Grady=emotion

Grady is halfway done with vocals for the new record, all I can say is damn! he is KILLING IT! he sounds more amazing than ever, straight rage, emotion and feeling on this one. Getting close my friends, cant wait for everyone to hear it. Have info soon on the new record...big thank you to the will haven family...

WH

update

Its been a bit but wanted to update everyone on the record, we have tracked all the guitars, bass and drums. We tracked 12 songs (not sure if all 12 will be on there). We recorded it here in Sacramento with our good friend Matt Pedri. We are very happy with the way its coming together. As of now we are in the mixing process and adding some stuff here and there, Grady is due to come into the studio in the next week and start laying down vocals. We are pretty excited to hear Grady over this stuff, going to be insane. Thank you for the support and we will update again soon.
will haven

Recording time...

well the time has come, were loading into the studio next Tues here in Sacramento to begin work on the new record. We will be producing it ourselves along with Matt Pedri who will be the main engineer. I wont say much about the record, but we are pretty happy with it. We will post pics and do a few blogs from the studio for anyone who is interested. Just want to thank everyone for their support..hope to see you soon..
will haven

interview with Jeff Irwin

Freeze Alt:So its been a while since we have heard much from Will Haven, whats been going on for the band the past few years?

Jeff:Yeah I think its been like 3 years since we did our last record. I actually don’t even know where the time went, doesn’t seem like that long ago to me. Well we did a few tours to support the Heirophant, England, Europe and a few US shows. That was spread out over a period of time. After that we didn’t have much planned and were throwing the idea around about doing another record. Everything kind of changed after Chi Cheng (Deftones) had his accident, after that we focused on trying to put together some benefit shows for him and his family, so we did about 4 benefit shows for him and one we did with the Defttones. After a year of doing that we just dove straight into working on a new record for the past year. So we were here and there but definitely not touring or anything like that.

Freeze Alt:Yeah I saw some video footage of some of the Chi benefit shows, it was pretty cool to see all the bands come together for that, how did that all come together?

I visited Chi about a week after the accident when he was still in the hospital, It hit me pretty hard, not just seeing my good friend in that state but his mom and sister were sleeping on these plastic seats for the past week. I just had this feeling like I needed to do something, I initially just wanted to raise some money for the family to get them some hotel rooms, plane tickets for other family members to fly out to see Chi, whatever I could do, so my first benefit show was in San Francisco I put together with my good friend Rey Osburn (Death Valley High, Ghostride). I couldn’t believe how awesome it came together, a lot of people really love Chi so it was easy, but we had Death Angel, Phallucy (Abe from Deftones side band) Death Valley High, Eightfourseven and us. It was an amazing show. A lot of people came out and we raised some good money. After that it was easy to do the others in Sacramento and Los Angeles. The money we raised actually went to Chi’s son to help pay for some of the things he needed. It was such a good feeling to help out in anyway we could. Chi is an amazing person and means so much to everyone that was involved. I would like to do a few more when we get the opportunity.

Freeze Alt:So I guess the biggest news of the past year was the return of Grady to will haven, how did that come about?

It all started from the Chi benefit shows, I approached Grady about doing a few songs with us at those shows and he was into it. He ended up doing all the benefit shows with us and you could see he was having a good time up there. It actually really came about when we had a show in San Francisco opening up for YOB. Jeff Jaworski who was still with us couldn’t do that show due to other plans he had, so I asked Grady if he wanted to do a full show with us, again he was into it and the show was amazing. I mean he really hadn’t done a full show in probably 6 years and it was like he never left, the energy and raw emotion was stronger than ever. After that show Grady was into doing something with the band again. I had been thinking of doing another record but when Grady said he was on board I was pretty excited, to do one more record with Grady was something I really wanted to do again so it was perfect.

Freeze Alt:So I guess the other big news in the will haven camp is the addition of Chris Fehn from Slipknot to play bass, how did that also come about?

