Interview with protest the hero

After Kezia, Protest the Hero builds Fortress – by Mel in Toronto

"It really just sounds bad ass," Protest the Hero's guitarist Tim smiles while commenting on ‘Fortress,' the name of their latest masterpiece. This follow-up album to their 2005 release ‘Kezia' delivers a strong statement and shows the musical direction the band is heading. In true progressive metal manner, the album is packed with ten complex and challenging delicacies peppered with surprising intermezzos.

Protest the Hero hails from Whitby, Ontario, and consists of Rody Walker (vocals), Luke Hoskin (guitar), Tim Miller (guitar), Arif Mirabdolbaghi (bass), and Moe Carlson (drums). The band members already started playing together at the age of 14, but "it's been about four years of serious touring, writing, and recording," Tim says.

In four years, Protest the Hero has come a long way. They have left their mark on the musical landscape and toured internationally. In Europe, they played mostly the UK. "On the Bullet For My Valentine / As I Lay Dying tour, we did four dates in Germany, one date in Amsterdam and we passed through France," Tim says. The band also went to Japan and played the Punkspring Festival in Tokyo. Protest the Hero toured a lot, often in the very good company of bands like The Fall of Troy, Every Time I Die, All That Remains, The Holly Springs Disaster, and The Human Abstract.

Currently, Protest the Hero is on a two-month North American tour with Canadian heavyweights Silverstein, Ill Scarlett, and US- band The Devil Wears Prada. "Silverstein took us out on tour two years ago, it's nice that both of us are at a higher point than we were then," Tim says. "We are good friends. With Ill Scarlett too, it's nice to have another Canadian band that is doing well."

Sitting in a bar in the heart of Toronto, which is by the way also featured in the HERETICS & KILLERS video, Tim says "We want to be challenged every night," while commenting on their complex sound. "It's really important that artists are playing to their ability or close to their ability," Tim continues, "we want to have fun and we want to play music. We want to make something that's original. If we were a watered down version of any other band, why would you even try to do that? It doesn't seem you are adding something to the musical side of things."

Producing something original and challenging worked really well in ‘Fortress'. Tim says: "Musically we are trying to really focus on musicianship, and really understand everyone's role in the band, and when to really be flashy and when to chill out. Especially with Kezia, it was more like a battle to get into the spotlight, which is fun, but it's a little chaotic and I think if you are smart about it and you work it out, you can find out where guitars should be starting and where drums or the bass. (…) Sometimes things just got covered up, because there is so much going on. So it's nice to fill out your role in the band and when the spotlight is on you, live up to that." According to Tim, the band's approach to writing the record was "we are focusing on writing something that we like (…) Generally, I think if you are selfish about it and you think the product is good, others will think so as well."

Not only can Protest the Hero be happy with their music, but also with their videos. In the video for THESE COLOURS DON'T RUN, Protest the Hero took their music and political message to the streets of Toronto by playing the song and handing out the lyrics. "We had two people shooting it and we rented a generator and went for it," Tim says. "We were in each location for two songs, we were in and out, it was little budget, but we were creative about the budget."

With the help of the Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent On Recordings (FACTOR) video grant program, Protest the Hero was able to secure funding for several videos. Their first video on Canadian national music TV station Much Music was for BLINDFOLDS ASIDE. The video for BLOODMEAT, currently on Much Music, portrays the energy emanating from the band in a powerful way.

Protest the Hero is a great band to see live. Seeing these highly talented and skilled musicians share their joy of music is as much fun for the audience as it clearly is for the band. Also, the energy they bring to the stage is highly contagious. CDs are available in record stores or can be ordered on-line through the record label Underground Operations, which Protest the Hero has been with right from the start.

Watch out for tour dates near you!

"In your own words" – ONE on ONE with Mel and Tim

Mel: How did you come up with your band name and what is the meaning of it?

