IndieRec Interview with Captain Soul - October, 2004
By David DiSanzo
http://www.indierec.com

Captain Soul have issued two albums filled with catchy, well written pop songs that Brian Wilson would be proud of. Captain Soul skillfully fuse their obvious influences of sunshine harmony "AM" pop of the 70's with English cynicism and that classic British sense of melody.

Although their two albums have only been available in the US as imports. they will soon be recording their third album with eyes focused sternly on the US.

Adam Howorth is the band's leader and songwriter. A scholar of rock and roll, Adam is equally indebted to The Beatles, Big Star, Beach Boys, Byrds, Blackmore, and Black Sabbath. You can hear elements of all of the above in the band's music. The songs are epics without being anthems; they utilize the classic song structure but breathe new life into it due largely to the quality of the songwriting.

http://www.captainsoul.com/

IR: Hi Adam, thanks for taking the time to answer some questions! Captain Soul, although only two LPs in, have had a bit of a convoluted history. Under the name Hoover Dam you were signed to Sire by legendary Record Man Seymour Stein, however corporate politics kept you from releasing anything but one single which although it contained two brilliant tracks was not promoted in any way. Why did Sire keep you from making records and how did you finagle your way out of contract with them?

AH: We enlisted the help of an aggressive manager who hired a lawyer. We then notified Sire in writing that they had to pick up the option on our deal within a certain time period - failure to do so would mean we were free to walk away. They failed to write to us within the given period.

IR: Did you change the name for legal reasons?

AH: No - we just wanted a fresh start.

IR: Is Captain Soul the same line up as Hoover Dam?

AH: Yes.

IR: What was it like working with Alan McGee and what is the status of his Poptones label these days?

AH: I love Alan. He is utterly inspirational to musicians and brings the very best out of you. Poptones has moved off into edgier territory these days but Alan and I are still very close.

IR: Anyone that I know that has had dealings with Alan seems to feel the same way. Your new track, Never Come Down, is a lovely epic ballad ..... is it available anywhere at this point?

AH: Nope. But if you're a label and you want to put it out - just mail us via our site.

IR: What are your immediate plans for the band?

AH: We're rehearsing new material and will be recording our best album yet in the New Year.

IR: Do you plan to issue a disc compiling your b-sides and any available outtakes? Some of the B-Sides are equally as blissful as anything the band has done, like Where the Stars Kiss the Sky, for example.

AH: Not at this stage. We need to sort out a new home first!

IR: What inspires you to write a song? Your melodies are often breathtaking and leave me wondering how you found them!

AH: It's all to do with a particular mood - a songwriting mood - that comes over me from time to time. It gives a brief opportunity to be creative and you have to grasp it quickly and try and nail a melody. Musically I'm inspired by any great songwriter I happen to be listening to. The desire to achieve some sort of spirituality gives motivation too.

IR: What musicians do you find yourself listening to these days?

AH: I'm heavily into Gene Clark - No Other is just an amazing album.

IR: That is a favorite of mine as well. While both CS albums portray sublime melodic textures and soaring harmonies each one has one slight heavy-metal track a few songs in. Are you a closet head banger then?

AH: Definitely! I grew up on Rainbow and Black Sabbath and ACDC. Can't quite seem to shake them off.

IR: Will your next album be issued in the US? Or will the last one, "Jetstream Lovers", eventually see a proper US release? I think that if Jetstream Lovers had been issued here and had some college promo and press it would have performed extremely well especially with the Triple A format. Most of these stations will not receive imports and most of the folks working at these stations never buy records. It is one of the reasons I hate US radio so much these days. A "good" station - one that has a flexible play list and likes to break artists - still doesn't have a successful filter for their programming.

AH: I've always felt our spiritual home is in the US so I hope and pray we get to both release our next record in the States and come over and tour. If we decide not to sign with an established label over here we may just record the album ourselves and license it internationally, including in the US. We do actually own the rights to Jetstream for North America so maybe we can still look at issuing it over there. Again we just need the right label to work with.

IR: Thanks Adam and please keep us addressed of all news regarding Captain Soul!

AH: My pleasure David.