Interview: Hamulec (Written)

Darkened Euro riff slayers, Hamulec, have arrived with their brutal new single and video, ‘Stos’, which is out now. The hotly tipped heavyweights have also just wooed audiences at the Jarocin Festival, sharing the stage with Vader, as well as at PolandRock. We find out more about the band and their latest goings-on in this interview.

1. Hello! Thank you for taking the time to chat to us. First things first, tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got started.

We are a band of close friends that decided to meet in a rehearsal room one day. At the start it was only just a fun activity but after a few first shows and release of our single we’ve decided to take Hamulec seriously.

2. Someone comes to you and asks you to sum up what kind of music you play – what do you tell them?

So lately we answer that we just play metal because of so many different parts of different genres being present in our music. I think we could call it Blackened-Thrash-Punk if we would like to sum up our inspirations.

3. What’s currently going on in your camp? New releases? Tours? Etc.

We’ve just played 2 of the biggest festivals in Poland. Jarocin and PolandRock. It was a shock to see this many people moshing and screaming our name. We had 2 hour line for pictures and signing, haha! Right now we have just released our new single, ‘Stos’. After that we start touring for the whole fall-winter.

4. What has been the most positive experience of making music to date for you?

Changing our first not so great recording studio for the one we are working with now. I think that it changed the whole game for us. Better production, less stress, more creative decisions. Huge shout out for our producer, Simon!

5. Likewise, what has been some of the more challenging aspects and how have you overcome them?

Like every band out there we had to play a couple of those 7 people shows to understand what type of career we want to pursue. There is zero sense in not fighting for the win with 100% strength. We started learning everything there is to know about making a band work and we didn’t stop since.

6. How do you handle the modern expectations of being in a band? Always online, having to put out content constantly, your success measured in likes and follows?

I think we squeeze the social media lemon tight. Of course it’s overwhelming at the beginning but when you find the groove you can use those likes and follows for your advantage.

We like to be online, talking to people in DM’s or on our Discord server. There is always some good content to put out. I think we have a vlog for every concert of last year on our channel. Plenty good memories and materials for people that are coming.

7. What’s something that really ‘grinds your gears’ about the industry/business these days and what would you propose is done to combat it?

1. Bands wanting much but putting zero effort into.
2. Some places are still only available when you have the connections. If you don’t you won’t get invited into some festivals or media sites.

8. Speaking directly to listeners – what would you ask they do to help support your music?

If you want to support Hamulec in our journey. Just listen to our music and maybe watch the stupid shit we are doing in between shows. You can message us about anything, anytime and we will respond. After that we hope to see you at the show.

9. Outside of the music, what’s do you do to relax?

Each of us does different things. Mikołaj and Filip the two brothers are adrenaline junkies so everything from cliff diving to riding a dirtbike in the forest. However Kacper and Kuba prefer to relax and paint or just play games.

10. Where can people find you?

Spotify | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube