ERIK CAPLAN -THUNDERBIRD DIVINE

 💿 Hi, it's a pleasure for us to have on Hardrockheavymetal ERIK CAPLAN of THUNDERBIRD DIVINE Welcome!! It's a pleasure to be interviewed. Thank you for speaking to us.  💿  Can you tell us somethin' about your early days of your career? When is this all begun and which bands have influenced you? Sure! I (Erik, vocals/guitar) am older than my band mates in Thunderbird Divine.

I started playing music in high school in the 1980s because I loved punk rock, hardcore and psychedelia.

I saw a lot of shows in makeshift venues and tried to start bands with my friends.

Most of the time that didn't work very well, because none of us really knew what we were doing, but I kept playing and I eventually improved and met better players.  As for influences, I really have a lot of them, but I'll give you a partial list: Joni Mitchell, War, Queen, Hawkwind. Monster Magnet,  Zap, Motorhead, Kiss, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Run DMC, Fugazi, Devo... I could go on and on.  💿  Your ew EP "MAGNASONIC" is ready and will be available next year on Jan 18th.. Can you tell us somethin' about its composition process? We're really impressed about that! Yes, indeed. We're excited to get it out to everyone!  We started writing this album when I began playing with these guys (Adam -bass; Flynn - guitar; Mike - drums) back in March 2017. 

These songs are just a natural expression of what happened when the four of us got into the same room with instruments in our hands. 

I don't know how other bands do it, but we just met up and started kicking musical ideas around. Once we had basic frameworks for the tunes in place, we just started to add in the details. It's a form of sonic painting, I guess--the longer you work on the project, the more clear the image becomes in the end.

The biggest challenge is knowing when to stop fooling around with it and consider it a finished product.  💿 The real "news" in music industry is the return of vinyl; What's your feeling about this classic format and the current music"business?" I think anything that inspires listeners to continue to be interested in music is a pretty good thing. 

So, if people think vinyl is cool again, I'm on board.

Music on vinyl was a big part of my childhood experience, so it's interesting to watch it become popular again.

Having said this much, the portable nature of digital music is very appealing, and I don't imagine vinyl will ever become the primary form of music media again. 

It's pretty cool to see people buying records, though.  💿 "MAGNASONIC" will be out via SALT OF THE EARTH RECORDS. Can you tell us somethin' about your relationship with them? Scott Harrington (president of Salt of the Earth Records) has been a valuable and important friend to me since I was in my last band, Wizard Eye. He has always been an incredible sounding board for my ideas, and when that band broke up, and I started playing with Thunderbird Divine, he was very supportive. 

Once we had a few demos to show him, he offered to release Magnasonic on the label. 

This has been a very natural progression of our relationship, and it's great to be involved with a label run by a good friend.  💿  Can you tell us somethin' about your next live projects? Are scheduled any gigs? I'm actually recovering from last night's show as I write the answers to this question. 

We're not hardcore touring types, but we keep ourselves busy. The next big event on our radar right now is the New England Stoner Doom Festival in the beginning of May, but I'm sure we'll have other dates before then.  💿 We love the cover of "MAGNASONIC." Who made it? Thank you. We love it, too. Adam Scott, our bassist, designed the album cover from scratch. 

 We think he did an excellent job.  💿 Thank you so much for your time! See you soon on Hardrockheavymetal! Thank you for your time and interest.

(Thanks MettleMediaPr)