Following ten years with New York-based indie-rock band Longwave, front man Steve Schiltz began a solo personal project recording mellow songs on a laptop in his Brooklyn home.
Little did Schiltz know that his personal project would evolve into a critically acclaimed single, and result in the formation of his new band, Hurricane Bells.
Hurricane Bells will be performing with Blue October at Lifestyle Communities Pavilion April 17.
After Longwave’s final tour, Schiltz continued piecing together about 20 tracks which he hoped to release, but that did not quite fit the vibe of Longwave. Of these songs, ten were chosen for recording; however Schiltz was left without funding for his new project, which he initially intended on releasing himself.
This quickly changed as Schiltz gave his manager copies of the unused songs, unsure of where or for what they may end up being used. “Monsters” was one of these songs, which became an overnight sensation after appearing on the “Twilight: New Moon” soundtrack.
“I was never really a fan of the whole Twilight craze,” Schiltz explained about “Monsters.” “However I have to admit it has sort of been unavoidable given the success of ‘Monsters.'”
Serving as a blessing in disguise for Schiltz, this new-found success provided the funding necessary to pursue his project, record an album and book two national tours.
“I never really planned on pressing more than 1,000 copies initially,” Schiltz said about the unexpected success of his solo project. “Now we have booked two national tours, and will be releasing another full-length album as Hurricane Bells.”
Having quickly grown more popular than intended, Schiltz found himself without a band, since he recorded all of the initial music on the tracks himself. In addition to this, a name for the band was a void which needed to be filled quickly.
“I just thought it would be good to get out there and play music in front of people again,” Schiltz explained. “The whole Twilight soundtrack was just kind of a like a gift from above, and I’m kind of going to ride that out for as long as possible right now.”
Hurricane bells are heavy stone bells hung out by sea, which only make noise during a late night storm. Having described the sound of this project as “mellow, late night” music, Hurricane Bells evoked the quintessential dark and heavy sound that Schiltz was looking for in a band name.
“A lot of the Hurricane Bells’ music is still indie-type stuff like [Longwave], so it has been a lot of the same kind of fans, but definitely also a lot because of the Twilight song,” Schiltz said about the younger demographic gaining interest in his music.
The performance with Blue October April 17 will be an all-acoustic set which will last about 30 minutes, featuring Longwave drummer Jason Molina as well as other longtime musician friends of Schiltz.
Hurricane Bells will also be headlining a tour in May, which will include a full set as opposed to the instrumental show being played on April 17. Schiltz has already begun working on the second album from Hurricane Bells, which is set to be released this summer.
