Back in September Circuit Sweet featured the five piece post rock progressive band Seven Nines and tens from Vancouver, during the bands interview one of the musicians and friend Dave Cotton mentioned the band Hidden Towers, fast forward a few months and Dave is now working in that band. We checked in with Dave to find out all about his new and ongoing projects..
- How did joining Hidden Towers come about and is it a permanent fixture?
Dave cotton (guitar): [thanks for taking the time to interview me again Naomi!] C:S- You are more than welcome.
As far as me joining Hidden Towers, I had met them when Seven Nines and Tens played with them in May 2009. I just remember being floored by their performance. The execution as far as what each instrument was playing to me was exceedingly exceptional and memorable. I kept in touch with them from that point and our respective bands kept playing shows locally.
Both of our bands played in the University of British Columbia radio stations battle of the bands “Shindig!” at the end of 2009. Its sort of a rite of passage for Vancouver bands and the festival has an excellent reputation and storied history. Sn&t’s played and received some amazing feedback but fell in the first round. Hidden Towers, on the other hand, ended up winning the festival, which is a huge deal especially considering the style of heavier more abrasive music that they were playing.
Months passed and I went to see Hidden Towers play in June 2010 and I was again blown away by their performance. I didn’t perceive them as a band that needed another guitarist but I did think that I could perhaps add something to their sound. Eventually I ended up sending guitarist chris a message on facebook suggesting that if they ever wanted to add a 2nd guitarst I would be interested in coming out and auditioning. He replied saying that their was mutual interest so we took it from there.
I would be interested in seeing what Chris, Ben, and Sean have to say about me joining but forsure I would consider myself to be a permanent member as we have so much left to accomplish.
- A band that you quoted as “a great Vancouver band that won’t be local for much longer.”- how would you best describe your new outfit?
I’ve only been in the band for a short time but we are tight as friends already. They all expressed that they had no real interest in being in a band with someone who they didn’t consider to be a friend, so its going well. We weren’t super close before I joined, but all of us were friends for sure.
To me sonically, there are even more elements of classic rock and stoner rock in the Hidden Towers sound then Seven Nines and Tens. Both bands are different but very beautiful beasts.
I enjoy expressing my love for ride, my bloody valentine, catherine wheel and all that classic Uk Creation Records shoegaze in Sn&t’s, that would be the one notable difference I’ve noticed between the two bands.
Are far as our aspirations go, all of us have been working for quite some time to take that “next step” as musicians, and I feel we’re all in a position where playing music full time is the intention and we have modeled our personal lives to be ready for that.
- What are Hidden Towers Influences?
Personally lately, I’ve been delving further into post metal and heavy music in general. Bands that never stop getting played on my ipod include: Torche, Monster Magnet, Alcest, Akimbo, Jesu, Amusement Parks on Fire, Constants, Junius, Intronaut, Irepress, Isis, Tides From Nebula, Kylesa, Knut, oceansize, tombs, Struck by lightning and the odd non metal favorite such as solid gold jams like the Walkmen’s “Hundred Miles Off,” anything Jawbox, and the last Emeralds record. I could keep going but I’ll stop for the sake of brevity.
I know Sean, Chris, and Ben all have different influences. Chris and Ben often play Tomahawk, mahavishnu orchestra, acid bath, and a band that was pre sleepytime gorilla museum in the truck. We’re all huge cave in fans too.
Never played in a band where we all like Cave In. Easily my favorite band. Drummer Sean and I share a common love for Hopesfall, Poison the Well, Mastodon and the like.
- What are hidden towers bringing to the live scene where you are?
I always marveled at how tight the band was when I saw them live. I have been saying Chris is the best guitarist in Vancouver since at least January 2009. He’s got his grade 8 in classical guitar so he has endless chops. Sean is a crazy complex drummer and commands your attention, and ben on bass is the glue that holds it all together. The guy is rock solid. I know that before I joined the band was leaning towards playing with bands a bit more similar in style to help cultivate a bit more of local scene for heavier music. I think thats a good idea. I know that Seven Nines and Tens has played countless shows with folk/dance punk etc bands, so I welcome a bit more focus as far as style goes.
- You’ve just been in the studio, describe your approach to recording, what you got down and what we have to look forward to?
For the recent sessions we tracked 75% of the stuff off the floor, so there are going to be minimal overdubs. Its going to sound nice and organic. The studio we recorded at is owned by well know engineer Gggarth Richardson so we got to use all his ridiculous gear when we tracked. It sounds stellar! I’m not sure as far as release plans go but we did track 4 new songs.
- What does the future hold for Hidden Towers?
Lots of touring. Lots of memorable records. Venturing outside of our home province of British Columbia.
- Finally what do you personally wish to achieve within all your bands ?
Ideally I’d like for both the bands I play in to create a lasting legacy of inspiring, technically impressive while still memorable records, and live performances. If I wasn’t playing in these bands, and I know this from experience, I’d be daydreaming about writing songs and playing shows. Trying to capture the essence of that feeling that listening to your fav record gives you.
Thanks for again for interviewing us Naomi! I love the band you manage: Aulos, I hope we all get to play shows together in the future 🙂
For more Hidden Towers head over to their myspace HERE.
Or become a fan on facebook HERE.
Check out Daves previous feature with Seven Nines and Tens, where you can also download a free track-
http://circuitsweet.blogspot.com/2010/09/seven-nines-and-tens-feature.html
For now we wish Dave, Hidden Towers and Seven Nines and Tens the best of luck and we will be back in touch shortly to find out all the latest from both bands.
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