The Low Hand
Their debut 7’’ entitled ‘Long Way Down’ drops February 14, but don’t fear, if you don’t have a record player and still want to hear the two tracks, both are available to stream through this link. I chatted with guitar player and vocalist, Allen Hulsey about the band, their roots and what you can expect this year. Make sure to grab a copy of the vinyl which is available through their Facebook page.
Arin: What got you guys started as band?
Allen: We got together about a year ago, or at least Kyle and I did when I was just playing some solo gigs in Brooklyn and we just met and the guitar player was just sitting in with me playing bass and Kyle basically just came up and said, let me play because he thought he could do a better job, and it was one of his friends as well, a mutual friend and that’s how we met. Then we started playing and played maybe 40 shows together at different places and we did a few different recordings throughout the process and then we decided to start writing songs. So I’d go over there early in the morning, sometimes around ten, and we’d make some breakfast and we wrote some songs and we ended up recording with this producer, Lestyn Polson, but we recorded four songs with him and we’d been planning this out for a while and so now we’re just going to release a single and a b-side on vinyl during this little residency and we have some other stuff coming up as well.
Arin: What can people expect to see coming from you guys this year?
Allen: Coming this year you can expect to see, two music videos, some live recordings, maybe like, a live EP, and towards the end of the year we’re shooting to have a full album. Earlier in the year we’re also going to have a second single and a b-side out on vinyl at a larger show and we’ll be playing a lot on the east coast, the Midwest and probably the west as well.
Arin: Who are some of your musical influences and who are some people that the band could be compared to?
Allen: Well the band, when it gets compared, it’s like a trio so when we get compared its mostly like a blend of 60s and 90s, so there’s definitely like a large Rolling Stone element and not so much in the music, but in the energy there’s kind of a Jimi Hendrix experience element and some people have compared us to The Police or Cream, so it’s like a lot of those power trios that people always compare us to. As far as songwriting goes, we have some stuff that’s like, soul and ballads and then we have some stuff that’s some straight up rock with kind of the grit of Nirvana or 90’s bands like that.
Arin: Who are some of your favorite bands to listen to, or who is someone you would want to go on tour with?
Allen: Right now, there’s a lot of small New York City bands, but larger bands we would love to tour with The Kills or The Black Keys or that kind of band, not like indie, but it has that kind of rock/bluesy kind of thing, because we definitely like blues a lot, its definitely a large part of our sound.
Arin: Is there a story behind the band name that you chose?
Allen: There’s not such a huge story, it’s a poker reference and there’s a necklace that we have that was a hand that was low like that, its not like an underhand, but its kind of like a sly reference at the Eric Clapton slow hand.
Arin: How do you use social networks to stay in touch with fans?
Allen: Anyone that tries to contact us, we always try to get back to them, and even its just someone saying ‘we don’t like the song’ I’m still going to reply back to them.
Arin: What do you think is one of your personal favorite song lyrics that you’ve written?
Allen: The lyrics for ‘Long Way Down,’ which is the single now, was really fun because it was one of the first times that I wrote lyrics in a way, collaboratively, like with Kyle and it was fun to do something like that, but the second single that we have coming out were just some lyrics that were in my head, so it’s a different process every time.
Arin: Are there any charities or nonprofits that you want to support as a band?
Allen: Well, specifically as a band, we’re happy to do anything, but I personally put a lot of work into children’s things, because sometimes I work with children during the day, but it’s not like one specific nonprofit. I’ve done things in hospitals playing for kids, or other charity work like that, but it’s not like one charity that I think is like the ultimate charity. I do subscribe to anyone that’s fighting these global issues that have to do with poverty or hunger and companies that come in and manipulate that situation, but getting people tied to it, it’s not necessary once charity, its just a slew of things that we’re pushing for. Even Kyle, he’s really interested in things dealing with student loans in college and stuff and ways that they try to get people bowed down to money, or to like a certain lifestyle in America that might actually be detrimental to what people might actually want to do in their life.
