Meet Deaf Havana

Founded in Hunstanton, England, in 2005, Deaf Havana has not only experienced a few personal changes during the past nine years, but it has also seen its sound evolve from a harder vibe to more of an alternative rock sound after their former frontman left the group.

Today’s Deaf Havana consists of Veck-Gilodi along with guitarist Chris Pennells, Lee Wilson on bass, drummer Tom Ogden, keyboardist/guitarist Max Britton, and Matthew Veck-Gilodi on guitar and vocals.

A major milestone for Deaf Havana was signing with BMG Chrysalis in the U.K. and releasing its first album on a major label – 2011’s Fools And Worthless Liars.  During the past year the group played Leeds Festival, sold out a string of U.K. dates, and opened for Muse in Germany.

The band’s latest album is Old Souls, released in September on Razor & Tie in the U.S. 

Veck-Gilodi recently connected with Pollstar during the first week of the band’s U.S. tour supporting Ash. Projecting an easy-going personality, Veck-Gilodi talked about the band’s rise in the U.K., creating a bigger fan base in the U.S. and why he’s not all that crazy about the name “Deaf Havana.”

Is Deaf Havana a band where every member has an equal say in decisions or does the group have a leader?

I guess I’m kind of the overseer.  I write the songs and stuff.  Everybody has their own input.  Everybody does get to make decisions but I guess I take a bit of control in that area.

Does that include business decisions as well as music?

I definitely don’t make the business decisions [laughs].  I’m terrible with money.  Musically, I guess I would be in charge but the business decisions are left to other guys, [our manager] and the other members of the band because they’re a lot more sensible than I am. … If it was up to me, if I was in charge of the money, we would not be a band anymore. 

Are there any cities on the routing that you’re looking forward to playing?

Everywhere, really.  We’ve never played the states before.  I’ve been to Nashville before and that was a lot of fun, so that will be cool. 

A couple of us have been here [for] a couple of showcases.  But we’ve never done a full-band tour [in the U.S.].

So it’s an exciting time for the band?

Yes.  We were supposed to come to the U.S. a couple of albums ago, but those tours fell through. So it’s nice to finally be here.  New territory is always good.  We want to concentrate on the U.S. so it’s nice to finally get the ball rolling.

Is there a plan for world domination?  Was there a decision to focus on the U.S. first and then move on to another country, say, Japan or Australia?

Not really, but I guess that is the general plan.  We concentrated on the U.K. for so long, we didn’t ever get the opportunities to go anywhere else.  I think we do pretty well in the U.K. now so this is when we’re going to concentrate on other countries.  We’ve been to Australia and that was OK. … A lot of people here have said they’re excited to see us.

 What is the creative process like for you?

It often varies.  A couple of the songs started out with me coming up with a chord progression on the guitar.  Other times I’ll write lyrics and put a song to that.  Generally it all starts out with just the acoustic guitar and some words.  When I’ve got the actual song, then I’ll build up the instrumentation to form the complete song.

from the first inspiration to the completed song – how long does this process last?

It completely varies.  Sometimes you’ll be stuck on a song for months and nothing will happen. Other times I’ll write a song in an hour.  There are things I’ve been struggling [with] for … a year. … If I’m in the mood to do it and something comes into my head then it will be real quick.  But if I’m putting pressure on myself … trying really hard, then it often takes a lot longer.

How old were you when you wrote your first song?

I was like … 13, maybe.  It was definitely terrible.  I can’t remember what it was.

And how old were you when you wrote your first good song that you weren’t embarrassed to play for friends?

Probably … 20 [laughs].  The first good song I ever wrote was probably on our album Fools And Worthless Liars, which was released in 2011.

Up until then I had been trying to write stuff and it never sounded complete.  It sounded like I was kind of looking for what I wanted to do.  But when I started writing for that record I finally found where I wanted to be.  Just the fact that it sounded like a song as opposed to a stupid musical idea that didn’t make any sense.  I think I had finally found where I wanted to be and what to aim for.

Do you always have a notebook or recorder within reach for when an inspiration strikes?

I normally do … but I haven’t got anything on this tour.  I have an app on my iPad called “Garage Band” and sometimes I record stupid ideas on that. It sounds terrible but it’s just to get the idea there and not to forget it.

Do you find inspiration in non-musical creative works?  For example, can watching a movie or a TV show give you ideas for songs?

Absolutely.  A couple of movies have inspired me in that way, [so] have a lot of books.  Also places. … I’ll meet someone and that will turn into a song.

How involved is the band in promoting itself through social media?

