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HOLY HEART
FAILURE’S debut record is a visceral display of gutsy garage
punk. For fans of the genre not in the know, beware PEOPLE!
It’s worth every cent of its retail price and more. DeafSparrow
hooked up with bassist Nick Stevens to see what’s the deal and
what isn’t…
 -
I understand that HOLY HEART FAILURE was formed when vocalist
Justin Wiese joined up with members of IT ENDS HERE, a band I
know nothing about besides that they were called IT ENDS HERE.
Please tell us a little bit about the band's beginnings.
Well, Willis and myself started this
"stoner-punk" band that went through a bunch of dumb names and
wrote a bunch of songs; we had it together for years. And then
one day our good buddy Wiese came to us and asked about starting
an old school rock and roll outfit, much like THE STOOGES. We
hung out one afternoon and wrote a batch of songs that were a
lot of fun, but HOLY HEART FAILURE ended up coming of like a
side-project, which isn't what we wanted at all. So after a few
years of toiling with both bands schedules, we eventually got
rid of our old drummer, and then we just disbanded IT ENDS HERE
officially, so we could focus on HOLY HEART FAILURE. Needless
to say, we're much happier.
-Congratulations
on the record, it's quite visceral, which is exactly what
attracts me about it. What was the songwriting process? And
what did you have in mind during all this time?
The songwriting process pretty much
consists of us playing riffs that sound good to us, and then
refining them even more until everyone is happy with the song.
It's much more arduous than it sounds, but we just try to have
fun with it. The songs on the album vary in age; 'Fat Girls' is
older than 'Bastards'. 'Thunderpuss' is the newest one. From
the beginning, it's always been about writing what sounds good
to us, and that's still what we stick with. As far as our
overall sound, we're not too different from a lot of bands but
it's the context and the presentation that count. We don't
really believe in being slick and refined, because that's not
who we are. And it shows in the songs. We wouldn't have it any
other way.
-What
was the objective of the band when you went into the recording
phase? And how similar is the finished product to what you had
in mind?
First, let me just say that we love
playing live way more than recording. Now, the recording process
was kind of a pain in the ass, only because we're not studio
musicians; we need help recording stuff, or else we'll just use
a crappy tape player. We do know what sounds we like, though,
so it was just a matter of getting those sounds dialed in and
getting the songs down. There has to be at least a half
dozen different mixes floating around, but we believe the album
one is the best we could do with what we had, meaning, we
recorded with a guy who is used to recording PETER Fucking
FRAMPTON. Do you hear any 'Frampton Comes Alive' in our
sound? I don't fucking think so.
-Haha,
you guys come from Ohio. How is the scene up there?
Don't come to Ohio, the scene here sucks.
It's full of shitty emo puss-pop bands and a bunch of dudes that
think "thrash" and "grind" are ‘totally ripping, dude’, and they
list the same half dozen ‘grind’ bands as influences. They hate
us because we're not fast enough, but we've been called worse by
more important people. I hope Rob Halford becomes awesome,
because I want to see dudes decked out in full leather-daddy
gear at shows. There's all kinds of lame ass scenester dudes,
too. You know the type, with the stupid haircut that looks like
they stood in a wind tunnel and then hairsprayed it. They like
GUIDED BY VOICES and anything no one's ever heard of. And
there's the dudes that wish they were us, which is totally
unfortunate, but wholly true. Fucking suckers, quit aping our
shit! That being said, we love KILLER KADOOGAN and INSURRECT,
two bands that could wear bullet belts and not be called lame.
And THE PB ARMY are pretty awesome dudes, too.
-Talking
about genres; punk and garage are the first two that come to
mind. "Piss Blood Denim" is pure punk for instance, while
"Unholy Burlesque" has a hook-laden chorus. But as a whole the
record remains fresh because it doesn't get stuck in one mode.
How conscious is this decision?
We listen to a lot of ZEPPELIN and FAITH
NO MORE, and they wrote whatever they wanted, so that's what we
do. There's no reason to try and fit squarely in a mold. We
love music of all types, so that's what we make. Nothing really
gets throw away, just re-contextualized. There's a time and a
place for all riffs, unless they really really really blow.
-Your
music has this classic quality, and I am not thinking KANSAS,
THE EAGLES or fucking BREAD. I mean we can go back to older
bands like THE MELVINS, THE STOOGES and even some CRYPTIC
SLAUGHTER and that's stuff that never gets old. Like I
mentioned in my review, for me the record took a bit to get used
to. The edges are rough and the songs quite in your face, and
once the listener gets into the same headspace the record is
relentless. I know this is a difficult question, but what's
your interpretation of your music?
