“We’re doing great, and we’re happy to be back in New York City,” lead singer Ken Block said. “We are having a busy year. It’s been great.”
Bassist Jett added, “We love this venue. We’ve played all over the city over the years, but this is definitely one of our favorites. It has an intimate feel to it.”
Sister Hazel was stoked that the Gramercy Theatre bars had cocktail drinks in the band’s honor, including the “Champagne High,” “Change Your Mind,” “This Kind of Love,” and the “All for You” drink, with ginger beer in it. “Now we like this place even better,” Drew said.
They ran 100 miles for Cancer Foundation of Florida. “We actually ran a marathon. It was a relay and we broke it down to chunks,” Ryan said. “Everybody that ran, ran between 15 and 22 miles each. We only had to use the paddles once on Drew to jump-start his heart,” he joked.
On their future plans, drummer Mark said, “We have a new lyric video for ‘Karaoke Song’ coming out pretty soon, which Darius Rucker is featured on.”
Digital Transformation of Music Industry
Regarding the digital transformation of the music industry, Ken said, “I didn’t think it would be as easy to go from full-blown studio sessions, where you had to do everything in a top-notch studio, and now you can do a lot of overdubs in your own house and we’ve done it in hotel rooms. That has happened quickly and affordably. People can make really quality, experiential and experimental records affordably. People confuse digital intimacy with real-life intimacy. That’s why we started our Rock Boat and the Hazelnut Hang.”
Jett added, “It is interesting how things balance out. It’s cheaper to make records, and that’s a good thing, since people are buying them as much. The industry finds balance, and we’re able to make a living playing live shows and licensing our music, and we’re one of the fortunate ones. It’s cheaper to make records, so you don’t lose tons of money if you don’t sell a million copies, like we used to.”
“Scarily, I can’t believe how technology has infiltrated every aspect of everything I do,” Drew said. “I use it for everything.”
Most impressive about Sister Hazel is that the band’s line-up has been the same in all of their years, which exceeds two decades.
Read More: Digital Journal reviewed Sister Hazel’s Gramercy Theatre live performance.
