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To hear Black Heart Procession singer-guitarist Pall Jenkins tell it, the San Diego indie act started almost by accident in the late \u201990s as he and multi-instrumentalist Tobias Nathaniel began to write songs together while in the band Three Mile Pilot.<\/p>\n
\u201c<\/strong>Toby [Nathaniel] came into Three Mile Pilot when we were doing [the 1997 album] Another Desert, Another Sea<\/em>,\u201d says Jenkins via phone from San Diego. Black Heart Procession performs on Tuesday, Feb. 17, at the Beachland Ballroom<\/a>. \u201cWe were roommates, and we started writing some other songs that felt different. [Bassist] Zach [Smith] from Three Mile Pilot is very heavy with his sound. What we were doing felt different. We didn\u2019t want there to be any rules. Before we knew it, we had we had ten songs. I said, \u2018Let\u2019s go record them.\u2019 We never intended to be a full-on band.\u201d<\/p>\n They recorded them at Bear Creek Studios in Seattle and released the album, dubbed 1<\/em>, via Cargo, the same San Diego label that had signed a little-known punk band called Blink (the group would subsequently change its name to Blink-182).<\/p>\n After that first release, a collection of dark and moody tunes that have a Nick Cave-like vibe, Touch & Go, a more prominent indie label, came along.<\/p>\n \u201cTouch & Go wanted to do the second and third albums,\u201d says Jenkins. \u201cWe were getting good responses and enjoying that time. Toby and I grew closer. Our writing process was very mutual. We give each other the space to get our ideas across.\u201d<\/p>\n Jenkins even got the opportunity to collaborate with one of his musical heroes, singer-guitarist J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr.<\/p>\n \u201c<\/strong>Dinosaur Jr. moved me from that first record they put out,\u201d says Jenkins. \u201cThey influenced me heavily. Early Dinosaur was heavy nerd music. It was super cool. [Mascis] was singing in this whiny weird voice with guitars that are through the roof. It was amazing. We got to play with them a long time ago, and I went to several of their shows. We were in Rome playing a show, and J. Mascis was at our show because he had a day off. We got to know each other and became friends. He\u2019s a really sweet guy. When he started working on solo albums, he asked if I would participate. I think I\u2019m on three of the solo records he\u2019s done. I\u2019m sprinkled in there. Mission complete. That\u2019s pretty awesome. It\u2019s amazing and humbling.\u201d<\/p>\n Black Heart Procession released new music and toured at a steady clip until things hit a snag in 2013 when Jenkins lost hearing in his right ear. He closed his studio and moved to Portland, OR, where he worked in a wood mill.<\/p>\n \u201cI was still playing music but not recording other bands like I was,\u201d he says when asked about the time period. \u201cI was just navigating my new reality of not having hearing. In addition, Toby moved to Serbia and got married. Doing stuff became difficult. For those first six albums, we were really going after it. That can be daunting at times. Long story short, life happened.\u201d<\/p>\n Once Jenkins learned to cope with his hearing loss, the band became active again and starting playing live. Last year, Solid Brass, a label run by former Touch & Go exec Justin Sinkovich, released the out-of-print 2003 album Hearts and Tanks<\/em>. Next month, Solid Brass will also put out a remastered version of 1<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe reissued 1<\/em> once before, but I never felt like the mastering job worked out very well,\u201d says Jenkins. \u201cSome of the pressings had issues. We tried to keep the new version very close to the original but heighten some things. Honestly, it\u2019s hard for me to tell the difference because it\u2019s on vinyl, but the test pressings sounded very much like the first pressing. We did the artwork similar. We made a few changes to it, but it\u2019s primarily the same.\u201d<\/p>\n For the upcoming tour that brings the band to the Beachland, Nathaniel and Jenkins have recruited a few of their musical friends to back them.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve always had different band members,\u201d says Jenkins, who adds that he and Nathaniel have written 28 songs for a new album they hope to issue through Solid Brass. \u201cThe lineup has always changed. The core members are me and Toby. We have long-staying members back in like Scott Mercado on bass. He\u2019s toured with us off and on for years. We have Matt Resevich, who has done violin and keyboard synths. He\u2019s the secret weapon and is a multi-instrumentalist, like Scott. It\u2019s really nice to have those types of people playing with us.\u201d<\/p>\n Subscribe to Cleveland Scene newsletters.<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Follow us:\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Google News<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>NewsBreak<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Reddit<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Instagram<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Facebook\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/a>|\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Twitter<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\nRelated<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n