EPK – Hessdalen Light – Khajiit Has Wares, If You Have Coin (single) (2023)
Publicist – Jon Asher – jon[@]ashermediarelations[.]com
âIt was the 4th song written for our upcoming album but it really stuck with us so we decided to prioritize it as a standalone single. The song is structured in true prog fashion, where each part flows independently into the next and no parts repeat. This creates a fun, adventurous type of experience for the listener as they journey through it. We also tried out some new delays and other modulation effects on this song, and intend to showcase that newer style throughout the rest of the album.â – Hessdalen Light
For fans of Chon, TTNG, The Fall of Troy, Dance Gavin Dance, Enemies.
Facebook.com/HessdalenLight | Instagram.com/hessdalenlightband | Youtube
Spotify | Hessdalenlight.bandcamp.com
âItâs thoughtful, complex and emotional. The four-and-a-half minutes is a journey and a half with the guitar, bass and drums weaving in and out of each other. Every instrument sort of does itâs own thing, yet come together in a very seamless and beautiful way. Would it be dumb to compare this to some of the math rock-y songs found on the Death Note soundtrack? Thatâs just what kind of frame of reference this writer has for this subgenre.â – Central Dallas Track – May 18, 2022 – Song of The Day – Hessdalen Light â âDevilâs Cigarâ
Single Title: Khajiit Has Wares, If You Have Coin
Release Date: 05/12/23
Label: Self-Release
Distribution: DistroKid
Track Listing:
Khajiit Has Wares, If You Have Coin – Length (6:08)
Single Credits:
Song performed by: Hessdalen Light
Song written by: Tanner Thornton
Produced by: Trey Herod at Europa Studios
Mixed by: Trey Herod at Europa Studios
Mastered by: Trey Herod at Europa Studios
Single Artwork by: Hannah Boettinger
Band Line Up
Tanner Thornton – Guitars
Antonio Guzman – Bass
Zephaniah Stake – Drums
Discography:
2023 – Â Khajiit Has Wares, If You Have Coin
2022 – False Dichotomy – EP
2018 – Gravity – EP
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1. Many of the Hessdalen Lightâs song titles (as well as the band name) are references to unexplained scientific phenomena. With the music being instrumental, this provides a way to weave in some intrigue for our listeners who want to learn about something cool or interesting outside of the music.
2. Zephaniah (Drums) and Antonio (Bass) worked together at a local BBQ chain several years ago and had always tossed around the idea of forming a band, but the timing or situation never worked out. It wasnât until many years later, that Antonio was already linked up with Tanner (Guitar) and Hessdalen Light, that the two BBQ boys were able to realize their goal of playing in a band together.
3. Our close friend, Trey Herod, of the Band Fall Europa, has built and opened his own recording studio (Europa Studios). For this single and every subsequent song on our upcoming album, we recorded all the instruments at Europa Studios and the songs will be Mixed and Mastered by Trey Herod.
4. All three current members of Hessdalen Light are fully self-taught on their respective instruments.
5. We have a band tradition where we get a huge breakfast at a restaurant in Dallas called âSnoozeâ before any recording/studio session we do.
L-R: Tanner Thornton (Guitar) | Zephaniah Stake (Drums) | Antonio Guzman (Bass) | Photo Credit: Brandon Cole
Hessdalen Light began in early 2015 as a solo bedroom project of Tanner Thornton while he was pursuing a mechanical engineering degree at the University of Florida. He spent the following 3 years writing music in the little free time he had from the commitments of his studies.Â
Enamored with the creative freedom that instrumental progressive rock music allowed, Tanner sought to turn his bedroom hobby into a full-fledged creative endeavor, and eventually release his music as an EP. Upon graduation from UF in 2018, he traveled to Nashville to meet up with his hometown friend, Hank Bachara, and record four songs that would eventually become Hessdalen Lightâs debut release, Gravity. The Gravity EP was released in late 2018 and received generally positive feedback.
Around this same time, work brought Tanner out to Dallas, TX to begin a new life away from his home state of Florida. The 9-5 lifestyle offered him much more flexibility than school, and he knew it was finally time to turn Hessdalen Light into a full live band.Â
Tanner began searching for musicians to join HL and quickly came across Kyle Garrison, a seasoned drummer with a similar appreciation for progressive rock music. Kyle then recruited his good friend and bassist, Antonio Guzman, as the two had formerly played together in a local grunge band called Doubt. The trio of Thornton, Garrison, and Guzman immediately hit it off musically, and thus Hessdalen Light had reached its full potential as a live band.
The trio played several shows around the DFW area in 2019 and 2020 until the pandemic hit, quickly halting their aspirations. They used this time to focus on writing more music that would eventually make up a second EP.Â
In early 2021, Thornton and Guzman mutually parted ways with Garrsion and spent some time searching for his replacement. They eventually settled on drummer Zephaniah Stake, as Stake and Guzman were long-time high school friends.
The trio immediately set their focus back to recording and in the fall of 2021, they recorded their 2nd EP, âFalse Dichotomyâ with their friend Trey Herod at Europa Studios in Crandall, TX.
False Dichotomy was released in March of 2022, after being mixed and mastered by Jamie King. The trio of Thornton, Guzman, and Stake spent the remainder of the year playing shows around the DFW area, including opening for Math Rock juggernauts Standards and Catbamboo.
In 2023, the band hopes to keep writing and releasing new music and playing more shows as they continue building their following organically.
Share Stage with:
Standards, I Met A Yeti, Pulses, With Sails Ahead, Painted Light, Turquoise, Nygma, Indego, DTB, Catbamboo, Observer, Fall Europa
Tours and Festivals:
2019 – Math Fest 2.0 â Denton TX
