26th December 2023

Exclusive Interview: Arkan Sawyer talk writing and recording “The White EP”!

The second part of a creature double feature interview with Arkan Sawyer mastermind J. Hurley takes a look and what went on behind the scenes as the former Wrought frontman throws a wrench into the wheel of what you thought you knew and creates new music in a new style. Gone are the days of Groove Metal, replaced by Stoner Doom Metal with Industrial and Nu-Metal vibes and an interesting sense of freedom…

How did your previous experiences writing and recording help to smooth the path of the new record? “You can bog yourself down by making a bunch of concrete plans and setting arbitrary deadlines. An album should be fluid in the creation stage and free to evolve. This record was originally supposed to be and full length but some of the material just clashed. Ultimately I decided it was better to have two EPs with their own personalities than an LP that felt confused. And lucky for me I didn’t have to pine over that decision with three of four other people which makes this new path way smoother.”

How does the writing process of a new track start? Melody, riff or rhythm first? How does it evolve from there before you consider it the finished article? “I don’t know if anything is truly finished. I think I could endlessly tinker and tweak them but eventually I just say “That’s it.” And force myself to leave it alone. But I’m not gonna lie, in a about 6 months I’ll be looking sideways at this first record! There’s always something that you would change. I’ve primarily been a vocalist my whole life. My songs tend to start with the hook or just a lyric concept. So often the chorus is the first thing that is written and the song grows in both directions. I can hear the melody in my head as I flush out the verbage and that sets the table. Someday is a good example of a song that started as a concept. Just asking the question, what happens when one person moves on from a failed relationship and the other does not? The older I have become the more I have written songs from the perspective of characters. It allows me a lot of freedom to tell different kinds of stories.”

What was it like bringing Johnathan Tegtmeyer of Higher Arkies to provide lead guitars for “Someday” How did the idea come about? “I’ve known Teg for decades. He was in a really great Alt-rock band called Bruno Molly back in the day when I was in Wrought; I recorded their first demo in an damp, asbestos ridden basement here in Fayetteville and I’m still in touch with most of those guys. Teg has always had great instincts and this solo was no exception. It felt like a painful bluesy piece over the end was the punctuation I was looking for and he nailed it. I had started rolling just to check levels, he had no idea and just laid into it. In the end it was exactly what I wanted and that’s the take on the record.”

If you had the opportunity to work with a guest in the studio next time around, who would you like to work with and why? “I’d be great to get Jay Hollingshead, the former drummer from Wrought, in for a session. I loved playing shows with that guy. I’ve never seen someone have so much fun performing. He’s super busy playing with two badass bands, Dirtmother and Liquid Courage, but I hope we can work on another track again one day. Stone from Power Tool Ninja has always had a great voice. It’d be great to split some vocals with him one day.”

For us gear nerds out there, can you tell us what you’re using gear wise (pedals, strings, drums etc) to get your sound? “Nothing that would raise eyebrows for the right reasons. My go to guitar is a mid 90’s Ibanez RX that has been upgraded running through a Pod XT Live. More VSTs than I know what to do with so there is endless amp/cabinet/pedal combinations and an ocean of sounds. Some of the additional guitar on these songs was played on my old Kay Vanguard from the late 60’s. I changed out the soapbar for a vintage Teisco pickup. Not exactly a metal rig but I’ve had that Vanguard since 1995 and I absolutely love it. My buddy runs a pawnshop and from time I pick up something from his inventory like my Baltimore or the Oxygen 25. Frankly, most of my audio gear had been mothballed for well over a decade before this project but it all bounced back with a little maintenance.”

What difference would it make to you if you could land an endorsement from a gear manufacturer? “Can I get a spare parts endorsement? Some scratch and dent? I don’t know…not much I guess. I like working on stuff and tinkering. I wouldn’t know what to do if everything worked… Currently I’m tearing down my Vanguard for a rebuild and I’ll be thinking about what is hitting the bench after that. More pedals, guitars and all that would awesome but I have everything I could need to make metal for decades to come. Wow…that’s comforting.”

“The White EP” by Arkan Sawyer was released on 24th November 2023