Interview mit Hopesfall

01.01.1998
 

 

Hey guys. Please give us some general information about HOPESFALL. Who is HOPESFALL at the moment?
Josh plays guitar, dustin does as well. Mike Tyson plays bass. Jay sings and adam, the smart one, plays drums. That is the current lineup. That is also hopefully the final one.



Your current release "A Types" differs a lot from your last album "The Satellite Years". It’s obviously less aggressive and the songwriting seems more sophisticated. Where do you see the difference between the two albums and how would you describe the sound of "A Types"?
a-types is a rock record. So is the satellite years. There really isn’t much difference between the two, save for the maturation that comes with touring, years and member changes. Satellite years may sound more aggressive musically, but a-types is definitely more of an aggressive undertaking all around. The guitars are actually much, much thicker and full. The main thing that people need to remember is that less screaming in a song doesn’t make it less heavy. It leaves room for heaviness of guitar and a certain lyrical heaviness that I enjoy much more than…chug,chug,chug,wee,chug,chug, pause, everybody dance, chug. I still love that, but we just wouldn’t do that very well.

How do you want the people to see/understand the change? As a process of maturity or how?
Exactly. Everyone is older, and there are new members. That’s not much of a surprise, is it? Every band out there is going to test their limits in whatever arena they so choose. We try to do the exact same.

How was the reaction from your fans and the publicity to the change of sound?
That’s funny because the press actually is giving it decent reviews. There is the occasional negative one, but they think the first record was satellite years and that just shows me how much they’ve done their research. Some like to mimic the cry of others. As far as fans, there has been some negative, some positive, some gray area, as the new songs are still being taken in. it takes a lot of balls for someone to approach a musician, or any artist for that matter, and tell them that they’ve turned to shit and are a huge disappointment. To all those kids, damn that hurts, and you’ve got huge balls. I wouldn’t walk up to anybody for the sole reason of discrediting what they’ve spent their time, blood, and lots of fucking money on.

I read somewhere that you consider yourselves more as a rock band than as a hardcore band. Howe comes?
We all grew up in the hardcore scene for the most part. Maybe not mikey. That and a love for certain hardcore bands, and the friendships involved may be the only link we have to hardcore. My favourite band is the smashing pumpkins. That should say something.

You toured a lot with CODESEVEN which are also from North Carolina. Their sound made a huge change and developed in a completely different direction. Now "A Types" also takes another, new path. Is there any Influence?
Codeseven is utterly amazing. I would never compare the talent and songwriting skills of us to them. They have always been on the path that they are now, so it isn’t surprising in the least to me. They’ll come out with another amazing as fuck record again. That’s how they are. We share a lot of influences and honestly I think everyone in hopesfall is in love with codeseven. So yeah maybe we straight stole from them. Sorry guys.

"Start And Pause" is one of the few songs, where we get those intense and brutal screams your fans know and love from your past albums. Was that track one of the first songs you wrote or how did this happen?
It would be foolish to pigeonhole any band. I want to write songs that rip your face off and some that put you to sleep.

HOPESFALL has somehow the image of being a Christian band. What is right/wrong about this statement?
With the first lineup, it was a definitely part worship. As of now I don’t know if anyone in the band would consider themselves Christian. We just don’t care. We all live by the moral codes that weve developed for ourselves, and try to help and do good whenever possible. That’s what matters to me. Not if jesus was the son of god. That is an eternal question that we don’t have the answer for.

You guys just toured through Germany, any mentionable experiences / stories?


Germany rocks ass, roadrunner rocks, the people rock, they take care of us, and its beautiful. So….not much to complain about.



Germany also has a huge music scene. Did you get to know any German Bands? If yes, how did you like them?
We played with a few that I really liked. Unfortunately their names escape me. I like checking out the local bands in a foreign land. They tend to have more flavour. Or twist the sound to their liking.

How does a typical HOPESFALL song normally evolve? Tell us something about your songwriting process.
Hmmm..songwriting. we all know a bit about it so it makes sense for us to come together and put these bits together. We try to make it cohesive. If not. Sorry.

Where do you see HOPESFALL and the sound of HOPESFALL in five years?
Damn. I see orchestras pianos, sopranos, saxophones, and numerous samplers. Id like a building full of equipment for us. But well probably end up sounding just like failure or year of the rabbit.

Does HOPESFALL pay your bills? Or what are you guys doing for living?
Hopesfall pays for all of our bills. Were rich. In reality it pays for no bills and we are all in debt. If we are at home for more than 48 hours, jobs become a necessity. Various odd jobs that allow you to come and go. Or just come.

Thank you very much for your time. Do you have any final comments?
Thank you. Thankzou. These computers have letters in the wrong plazces. Jesus. Itäs infuriating. Zeah. Anna is awesome as well. But her computer sucks.