{"id":44467,"date":"2014-08-30T06:27:01","date_gmt":"2014-08-30T11:27:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=44467"},"modified":"2014-10-10T09:21:48","modified_gmt":"2014-10-10T14:21:48","slug":"interview-with-kenneth-nixon-of-framing-hanley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/interview-with-kenneth-nixon-of-framing-hanley\/","title":{"rendered":"Kenneth Nixon of Framing Hanley"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Matt Karpe<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

After a few years away from the limelight, 2014 has seen Framing Hanley return with a big bang. Their third record The Sum Of Who We Are was released back in April after a successful Kickstarter campaign, and with a busy touring schedule in place for the remainder of the year, all seems to be well in the Framing Hanley camp once again.<\/p>\n

I caught up with lead singer Nixon (as he is commonly known) to discuss what Framing Hanley have been up to in the last four years, the making of the new record and how the band owes EVERYTHING to their fans \u2026<\/p>\n

\"Nixon
Nixon (Third From Left)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

HRH: Hey, thank you for taking the time to speak to HRH, how are you doing today?<\/p>\n

Nixon: I\u2019m doing great. Sitting here with a cup full of coffee, so I can\u2019t really complain too much. (Laughs)<\/p>\n

HRH: The Sum Of Who We Are<\/em> has been out a while now, how pleased are you with how the record turned out?<\/p>\n

Nixon: I never imagined being this pleased with an album we did. I know we\u2019ll never consider any album we do a \u201cperfect\u201d album, especially since part of the beauty in Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll is the rough edges\u2026the character that\u2019s there in an album with its flaws. That being said, this is a damn good Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll album and it feels good to be able to say that. Ask my wife, I\u2019m my biggest critic by a long shot, but this is the first album that I can jump in the car and it already be playing in the CD player from when my wife may have been driving and I don\u2019t have the impulsive urge to eject it from the player. It\u2019s awesome to have music out right now that I feel is a good representation of who we are as artists at this point in our career.<\/p>\n

HRH: It\u2019s the first Framing Hanley album for about four years. What\u2019s been happening over the last few years?<\/p>\n

Nixon: Life. Ha-ha. We all have families, and when we left our previous label, we knew that we had to take care of our big boy responsibilities. The album was something we couldn\u2019t dedicate 24 hours a day and 7 days a week to. The interesting part of this is the fact that we were able to revisit songs over and over again, unlike any album we\u2019d done in the past. Our fans funded this album on Kickstarter, so we knew that we had to give them something that we could confidently stand behind and say \u201cthis is who Framing Hanley is.\u201d<\/p>\n

HRH: I think the record is the bands strongest to date. How did you approach the writing and recording process?<\/p>\n

Nixon: It was a never-ending process, the writing side: we wrote over 30 songs for this album and as I said, this is the first time we were afforded the opportunity to revisit songs if we felt they weren\u2019t \u201cfinished.\u201d In the past, once the song was recorded, that was basically it. This album has so many songs that we took back to the wood-shed, disassembled, and put back together again\u2026until it was all new. It greatly benefited the album being able to do this.<\/p>\n

HRH: The Sum\u2026<\/em> was made possible by a Kickstarter campaign. I read that you needed around $40,000. You must be really proud that you have such a supportive fan base that would help to make it all possible?<\/p>\n

Nixon: We asked for $40k. That included an album, the first music video, the packaging, promo, press, etc. We knew that was a lofty goal, so we speculated whether we would raise that much. Then our fans went above and beyond and raised $60k. It was unbelievable. Ya know, throughout all of this, I just want to know that ten years from now, whether FH is still around or not, I want to know that all of those people that contributed to our Kickstarter in 2012 know that they kept this dream\/career alive. This album wouldn\u2019t be released right now if it weren\u2019t for those people because it would\u2019ve never been recorded, and that would\u2019ve been a tragedy for our band, because, again, neither of our previous two albums compare to this one.<\/p>\n

HRH: After the help that you received, was there added pressure to make the best record you physically could, and make it successful also?<\/p>\n

Nixon: An extra pressure that we never could\u2019ve imagined. Again, the fact that it was our FANS who made this album a reality, we knew that we HAD to give them something that they all listened to and thought \u201cwow, I\u2019m glad I helped put this band in the studio to record this.\u201d A lot of the push-backs were due to us questioning the strength of the album. So that\u2019s when we\u2019d do the aforementioned \u201cwood-shed\u201d trips and just keep reworking songs or writing new ones, until we knew we had the album we personally felt confident about.<\/p>\n

HRH: Do you have a favorite song on The Sum<\/em> \u2026 If so which and why?<\/p>\n

Nixon: Yeah, \u201cCastaway\u201d is a special song. Throughout the making of this album, with all the setbacks, we started to wonder \u201cman, have we played our last show? Is this album ever gonna see the light of day?\u201d Finally, one day, it just hit me: \u201cYa know, there are people out there patiently waiting for this album because they\u2019re that interested in hearing our music.\u201d That was a huge moment for me. It was a moment of enlightenment. That song has a line in it that says \u201cI\u2019ll go down with this ship\u201d and that\u2019s basically a statement to our fans saying \u201cHey, as long as you guys give a damn and WANT to hear the music we create, I\u2019ll be here playing till the ship is completely under water.\u201d<\/p>\n

HRH: So after a positive 2014 thus far, what does the future hold for Framing Hanley?<\/p>\n

Nixon: Touring. Lots and lots of touring. Other than that, I\u2019m not sure. I just know that we missed touring while we were sitting at home working on this album for over two and a half years, so it\u2019s nice to be back on the road and being able to play these songs live and shake the hands of those people that have kept this train moving.<\/p>\n

HRH: If you weren\u2019t in a band, what kind of job do you think you would have?<\/p>\n

Nixon: Dream job? A writer for WWE. I\u2019m a HUUUUUGE wrestling fan, and I\u2019ve always wanted to write for WWE.<\/p>\n

HRH: Who would be in your dream band line-up?<\/p>\n

Nixon: Vocals- Freddie Mercury, Guitar- Slash, Bass- Flea and Drums- Phil Collins (because of the vocal harmony possibilities!!)<\/p>\n

HRH: Thank you once again for talking to me, and I wish you the best of luck in the future.<\/p>\n

Nixon: Thank YOU for taking the time to talk to me. Make sure you and everyone else stay up to date with all things Framing Hanley by frequenting www.framinghanley.com<\/a> or by following us on twitter at www.twitter.com\/framinghanley<\/p>\n

Framing Hanley\u2019s third studio album The Sum Of Who We Are<\/em> is out now via Imagen Records on iTunes and in all good record stores <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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