Jul
19
Protest The Hero Interview – June 21, 2008
On the second date of Warped Tour, Andrew and I had the chance to chat with Rody Walker the vocalist of Protest The Hero. We discussed Protest The Hero’s album change from their concept album Kezia to just an overall brutal album Fortress. Rody was also able to tell us about his inspirations and just about brutal things in general that inspire him like the Pain Olympics. For making this interview possible I’d like to give a special thanks to Rody Walker, Melissa Mondello, and Bethany Watson for being nothing but amazing.
Andrew: So your album Kezia was this huge concept album and your new album Fortress is completely different. Why did your music style change so dramatically?
Rody Walker: We definitely considered doing another concept album, but we got so many questions and we still do from kids asking us to explain the whole concept of Kezia over and over again and it gets to a point where I don’t want to answer another question about this stupid concept. So when we went in to write this album there was no fucking way are we writing a concept record. Kids still ask us everyday what’s the concept of Fortress and were like none fuck off. It’s brutality that’s the concept.
Andrew: Do you think you’ll ever go back and do another concept album with a storyline?
Rody Walker: Maybe. There is a cohesive theme that travels throughout Fortress and think we will always kind of stick to that. However having a storyline is something we’re not very interested in doing ever again. I think there’s bands like Coheed And Cambria that are writing like no I’m going to compare it to The Hardy Boys not that it’s actually like The Hardy Boys but one story connects to the next to the next. We are writing from more of a perspective where we are writing novels that are completely unrelated and that kind of how we anted to do it.
Tamlyn: So where do you get your inspiration to write your songs?
Rody Walker: I don’t know. I get a lot of inspiration from musicals and just from terrible things that are going on and terrible things that were watching on the internet like the Pain Olympics and brutal things disgusting things that you kind of want to scream about. Actually we were in Tokyo a little while ago and I saw a chimp on TV beat a man at Jenga and that inspired me thoroughly.
Andrew: So did you create any songs about that?
Rody Walker: No there’s nothing about that, I wish.
Andrew: Bonus track?
Rody Walker: It’s a happy track.
Andrew: You began a tour earlier this year and you stopped it for different reasons. How this tour going so far? Do you see any problems?
Rody Walker: We’ve had some problems so far, but they’ve been totally in correlation with the same problems that we were having on that tour. It’s kind of like the aftershock, the couple people that we fired that were fucking shit up for us are still kind of like their backlog work is still fucking stuff up for and I don’t know. Hopefully it’ll get better by the time the tours that they booked are fucking done and over with.
Andrew: How will you guys keep up by the end of the tour because you’re fucking crazy live?
Rody Walker: I think so it’s something that we do and it’s something that we’ve always done. We’re not so much into the axing and the throwing down anymore so it’s not like we’re going too crazy. We just got a couple of stupid little dance moves and a couple stupid little jokes in between songs and I think a lot of the kids at Warped Tour are a great inspiration for jokes in between songs. So I struggle to find any thought that there would be any slowing down of jokes or stupid dance moves.
Tamlyn: Do you have any daily routines?
Rody Walker: Not really I’m not a very superstitious person so I don’t think anything effects how I’m going to do. I wake up and have a beer, I smoke a cigarette, and I go play a set then I get real drunk. So it’s kind of like a ritual, but its more alcoholism.
Tamlyn: So what’s your next album going to be like?
Rody Walker: I think it’s just going to be another brutal album probably. As we progress we play the songs and nothing ever feels heavy enough when you’re live so when you write new material you write heavier and heavier stuff. So I think it’ll just be heavier and more brutal with more gratuitous vulgarity in the lyrics.
Tamlyn: Is there any bands that you look up to for their brutality or style?
Rody Walker: Symphony X. Russell Allen’s solo album is pretty much the most brutal thing in the world. Cryptopsy, Aeon, I don’t know I like a lot of brutal stuff.
Tamlyn: Is there any message you want to send out to your fans?
Rody Walker: God gave Satan heaven. It’s from an Aeon song, it’s about how God is gay, but they don’t believe him.
Andrew: Any weird influences other than Symphony X and Cryptopsy?
Rody Walker: I like Paramore a lot, I think I might have said that a couple times or I’ve said that a million times today. I think they’re great pop songs, I’m a big fan of pop music I like Justin Timberlake I think he’s fucking sweet and I like his dancing as well. I just want to hang out with him and learn some moves that’s all I really want. I guess those are weird influences, they’re not really applicable. I like to think they subconsciously influence me in some way.
