herds “station of the cross”
“station of the cross” is hard to define, but special to listen to. Like spiritual meets road trip, driving down folk and indie rock in the twilight zone, the track is unpredictable and mysterious. The sonic palettes feel liberating and refreshing. Noise meets melodies in an eclectic, curious manner, sparking infectious energy. Coiled in a blur-edged, fuzzy drone, the vocals and words melt the surroundings away, putting you alongside its introspective, immersive, and expansive mindset. It makes you want to sink into it deeper and deeper.
Herds have quite a unique sound that can’t be found anywhere else in the world. While “station of the cross” is energetic and “on the move,” it just places you in a state of stillness where the rich groove and good vibe can be forever. Near the ending, it escalates into an even more blur of spirituality, mystic, and reality where everything just blend together in harmony: melodies, vocals, guitars, and drums. You hear everything at once, but it makes you wonder if the thing you hear is truly there. Perhaps they aren’t, but your mind is being included as part of the music in “station of the cross,” and that’s something you don’t get to experience all the time.
Check out our interview with herds, where we chat about their influences and how they come about with their unique sound.
Punk Head: I love the moody, refreshing combination in ‘Station of The Cross.’ What are some of the influences in the song?
Neil: We are probably influenced by all the good music we have ever heard so it's really hard to distil anything down to specifics. Within the band we have a wide spread of favourite genres from psych to folk to prog to shoegaze to metal to punk to electronica and most points in between. Ultimately, we're all big fans of both melody and noise so if we can achieve both at the same time then we're happy.
Al: The original bassline for the verse was inspired by a famous Clash song although you'll be hard pushed to spot it now. The main riff in the song is probably influenced more by someone like the Stranglers. Simonon & Burnel are amazing!!
PH: Was there any challenge that you encountered while making the track?
Al: I joined a few months ago and first heard the song from demos the band had done pre-covid. It already had a different bass line, but I wanted to put my stamp on it so to speak. It wasn't easy ‘unhearing' the original but I'm happy with the outcome.
Paul: We’re very happy with it Al, you stepped up to the challenge!
Neil: Definitely Covid! We started recording some of the drums for the single and the album during the weekend before lockdown started in the UK. The tapes then sat gathering dust for a couple of years until we could properly return to them last autumn. We weren't idle in the meantime and self-released a remotely - recorded EP and contributed to a charity record (in our previous guise as ‘the amber herd’) but it's been great to get back to the album properly. This enforced hiatus has made us appreciate even more how privileged we are to be able to make our music without anyone telling us we're not allowed to.
PH: What motivates you as an artist?
Al: Seeing people enjoying our music. Producing songs that surprise or interest people.
Paul: I agree with Al, also these guys are great to work with, we can spend years perfecting and changing songs to make them more dynamic, but just getting into a room and jamming things out is the best feeling.
PH: Who are you listening to at the moment?
Paul: I’m listening to a lot of Stoner/Doom atm, anything dark & Gothic, interspersed with Some folky stuff like Richard Dawson & Josienne Clarke.
Al: The Beat the Streets playlist on Spotify. We are honoured to be part of the line-up supporting homeless people this year in Nottingham. So many great local bands coming together to support one cause.
PH: What is the one thing that you’d like your fans to know about you?
Al: That we have no idea what music genre we are. We're a mixture of so many different influences, we feel we have a unique sound.
Paul: We were called ‘the amber herd’ but were named after some Cattle not the actress whose recent court case caused us to reinvent ourselves with this new line-up and name.