Our music is made as a release for all of
us, and hopefully for the dudes and dude-ettes that listen to us
and come to our shows and stuff. But even if nobody listened,
we'd still play it, and loudly at that. We just want to turn
people on, and expose them to stuff they wouldn't normally
listen to or check out or what have you. It's kind of like when
your big brother hands you a copy of Gluey Porch Treatments
(THE MELVINS), or THE STOOGES first record, or the first
time you get fucked up with your friends. It's familiar without
being boring or cliche. That's what we want to avoid, falling
into traps and predictability. We just love making music, so
that's what we do.
-I
love the record cover. What can you tell us about it?
Wiese put it together, and we all thought
it was fitting. I think it's a reaction to all that smeared art
that hardcore bands overuse. Basically, we're a primal and
aggressive band, and what better way to show that than through
the usage of a veteran and wild animals?
-
As far as lyrics are concerned, I am not so sure what they are
about, but titles like "Thunderpuss 1854", "Blood Moon Organ
Harvest", "Unholy Burlesque" and "Fat Girls" say a lot and at
the same time don't say much. Judging solely by the titles there
seems to be a quote of absurdity in the lyrical approach.
We didn't want people to be able to judge
the album based on song title. Lyrically, though, it's all based
in reality, even if it is shrouded by odd metaphors and
references to other things we dig. For example, 'Fat Girls' is
actually about a girl, but there's also a Planet of The Apes and
a SLAYER reference in the first line. It's possible to say what
you want to say and not be totally obvious, or boring for that
matter.
-
One of my favorite songs is "Unholy Burlesque", can you tell us
a little bit about it? I am intrigued by the guitar at the end.
The title came about because Wiese
misheard Willis' suggestion. Willis wrote that riff, and had it
for a while before we tried to bash it out. Once it came
together, we realized that it was unlike anything else we'd
written to date, and there was no way we weren't going to use
it. The guitar part at the end came about in the studio, I
believe. Willis wanted to have that accompanying piece, and he
laid it down, and I put bass underneath it while he was jamming
it out. It came out to be a really nice segue, and one of the
few mellow parts on the album. I recommend playing it really
loud.
-Talking
about the road/gigs in general; how has this treated HOLY HEART
FAILURE? Who've you been out with?
We haven't had a chance to truly tour, but
we have played a ton of shows. We've played with all kinds of
bands. Like previously stated, there's KILLER KADOOGAN, who
absolutely kill live, and INSURRECT, who make me want to
circle-pit into oblivion. There was one show, it was us,
INSURRECT and SHOTGUN FOR ROYALTY (who are also amongst some of
our favorite bands to play with), and there wasn't too many
people there, but we all just played our balls off anyway, and
it was one of the funniest shows we've ever done. A few months
back, we played in Bowling Green with THE PB ARMY to barely
anyone, at least when we were playing, which seems to be a
recurring theme. So come see us live, you fuckers! But the band
after ours had a bunch of people show up, despite playing a
bunch of lame covers, including the BLACK FLAG cover they did,
because they were just totally not getting it. Not that we're
the best band in the world, but I don't get how people can get
behind a band with no presence. When I go to a show, I want to
leave sore and bruised, or else it was a waste of money.
One of the best shows we ever did was in Tiffin. The guy
running sound was outside between sets, smoking cigarettes with
us. I said something about wanting a soda, so he offers me his,
it's beside the mixing board, you can kill it, right? So I go
in and drink it, and it's got Wild Turkey in it. I had no idea,
so I'm half-looped by the time our set comes. I just remember
being really hot, and taking my shirt off, and running through
the crowd when people started to move. It was pretty sweet
overall. We're always open for shows, and we'll play with
anyone that'll have us. We played with AKIMBO in Cinci, and
that was fun. Not too many "bigger" bands get back to us about
shit like that, so we just gig wherever we can, really. Come
March, though, expect a whole bunch of live action to happen. If
you want us to play, we're not hard to find, so drop us a line,
bastards!
-
As far as new material, how much do you have done?
Since we're all spread out right now
(Willis is in SF, Stain and Wiese in Dayton, Baker and me in
Tiffin), we're all kind of writing on our own, so this next
record stands to be all over the place. I can't speak for the
other dudes, but I have a feeling it'll be the best thing any of
us have recorded ever. Like ZEPPELIN 3 and shit.
-Before
we go, recommend us a few albums that you consider important.
BLACK SABBATH - S/T, BLACK FLAG –
Damaged, STOOGES - S/T, Funhouse, Raw Power,
MELVINS - Houdini, Stoner Witch, Bullhead, MC5 - Kick
Out The Jams, Anything THE MINUTEMEN did, MOTORHEAD –
Overkill and SLAYER - Reign In Blood, South Of Heaven
-What's
next for the band?
We're gonna record some shit soon enough
to keep y'all satiated. And then we're gonna come to your town,
play in your basement, drink all your beer, hit on your sister,
and sleep on your couch, kinda like an embodiment of GRAND
FUNK'S 'We're an American Band'. Hopefully more chicks will
come to our shows, too, but that's besides the point. Stay
alive dudes!
-And
alive we are.
Read
the
HOLY HEART FAILURE review |
