You chose
to record your next record via fan funding on Indigogo, who came up with the
idea to do that?
This has been an
idea the band has been tossing around for a little while now. We've seen it be
successful with some other artists and think it's a better way to get funding
for an album then taking a big advance from a label. It was good timing for us
as we don't have any obligations at this time to any particular label.
More and
more bands are doing this fan funding, or fundraising to make albums. In this
day and age, is it the best way to record?
I would say it's a
good option for bands who have a dedicated fan base and it really reflects your
popularity and how much faith your fans have in you to come through. With the
easier access to music on the internet, this gives people an option to buy your
record from anywhere in the world. There's places in the world where you can't
go to the store and buy our album, so this is a way to guarantee you'll get the
album when it is released. I don't know if this is the choice method for every
band and there is an element of risk but it is definitely an alternative to the
standard funding options.
What can
fans expect off the new record? Is there a new direction involved?
With each of our records, there is
always a maturity of sound. Since there is usually 2 or 3 years between albums
we all grow as musicians and songwriters. That being said, we are still the
same people and will always have something that sounds like "Protest The
Hero" and don't write with a particular direction in mind, just let ideas
come out naturally.
On
Scurrilous, Rody did a majority of the writing as opposed to Arif, do you think
it change the dynamic of the bands sound?
Lyric writing, yes.
We've always left this as an open area for anyone to contribute and Rody wanted
to be more involved in the lyric writing process. We liked the stuff that he
was bringing to practice and encouraged him to keep going.
The cover
of Scurrilous is a painting by Arif’s grandfather. What does it represent? When
the band saw the painting, was it unanimous – this is what the cover has to be?
This was a painting
that we have known for a long time as it was hanging in Arif's house when we
were growing up. Arif brought the idea of using it and we all loved the piece
of work. His grandfather's name was Jafar Petgar and he was a well known
painter in Iran. Also, keeping it in the family and having a direct connection
made it a lot more meaningful to us. I feel sometime bands don't put a lot of
effort or thought into their artwork and I miss the days where bands would
commission an artist to do an amazing piece of work to represent their album.
We loved the painting and liked the idea of bringing it to a demographic that
might never see it.
After
nearly spending your whole lives together, being friends before you were even
in the band, how much fun are you having doing this with your close friends?
We definitely have a unique
relationship and I look at it as close friend who went into business together.
We can't forget that we are a business and there's a lot of work involved, but
it's pretty enjoyable work and I'm happy I get to do it with people that have
always been so close to me.
Did you
ever think you would get this far?
I take everything day
by day. We started a band with the intention to play music and will continue to
do that as long as we can. Nothing happened over night and we were able to
adjust to how things were going as they were happening. It's always felt
natural and no matter how much we accomplish there's still things we haven't
done and that's what motivates me to keep going.
The sound
of Protest the Hero has always intrigued me, because it is “melodic metal” as I
like to call it. Who are some of your influences?
My influences are
all over the map, and I've always been a music fan of all styles. Some of the
more heavy ones are Sikth, Propagandhi, Aeon, Symphony X etc but I'm also a fan
of jazz and fusion music (Guthrie Govan, John Scofield) as well as was raised
on classical music and am still a big fan of Beethoven and Rachmaninoff to name
a few.
Your first
record, the brilliant Kezia, was a concept record. Would you ever go back and
do a concept record of that nature again?
I'm open to revisiting the idea of
a concept record but you need to do a lot of pre planning before your start
writing. On more recent albums, we've had lyrics come after the music is
written so it's a lot harder to bring it together with a concept.
It was
said that Kezia represented the band members, how so?
I've never heard
this, but the name translates to 'song of hope' and if anything that album was
just that for this band.
What has
been the best thing about Protest the Hero thus far?
Tough question. I
think that just being able to be a musician for a living and essentially being
in charge of your own destiny is something I'll never take for granted.
Now,
void of a record label. Would you ever sign to a label again or just continue
fundraising to make your art?
I'm not against the
idea of working with labels, but in the past we've depended on using advance
money to fund our album. That was the big bargaining chip labels had on you. By
removing this from the equation, it makes it easier to negotiate fairer deals.
We will still need someone in different territories to release and distribute
our records and make our music available. I think a better business standard
needs to be set so bands are feeling like they are getting value from pursuing
these relationships themselves.
