We recently connected with Heartsick Heroine and have shared our conversation below.

Heartsick, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

Being a regional metal band is INCREDIBLEY difficult. The competition is thick and you can get tied up in numbers and metrics rather than focusing on what matters: making music. Where and how to record your music has always been a big point of contention for musicians. Of course, a professional studio is best. You benefit from their expertise and skill not only in the tracking process but in the mix/master. But for those musicians who want to learn more about their craft and push the boundaries on what they can do in-house, recording your own music, be it covers or original music, is a huge undertaking. One we at Heartsick Heroine jumped into head first.

Our last album “AEtherial” was produced in-house and man, did we learn some hard lessons. There are a million online resources and conflicting information on what makes up a good modern metal track. That aside, the band members all had their own ideas on what they wanted the album to sound like, we were collaborating digitally and across state lines, and we had different configurations and plugins for our DAWs. Ultimately, we learned that tracking your music yourself really boils down to the process and delegation of various parts of the process to members who did the best work for that part. We took that knowledge to heart as we prepped to make our second album.

This presented a unique new challenge because, unlike our last album, our guitarist Allen and singer Hannah took on producing our music from our bass player, Chris. The shift happened for two reasons: one, Chris is incredibly active in the local wrestling scene and his time is primarily dedicated to that. He no longer had time to produce music for the band. Two, Hannah and Allen wanted to learn and take a more hands-on role in producing our next album. To dip their toes, the band decided to track and put out a cover of “Cassie” by Flyleaf. We started where we left off with our last album. Tossing what we didn’t like and adding new techniques learned from hours and hours of research and peer feedback, the new process began taking shape. After tracking everything in our home studios, and with only minor arguments, Hannah provided the winning mix while Allen brought the track home with the winning master.

We released the song on March 10th accompanied by a music video that was shot and edited by Hannah, another DIY venture that we’ve taken in-house in the last couple of years. The feedback has been wonderful and encouraging. We are so incredibly proud of it all, the video, the track, the whole package. It was really tough getting to this stage, and we experience butting of heads through the whole process. But we made something we are proud of and the lessons learned have helped us create templates and guidelines for our next full-length to be released (hopefully) this summer.

Would I suggest other bands try recording and producing their music in-house? YES! Even if you end up not pursuing it, learning more about what it takes to make music can really help you streamline your experience with a professional studio. You should never stop learning about your craft.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Music is one of the few forms of communication that is universal. It speaks to you in ways that other forms of art just can’t. For us, the most rewarding part of being an artist is playing our music live. The feeling of performing a song that means so much to you and then looking out into the crowd and seeing that emotion reflected on someone’s face….it is honestly the most amazing feeling in the world. To be truly seen emotionally by someone you don’t know and sharing that feeling…it can heal wounds, it can change the way you see life, it can save you.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

It’s a tired comment, I know, but the most beneficial thing you can do to support artists is to share their content with your friends and family, to buy their music and apparel, and to interact with them online. The more people who hear an artist’s music, the more they can grow. And the more you financially support them, the more they can give back to you as patrons.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://heartsickheroine.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heartsickheroine/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heartsickheroine
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/heartsickheroine