Hell Is For Heroes, Feature 15/10/02
Hell Is For Heroes
“If you’re gonna be in a rock band, you might as well party!”
Awww, and just as I was about to start shouting, “You’re no rock ‘n’ roll fun!” at Hell Is For Heroes guitarist Will McGonagle [that’s a Sleater Kinney reference by the way, fact fans]. In actual fact, this London based band like to party more than any I have come across in recent times. Check their website diary entry from their recent video shoot in Los Angeles and you find that they enjoyed themselves so much that one of them had to be taken to the airport in a wheelchair at the end of their stay.
McGonagle explains further, “All the other videos have been done with camcorders, either at our show ['You Drove Me To It'] or in a box ['I Can Climb Mountains']. For this one, we went to Los Angeles, and had money to drink and buy clothes. We stayed in a great hotel as well.” Also, for those interested in such things, the video features their rock buddies ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead. Hell Is For Heroes preferred to leave the action to them and stick with what Will considers to be their strength, “We’re guitarists and drummers and stuff, and not actors. We play music. I don’t like those videos where indie bands walk around pouting and trying to be actors. We just played the song in the video.”
They’re hoping to follow this pattern with the video for their planned next single, which may well be a rerecorded version of “You Drove Me To It”. Having released it previously less than a year ago, Will explains the thinking behind the choice, “[The original] was too clean, slow, and was the most tame of all our singles. This version is a bit shorter, faster and with way more of a swing. It’s more similar to our live sound.” It would seem that, before this, the idea of releasing “Cut Down” as the next single was banded about. An idea that has been rethought following some members of the band not wanting it that way. He doesn’t elaborate on this point though, unfortunately.
Instead, the song appears on the band’s debut album which, following a series of date changes, seems to be set for a February release. “The Neon Handshake”, was recorded in the Spring of last year, making it almost a year old by the date of its planned launch. McGonagle insists that the postponement is not frustrating for the band, “It’s not frustrating but I can’t wait till it’s out. Since “I Can Climb Mountains” came out, our shows have been selling out quicker and some fans know every single song. After it’s out, I think shows’ll be more fun, and the fans will have more to grab hold of. We haven’t played all of the tracks on the album live, because we want to hit people with our most immediate, loud songs. The songs still feel good.”
So, what after that?
“We haven’t written anything for the next album yet. It’s too far in the future to think about at the moment.”
So, for now, they are touring Europe with Papa Roach. I spoke to Will in Portugal, where they play this evening. “It’s our first time playing in these countries, except for Sweden, where we did a hardcore festival before.” The band is enjoying playing on the tour, but I put it to Will that a larger stage merely means more scope for their manic frontman, Justin Schlosberg, to injure himself. “We’ve been talking about that on this Papa Roach tour. A larger stage means that we run around like headless chickens and stuff. It’s becoming more of an aerobics exercise than a gig, so we’ve started to pull in the amps to try to make the bigger stage more claustrophobic. We just play in a little corner of the stage now.”
The tour ends at Brixton Academy, a hometown show. “I have mixed feelings about Brixton. I enjoy playing out of [London] more because there’s less pressure. If you have a bad show there, then you can be sure all of your friends will know about it. It’s not the same in Brussels – I don’t know anyone in Brussels.”
The tour also seems to be offering all the rock ‘n’ roll fun the band is after. “This tour’s been great because the guys in Papa Roach like a drink. They have aftershows every night. They just give us a handful of passes and tell us to bring who we want. They have a flight case with a TV and video in outside their dressing room and crates and crates of beer. It’s a lot of fun. We don’t drink before we go onstage, but afterwards we will. If there’s free booze then we’ll drink it double fast.”
With new single, “Night Vision”, out on Monday, and an ever-increasing fanbase it would be prudent for the band to try to make it to the UK leg of the tour. There’s talk of another London show before Christmas, but if that doesn’t come together then they won’t be back until the New Year. Which is probably just as well, because it would seem like Hell is for Heroes have quite a year ahead of them.
