Interview: Joe Hatt, Howling Owl Records

Founded in 2011, Howling Owl are currently Bristol’s most fertile and influential live music collective. Run by Joe Hatt and Adrian Dutt of noise-rock troublemakers Spectres, they’re a record label, gig promoters and outspoken DIY flies in the industry ointment. We had a chat with Joe on the eve of their third New Year / New Noise weekend at Arnolfini. Check out this video of last year’s event to get an idea of what to expect.

“Howling Owl are a product of the town from where they came, the city where they live, the people they work with and the music industry they work against.” Where did you come from, and what have you got against the music industry?

Ha ha, took me a while to realise I’d written that sentence. Adrian and I moved to Bristol from a town called Barnstaple in North Devon. It was a pleasant place to grow up in, but once you reach a certain age there’s this void that we had to escape. The best thing the place did was instil a sense of ‘if we don’t do it, no one else will’ that spread into making skateboarding zines, putting on gigs and exhibitions etc. When we moved here it was natural for us to do the same, but now we had Bristol to play with. 

I will stop myself from writing an essay on the music industry, so I’ll keep it simple in saying that it’s an industry deserving of everything we’ll do our best to do to it.

There’s been a DIY music scene in Bristol since the punk days at least. Is Howling Owl a continuation of that or is it something new?

I guess it’s a continuation in the sense that we’d like to think we have that same spirit and ethos as those before who have inspired us, but we are able to push in new directions thanks to the internet and social media etc. We didn’t grow up here, but we know for a fact Bristol has helped bring out our anarchic side.

You release records, you publish zines, you put on shows. Is Howling Owl a scene of its own?

I would say it’s more of a family than a scene, a family that is constantly extending. The word ‘scene’ is too site specific for what we want Howling Owl to be.

On the face of it Oliver Wilde, Spectres and The Naturals are all quite different from each other. Do you think the label has an aesthetic? 

The thing that has made acts and artists like those part of Howling Owl is the constant striving to evolve what we are doing, whether it be music, art or just how we approach things. There is definitely a punky, us-against-them spirit too, that has actually grown as we have as we get more and more frustrated with the way things can be. If you listen to something as beautiful as Oliver Wilde or as technically mind-warping as The Naturals, it may be hard to imagine that we think exactly the same when it comes to how all of our music should be presented and that there is the same frustrated, angry energy going into it all, but there is. When we started the label, Adrian and I didn’t really know anyone in the city except our own band and it was the perfect way to meet a load of people who were probably have pretty similar ideas to ourselves. It’s gone from putting out a tape and a few gigs at The Mothers Ruin to something much bigger in the fact that we are releasing a lot of records each year and putting on shows in spaces like the Arnolfini, but that same spirit is still there because we’re all restless and fighting our own battles.

You’re thought of as pretty savvy media operators – the campaign to promote Spectres’ alternative Bond theme being the most obvious example. Is winding people up more effective than asking nicely?

We’re never sure if that’s a compliment or not! If earning things on merit or asking nicely was a viable option to get the attention we feel as though our acts deserve, then we probably wouldn’t need to think of these elaborate schemes. The issue is that they are not viable options, and we haven’t got the money to spend on buying reviews or interview space so we have to get creative. There is usually more to it than simply winding people up, we only do that when we’re bored.

For New Year / New Noise 3 you’ve put together another very impressive Saturday night lineup with everything from noise-rock to techno. Who are you most excited about seeing? 

I’ve been trying to get Chrononautz down to Bristol for the past couple of years and I know they are going to be worth the wait. Have heard so many great things about (recent Bristol24/7 interviewees) Repo Man but have somehow managed to never see them before either so can’t bloody wait. Rhain is going to be as special as ever, but I think Blood Music may well end up being the highlight. I was stood about a foot away from his drumkit when he did a ten minute set in the PLAYPEN at Supernormal and instantly knew he had to play this night.

You’ve also expanded the scope of the event, with an AV show on Friday and some workshops on Sunday. What can you tell us about that?

The aim is for us to put on an event that enables us to show as many sides to Howling Owl as we can, and also for it not just to be a ‘gig but in an art gallery’. We are worried that we might be spreading ourselves a little thin in terms of audience as we find it hard to gauge how many people want to come to our shows. The past two NY/NNs have sold out which have both felt like a triumph, but expanding it isn’t us being arrogant, we’re just challenging ourselves.

Once again the event is being hosted at Arnolfini. How significant is the choice of venue?

Very. The fact we were allowed in to do the first one was a huge deal for us as it’s an institution, and a space where we have seen and heard so many great things since we moved to Bristol. Gigs at the Arnolfini always feel special, so it’s great to try and add to that. We still feel like we’re blagging it, so we were glad they asked us back again, and then also let us take over more of the building for the weekend. 

2015 was another strong year for Howling Owl, not least thanks to that seriously long-awaited debut album by The Naturals. What’s up your sleeves for 2016?

At the end of 2015 Adrian I discussed having a slightly quieter year because the last one was relentless. Excellent, but relentless. That idea has already gone out the window as looking ahead we realise we have some insane shows lined up after the Arnolfini (Girl Band, Show Me The Body, Ought etc…) and then releases from Silver Waves, Taos Humm, Oliver Wilde, Tara Clerkin, E B U…plus some compilations all in the pipeline. We then also have the small matter of our 5th Birthday bash.

New Year / New Noise 3 is at Arnolfini from January 15-17.

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