Well initially I approached Jeff Jaworski to play bass for us since Mike (will haven original bass player) was too busy to continue playing.. Jeff was excited about the idea but really he wanted to finish his album he was doing for Red Tape. So Jeff started working on that and we continued writing without a bass player. I have been close friends with Chris since we toured with Slipknot back in 2000. Chris and I have always talked about doing a side project together but of course with Slipknot being so busy we just never had the chance. After they completed the All Hope Is Gone tour they were to take about a two year break. So I asked Chris if he would like to play bass for us during his downtime. We both agreed that the timing was perfect so he flew out here and stayed with me for a while and learned all the songs and we actually recorded a few demo songs. Chris is an awesome guy so it was nice to have him be a part of the band, Jeff and Mike are hard guys to fill the shoes for but Chris fits perfect. Hes a true professional and he loves the new will haven songs, so its nice to have someone with such a strong passion in the band.

Freeze Alt: So can you give us a little insight into the new record, I know there are a lot of people excited to hear what will haven has in store, esp with Grady back….

I really did have an open canvas when I started writing, with Grady back in the band I knew I could be more simplistic and leave space for him to do his thing, so it made it fun to write and incorporate his vocals into it. To me Grady is just another instrument, he has so much passion and strength in his voice it just makes the music even more emotional. I felt that this record needed to take its time to develop though to, we used to write 12 quick songs then go in and record them, we didn’t take much time re working them or going back and listening to them thinking of ways we could make it better, we just hammered them out. This time we took our time, recording the songs, going back and listening to them, changing them up, taking out parts, adding parts, throwing tons of ideas away. So it has been a long process but I think we have written the best record we have ever done by far. Its on a whole new level, Its definitely will haven but the bar has been raised. I have played the demos for a few people and they said it sounds like the soundtrack to the end of the world. Those are the best words I could have ever heard, so I know we made the perfect record when someone says that.

Freeze Alt:So when do you plan on hitting the studio and hopefully seeing a release?

It looks like we may have finally nailed down our schedule, like I said we took our time so there was no rush but I think we are pretty excited to get in there and get started. Right now we have a few shows lined up in the next month and then we are off to Los Angeles to start working on it. We have a producer/engineer that we have been talking to and hopefully we can finalize that this week. Im thinking it will take us about 3 to 4 weeks to finish and then after we will see when a good time to put it out will be. I hope we can get it out by the end of this year, if not then the beginning of next for sure.

Freeze Alt:Well there is definitely a buzz starting about a new will haven record, I think the metal world needs something refreshing right now, do you guys have any idea of touring plans again?

Yeah this record is definitely different than anything out there, I think that’s why we are pretty exicted to get this going, its hard sitting on it, but yeah we are excited. As far as touring I really don’t know,. Its getting harder and harder to actually tour like we used to, family, money, age haha, its all a factor but Im hoping something will come up that would be hard to pass up, im sure we will do a few shows to support the record, and I know we will want to play them live so im sure you will see us somewhere at somepoint, I just don’t know if it will be more than once haha.

Freeze Alt:Well im pretty excited to hear what you guys have in store, thank you for your time and look forward to the new will haven.

Thank you!! Cant wait to share it with everyone, see you soon!!

writting is done!

been a while since we checked in but all is good, we have pretty much wrapped up writting for the new record. we have written about 15 songs but are shooting for 10 on the record. We couldnt be more happy with the way it has turned out, I can only describe it as heavy, epic, evil and violent, just how we like it. In the next week we will be locking down our producer and so on and will keep you lovely people informed. More info coming soon...
sincerly
william h

practice practice practice

practice 6-17-10


just a little update, we are back in the practice room and have been hard at work on the new record. We are playing the new songs over and over, making changes here and there and just getting them down tight. Seems like this record is taking forever but when we look back we are happy we are taking our time because the songs just keep getting better. We will continue to write until we figure out our recording situation. Im hoping we will find out soon where we are going to do this record, quite a few options at the moment. The main thing is to just make this record as good as it can be and its definately on the right track, the heaviest darkest stuff I have ever heard. Some shows in the works and we will let you know when we get some dates together. keep in touch...