“If you’re gonna be in a rock band, you might as well party!”
Awww, and just as I was about to start shouting, “You’re no rock ‘n’ roll fun!” at Hell Is For Heroes guitarist Will McGonagle [that’s a Sleater Kinney reference by the way, fact fans]. In actual fact, this London based band like to party more than any I have come across in recent times. Check their website diary entry from their recent video shoot in Los Angeles and you find that they enjoyed themselves so much that one of them had to be taken to the airport in a wheelchair at the end of their stay.
McGonagle explains further, “All the other videos have been done with camcorders, either at our show ['You Drove Me To It'] or in a box ['I Can Climb Mountains']. For this one, we went to Los Angeles, and had money to drink and buy clothes. We stayed in a great hotel as well.” Also, for those interested in such things, the video features their rock buddies ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead. Hell Is For Heroes preferred to leave the action to them and stick with what Will considers to be their strength, “We’re guitarists and drummers and stuff, and not actors. We play music. I don’t like those videos where indie bands walk around pouting and trying to be actors. We just played the song in the video.”
They’re hoping to follow this pattern with the video for their planned next single, which may well be a rerecorded version of “You Drove Me To It”. Having released it previously less than a year ago, Will explains the thinking behind the choice, “[The original] was too clean, slow, and was the most tame of all our singles. This version is a bit shorter, faster and with way more of a swing. It’s more similar to our live sound.” It would seem that, before this, the idea of releasing “Cut Down” as the next single was banded about. An idea that has been rethought following some members of the band not wanting it that way. He doesn’t elaborate on this point though, unfortunately.
Instead, the song appears on the band’s debut album which, following a series of date changes, seems to be set for a February release. “The Neon Handshake”, was recorded in the Spring of last year, making it almost a year old by the date of its planned launch. McGonagle insists that the postponement is not frustrating for the band, “It’s not frustrating but I can’t wait till it’s out. Since “I Can Climb Mountains” came out, our shows have been selling out quicker and some fans know every single song. After it’s out, I think shows’ll be more fun, and the fans will have more to grab hold of. We haven’t played all of the tracks on the album live, because we want to hit people with our most immediate, loud songs. The songs still feel good.”
So, what after that?
“We haven’t written anything for the next album yet. It’s too far in the future to think about at the moment.”
So, for now, they are touring Europe with Papa Roach. I spoke to Will in Portugal, where they play this evening. “It’s our first time playing in these countries, except for Sweden, where we did a hardcore festival before.” The band is enjoying playing on the tour, but I put it to Will that a larger stage merely means more scope for their manic frontman, Justin Schlosberg, to injure himself. “We’ve been talking about that on this Papa Roach tour. A larger stage means that we run around like headless chickens and stuff. It’s becoming more of an aerobics exercise than a gig, so we’ve started to pull in the amps to try to make the bigger stage more claustrophobic. We just play in a little corner of the stage now.”
The tour ends at Brixton Academy, a hometown show. “I have mixed feelings about Brixton. I enjoy playing out of [London] more because there’s less pressure. If you have a bad show there, then you can be sure all of your friends will know about it. It’s not the same in Brussels – I don’t know anyone in Brussels.”
The tour also seems to be offering all the rock ‘n’ roll fun the band is after. “This tour’s been great because the guys in Papa Roach like a drink. They have aftershows every night. They just give us a handful of passes and tell us to bring who we want. They have a flight case with a TV and video in outside their dressing room and crates and crates of beer. It’s a lot of fun. We don’t drink before we go onstage, but afterwards we will. If there’s free booze then we’ll drink it double fast.”
With new single, “Night Vision”, out on Monday, and an ever-increasing fanbase it would be prudent for the band to try to make it to the UK leg of the tour. There’s talk of another London show before Christmas, but if that doesn’t come together then they won’t be back until the New Year. Which is probably just as well, because it would seem like Hell is for Heroes have quite a year ahead of them.
posted by Luci @ 7:19 AM
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