I’m probably the wrong person to ask.  I don’t control any of that stuff.  I think we [try] to be quite normal and reply to people and don’t put ourselves on a pedestal or make it seem that there is a barrier between us and [the fans]. We just try to interact with [fans].

Talking with fans, do you find that their heads are pretty much in the same place as you are at this time?

I think, for the most part, yes. But … we have a lot of younger fans and I don’t want to insult them but some of the song meanings they probably don’t interpret the way I had intended them to be interpreted.  You have to be a bit older to realize that. But mostly they’re normal people and they really do have the same kind of head space as us.

Old Souls and the album before that, Fools And Worthless Liars, are your first two releases on BMG Chrysalis.  What differences did you see when the band moved from an independent to a major label?

The independent … didn’t have any money to give us or any financial backing.  We had little to no freedom.  BMG has quite a lot of financial backing and they let us do what we want.  Normally people say it’s better to be on an independent but in our case it’s completely the other way around.

What is the toughest part of your job that fans may not be aware of?

Being away from home for long periods of time does get hard after a while.  Sometimes you get worn out … and you physically can’t do anything. 

It’s different for different people.  I sometimes lose my voice and that stresses me out. 

Do you have any routines for taking care of your voice?

I tried everything and nothing worked until a girl who sings for us back in the U.K. taught me this one little technique and now I can do what I want and don’t lose the voice.

Deaf Havana started out as more of a harder rocking band. Did the move towards a more pop sound happen organically?

We used to be heavier.  We used to have a guy (Ryan Mellor) who would, like, scream, and all that. Then he left the band and we were left with me as a singer. … So we decided to actively change the direction we were going.

Wasn’t it a former member who came up with the name Deaf Havana?

That was a different person.  That was our first guitarist (Sebastian Spitz).  It’s the worst name for a band in the history of music. … What does it mean?  It doesn’t mean anything.  I guess the only good thing is that people remember it.

Did you and your bandmates consider other names?

I honestly don’t think so.  I think he just came up one day and said, “Do you want to call the band this?” And we said, “All right.”  We never thought we’d ever get anywhere so it wasn’t really a problem.

What is the best thing about being you?

I guess the fact that we get to travel around the world and see places that people in regular jobs necessarily wouldn’t necessarily get to see.  But about being me, personally?  Nothing.

Who inspired you?

Author Charles Bukowski, Bruce Springsteen.  From a young age, Michael Jackson.  Loads of people.

Playing festivals often gives young bands opportunities to meet those who have inspired them.  Do you think a person should meet their heroes?

I don’t really think they should.  If you’ve spent your entire life looking up to someone, idolizing someone … then you meet them and they’re a fuckin’ douche bag, it ruins your entire life and everything you’ve been thinking of up until then.  It makes you rethink a lot of things.

Where do you hope the band will be in five years?

To be honest, a natural progression, to keep growing.  Mainly it would be nice to secure a foundation in America and other countries.  I guess we’ll see what happens.

If Deaf Havana hadn’t worked out and you didn’t have a music career, what do you think you would be doing?

I have no idea. I wanted to be a primary school teacher.  Maybe that. Probably I’d just be homeless.

Deaf Havana on the road (supporting Ash through Feb. 11):

Feb. 7 – New Orleans, La., One Eyed Jacks
Feb. 8 – Little Rock, Ark., Juanita’s Cantina Ballroom
Feb. 10 – Nashville, Tenn., The Mercy Lounge
Feb. 11 – Birmingham, Ala., BottleTree
Feb. 13 – New York, N.Y., Mercury Lounge
Feb. 14 – Philadelphia, Pa., Milkboy
Feb. 15 – Toronto, Ont., Rivoli
Feb. 17 – Allston, Mass., Great Scott
March 25 – Dublin, Ireland, The Academy
March 26 – Belfast, United Kingdom, Mandela Hall
April 1 – Norwich, United Kingdom, Univ. Of East Anglia LCR-Union
April 3 – Newcastle, United Kingdom, O2 Academy Newcastle
April 4 – Leeds, United Kingdom, O2 Academy Leeds
April 5 – Manchester, United Kingdom, Manchester Academy
April 7 – Glasgow, United Kingdom, ABC1
April 10 – London, United Kingdom, Clapham Grand
April 13 – Oxford, United Kingdom, O2 Academy Oxford
April 14 – Wolverhampton, United Kingdom, Wulfrun Hall
April 15 – Cardiff, United Kingdom, Great Hall
April 17 – Brighton, United Kingdom, Concorde 2

Please visit DeafHavanaOfficial.com for more information.