Tim: It's kind of a funny story, no one can even remember how exactly it came together, but we were playing in a political punk band, whose name was Happy Go Lucky, which means you don't care about anything. So, we thought that was a little ironic. We thought that something like Protest the Hero represented our state of mind a little better and what we were writing about. We are not as political anymore, but we are kind of stuck with the name, we like it. It's questioning what you are told, don't take everything at face value, maybe look into things a little more, that's kind of what it means.

Mel: Who are your influences?

Tim: It comes from everywhere. We all have our similar taste in music, but everyone has a different taste that's individually unique to them. So, once everyone brings in their own influences, you always come up with a really interesting mix of sound. Some of the standard bands are Dream Theater, Symphony X, a lot of metal, a lot of progressive stuff. Anything that's a little different than the normal.

Mel: Did you take guitar lessons?

Tim: Honestly, it's more the experience, especially with touring. You are forced to play your instrument and practicing every day. I took guitar lessons when I first started, to understand what was going on. Once you feel comfortable on an instrument, you can experiment, get over this initial hump. Everyone can teach anyone else something different. Especially when you are on the road and you meet people you look up to, ask them something or try to get them to show you something. You just learn so much from people who have done it before you. I spend lots of time sitting with my guitar.

Mel: What does it mean to you to be an indie artist?

Tim: It's hard to understand what that means now. I find that a lot of major labels know that they have a bad name; people who are into music don't want to buy a CD with a major label on the back. They prefer to download it. They are trying to be smart and distribute the indie labels and that's cool that gives a lot of bands a chance to still have their creative control and have the force of a major label. (…) Sometimes it's nice to have the major label behind you, but a lot of people are scared of it. I think it's hard to tell, when there is a label on the back of a CD, what it really means, or who is really involved with it. But I like being independent, I like feeling I'm wholesome and my morals are in check, and not trying to bribe my music to make a big pay check and stuff like that.

Mel: What would you like to achieve with your music?

Tim: There are lots of open ended goals. I'd really like the music to get us as far away from where we are from as possible. I'd like to be travelling and bringing our music to be a global thing as opposed to be a national or North American thing. So, especially with our new record, I really want it to globally have some presence. (…) Another thing that is really important, especially with the internet now, it is a lot easier to be a global band. So, I just want to focus on the world, opposed to focusing on expanding in certain territories. On a personal level, (…) we are always trying to outdo ourselves and just show that we are maturing and growing. And you always want your newest piece of material to represent where you are at that time. And I think as you get older and as you get better and as you understand, how to write songs better and know what works and what doesn't, you are able to refine your craft and every time you do something like that, it is a step closer to what Protest the Hero is.

Mel: How would you describe the difference between ‘Kezia' and ‘Fortress'?

Tim: We matured a bit. It's heavier; we are capable of doing things we weren't able to do two years ago. We were exploring that; it's also a lot more structure. We thought about the song as a whole, as opposed of thinking of a song in parts. And we really learned that it is not a bad thing to go back to a part and repeat a catchy melody or whatever it is, repeat a riff. It's not a bad thing, it kind of brings a song together as a whole. It's really hard to follow a conventional structure. We've tried, we've failed. But we didn't really have any structuring we tried to fit in. We just gave ourselves the right, if something came back and it sounded good, we ran with it. (…) I think it's a very expected achievement that happened. It's heavier, it's more melodic, it's a little better put together I think, the songs. It's not as hard to grab on the first listen to it. You might not be able to get everything from it, but you might be able to realize that it is a cohesive thing.

Mel: Where do you see Protest the Hero in five years?

Tim: Probably replacing one of the homeless dudes sitting at the Queen and Bathurst corner (laughs). (…) I am going to be 26 then, it's still not too old, but at some point it's like ‘I'm not 16 anymore'. If we are touring the same what we are touring now, I'd probably be ‘how much longer can we do this?' It also depends on what you are here for. I always have faith in the band as long as things are getting better, I like continually climbing up. As long as you stay true to yourself, you'll be maintaining your fans and gaining more fans. (…) I'd like to think, I'll always be involved in music for the rest of my life.

-end

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