Something Old, Something New
Tyler Baber

Wearing a vintage polyester wide collared button up shirt, scanning through my CD collection (a few of my most recent favorites being the White Stripes and the new Weezer album), and thinking of how cool the latest M. Night Shyamalan film was; I am reminded of the Ecclesiastical euphemism "There is nothing new under the sun." My dad probably had a shirt exactly like the one I’m wearing right now. Some of my favorite modern rock bands look like Buddy Holly and/or sound strikingly like the Who, Henry Nielson, and any garage or surf rock band from the ‘60s. I couldn’t help but laugh at all the obvious Hitchcock-isms in the movie Signs. There really aren’t any trends or products that are new and original, but there are plenty of things from the past that were just so good they had to return to the present.

Havalina, one of the most eclectic bands to come from the over populated Los Angeles music scene, embodies the spirit of turning an already existing art or music into something fresh and exciting. The hint of British invasion rock guitar is obvious at their live show and on their most recent album, Space, Love, and Bullfighting available on Tooth and Nail Records. Their previous albums have contained a weird hybrid of styles from bluegrass and blues to Russian folk and jazz among others. In a world where fads can take away success as quickly as it is given, Havalina has managed to gain an impressive following while never supporting any musical trend since the band’s first album was released on Tooth and Nail in 1994.

The band’s front man Matt Wignall explains "We all understand that there are other fads coming and going but we never really paid much attention. If you play the music that you feel without paying attention to what is going on around you, you will outlast fads. Case in point- Johnny Cash."

From Havalina’s sophomore album, a sort of Mancini-esque spy soundtrack The Diamond in the Fish; to the new, more rock guitar driven, album; the band has been difficult to categorize. "I don’t think we ever thought about defining what we do." Wignall details. "We just wanted to be creative and have the freedom to experiment and do what we do. In a way we just like to…do what entertains us and makes us happy." Wignall points out that experimentation can be found in some of the most acclaimed works in rock history, such as the Beatles' White Album.

Like the White Album and other staple albums of rock, Havalina uses albums to convey concepts rather than just letting an album be a vehicle for some hit song. "The concepts develop as a band, but…since I’m the primary songwriter I’ll write a couple of songs and the concept will take shape," says Wignall. "And we’ll be like ‘Oh wow, this should be our Russian record!’ Then it develops from there. ‘Oh man we wrote this weird space song! Yeah, but we wrote this weird Latin song, too. Let’s just combine it all!’ That’s how it happens, there isn’t too much thought that goes into it. It’s kind of like a machine of it’s own. The music guides what we decide to do and what we decide to call it."

It’s not hard to see that Matt is a very laid back person. At the same time, though, he can add profound layers to songs where one wouldn’t even expect. While space has long been a metaphor for loneliness, Wignall managed to find that same theme in both Latin arena sports and romantic relationships. "I just try to write about things that relate to experiences or concepts that people understand and relate to or I understand and relate to. Everyone knows how you feel when you fall in love or fall out of love or you’re just totally cynical in life and you feel like you’re getting screwed no matter what you do."

He compares these feelings to "Worst Days," one of the songs on the band’s new album. "The whole idea is somebody’s leaving in a relationship and any day it’s going to freeze. The weather and your personal life, everything is tied in with these feelings of frustration and failure."
Frustration isn’t a foreign concept to Matt or Havalina. Between 1999 and 2002, two of the band’s members left, Matt’s record company, Jackson-Rubio, went bankrupt, and the band’s van went through three engines. These elements of disappointment and dissatisfaction helped shape the new album’s lyrics while helping the band and its members learn to grow. "I definitely get through going through stuff like that, you know through being a Christian I’ve learned to deal with things and get better," Wignall says.

The band did manage to survive its burdens and come out stronger. Mercedes Stevens was added to Havalina’s line up as a singer/guitarist; while David Maust brought his talents on the Farfisa organ, Moog synthesizer, and Hurdy Gurdy to the band. Erick Diego, who had played violin with Havalina on past albums, became the band’s primary drummer. While the end of Jackson-Rubio meant that Space, Love, and Bullfighting’s release was prolonged, the band ended up back on Tooth and Nail. "It’s actually gone pretty good, I’m happy with everything that’s happened," says Wignall.

The time between Mercedes, David, and Erick’s joining the band on their respective instruments and the release of the new album was captured in some detail on video and released as a tongue-in-cheek documentary, Havalina and the Creaky Old Bridge. When asked about the film, Wignall replied "I guess anyone who wants to see what we do and how we act and our sense of humor, because there are a lot of scenes that we made up that we have fights over trivial things. Kind of like a Real World style."

Watching David Maust argue with the rest of the band over the importance and beauty of the Hurdy-Gurdy can indeed be incredibly entertaining. The documentary also features cameos of Starflyer 59’s Jason Martin, Velvet Blue Music’s Jason Cloud, and Wignall’s brother and Gucci model Paul. "I think the biggest plug would be to look in somebody’s life, especially someone who is doing something different than what you are. We’re doing stuff that’s different than other bands and different than people who aren’t in bands," says Wignall. "I can say that everyone in this band is very, very eccentric and interesting and creative. So it’s kind of a cool, funny way to see that and get to know everyone a little bit more."

The documentary also features some rather eccentric footage of the band in Matt’s all analog recording studio, Tackyland, as well as a look at the band’s live show. Anyone who has seen Havalina perform live can attest to the fact that the show is one of the most insane, energetic performances in the indie rock culture.

"There’s a lot of spontaneity," Matt describes. "Sometimes I just don’t do anything and last year at Purple Door I did a big belly flop onto the drum kit and got a huge gash on my leg and ripped my guitar fret apart." Between Matt’s borderline violent guitar playing and bassist Orlando Greenhill’s frenetic, robot/bug-like movements; Havalina’s audience either reacts just as wildly as the band or gets caught in awe like a deer in headlights. "We just react. We don’t sit up there and think ‘I’m playing this chord or that chord,’ we just go and it all happens."

Whether writing, recording, or touring, deep down Havalina is just about playing rock music. "We always thought we were kind of punk," Matt told HM magazine. "We just define the word according to it’s meaning in the late ‘70s. What is considered punk today is top 40. I would have thought we were a punk band on a label full of bands trying to play popular music."

Times change, trends and fads cycle. But in the end, Havalina will still be rock. Just a different kind than maybe the world is used to.

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Tyler is a freshman at Messiah College majoring in undeclared. Although he will miss sweetened tea, there's enough in Pennsylvania to keep him busy for a little while. Wire him money or hate mail at agora83@lycos.com

2002 White Elephant Productions