Interview: HEALTH
A few months ago I featured HEALTH as a Band of the Week. I’ve been a fan of their music for several years and recently had the opportunity to send some questions over to their bassist, John Famiglietti. Check out our interview below:
Photo by: @liborgalia
1. For readers not familiar with HEALTH, can you tell me a little about the band and how you got started?
HEALTH began a very long time ago birthed from the noise/punk scene of the late 00s in Los Angeles, based around the venue The Smell. As time passed the band kept changing and growing with the times until the form you see now.
2. You've been referred to as a "noise-rock" band, which is quite broad in terms of genre. Ultimately, HEALTH has worked to create their own unique sound. Can you tell me more about your style and how you've developed it over the years?
Yes and that description would not work today. HEALTH has for most of its history not had a genre...which sounds cool but definitely hampers your band's ability to grow, it does also spare you from dying if you’re associated with a certain musical trend...so it's worked for us.
3. You spent 6 years working on the album Death Magic after releasing Get Color in 2009. Can you tell me about that time? Was it a difficult songwriting process or were there other factors in the timing as well?
This is the "lost weekend" of HEALTH, we were struggling to electronically revamp the band and make it true to us and in line with what we had done before. MAX PAYNE 3 came up during that and that was a year of very involved work which was great. We still kept going lost most of the time, we eventually figured it out with DEATH MAGIC (the successful version of the album, several others were made then trashed halfway through).
Photo by: @meetfactory
4. In 2008, you toured supporting Nine Inch Nails. Can you tell me about that experience? How was working with Trent Reznor?
Pretty amazing all around. We literally went from playing hardcore basements and diy show spaces to Hockey Arenas in the south. Can't stay enough nice things about Mr. Reznor, incredibly kind to us beyond reason and a super focused professional person, very inspiring.
5. You've written and recorded songs for video games like Max Payne 3 and Grand Theft Auto V. What is the songwriting process like for something like that?
For an original song that plays in the game as such not that much different than writing songs for an album. However writing original score for a game is a completely different animal.
6. Your latest album Slaves of Fear was released in February 2019. The title track and lyrical content of the album fit with the current state of the world. How do you feel fans have responded to it so far?
The response has been great, and at shows were seeing a lot of new faces from different backgrounds than before.
Photo by: @_brandenwilson
7. You're currently touring in support of the album. How have your shows been so far? Are there any surprises fans can expect?
All of the United States and Canadian shows so far have been incredible. I think for a lot of cities they've never seen us with our light show, and we have big surprise for the encore in most cities.
8. Any last words for our readers?
GO LISTEN TO VOL4 AND COME SEE US ON TOUR