Interviews: Fell Harvest

On this new occasion, we have had the opportunity to interview the Doom Metal band, Fell Harvest from the USA. Check out the interview and follow the band on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1. Where did you get the idea for the band name, you planned it or came out just like that?

The name was taken from a poem I wrote years ago. I had one of those dreams that aren’t quite a nightmare but leave you disturbed well after you awaken. In it I dreamed I was wandering in a vineyard but when I looked more closely all of the trees were made of bones and the leaves and vines decaying flesh, muscles, and veins. It was a really horrific scene but the dream itself had no malice, just a sense of calm, peaceful inevitability. It stuck in my head so powerfully that I wrote a poem called “The Fell Harvest” after I woke up. Then I just kind of forgot about it until we started talking about a name for the band. Some of the lines from that poem ended up as lyrics to the song Thy Barren Fields on our first album.

2. Why did you want to play this genre?

We’d have to agree on what genre we are first, wouldn’t we? I don’t think Fell Harvest falls cleanly into any genre and I really like it that way. I love many forms of music, doom metal, and death metal and thrash are very close to my heart but I also listen to a lot of classical, romantic, prog, and even pop. So Fell Harvest is very much about embracing music that feels honest and passionate regardless of the genre. That’s why we play it.

3. Did you know each other before the band was formed?

I actually found both Liam and Mike via Craigslist. So no.

4. Each band member's favorite band?

Mike Smith (Drums): Obituary, Iced Earth, Trivium, Orbit Culture, Susperia 

Joseph Fell (Bass, Vocals): Metallica, Dissection, Samael, My Dying Bride, Type O Negative, King’s X

Liam Duncan (Guitars): Metallica, Carcass, Death, Dissection, Nevermore, Black Sabbath

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

So many things. Sometimes I will start with a lyric or even just a phrase that I think will make a good title. Other times I think of a wisp of melody and develop a song around that. I try to look everywhere and anywhere to find ideas because the world will never run out of inspiration, you just run out of the ability to be open to it.

6. Where was your last gig?

Our album release show in Denver CO. It was awesome, the crowd was incredible and we are so excited by the reactions to the album.

7. Where would you like to act?

Anywhere, but especially in Europe and South America. The metal fans there have such amazing passion for the music and we’d love to play for them firsthand.

8. Whom would you like to feature with?

Just off the top of my head Behold! The Monolith, Velnias, Imperial Triumphant, Purification, Thulcandra. There is a one-man project called Blackbraid that I enjoy, and he happens to be from the same area I grew up in so I’d love to meet him and talk. And lastly, someday, when the brutal war in their homeland ends, I’d want to open for 1914 and welcome them back into the world.

9. Have any of you ever suffered from stage fright? Any tips for beginners on how to beat that?

Every single show lol. My bandmates know how nervous I get before going on stage. My advice is to get yourself in a place, through rehearsal and practice, that you can do the first song or two completely cold, without any kind of thought or even awareness. You can completely trust your ability to get through them, then let the rest of the show unfold naturally. I’ve played shows where I was so nervous I didn’t remember playing the opening song, but if you can get through that and let the adrenaline and the crowd interaction take over you will ride that high the rest of the night.

10. What bands have inspired you the most?

Metallica is the main reason I became a musician and so can never be discounted. My Dying Bride, Dissection, and Type O really shaped how I write and arrange songs, and my entire approach to bass is lifted from Dug Pinnick and Colin Kimberly.

11. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for?

Nothing really in this band, I did recently get asked by a server in a restaurant if I was Joseph from Fell Harvest. She then talked to me for like an hour about how much she and her boyfriend love the band which was awesome.

12. What do you think of your fans?

They’re incredible. When you think of the massive amount of great music in the world right now, the huge range of choices everyone has. To think there are people who want to spend their time listening to us is really shocking and humbling. Thank you.

13. What do you think of our site?

I’ll admit I wasn’t familiar with it before now but I read a bunch of articles the last couple of days. Really interesting coverage of some cool bands, I will be following it in the future.

14. Something to add?

Please check out our new album, The Dying, out now on DI Records.