This wasn’t the plan. After “Come Flames”, I expected to dedicate my time and effort to HOOFMARK’s first LP which would see the project return to its breed of old metal. One of the perks of being free though is being able to fail on your promises, even on the ones you do to yourself. In most cases doing so would make me feel uncomfortable. But my failing here comes from a good place. I’m cool.

“Chunks” is HOOFMARK’s most personal release yet and that goes beyond the actual tracks. This 2-sided single was recorded with an old and very special Spanish guitar that has been in my family for many years and that I restored for the purpose of playing these songs. And although its contents can be rather desolate, this new release is also a celebration of new life and I dedicate it to a grand new smile on Earth.

“Ready Before Long” comes first on the track list. It’s not the title track, nor was it written before “Chunks” (it was actually written in May of 2017), but it’s the one that sounds better coming first. It’s the second most hopeless song I have ever written and it came to me after a most joyous day out with my mother. This was Workers’ Day, or May 1st. We don’t spend that many days together anymore. My girlfriend was out of town and I was at home alone but not really wanting to be alone at home, so I made plans to be with my mother. It was a very nice, very pleasant day. Good temperature, the sun high in the sky, mostly blue skies. We went to an Italian restaurant by the river and had pizza together and it was very good. After that we went to a museum and I think it was the first time I went to a museum with my mother as an adult which, again, was fantastic. Everything was pretty much perfect, you know? I had recently become a vegetarian and I shared the news with my mother that day and she was very understanding. That’s always nice too. When I got home that day, I sat on my chair and pretty much wrote “Ready Before Long” from start to finish. Took me about a month to learn it on the guitar. Nice song, I think. A bit fragmented, perhaps, but that only highlights its organic nature. And organic is always better.

“Chunks” is the harshest song I have ever written and I did so way back in April 2016 (so even before “Stoic Winds” was released). I was at a restaurant. It was a regular day at the office and it was lunch time. I probably had a steak or something and I was drinking wine, as I usually did at that restaurant. It was red wine, fresh. And I don’t quite remember if I asked for a piece of paper or if I had a tissue with me, but I basically wrote the song right there and then. Expect for the final two verses, I think. I remember going home that day and showing it to my girlfriend and she enjoying it, though she seemed afraid that something was wrong with us or with me at the very least because it was so sad a song. I was fine, of course. It’s just how the song emerged. I can't write when I'm sad or generally feeling miserable anyway. What's more, me with songs and lyrics and melodies I feel I really need to put them down fast and get a hold of the moment or risk losing it forever. It has been like that for a while now. I know I have already lost material because I didn’t get there sooner. The day after I wrote the song I picked up the guitar and started playing it in the simplest manner I could. It’s what made the most sense for this mostly spoken word track.

Nuno
Lisboa, 3 de julho de 2017

This record is dedicated to a grand new smiling face on Earth. Bem-vinda, LEONOR!

Special thanks to Filipa Vargas, Patrícia Bernardo, Paula Monteiro, Ivo Bernardo e Clara Estanqueiro.

Keep up with HOOFMARK on facebook at fb.com/hoofmarkofficial, instagram at instagram.com/hoofmark_official, or contact me on hoofmarkofficial@gmail.com. Finally, head over to porchfires.com for a bit of literature.

HOOFMARK is strictly AGAINST nazis, homophobes, transphobes, sexist douchebags and bigots. All narrow-mindedness is unwelcome!

A VINYL VERSION of this single was pressed by Vinilficio, in Italy. I have a very little number of copies. If you are interested in buying one give me a shout out.