Interview By: Pablo CortezSherwood have been super-busy preparing for the release of their up-coming album, "QU," out October 13th. We caught up with Nate Henry for a quick Q&A. You can pre-order "QU" on Amazon.com at the link below. - Follow Sherwood on Twitter.
PC: What up, Nate? First question: how are you guys preparing for "QU’s" upcoming release? Any band rituals, like not changing your socks or eating only fish ‘till release day?
Nate: We don't have any rituals as a band for release day yet. It takes so long for an album to come out that we would probably give up on ideas like" not changing our socks," etc. We are actually really busy, I have been putting in 40+ hour work weeks doing just about everything.
PC: You’ve been recently tweeting, (twatting? twooted?) about prepping the pre-orders of "QU." Can you elaborate on the package for our readers?
Nate: We are going to offer three packages and I think we are still deciding what's going to be in each package. I have been just trying to get the word out that the new pre-order is coming soon. I wish I could tell you it's up right now but it will be soon, very soon.
**Editor's note - He's being modest! The pre-order is up-and-running on Amazon.com**
PC: Speaking of which, why “QU?"
Nate: Exactly.
PC: You’ll be touring with Better than Ezra this fall, curious as to what some of your favorite bands that you’ve toured with are.
Nate: We have enjoyed the road with so many great bands over the years that it's hard to give a narrowed-down shout-out. I think our favorite tour was with Relient K, because they treated us like kings, every show was huge and sold out. They are just a great band of good people and we had a lot of fun together.
PC: I’ve read most of you met while at Cal Poly SLO, what were your majors? By the way, Cal Poly Pomona rules!
Nate: Cal Poly Pomona? Is that another school something? JK! Going to school on the central coast of California and playing music full time are the two dreams this band has shared together. Our majors in college included business, recreation parks & tourism admin, communications and philosophy. Some of us need to finish a few more classes though (winks).
PC: The three MySpace-released tracks from QU have very distinct sounds. Is this true for the rest of the LP, and was this slight change in direction something that was decided on?
Nate: I think an album needs to move, and breathe, and continue to engage the listener in new ways with every track. An album should be like a great film or book that keeps people engaged until the end. With "QU," we decided to let each song sorta be it's own journey and go the direction that "the song" needed to go. We also wanted to make an entire album, not just a few good songs, but an entire album that people will love start to finish.
I think the only way to continue playing music emotionally as a band is to grow and change. I think Sherwood would implode if we played mindless music every night, even if the shows were all sold out. We had a lot of "who are we" talks on the road with our last release, as it took us all over the world. Those experiences molded our perspective on music and life in general. Making an album that stays fresh for years is very hard to do. I think we finally have an album that we will love playing for a long time.
PC: What were some musical influences for you guys growing up as kids?
Nate: As kids, I think we all loved bands like the Beach Boys & The Beatles. I grew up listening to a lot of 80's bands when driving to elementary school with my older sister. I can remember singing Paula Abdul & Madonna songs on the playground, trying to impress girls. My first CD's were "Siamese Dream," "August & Everything After," & Weezer's "Blue Album."
PC: Who writes and/or thinks up ideas for the Sherwood Show? How did the whole idea come about?
Nate: That would be me, Nate. I was actually talking to Gabe Saporta one night, late on his tour bus, about how webisodes engage a band's fan base. He kinda unofficially convinced me to start it. I had been doing a lot of videos for sherwood already, but it wasn't a part of a collective series, so to speak. The ideas sort of come to me and then I try and motivate the rest of the band to act. It keeps us having fun - well... most of the time.
PC: Great feature on the Birmingham Travel Lodge by the way. What were some of your favorite spots you played in the UK?
Nate: Why thanks, it's one of our more popular episodes. In America, you spend hours on end driving, and there are noticeable differences between cities and their crowds, but in the UK, it all feels very similar to me. The dialect with accents change, but the cities are all hundreds of years old, and relatively close in proximity to one another. I would say that since I have the Scottish blood in me, that something stirs in my heart when I get there. I like to play in Scotland.
PC: Finally, what’s the plan for Sherwood’s future? Anything you’d like to share with the fans?
Nate: We are at a critical moment as a band, because we are no longer kids, and we have paid our dues. It's time for us to take things to the next level. We just hope this album strikes a chord in the hearts of people like never before, and we can continue to do this for many more years to come.
Two things I would relay to our fans. First, word of mouth is everything, tell everyone about the music you love and put it on a mix for friends, or Twitter and/or post a link.
Second, If you love what a band does then it's your job to support them as much as you can. Buying a record from your favorite band goes a long way these days and it's more important than ever.
