Formed in 2005, UK rock outfit Deaf Havana have consistently produced some incredible albums. With each album, they have been able to capture the spirit of rock for that period of time while generating understated lyrics that are some of the most impassioned and reflective that we have heard in the scene. Their new album, All These Countless Nights, the band has evolved even more, showcasing a mature rock sound that will connect to a variety of audiences as shown by their top #5 on the UK official chart.
We caught up with drummer Tom Ogden to talk about how the band has matured through the decade as well as asked his favorite gig.
You guys have been together for a while now and it has been over seven years since the release of Meet Me Halfway, At Least, does it feel like that long? What wisdom would you pass on to a younger Deaf Havana if you could?
Yeah it feels like a very long time! If I could give myself some advice I would tell me to not worry as much. I think back in the days of Meet Me Halfway At Least and Fools and Worthless Liars I used to care a lot about what people think, and it was incredibly stressful. I think now I’ve learned to let go a bit, and just let everything happen. I bet that sounds a little weird! haha!
You have been scene mainstays and seemed to survive a lot of common band pitfalls, what is the key to you guys staying functional and productive for this long?
I think we’ve just written songs that we feel we can connect with, lyrically and musically. I feel a lot of bands write music to try and fit in with the next big trend, and that’s a terrible way of looking at writing music! We pride ourselves on writing songs that we would want to hear, and that lyrically connect with people.
Congrats on the new album, we loved it and the song that immediately pulled us in was “Trigger”. There is a sense in the song of looking back singing “my future will never be my past”. As songwriters, do you find yourself looking back for material as your career experience grows? How has your songwriting methods changed since the first album?
Yeah, I think everyone does. With this record I feel like we’ve accomplished so much, and it’s nice to look back at our back catalogue and feel that we’ve achieved so much more with this record. With ATCN we approached the writing side of things so much differently. With previous albums we’ve just had 12 songs to go into the studio with, and that was the album. With this one we had about 30 to chose from, so we got that 30 down to 15, then worked on those songs until we had a solid 12 we were happy with. Previously we’ve had that sort of ‘that will do’ mentality, but with this one we approached it like it could be the last record we ever make, so let’s make it the best it possibly can be.
There are a few tracks on the album named after locations. I was wondering, where was the coolest venue you have played and what made it so memorable?
For me, the best gig we’ve ever played was at Londons Shepherds Bush Empire. Something special happened that night, it was kind of the turning point for the band. It was the night that we all realised 2000 people care enough about us to buy tickets and scream our words back to us, so we should maybe take things a little more seriously. We have been to some amazing other countries and places too, like USA, Australia, most places in Europe, but something about that show changed the way we all thought about this band.
If you could tour with any two or three acts, past or present, who would they be and where would you like to play?
It would be a Foo Fighters, Kings Of Leon and The Killers world tour for me. They are three of my favourite bands, and 3 of the best modern rock bands. Just stadiums every night with the best music!!
What is coming up for you guys? Any cool things you want to promote?
We have so much stuff coming up. We have a UK and EU headline tour that starts in a few weeks, followed by some amazing UK and EU festivals (one of which we are supporting Aerosmith and Placebo in Florence). We just want to promote this album as much as possible and play to as many different people as we can. It’s very exciting!
The new album, All These Countless Nights, is available now and man is it worth a listen.
Discover more from Ear To The Ground Music
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
