Edinburgh’s Hamish Hawk returned in April with the welcome news that a new album A Firmer Hand was to land August 16th on So Recordings. Now, that day has come, and on the release day of the album, he chatted to us all about how the album came together, the unconscious process of song-writing, working with his core team once again, and his upcoming tour supporting Travis.
[Gemma Cockrell]: Hi Hamish! How are you doing?
[Hamish Hawk]: I’m grand, thank you. I slept well, and A Firmer Hand came out today, so all in all things are looking rosy!
[GC]: Your previous two albums have been incredibly successful, and it feels like you’ve done it for a third time. How does it feel from your perspective?
[HH]: I’m really thrilled with how this new record has turned out; it feels like the band and I started something with Heavy Elevator, and whatever that thing is, it’s come full circle. We gave this album all we’ve got, from writing, through recording to release, and we have high hopes for it. That said, I feel in writing and recording it I’ve already achieved what I set out to do. It’s been an important step for me personally.
[GC]: How did those albums, Heavy Elevator and Angel Numbers, change your life?
[HH]: It’s difficult to say. I think at the time I might have had a more definite answer to hand. So much of what has changed over the past two or three years has been psychological. Yes, I achieved certain success with those records, although it’s difficult to pinpoint how much life changed, other than to say my schedule became an awful lot busier. They did, however, change how I think about my career, my band, my life at home, my loved ones, the future. In short, they changed everything. My life before Heavy Elevator was a different place entirely.
[GC]: A Firmer Hand stemmed from some uncomfortable emotions, including guilt, shame and repression. How did you decide that it was something that needed to be released, despite this conflict?
[HH]: For me, my music is the be all and end all. As much as I may feel apprehensive, anxious, even frightened about releasing this or that music, the release itself is not in question for me. Releasing, performing, presenting my music is an essential part of the music itself. Music is a language, a means of engaging, of connecting. There’s no hope for connecting if I keep things to myself.
[GC]: The songs revolve around your relationships with men, whether they be friends, lovers, family, or colleagues. Did you consciously decide to craft the album around this theme, or did it simply fall into place as you were putting it together?
[ HH]:The direction the album ultimately took was decided by the first two songs I wrote for it: ‘Questionable Hit’ and ‘Machiavelli’s Room’. It certainly wasn’t a conscious choice. Song-writing is often an unconscious process; when it’s going well, you’re scarcely aware of the words hitting the page. The songs on A Firmer Hand guided my hand, not the other way around.
[GC]: You have noted that even though the album tackles different themes, it doesn’t diminish the value of your previous work at all, and you haven’t hidden any parts of yourself or made anything up. How does it feel to be evolving both as a songwriter and also as a person, and having that captured within bodies of work over time?
[HH]: I’ve said before that I continue to learn lessons from my songs long after I’ve written them. They’re a really valuable resource in that respect. They reveal more and more of themselves over time, and that can be really illuminating. Having a record of the different stages of my life, however painful, is one of the many gifts that life as a recording artist brings, and if other people can derive meaning or succour from my music then the reward only grows.
[GC]: You’ve never conformed to genre, and you continue to remain true to that ethos here. Where do all of these different influences come from, and how do you merge them to form something completely unique which could only be made by yourself?
[HH]: I wouldn’t say I’m against conforming to genre. If there’s a band or musician who’s interested in working in one particular genre, with a specific set of tools, driven to dig deeper and deeper within that genre, to develop it, test its limits, who seeks to find its essence, then I think that’s a potentially fruitful pursuit. I tend to dance between a few different sounds, I’d say, namely because I’m curious by nature, and keep myself interested by variety. I’m a collector at heart, and my music is a place where all of my inspirations come to play together. I’m interested in how different things interact, knock off each other and create sparks. I’m trying to capture the sparks.
[GC]: You worked with your core team once again here. How does that help with the cohesiveness of your music, as well as enabling you to write about some more difficult emotions?
[HH]: The band and I have been working together for years, and we have over that time developed a collective instinct. I trust each of them implicitly with every aspect of my music, and they better than anyone understand what I’m trying to convey and achieve lyrically. We seek to satisfy ourselves first and foremost, and we’ve succeeded in that over the last two records, it made only good sense to continue working together on this one. I’m not one to throw a spanner into something on a whim. What we have is much too precious for that.
[GC]: Unlike on Angel Numbers, you didn’t get any additional musicians into the studio this time. What made you decide to work in this way, this time around? How do you think it shaped the album into what it ultimately became?
[HH]: Angel Numbers continued what Heavy Elevator had started, and embellished itself in that way that indie-rock often does, with strings, horns, pedal steel etc etc. A Firmer Hand continues in that frame of mind. After playing around with the bells and whistles, it retires then again in favour of getting back to basics. We wanted to be able to reproduce all of the sounds you hear on the record live onstage. Thanks to the no frills approach, we’ve been able to do just that.
[GC]: You’ve got some tour dates coming up, including some headline record store shows and some support slots with Travis. How are you feeling about taking the album on the road for the first time?
[HH]: The band and I are really eager to play these songs live. Songs live a whole new life onstage, and we’re keen to hear what that sounds like. These songs have lurked in the shadows for a while, it’s time they saw some daylight.
A Firmer Hand is out now via So Recording.
