The Human Abstract interview

The Gauntlet: What's up?

Nathan: We just showed up in Connecticut a little while ago. We played an awesome show last night. It was our first show in the city. We had a huge line before we got there. There were a lot of kids there. It was awesome and pretty unexpected. I didn't think we'd have that kind of crowd there. It was one of the best shows on the tour. The whole vibe from the kids was great and everyone was into it.

The Gauntlet: That's cool. New York is one of those markets that you either hit or miss completely.

Nathan: Yeah. Our band is from LA. Another one of our shows that was really awesome was the LA show at the Whiskey. It was really awesome to have the New York show be such a hit.

The Gauntlet: How long will the current tour go for?

Nathan: The tour with Folly, Look What I Did and Drop Dead Gorgeous started on July 11th in North Carolina and will end on Sept 2nd. Then we have 2 more weeks with Drop Dead Gorgeous and He Is Legend. After that, we have two weeks off and that is the first down time we've had in a long time. In November, we will be going out with God Forbid and that will be a great tour. We like those guys a lot and they are into our music.

The Gauntlet: Will that be a House Of Blues size club tour?

Nathan: Yeah, larger clubs with good sound stages every night. Our current tour is hit or miss. Some nights we show up and there are no monitors.

The Gauntlet: When you have two weeks off, is that really offtime or just time off the road to do press?

Nathan: Well, I'll take a week to go stay with my family. The other week, we will mostly be practicing our new set and changing songs around for our next tour. For the most part we are just getting ready for the next tour but will try to have a week off to just chill. We have been touring nonstop since we recorded the album in February. It has been pretty relentless. We have been all about that though. We know that this is the time to do it. We are a new band and just released an album. The live shows are really what it is all about.

The Gauntlet: It might just be me, but I'm not a fan of most Southern California hardcore bands, yet The Human Abstract breaks so many boundaries with its music.

Nathan: If you are talking about the California new school hardcore sound, I have a lot to say about that. The thing about California, So Cal kind of ran the show music wise. New York has always had a lot going on. The new school hardcore scene came out of the south here. Norma Jean and Zao have really fronted this movement and they came out of the East Coast. I grew up in Nashville Tennessee and moved to California three years ago to search for the opportunity. In Nashville, we had built things up for a really long time. I had been in the Nashville scene for like eight years trying to build it up and make a scene happen. The thing about Nashville is it is a big recording town. Most of the kids in the scene are musicians kids and are very proficient. There are a lot of really cool bands there with an eclectic sound. The problem is there isn't a lot of industry there except country. They aren't about signing anyone else. The only way for a band like us to make it in Nashville is through touring DIY style. The band Scatter the Ashes came out of Nashville though and they are getting a lot of press. But hardcore really spread its way across. But Southern California hardcore is 3rd generation at best. The real heart of new school hardcore came from The Refused. I would never consider us a hardcore band. By definition, we are definitely not. AJ is more into classical music; even the way he writes. He goes through and composes all the music before hand. He still studies music theory on his own. He is definitely all about that and will compose a piece in its entirety. I was the last member added to the band. They had some problems with the guy before me so he left. He was more screamo in his vocals and I am more melodic. The band wanted to have a very heavy edge to the vocals so I had to really reach deep down inside me.

The Gauntlet: How long did it take to write the album?

Nathan: We spent about a month and a half in a whirlwind writing session. We wrote a lot of it in the studio too. It was the closest thing I had to a real emotional venting process. There was a lot of pressure on me from all sides and I just unleashed it in the studio. This is definitely the heaviest band I have been in and I was in a metal band back in Nashville. It wasn't as intense as The Human Abstract. This band really awakened some things in me. I knew they were there, but I hadn't seen them in a while. I used to have anger management problems like a lot of others in my family. We have had people in my family who have gone to jail for killing people. They definitely had a problem with venting their anger. In my past, I have been to jail a couple of times for fighting and what not. I have been in a lot of fights. It was really interesting as I almost turned my back on heavy music. When I heard about this band I asked myself if I wanted to be in another heavy band. All of the sudden all of these emotions came out that I had been suppressing. Being on stage is so therapeutic. It is like scream therapy every night. I can release every angry feeling. At the end of the night, I feel so calm and pure; it's awesome. This band has been a great opportunity.

The Gauntlet: Your influences do come through on this album. I definitely see some screamo, punk and hardcore in your vocals. The rhythm section has this thrashy power metal vibe with some awesome leads and solos. There are a lot of European metal influences.
Nathan: They are definitely into the shreds. We don't want to be a band that revolves around shreds though. We don't make excuses about it. I joined this band because they were all about pushing the limits. The songs actually have form. The choruses you can sing along with and the music can be latched onto. A lot of shred bands are latched onto by other musicians who want to learn the shred technique. That's not the kind of band I want to be in.

The Gauntlet: How has the fan response been to the album?

Nathan: It has been amazingly great. It is a different sounding album and I wasn't sure how everyone would take it. Everywhere we go, people love it. They love the shows too. Every show, I unleash that moment when I first wrote the lyrics. We also have a lot of interaction with the crowd. I love the big shows where we can throw ourselves out there. People have been latching on to the album really hard. We have also been getting so much email that it takes us forever to go through our email. It is really encouraging. Things are great. I don't think we have the numbers yet for the sales though.

The Gauntlet: Have you shot a video?

Nathan: We actually just shot a video with a guy named Darren Doane. He is a big indie guy and has done videos for AFI and the Deftones. His roster is pretty huge. It was really odd. We sent him an email and said we really liked his stuff and told him we are a new band. We had a really small video budget and our manager said we probably wouldn't be able to get him. Darren replied to us and said he'd do it. His one stipulation was he wanted to do it his way and not the record labels way. We agreed but the catch was our label had already sent him an email. It was a big long email with all kinds of stuff they wanted in the video. Darren got in a flustered state and called our manager and told him he didn't want to do the video anymore because it was getting to crazy. Our manager talked to him. Darren figured the only way he could do the video and not hear from our label would be to make the video for free. It was crazy. It was really encouraging. The video is for 'Crossing the Rubicon' and has a lot of one shot and panning. I couldn't believe that this guy who worked with The Deftones and AFI would even want to work with us. He said he just wanted to work with a band he supported and thought was going somewhere. He is one of the best guys in this industry that I have met. He is a true artist. That is something I respect a lot.


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Tags:  The Human Abstract  , Nathan, interviews

Jason Fisher    August 29, 2006