Band Interview: Hail The Hatter
Games, Brrraaains and a Head-Banging Life are pleased to bring you an interview with hard rock band, Hail the Hatter.
1. How did you get started as a band?
Our singer Jonathan had just moved back home from living in Florida for 14 years where he had been in a few bands. He was feeling the itch to get back into music, so he reached out to a friend to see who was out there. He was quickly put in touch with our guitarist Dax Cartar. After talking and jamming a bit, they both realised they were missing the same things in modern rock music.
They missed that sense of fun and irreverence that rock used to have and what made it popular. So they decided to form a band that would bring all of that back, a band that wold provide a head banging, beer drinking, good time.
Quickly Nicholai Assam was added on drums, followed by Devin Harry Paul on bass. We wrote five songs pretty quickly, but unfortunately Devin had to leave the band for personal reasons. So Aaron Lowchewtung joined the band on bass. We wrote one more song ‘God Bless The Beast’ and we headed into the studio.
2. How would you describe your sound?
We have one rule when writing a song. Is it fun? Every song needs to have a sense of high energy and fun. We aim to combine virtuosity with a sense of enjoyment. Fun doesn’t have to mean simple. Our songs are a combination of modern hard rock/metal with a hint of old school 80’s flare. If you want ripping solos, soaring vocals and a driving rhythm section Hail the Hatter is the band for you. We promise two things, you will party too hard, and bang your head until it falls off!
3. What bands/artists would you say have influenced your style of music?
That’s a big list but the top five would have to be Pantera, Ozzy Osbourne, Guns N’ Roses, Lamb of God, and Sikth.
4. Has the rise of YouTube & music streaming helped or hindered you as a band?
Its a weird time to be a musician. It has never been easier to get your music out there and into the world, but it has also never been harder to be heard. Just because there are so many voices out there now. The large record companies are practically dead, and radio is caught in a rut. So because of that it’s great that we can promote our band ourselves and maintain control of our music thanks to stuff like YouTube and streaming. But because it’s now up too us, we really get too learn what record companies used to do.
5. What do you enjoy doing when you’re not making music?
Drinking beer, talking about music, and crocheting thongs for when we hit the stage.
6. What are your future plans musically? Tours?
Right now we’ve just released our debut EP ‘Discovering Light’ which can be downloaded for FREE here. So our goal right now is to get as many people as possible to hear the music. Money doesn’t matter, we just want people listening to the music. In April we are competing for a spot to play at Wacken Open Air 2018, and after than we are planning a small tour of East coast USA.
We’d like to thank Hail the Hatter for taking the time to speak with us. You can pick up the EP for free over on their website as well as find out much more about them. Support them by liking their Facebook Page, following them on Twitter & Instagram and subscribe to their YouTube channel.