TO PAUL WITH LOVE............

*this pic was taken by my wife Alice the last time they played near our town*


Wow im pretty speechless with what has happend in the past few days. Paul Gray, I cant believe you have left us so soon. Paul was a truely special and beautiful person. I met the Slipknot guys when they took will haven on tour with them in 2000, during their first record. From that time on I considered those guys family. Of course I didnt get to see them as much as I wanted to since they were off conquering the world, but when I did see them it was like we had never had time apart. I was always excited to see Paul because everytime I saw him he would give me the biggest hug and say "I love you man" and when he said that you knew he meant it. He truely had a huge heart. He was the real deal. Just to think how much one guy has changed the world, Paul did that. He started Slipknot, brought all those guys together, wrote the majority of the music, made their dreams come true and brought a whole bunch of people with him, including us. If it wasnt for Paul I would have never of met Chris who I consider one of my best friends. The Slipknot guys are probably the tightest family I have ever met playing music, so I can only imagine what those guys are feeling right now, It has to be like losing a true family member, not a band member. My heart goes out to my brothers, Joey, Jim, Corey, Shawn, Sid, Mick, Craig and most of all my best bro Chris. To his wife Brenna and Paul's soon to be beautiful little girl. I know his soul will continue to bring on more amazing things in this lifetime, he meant to much to too many people not to live on within the people he touched. Mr Paul Dedrick Gray I will miss you my brother, I will miss the hugs and the kiss on the check everytime I saw you, I will always remember it like it was yesterday, you changed the world my friend and thank you for letting me a part of it. To my Slipknot bro's, I hope to see the family continue and keep Pauls creation alive. Everyone take care of you,,,
RIP PAUL GRAY

your will haven family.

new song with MOPA

Well here we go, hitting the studio next week to record our first part of the 2010 will haven..This first song is pretty rad and were pretty stoked on it. We toured with a band called My Own Private Alaksa (MOPA) about 2 years ago in Europe and became good friends with them. If you havent heard of them check them out below, they are an amazing band which features only piano, drums and vocals. Very orginal stuff and has alot of power to it even without the standard loud guitars. There record just came out a month or so ago and was produced by our good friend Ross Robinson. Truely amazing musicians. Well on that tour I knew right away I wanted to do something with Tristan (piano player). So with alot talks and recording we have finished his piano parts and they are amazing. So we will head into the studio to do our parts over it. pretty stoked to see how it comes out. Im hoping we can put this out soon for everyone to hear, so keep checking in...will have more studio info soon..hope all is well..

radio and stuff...

Sorry for the delay in updating, been a busy last few weeks...we have been putting together the details for the new record, looks like we should be in the studio recording the real deal very soon, we have a producer in mind for the new record which we will hopefully announce very shortly (when he calls me back)..so things are moving along. There will be tons of stuff to let you know very soon.
So I purchased a new truck about two weeks ago and it came with Sirius Satallite radio. I had never really listend to it before but started checking it out. So there is a metal station of course on there and I have been rocking that most of the time. In the two weeks I have been driving around checking it out I have heard will haven twice on there (Alpha Male and If She Could Speak) So whoever is over there at that station or you know who it is, please give them much much props, that was pretty rad that someone over there is still keeping us revelant. So with that I will be keeping my subscription to Sirius, got to support for sure. If you havent got the new Deftones record yet, GO GET IT!! trying to make those guys number 1 on the charts next week. Its an amazing record I promise.
So things are good here, just checking in, will have some news very shortly...
peace
Jeff

Ghostride lives on.....

