Interview with Hexham Heads

Name changes are a dubious thing. There are arguments to be made on both sides of the issue, especially for an established band. I've had a long time love-hate relationship with my band's name, and ultimately decided to keep it due to the gigantic hassle it would create. I mean, Radiohead is a dumb band name, albeit better than there first name, On A Friday, and it didn't slow them down any. But when I heard Shiloe was changing their name to the (way more bad ass) name Hexham Heads, I had to get the inside scoop. I got ahold of Ken and Melissa, formerly of Shiloe, and here's our conversation.

1. Obviously something has changed. Shiloe is now Hexham Heads. Walk me through your thought process. What was the impetus of this change and what does it symbolize for the future of your musical projects?

Melissa - Basically, we were just never that crazy about the name Shiloe. It never had any special meaning or a cool story behind it; it was just the best of the names we came up with back when the band first started playing shows. Everything else associated with the word is kind of tame (i.e., Brangelina's baby, the Neil Diamond song, the puppy books/movies, the Civil War battlefield) and we never felt like it was very indicative of our sound. When we both happened upon the story of the Hexham Heads, it seemed like it was a much better fit for the band. Also, the name Shiloe never inspired any particularly cool band logos, whereas the logo we have now for Hexham Heads is completely awesome. (Thanks to our friend Iona Lie for masterminding the logo!)

2. I heard a rumor you got the name from a ghost hunting book. Can you share a little insight into the context?

Melissa - This rad chick I know who plays the flute - her name is Kara, you may have met her? - gave me a book called 'An Illustrated History of the Haunted World' for my birthday. This book contained the story of the Hexham Heads, which are two ancient stone carvings of dubious origin which appear to have a werewolf that watches over them. While reading this story, I thought to myself, "Holy shit, now there's a band name." Later, Ken was flipping through the book, and said, "Should we change the band name to Hexham Heads?" It was a true mind meld, and HxH was born.

3. How important do you feel it is these days to present a unified aesthetic as a band?

Ken - I think the aesthetic is part of the experience. Think of the original Wolf Man movie with all the fog rolling around everywhere, it make it seem so much more mysterious. If the same movie took place on a sunny afternoon it just wouldn't be the same! The Beatles all dressed like they were in Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club band when that album came out and it makes it seem like a whole other world. I like all that, I like Jack White's color schemes for his bands and how BRMC looks like a gang.

Melissa - I think we're learning that it's extremely important. People like to say that the music industry is dead. In my opinion, the music industry isn't dead at all - the labels are just selling the wrong things. If you have great songs and a compelling live show and you look a certain way, people will respond. Growing up in the 90s, I think a lot of us made the mistake of thinking that "image didn't matter" because of bands like Nirvana and the Pixies. The truth is that those bands had an image - an anti-image - and it was a very deliberate response to the butt-rock bands that were dominating the charts at that time. It's not like Kurt Cobain didn't put any thought into what he wore or the cover art he chose for his albums; on the contrary, he made very distinct choices, they were just choices that weren't in line with the mainstream musical standard. We want everything we create, from our songs to our merch to what we wear on stage, to reflect our interests and the general feel of the band.

4. Is there any Hexham Heads recording plans? We want a full length already damn it.

Melissa - Ken has so many new songs, but we still have to get together as a band and perfect them. A full-length is in the works, but we're not in any rush. We're taking our time. I think our main focus right now is on getting the name out there and playing some shows as Hexham Heads.

Ken - We're also still debating how to release.

5. Lastly, let's set the record straight. Is Melissa a Rush fan?

Melissa - Honestly, I have nothing for or against Rush either way! The only Rush song I can even identify is "Tom Sawyer," and I always fuck up the lyrics. "What you think about sobriety is what you think about society" - that's not actually in the song, is it? This is just a bad joke gone terribly awry. Ken likes to tell people I listen to Rush because it's like the big bass player cliche to worship at the alter of Geddy Lee. I don't, man. My bass heroes are the Kims (Deal and Gordon) and Simon Gallup of the Cure!

Hexham Heads perform this Friday, February 5th at Spaceland. 10pm.