This interview takes place in the midst of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, with the world on shutdown and everybody living under the spectre of health concerns for immediate family and the local communities. Zach Williams, lead vocalist, key songwriter and founder of the band, took time to answer our questions and to talk about their terrific new release, HALF MOON LIGHT.
Like many other musicians, you have had to cancel all tour plans in light of the recent virus pandemic. Where were you when you took the decision to come off the road?
I was in Oregon on a travel day headed to play the The Fillmore in San Fran.
There is an old Chinese curse (or English proverb), ‘May you live in interesting times.’ This World event is like a recurring nightmare, every morning you wake up and realise this is not a Sci-Fi movie. Are the band all back in Nashville or located elsewhere with family?
We’re home in Nashville with our families.
Your latest album has been gaining very positive reviews across all music media platforms. You must be very proud of the work and how it has been received?
Yes, we are happy to hear that people have taken the time to listen to this record. There’s a lot of layers sonically and thematically and I’m so glad it is resonating with people.
The writing comes from a very personal place with themes of Death, Family and Friendship, plus a strong message to celebrate life. In many ways it’s a barometer for the way in which people across the globe are coming together during this crisis?
It has been interesting to see how the themes of these songs are lining up with the current situation the world is in right now. “if yesterday is to heavy put it down” - “here we are now lonely together, brothers and sisters did we want something better, tell me how am I going to find you when the dust settles” - “wake me up from this fever dream” - “count on me if I can count on you.”. Just as a few examples.
The pain of loss runs through the songs and the recent deaths of two Grandparents and Brian’s Father, frame the overall message that time is the ultimate conqueror and we should allow happiness and light into our everyday lives?
We wanted to tell other people’s stories in this record. Sometimes the stories refer to getting through something hard, sometimes it’s just talking about the beauty of walking down a NYC side walk after a long hang with your friends. We wanted to shine light on the wonder out there. The unseen. We also wanted to celebrate a few lives worth celebrating. I personally don’t see death as a theme of this record. It’s just a part of life and a part of our stories in general … But we didn’t want to hide from it. I believe the only way to celebrate or reflect on anything is to see the full picture.
You also tackle difficult subjects such as the terrible experience suffered by Kanene’s Mother as a young girl and also the suicide of Scott Hutchison (founder of Frightened Rabbit) who was a close friend of the band and Aaron Dessner, who produced the album. Was it a difficult call to have these personally sensitive areas laid bare for strangers to dissect?
I can’t speak for Kanene, but I know she spoke with her mom about the song before we released it. I think ultimately, we wanted to be doing whatever we could to empower others. We were trying to put ourselves in other’s shoes.
Your career has gained so much forward momentum in recent years. Was there a lightbulb moment where you all looked at each other and realised, ‘This is happening?’
The most recent time this happened was in LA at The Troubadour. We started the set with our first song from our new record HALF MOON LIGHT. It’s called I Can Feel You Dancing and the second the verses started the entire room sang “happy birthday babe” with me. That was a good feeling. Being able to play music and have other people buy tickets to come and see you play is still the craziest thing to me. It is the honor of a lifetime and I can’t wait to get back at it.
I saw your AMA set at The Station Inn in Nashville during the 2018 Festival and it was the only gig that whole week where I encountered a long line of people outside who could not get into the show. I remember thinking that night that your career was really about to jump gears. You played for the people who could not get into the show – on the street, a few songs, which was so well appreciated and received. Your generosity of spirit was highlighted right there. Is this something that you nurture as your baseline?
We are in the hospitality line of work. I love finding those little moments in our career where we can do something that we were not planning on and it is life giving to someone else. Singing outside the Station Inn was one of those moments.
You have a very dedicated Facebook group, Tree To Grow, which I’m sure you know about?
We love those folks. Not only have they been such a beacon of light for us, but they also have started helping out each other. You should see the messages of hope and community that is expressed on that page right now during this lock in. It’s just beautiful.
Does such unconditional love ever feel uncomfortable for you as a band at times?
It’s usually the one thing we have all been waiting to do all day. “The waiting is the hardest part.” So, it’s usually a release for us. We also have realised that we are a lot like a family. Sometimes we drive each other mad. And we have figured out that we can’t play a show unless we have understanding between each other.That is probably the number one way that we focus our work into each night.
Your performance dynamic has been highly praised and the attitude of leaving nothing behind on the stage. The 3-part harmonies are so spine-tingling during a performance. Do you work hard at the parts you sing or do you allow a certain amount of spontaneity each time you perform live?
That’s exactly right. We work hard at writing the foundational parts, but then we leave room for what the song might turn into each night.
The soulful, almost gospel, performances that you deliver seem to be on the verge of overwhelming the audience at times. Do you get that energy from the crowd during the performance?
Sometimes. For sure …
Given the intensity of every performance, have you ever had to deal with vocal strain or problems due to the rigours of heavy touring schedules?
Yes, I got nodes back when we first started, because I didn’t understand what altitude could do to my body. We were in Denver. I couldn’t speak for a couple weeks … During that time, and trust me, we don’t know him from Adam, but somehow John Mayer found out about what happened to me and he took the time to reach out to me and coach me through it. I couldn’t believe it. I still can’t. Crazy.
The new record has lots of interesting new dynamics in the arrangements with Aaron Dessner opening up the sound to a wider palette of musical colours. Was this something you were looking for in working with him?
Working with Aaron, he had just finished BIG RED MACHINE and I loved the new sounds he found with Justin Vernon on that record. He and Jon Low seemed to be on a new level with the exploration they were into. We wanted to stretch ourselves on this record. We wanted to find a new instrumental sound. We started each song with a click track and a humm of vocals and built it out from there. That was new for us ... We had done everything basically live with drums leading up to this record. We also wanted to sing differently. We didn’t want to rest on the things we had done with past work.
Your music resonates with Irish music audiences in its honesty and passion. You were due to play here shortly but unfortunately the gigs have been postponed. What message do you have for the many Irish fans who will not get to see you at Whelan’s or the Kilkenny Roots Festival this coming May?
That we LOVE you so much. We can’t wait to get back there. You guys are the salt of the earth!
Finally, any last message or thoughts that you want to send?
In closing, please encourage your people to reach out to us on our socials. Especially right now where loneliness is like a monster lurking in the corner. We are in this together.
Interview by Paul McGee