Canadian progressive metal act Protest The Hero has been around for some time and through the time span they have gotten up to their fourth album to date "Volition". Having released this album independently this made the guys quite pleased with themselves and they have so much more ahead of them just in time for the upcoming year. Guitarist, piano, and backing vocalist Luke Hoskin discusses their latest album and much more.
1. Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Protest the
Hero, and how long the band has been together.
Luke: My name it Luke. I
slop my way through guitar in protest the hero.
We have been together for ulna and around 13 years.
2. Where is the band based out of and what is your music
scene like there? Are there any local bands you could recommend?
Luke: We are based out of Toronto, Canada. The scene is great in my opinion. We have made some very great friendships with
bands in the area which I hope continue long into the future. I would recommend Intervals over everyone
else at the moment. Their guitar player
makes me look like the David Schwimmer of guitar players.
3. Can I get a backstory on the band/ band biography?
Luke: I am sure this can be looked up online. We just had a great music journalist write us
up a flashy one!
4. How did you guys come up with your band name?
Luke: Honestly, we were young and through some words together that
we liked. There weren't many /9or any/0
"verb the noun" bands out at the time so we liked how it sounded
different. The whole idea is to look at
things differently, which we still naturally do.
5. Original drummer and founding member Moe Carlson parted
ways with you guys and was replaced by Lamb of God's drummer Chris Adler for the
recording sessions what was it like working alongside someone like him?
Luke: It was great. I think
he and us had great chemistry, and developed a musical kinship which I assume
is rare given the short time frame we rehearsed and recorded in!
6. Have you guys found a permanent drummer to replace Moe
Carlson?
Luke: Yes we have. Mike
Ieradi. He is Italian and laughs at our
jokes (so far).
7. What bands have influenced your band and its sound?
Luke: Dream Theater, Propagandhi, Katy Perry to name a few.
8. You guys are signed with Razor and Tie Records which
will be releasing your fourth album "Volition" how has the
relationship with them been going?
Luke: R&T are licensing our record from us. It has been great so far. I have really enjoyed our correspondence so
far. Seems like we have found a great
creative partner to help release and distribute this album.
9. What runs through your mind about being on album number
four? Did you see you guys lasting until this point and time in your musical
careers?
Luke: Tough question. As an
"invincible kid" I probably did.
Now a days, I take everyday I get to travel around playing music as a
good one. It's tough out here - there is
definitely a reason so many musicians write songs about being musicians. We are all lucky to be where we are.
10. Why did you want to turn to using Crowd Funding this
time around and were you surprised when your main goal ended up being tripled?
Luke: This gets asked in every interview. you c an definitely find an answer online.
11. Can you tell me about the new single for the song
"Clarity".
Luke: Clarity is a special one for me. I wrote it with one of my best buds /
producers Cam. He and I loved to grab a
bunch of beer, chug coffee and come up with riffs on his couch. When we weren't able to get together, we
would try to one up each other on Guitar Pro over email. it turned out wonderfully, and our idea was
to write an album opener which threw as much at you as possible - only to be
one-upped by the other songs on the album.
I think we achieved that.
12. Who produced "Volition" and what was it like
working with them?
Luke: Cameron McLellan (mentioned above). It was great because we were already
wonderful friends with him. He has a
great ear and really gets what we have been going for all these years. Cant say enough about him.
13. Who did the cover art for "Volition" and how
much input did you have on it?
Luke: Jeff Jordan did the standard release (Vultures). Jeff and I went back and forth on ideas over
email for weeks until we cam up with the imagery you see. I definitely let him take control and
interpret the album the way he naturally went though. I was just there to offer encouragement and
praise. Truly awesome to have worked
with him. I couldn't imagine going
elsewhere in the future. Such a
tremendous artist!
14. What's your take on "Volition" as a whole?
Luke: It's my favorite album so far.
15. What would be the cinematic equivalent of
"Volition"?
Luke: "In Good Company" starring Dennis Quaid would do
the job quite nicely.
16. What's your favorite song on the album right now?
Luke: Without prejudice. We
all stand behind the lyrics of that one.
And it's very personal to us. We
are reaching out to a former friend who we feel has lost their way. We still believe they can return to the
amazing person they once were.
17. What is your opinion on sites posting your guys material
and other bands material?
Luke: Post away!
18. How do you guys feel about the classifications in metal?
like deathcore, metalcore and other subgenres and how some get a negative rep.
Luke: I classify music as "good" or
"bad". Sub genres are for kids
and musical supremacists (often, people are both!)
18. What is your opinion on the current state of metal?
Luke: I don't really know.
I / we have no allegiance to any genre. I don't really care what the
state of metal is like. I am sure it's
just fine.
19. What can the fans expect to see from you in the future?
Luke: Hopefully a lot of musical and artistic
experimentation. Hopefully most of it
turns out half decent.
20. Any final words you'd like to say?
Post a Comment