Q: Hey, can you tell us a bit about where you come from, and what made you want to start a career in music?
A: We’ve all been writing music and in various bands/projects for the last few decades. Creating music and playing it together and for others gives ours lives meaning.
Q: And what other artists have you found yourself listening to lately?
A: Wild Nothing, Everything Everything, Prince, Wolf Alice, Jungle
Q: Who were your first and strongest musical influences, and why the name ‘Nature Loves Courage’?
A:
McKenna: Peter Gabriel, Meat Beat Manifesto
Jake: Mike Watt, Tony Levin, The Brothers Johnson
Garrett: Van Halen, King’s X
“Nature Loves Courage” is the beginning of a famous quote by psychadelic philosopher Terence McKenna. He’s saying that when you have courage to be creative and share your passion/art, the universe will respond. Create things for the sheer joy of it and watch how nature responds. You’ll see a lot of people out there have co-opted this slogan for books, art exhibits, even an electtonic festival in Crete. But we’re the first band we know of.
Q: You have just released your new single, ‘Players’. Is there a story behind it?
A: McKenna wanted to write a soul/R&B style track with lush live horn (some Peter Gabriel “Sledgehammer” influence, no doubt) and vocal arrangements… the kind of tune that demands a horn section and backup singers live. We really hope to executive that whole experience live soon! As for the subject matter, the song is about a woman out with her friends, “playing the field” and she finds another “player”…they both realize they’ve found true love in one another.
Q: Can we expect a new EP or even an album from you in the near future?
A: So far we’ve released 10 of 12 songs we recorded in 2022 and have 3-4 more we plan to release by end of the year.
Q: What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?
A: Sound: electronic-funk-rock
There’s a density and intensity to our sound, and McKenna’s vocals have often been compared to Kate Bush and Annie Lennox
Q: Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it, or are you expecting something more?
A: We get a lot of joy out of creating music and playing together, but we’re trying now to reach and grow our fan base. We’re working on booking shows on the west coast and getting airplay on indie and college radio.
Q: Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song?
A: McKenna is the primary force writing the songs. She sketches out the main drum groove and bass line and has Garrett and Jake translate those ideas through their own personal expression. Sometimes she’ll also add guitar ideas and have Joe (guitarist) translate those or have him add in some melodic guitar texture to songs. She sketched out all the arrangements and vocal parts/harmonies at home, but has a difficult/limited set up at home. So we record the final version with our engineer, Tim Boland, at his studio. The arrangements and mapping out of everything is done ahead of time so we know exactly what we’re doing in the studio when we record and mix down.
Q: What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?
A: The volume of bands and music out there now is staggering. There are so many things competing for attention…it’s hard to feel like you’re going to get anywhere as a fairly new band. But you just have to keep at it and enjoy the journey.
Q: On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?
A: We’re proud of the mountain of music we have managed to record and share throughout 2022! Each song is unique and individual …stands on its own, yet somehow is still representative of the overall personality and spirit of our band. That’s on top of working full time jobs and perhaps not having the amount of energy we did when we were 20!
We want to accomplish so much more and connect with a lot more fans, but we have to stop and appreciate all that we’ve done so far.
