Nashville based indie rock/shoegaze unit Horsehell released one of my favorite releases of the year with their E.P. “Sentimental Fuck”.
I caught up with vocalist/guitarist Scout Anders to talk about his early musical experiences, how the band got together, their recent summer tour and their upcoming album.
CMM-What was the first music that really made an impact on you all as kids and what artist or band did you all enjoy the most?
Scout-I was raised on a weird variety of music from my parents and surroundings, so it was a lot of Beatles, 70s/80s music and ccm. The Beatles definitely made an impact on me, but I think the first artist that really felt like my own discovery was Switchfoot. I used to get all their CDs from the library and rip them onto our family computer so I could burn my own mixtapes for my friends. And then I would spend all my free time learning the lyrics to all their songs. I also loved Boxcar Racer, Coldplay, Nirvana, plus anything my older brothers were listening to.
CMM-When did everyone start playing music and what led to the formation of the band? Is everyone from Nashville? What’s it like being a band from a town with some of the richest music history in the world?
Scout-We’ve all been playing music for as long as we can remember. Me and our bassist, Zachary, were in our first band together way back when we were growing up in Kentucky and have been working together on projects ever since. Caleb and Liam have also been in bands and playing music in Jacksonville and Indianapolis respectively since they were young. We all came together back in 2023 because I was writing some new songs and wanted to be in a band again because I’d been writing and playing alone for a few years and was fucking sick of it. So I kinda just asked each of them and it all came together. None of us are from Nashville though, I’ve only been here for 3 years and I’ll be leaving soon. I feel so incredibly lucky to have met Caleb and Liam here and formed this band, and I’m excited for it to continue outside of Nashville in the future. The DIY scene here in town is incredible too. There are so many bands worth checking out. Off to Sleep, Stammer, Fossil Creek, Mahal Kita (Caleb’s band), Jeun (Zachary’s band), Soot. There are an endless amount of talented artists here and it’s super inspiring.
CMM-You all released an EP and did a tour this past summer. How were the shows and will there be more touring soon? I hear there’s a new album coming up too. What was the writing and recording process like? Any particular gear that stood out to help get specific sounds while recording?
Scout-The shows this summer were amazing! It was our first time hitting the road really and we met so many cool people and also got to hang with our friends in Stammer for a few days which was sick. We’re all super eager to get back on the road, and right now the plan is to do a big southern run in March. We haven’t gone that direction yet but we have some bands we really wanna play with in a few cities down there. And we will be putting out our first record in October which is really exciting! We’ve been working on this project for about 2 years all together and I’m so ready for it to be out. They’re all songs we’ve been playing for the past year so for anyone who’s been with us in Nashville it’ll feel pretty familiar. I went out and wrote these songs by myself in North Carolina in early 2024 and brought them to the band shortly after to start working them out live. Recording them was probably the best part of the whole process, we went to this studio in town called Bomb Shelter over a couple weekends. We worked with our friend Drew Carroll who is the sweetest and most talented person in the world and I wish we could do every project we ever do with him. He also plays in this sick band in town, they’re called Sam Hoffman. But we all got along so well it just felt like we were all fuckin around and having fun. I don’t know if there was any particular gear necessarily, but we were all really specific about what we were doing. I had the idea to approach this project as a live-tracked shoegaze record because that sounded fun and unique and it also played into our energy with each other in a live and dynamic way, which I think really shines through. I’m also totally not a gear head though even though I wish I was so I’m sure everyone else would say something different.
CMM-If the band could do a score for any film director, who would it be and what would the film be about?
Scout-This is such a cool question because it’s always been such a dream of mine to score for films and tv shows. I actually just started my first soundtrack project about a month ago, but it’s a bit unconventional because I’m doing it for a gallery and a book. So I don’t know if that counts, but fuck it I’m gonna say it does. Anyways, I don’t know if any particular director comes to mind but I think I’d wanna do an anime or a tv show of some kind. Either that or some supernatural/horror/thriller movie. I’d do anything as long as it had a good story. Some of my favorites are Death Note (which has one of my favorite soundtracks ever), Star Wars (my dad was also a huge soundtrack nerd and raised me on John Williams), Interstellar, Monster, Attack on Titan, The Sopranos, the list goes on. I like dark dramas, so something along those lines would be a dream for me.
CMM-Anything to add and when can we hear the new record?
Scout-The world is a weird and often terrible place, so I just wanna say to support your own art and support the artists around you. It’s the only real peace I’ve been able to find in my entire life, and being a part of a community like that is something that everyone deserves if they’re genuinely looking for it. Plus it’s just harder than it’s ever been to create and support art. If you love an artist, go buy something from them and share it with people you think would also enjoy it. I know that I personally could use that support now more than ever so it means the world to me that you’ve supported us through this summer and up to now as well (Dave). We have one more single on October 1st and then our album is gonna be out October 17th! We’re also doing a release show at Eastside Music Supply on October 24th with Off to Sleep and Blood Root, who are also releasing an album. It’s gonna be sick as fuck.
