Bluesy rock ‘n’ rollers HUDSON came together in 2013 and released their debut EP In the Unknown in 2014. Bass player/keyboardist Brian Cohen and drummer Christian Thierbach IV complete the solid lineup and the fiery four-piece are currently in the middle of a residency at the world famous Whiskey A Go Go on the Sunset Strip.
On October 20 the Los Angeles-based group will premiere their new EP Cast Out at an exclusive launch party at the legendary venue. I had heard that there was a rather traumatic story behind Cast Out and asked Chris, also a music teacher, producer and a veteran of other bands – with longtime friend Brian Cohen – to tell me more.
“Well our track ‘Cast Out,’ and it’s the title track as well, came about because around six years ago Brian the bass player went out with a friend one night and I went out with a friend and then I got a call 3 a.m. saying that Brian was in the trauma unit in hospital because he’d nearly been beaten to death.
“So I rushed over there and found my friend in a state that I could never have imagined seeing him in. There were five guys on a drunken night out who did it. It took six years to go to court and they walked away scot-free because of the complications of the case.
“We felt justice hadn’t been served and I called David and told him about it. Brian had recorded a real powerful track and David took it and it became ‘Cast Out.’ The whole underlying theme of the song is to take a negative experience and turn it into something positive.
“Rather than stoop to their level and try and get revenge, we wrote a song and now we’re gonna get it out to the world – that’s our revenge.”
The new EP is five tracks of exhilarating rock, that has drawn favourable comparisons with the likes of Led Zeppelin and The Black Crowes, and I wondered how the band felt it differed from their debut. “It definitely has a lot more energy,” muses Chris. “It’s definitely harder rock and that comes from our live shows.”
And which of the songs particularly stand out for the guys (my personal favourite is “Whatcha Know”)? “I think all of them,” replies David, joining in the conversation. “I love all of them, but I think ‘For the Moment,’ the fourth track, has a lot of dynamics and is a very powerful song.”
We moved onto the subject of the name HUDSON. Did David suggest the use of his surname? “No. It just kinda worked out because my solo career was very short, but we did manage to get the word out there. It’s a pretty universal name, the Hudson River and there are towns called Hudson…
“But everyone has a lot of talent and makes such a contribution and that’s really obvious when you watch us on stage. You don’t focus on one person; you look around and see all the different interactions, all the energy. It’s not just about one name.”
Cast Out will be out on October 21 and can be pre-ordered from iTunes.
For more information on HUDSON, visit their official website.
