Hank Tree release - 'Sweet SaltPeter'

Glasgow’s Hank Tree are set to release ‘Sweet Saltpeter’, the last single from their wondrous debut album The Big North, which is accompanied by video by BAFTA-winning filmmaker Felipe Bustos Sierra.

The rise and fall in prosperity of towns in the Atacama desert in northern Chile isn’t the subject matter that’s you’d expect to find in the Scottish indie scene, however Hank Tree’s Fergus MacDonald did so to massive success, creating a beguiling album, The Big North, released by Olive Grove
Records.

‘Sweet Saltpeter’ is about feeling dispensable in, yet trapped by, work life, however the music contains a certain warmth, as if being licked by a campfire, while reflecting on the hardships portrayed through the lyrics, which relate to the difficult work and climatic conditions faced by workers in the saltpeter towns of northern Chile.

For filmmaker Felipe Bustos Sierra, as the son of Chilean expatriates forced to leave the country during the military dictatorship of the 1970s and 80s (a subject which was central to his documentary film Nae Pasaran), it was clear the themes and context which inspired the album overlapped his personal background and professional interests, so an almost perfect collaboration was born.

The video combines elements of a live performance with footage of the landscape of Northern Chile recorded during the filming of Nae Pasaran. The unique process of the video films the vibrations of guitar strings through the back of a cheap classical guitar.

Hank Tree is led by Fergus MacDonald (ex- State Broadcasters), also comprising Roy Shearer (Ultras, Inspector Tapehead) and Bart Owl (Eagleowl, Broken Chanter). The band's sound is characterised by fast picked classical guitars, atmospheric ballads, distortion-heavy instrumentals and hushed vocals, often incorporating field recordings and featuring lyrics focusing on social history.

“What started with a couple of visits to the ghost towns in the Atacama desert turned into a bit of an obsession for me. The idea that thousands of people had to set up a home and work in such a harsh environment was eye opening. In Sweet Saltpeter I wanted to explore the alienation of feeling like a cog in an uncaring machine.

“I loved Felipe's film Nae Pasaran and was very flattered when he suggested working together. I've long been captivated by the vibrations of guitar strings when they are plucked and had wondered if this could be captured from inside the body of a guitar. The circle of the guitar's hole seemed to strike a chord with Felipe and he began to think about incorporating other circles into the video. What he has created is incredibly beautiful and goes so beyond the simple idea that we started with.”

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