still waiting on my interview with Chris Fehn!!!! anyways...been holed up in our little studio working on two new will haven songs, hopefully demo them tommorow night, I will post some sights and sounds from that little sesh. I have been getting alot of emails about Ghostride. If you have not heard of Ghostride its a side project that we did with our good friend Rey Osburn (Death Valley High/Tinfed) We recorded a four song demo with Eric Stenman and then a full length record called Cobra Sunrise back in 2004. Eventhough the record never really got noticed we were still able to play some cool shows and even did a UK tour with Biffy Clyro. We never were able to make another record due t0 Rey being busy with his band and us getting will haven back together. Well Rey and I got together recently and we talked about doing another Ghostride record. So im pretty stoked about that because I have alot of great ideas for that band. Of course will haven is the most important thing right now and we have alot of work to do, so I wouldnt expect anything until we are done touring for this new will haven record, but a new Ghostride record will see the light of day eventually. So anyone who enjoyed the first record hopefully will dig this little news. So that is whats up with the G Ride...and if anyone see's Chris Fehn tell him im waiting!! thank you!!

sit down with Grady...

here is a little friendly interview I did with Grady, to let you know yes hes back and still alive...

Jeff: First off, I am very happy to say this, so welcome back to will haven my brother....

Did you miss us at all while you were gone?

Grady: A little

Jeff: We played some benefit shows for our brother Chi (Deftones) last year, you did most of those shows with us and then one amazing show in San Francisco, I know for the band it felt really good to have you up there, how was it for you walking on stage after 5 years?

Grady: Playing the benefit shows were alot of fun and it was nice to play a few oldies and see some friends I haven't seen in a long time. However, the show in SF was awesome. The flame to play music for me was reignited. It felt natural, like I had never stepped aside at all.

Jeff: Yeah the shows for Chi were special, I never wanted to have to do a show like that for a friend but everyones heart was in a good place. It was good to see all the old school friends come together for our brother, we even had the OG will haven line up, Mike on bass and Wayne on drums for one song, that was rad! love you cheng! The SF show was insane, definately brought back that feeling back to me as well.

Jeff: You and I have been best bros since we were 12 but I can honestly say along with alot of other people that you are by far one of the most amazing frontmen in the game, your charisma, style and voice, no one comes close. How do you feel onstage when your up there? is it confidence or are you just in the moment letting it all go? because it is all heart up there...

Grady: We have been friends a long time..I just drove by Alice Birney (our elementary school) the other day, it brought back memories. As for being on stage, it would have to be a combination of the wall of sound surging through me, the emotional landscapes, the lyrics paint in my mind.

Jeff: What is one of your favorite memories with will haven?

Grady: Justin and I were reminiscing the other day. He reminded me of the trip we took down south and played a garage in San Diego, 50 plus kids sweating to the Haven in a carpet lined garage, good times...

Jeff: Yeah that show was interesting, our "manager" at the time said he had a show for us in Chula Vista (just south of San Diego) we show up and its some dudes garage in the middle of a residential neighborhood, turned out to be a rad show, kids stagediving on top of us, breaking our shit, good times indeed..I think that night actually sucked for Justin, I remember he was hella sick and slept in the van while we played, then while he was trying to sleep someone egged our van!! I love Justin but he was the tiki doll (bad luck charm) of will haven.

Jeff: What is your favorite song to play live?

Grady: I'll throw a few at ye...Ego's Game, I've Seen My Fate and Carpe diem.

Jeff: Stick up Kid for me...

Jeff: You have a favorite will haven show that stands out in your mind?

Grady: I'd have to say every show we played in England. Man a pint sounds good right about now..

Jeff: I will have to speak up for Mitch and say a kabob as well.

Jeff: You and I are big AM radio fans, but what have you been rocking music wise lately?

Grady: Lately I have been forced to listen to the Chimpmunk soundtrack. Hot Snakes and Barkmarket are always in heavy rotation.

Jeff: You excited about recording another record?

