XXXX starts big and fuzzy then kicks in to thick driving
stoner rock. Its upbeat and the guitar drives all over before it soars in and
out and never really lets up for the next 3 minutes. For two members they make
one of hell of a fuzzy racket that could be the soundtrack here to a good
desert car chase.
Planet B kicks off with a killer guitar riff with a darker
side to it that pulls you away into the big fuzzy planes populated by the likes
of Dozer and Lowrider. Lots of big drum work, crashing cymbals and wah-wah
guitars. The song sounds huge as it rolls through a big open space before the
ongoing riff builds and builds to massive proportions. The back end of the
track starts to drift in a few different directions, which can only mean an
even more pic jammed version of it live. They’ve even complimented this awesome
track with a promo video.
Following on from this, the band where kind enough to answer
a few questions about life at the moment.....
Q. So how is lockdown and social isolation working for
Hetouht and the people of Belgium? Have you had to spend time in complete
isolation?
We have been isolated for 6 weeks until today and we should
get some news soon. It means that we can’t play together or see each other
since the quarantine. We have kept in contact through social media as well and
try to make this particular situation is easy as possible with all the changes
in our habits and freedom.
Q. For anyone who is unaware of Hetout, can you tell us a
bit about how the band have evolved from the beginning?
A few years ago we played in different bands in the same rehearsal
rooms place and heard, with interest, each other’s playing through the doors. Shortly
after we played with the same band "Molk" (Sludge/Stoner). After one
of our rehearsals, we decided that we wanted to play more jamming and try
something else. We were immediately amazed to see how fast and creative we were
together and we decided to try and to start with a new band. So, from the
beginning we recorded everything, rehearsals and shows, we bought everything to
be able to record good decent quality demos with the great help of our sound engineer
Gabriel Hanquet (Opack Records) who has followed us since the beginning.
Q. You have just dropped a new two track single “Planet B”,
tell us about both songs and the journey you took to release it?
Well actually, as usual we recorded a full session before
the quarantine, and only kept these two songs because they were more effective.
We always try to play something different. So, we just had to wait for Gabriel
to mix and master the songs. In the meantime, as we are locked in quarantine,
we still wanted to share it and made the video as a bit of fun. To go with the
story, we remember that late on that evening, “XXXX” seems to be lost and not
saved on the PC and during the breaks we had listened to, among others, Mos
Generator (Shadowlands album and Isaak split), Desert Sessions (Vol 5/6),
Lowrider (Refraction) and discovered Holy Monitor (II).
Q. And tell us about the official “Planet B” video?
Considering the situation, we wanted to shoot something a
bit funny, with what we realised we had available. With our taste, we thought
of something that reminded us of Red Fang or Black Flag music videos, the kind
of videos we like. But in fact, this is what we do when we write our songs in
the studio! Have a beer, a smoke, and as time passes between the recording and
the final mix we usually forget a bit what we played. So the video sort of puts
us in the same place as our fans.
Q. What’s the song writing process for Hetouht? Do you plan
songs or do you just create from your improvised jams?
It's always been improvised jams since the beginning. The
important thing to know about us is that we are very influenced by everything around
us. When we play in our rehearsal room sometimes we just plug in the amps.
Sometimes we play for 5 hours straight or sometimes we only play for 2 hours
because we're not in the mood but that doesn’t happen very often. For example
if we are alone in the warehouse where we practice, it's easier to dive into ourselves
and what we do without having some cover bands playing near us. When playing
gigs, it's a bit different but basically anything happens and will influence our show.
Q. Hetouht has a unique way of releasing music. Sometimes
it’s an EP or a single on Bandcamp then next it’s new songs or a jam on
YouTube. Do you plan how and when you release new music, or does it just evolve
and you want to get it out to people before you’re on to the next idea?
Our main idea is to try to record everything we play,
because after playing this or that, it could be doomed to be played only once.
We take time to reflect on our selections and it also depends on the situation
at the time, like how we are living at the moment or any recording problems.
With these kind of things, so we just go with the flow.
Q. Do you see the next few releases being singles and EP’s
or is there another full length album in the making?
We would love to make a full length album definitely, so
yeah, maybe we'll think about releasing one in 2020, but in the meantime we'll
keep it this way and we'll see where it take us. We have got a lot of ideas for
the next record.
Q. Are there any plans to release new or previous material
physically, on vinyl, CD or cassette?
That is something we talk about a lot, we really need some
physical products, and to find a way to finance them and make good quality
interesting products and a decent quantity of them. About the cassettes, we had
a few of them made which was really fun, made out of real beer cans, we
probably should do that again. This quarantine and isolation has given us the
motivation to get back on track and to go further, so stay in touch and watch
out.
Q. Tell us about the Hetouht live experience and what people
can expect?
Every show is different, if we play for 30 minutes or 2
hours, people can expect some good fun on stage with both heavy riffs and the
quiet parts trying to put peoples and ourselves into an another state of mind
and push all of us through to introspection in a special kind of way. We also
often use projections, incense and other things that touch the crowd’s senses.
Q. Finally, what’s next for Hetouht? What does the rest of
2020 hold for the band?
It really depends on the current situation, about shows, and
the rest, but the goal is to keep going further. All we know is that when the
nearest possible time comes, we will have good new music for people, some
merchandise for the fans and we will keep improvising for all of this. Thanks
again.
