Sometimes artists create music that is near impossible to put a label on. The Horn The Hunt do just that.
Formed after a winter creating music in Greenland, the Leeds based duo, Clare Carter and Joseph Osborne, have brought some of the most deep, inspiring and down right chilled music to the gloomy Yorkshire city.
With album second Terrafidella released on July 7th and a performance at Beacons Festival this summer, we caught up with the pair to ask a few questions about what inspires them and their plans for the future.
The Horn The Hunt – Interview
Eddie Bye: Lets kick off with a standard one! Where did your name come from?
THTH: It just came to me one day, like most things do. It means ‘the thing’ and ‘trying to get it’… whatever that may be to anybody, at any point in time!
EB: To me ‘The Horn The Hunt’ has an environmental vibe to it. Would you say this is true? Or am I losing it?
THTH: No, you’re not, how different environments affect us emotionally is a very central element to our storytelling, and landscapes are a big inspiration. With every album we make I always have this specific place in my head, like a theater stage where all the different songs are playing out their stories.
EB: The video for your latest single ‘Starless’ features plenty of psychedelic water edits, it’s like being on an acidy ramble through the woods, what inspired you to write the song?
THTH: Just being bored, frustrated, depressed and indecisive! That song came from a dark place, and I was trying to make something interesting out of it, so the video is like an illustration of this process. I grew up in the gloomy Pennines of West Yorkshire, and my parents really didn’t like towns and cities so we used to go walking in the hills every weekend in the cold wind and rain. At the time I hated it and would fantasise about living on a volcano in prehistoric times. I used to imagine that the landscape had different exotic plants and animals in it, and I’d invent stories about them. Now when things get tough or frustrating in my life as an adult, I do the same thing, but make a song about those feelings instead.
EB: Clare, as a visual artist, do you visualise videos and artwork as you write and record the music?
THTH: Yes, they run alongside and feed off each other. Making music is an effortless thing – the conception part I mean – and I don’t have to really try to visualise anything. But then I have to concentrate and work really hard with Joe to craft that idea into a good record. I enjoy the mix of spontaneity and the fine laborious work that goes into producing records. But for the artwork and costume-making, it’s a drag all the way! Even though I went to art college I’m so limited by my visual art skills. It always feels like I’m trying to make a building out of polystyrene cups and spraying it with silver paint. I’d love to just hand over my ideas to really good artists and let them craft all the visual stuff!
EB: You initially started writing music in Greenland, do you think where you write and record songs has an impact on the processes? If so, how would you say Leeds has affected it?
THTH: No doubt. If you’ve traveled and lived in different countries, you do end up having this smorgasbord of different influences and elements going on inside you. We’ve lived in England for a few years now and still don’t feel like we belong here, so I think a lot of what goes into our music is a fusion of where we’ve been and also trying to escape where we are now! However, if we hadn’t moved back and made a base in Leeds, we might not have experimented working with musicians on this record, but who knows.
EB: Do you always work well as a duo when recording and writing?
No we don’t work very well together in the studio! Cat and dog. I’m quite impulsive and impatient and Joe is the opposite. We’re best left alone to do our separate tasks – me writing the songs and Joe producing them. We’re always on the same page conceptually so the trust is there, and we are very honest with our opinions of each others’ work. Performing is where we get along best.
EB:Who are your current favorite artists?
THTH: We enjoyed the albums that Kurt Vile, David Lynch and Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds released last year. The Knife’s last album was interesting, but it got a little bit too cool for us in places. Just about to listen to the new Death Grips album. Yorkshire’s own That Fucking Tank, Sexy Death and Alisia Casper are local favorites. But to be honest, much of the new western music we hear bores the hell out of us, and we need some recommendations!
EB: Finally, we are sure the album will be a massive success, what are your plans beyond it?
THTH: Terrafidella was finished last year and it took 2 years to make because it was the first time we’d worked with a live drummer and we had 18 tracks to put down! We are a 100% DIY band and don’t have the luxury to spend a few solid months in the studio. So it took a while to finish the album and all those songs feel quite old to us now. But we started working on another album straight away, which will be out next year. We have just started performing as a 5 piece band – which feels incredible!
Terrafidella is released on the 7th of July and can be bought here.