Grady: Yes! I'm definately excited about recording another record.

Jeff: Yeah me too..the first thing I think about when I hear back the demos is "man I cant wait to hear Grady over this" so im pretty stoked how its coming together, Going to be good...

Jeff: So there is the Grady trademark that no one else can duplicate, its the "no shoes" policy on stage. Do you remember first doing that? and why some nights with shoes and others not?

Grady: Well that is a very interesting question. Unfortunately, the answer is not. I think we were on tour and I was wearing boots and did not want to break my ankle. So I doffed my boots and went barefoot. After that if the mood struck me I'd go barefoot. Now I'm thinking about it, its a bit of a primal feeling playing barefooted. Im grounded to the floor and can feel the vibrations of the drums and the amps flowing from the floor up through me.

Jeff: I never really noticed it until one night I walked off stage and saw just pools of blood everywhere, I came around the corner and saw you sitting on the counter with your feet in the sink just covered in blood. I said "what happend?" you said there was broken glass all over the stage, I remember saying "why the hell werent you wearing shoes?" thats when Wayne said "he never does!" so after that I would look over and there you were with no shoes, I thought it was pretty rad..

Jeff: Well my friend, im not a journalist, just a stupid guitar player so my ass is out of questions, but im stoked, along with the rest of the guys, to have you back where you belong, cant wait to finish this new record and play it live, you stoked or what???

Grady: Fuck yeah!!! I cant wait to take my place behind the mic and trigger the tsunami that is will haven.

good times.....

Thanks to everyone who has been stopping by the blog, didnt know how many peeps checked this but it seems people are curious about our dumbasses, so thats rad, thank you!! since the feedback has been cool I wanted to keep up with the blog and post whatever whenever, just to make your trip here somewhat interesting, so as of right now Im waiting on an interview with one Chris Fehn, I did last week, but he is taking his time getting that back to me....but its all good, so if he doesnt get it back to me by tommorow im going to throw a snippet of a new demo'd song for the record, so we will see. I have interviews coming in from Grady and Mitch on the way as well, then I may give them the password to post shit, we will see, giving the guys in this band an open forum is dangerous...So check back tommorow and see what we ended up with.

(above pic)

I found this pic today when I was going through some WH pics, it was a tour we did with the Deftones back in 98. Such a rad time..this show was at the now torn down Astoria Theatre in London England. This was the last show of our 2 month tour with them accross Europe, Grady and I came out and did Head Up with them, the crowd was insane as you can see, now thats a show...good times with some of our best friends..If you havent heard the Tones have a new record coming out May 4th, GO GET IT!!! its beyond sick...thanks everyone..keep coming back, this shits fun..





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a little break...

been working hard on the record the last few weeks so this week we took a little break, some went to the ocean, some moving boxes, and some of us went to see Faith No More, Last time I had seen them was on the Angel Dust tour, that was like 17 years ago...I think Chris was able to see them last summer when they played a few shows with them, which I hate him for but its all good..All I can say is that bringing Faith No More back is the best thing the music gods could have ever resurrected. They were amazing, and would have to say were better than the last time I saw them in 93. Such sick musicians and Mike Patton is by far one of the best singers/showmen to ever grace the stage, they played for 2 hours and just ripped it..so I left feeling inspired and happy to have seen one of my all time favorite bands again..if they roll through town check them out, it needs to be witnessed in person...(this pic was taken from the show the other night, patton still brings it)





so now its back to writting some more riffs...


Jeff

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will haven news

hello! as we are in the works of putting together an "official" will haven site, we decided to hop on the blog train and post whats going on in the world of the haven...along with a little help from our friends we are going to post news, pics, interviews and yes even some tasty little samples of the new music, so its on kids!!! I think most of us are pretty bored during the day so expect this baby to be updated quite often..have fun and enjoy what goes on in our twisted little brains...

sincerly

Jeff, Grady, Mitch, Chris, and yes Pag....