How do you capture the thrill of first discovering your favorite song or the adrenaline rush of your first concert? For singer-songwriter Bruce Hazel, it means taking that bottle of rock 'n' roll nostalgia and sharing it with veteran musicians as leader of the Charlotte band Temperance League.
"There’s something about Charlotte that when you’re here for a little while, it can just kind of take over. You just really learn to love being here.”– Bruce Hazel, lead singer of Temperance League
Interview Highlights:
On some of his earliest performances:
There was this place called “The Cellar” on Morehead [Street], right over by where Bank of America Stadium is now. They had college night on Wednesday nights, which is really funny because a bunch of high school kids playing on college night. My parents would let us go out — all our parents. I mean, it’s like five of us in the band. So five sets of parents and they’d let us go out and play on school nights.
On making an album as a teenager with the same band, Relayer:
You’re always trying to get back to that initial excitement. The first time you get together with some other guys, and you hit a chord together that’s in tune or put a backbeat behind strumming some chords — it’s so exciting.
I think that’s the thing that’s exciting about rock 'n' roll. After doing it for however long we’ve been doing it now — 25 years, 30 years — you’re just always trying to get back to that, for me anyways, and it is always that exciting.
On why he makes music:
I know this probably sounds like a lot of crap, but it wasn’t ever really about fame or money for me. I honestly always just wanted to be a singer-songwriter — a great songwriter. If there was a chance to maybe write songs or sell songs for somebody, I would’ve been happy doing that. I’d still be happy doing that. But I love to perform and I love being the front man for a band, too.
On finding a sound for a band:
Really it’s just like throwing spaghetti against the wall because you’re trying to see what sticks. You try to have a vision, and studio time is the best thing for that because you can rehearse and play out as much as possible.
Until you hear it back on the tape, you never know what you have. Then you hear it back and you’re like, “Oh, god that’s awful.” You’ve been rocking out for a year, having a blast, and then you hear it back on the tape and you’re like, “What were we doing?”
On what the local music scene does well:
What’s good about the scene is how everyone still does stick to it and is out there every night of the week. How much joy and how much passion there is in the scene — how much community there is. It’s good that the bedrock is there.
On what he’d like to see change in the Charlotte music scene:
There are some acts from this area that have really gotten big, and I just feel like that maybe they don’t mention Charlotte or involve Charlotte as much as they could. I’m not looking for any kind of handout, but just for them to be proud of the scene where they came from. [It’s] a scene that embraced them, promoted them and helped them get onto their feet.
Music featured in this #WFAEAmplifier chat:
Relayer – “Between the Lines”
Temperance League – “Forever”
Temperance League – “Detroit”
Temperance League – “Spirit of '85”
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