressed enough in music.

3) Can you name the top 2 tracks for us to look out for on this album?
 

For me,
 

Moriah – A real heavy riff laden rocker that's over in under 2 minutes 30. I wanted this to be the first single, but I was told it was too scary to be one, ha!
 

The Grey Lady – Just one of those tracks where the execution just came out sounding so great. The track that achieves our self proclaimed 'EMOGAZE' moniker the most. Choruses have some great MBV style washy guitars.

4) What was the writing and production process for this album?
 

As with a lot of musicians, we were totally done in by COVID19 restrictions when it came to the writing / production process. The album was originally planned for late 2020, with us heading to the studio March / April armed with a full set of demo recordings. Once lockdowns started hitting us, we made a decision to take a step back – and to demo the tracks a second time.
 

It's the most preparation time i've ever been involved in with music, but I think it was worth every extra step. There were parts that as soon as we put them down on the second demo we couldn't believe we had missed – vocal techniques and overdubs really shone through on this too, helping us breathe more life into them before we went in for the studio versions.
 

Recording had to be staggered into three separate sessions, with all of us heading up the first round to get guide tracks, drums and bass done – Guitars, vocals and extras followed in the next two sessions, with each of us dipping in and out. It was the safest way for us all to do it around restrictions. Luckily the producer for the album Bob Cooper was incredibly accommodating, easy to work with and knew how to push us to get these tracks sounding killer. One of the tracks I remember having to sing over and over again, which he almost made me crack – but listening back now, I can see why he was trying to send us over the edge ha!

5) Have you got live gigs lined up later this year, so your fans can hear these new tracks live?
 

We've got a couple of pencilled dates for later in the year, but this is all down to restrictions being lifted, passports being accepted etc etc... Currently, only one of us has been vaccinated with the rest of us hopefully following soon! We're still waiting to hear in regards to a rescheduled tour in November, now we also have the new problem of Brexit... not a fun time to be a musician in the UK at all. All we can say is keep your eyes out, and we're going to try work out some 'digital' shows to appease anyone with the itch right now.
 

I do think some bigger organisers should be looking at what is best right now – I personally don't think big festivals are in the right frame of mind to be going ahead with the risk of them turning into 'super spreader' events – but I also understand that these well loved festival circuits are on the verge of collapse too. I just hope that musicians are also keeping the vulnerable in mind too, and finding the best and safest way to perform without later problems.

6) Where can our readers get their hands on this album or download it?
 

Many places! The album is available to stream through Spotify/iTunes etc, and is also downloadable in high quality lossless from BandCamp..
 

http://harker.bandcamp.com/
 

It's also out on CD & Vinyl through our labels, Disconnect Disconnect Records, Wiretap Records, Shield Recordings & Fixing A Hole Records!
 

UK: https://disconnectdisconnectrecords.bigcartel.com/product/harker-axiom
US: https://wiretaprecords.limitedrun.com/products/697027-harker-axiom-12-lp
EU: http://distro.shieldrecordings.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=2413