Interview

H2O

28.07.2008 | Cam | 0 Comments

The terms legendary and influential are thrown around way too easily these days. H2O are one band that has well and truly earned the right to the above-mentioned adjectives.

Bassist Adam Blake gave us the following interview…

Interview w/ H2O (USA) on Friday May 23rd

By Cameron Chambers

How are you today mate?

Not bad man, what’s happening?

Just enjoying the freezing Melbourne weather. What’s been keeping you busy since wrapping up “Nothing To Prove”?

Oh man, it’s been incredibly busy. We don’t have a manager right now, so Toby and myself are pretty much doing all the business stuff and all the other stuff that goes with releasing a record. We’re pretty much a band coming out of hibernation and yeah, we’re doing all the stuff that goes into getting a record out into the stores.

It’s a lot of hard work man.

You know it is, but it doesn’t seem that hard because we love it.

Any one off shows to test out the new songs?

We played a festival in California called the Bamboozle festival and we played two new songs out there but we’ve just got the record release show coming up a week tomorrow in New York City.

Apart from a few hometown shows in late May you’ll be heading off for a pretty extensive tour of Europe throughout June and July. Any reason why you’re going overseas before touring the record in the States?

We wanted to let the record get into people’s minds in the US first. We wanted to let it sit for a while and there’s a also a lot of touring in the US at that time of the year, like Warped Tour, so I think it’s smarter for us to go overseas. Plus, it’s been a long time since we’ve been to Europe and we haven’t played over there a lot and we want to do a lot more touring on this record.

We’re definitely going to be doing a lot on this record so we’re definitely doing everywhere. Well be hitting the US, we’ll come see you guys, Asia… South America, everywhere! If kids want to see a hardcore show then we’re more than happy to come and play, ha ha.

Speaking of “Nothing To Prove”, I was lucky enough to get an advance copy and it’s awesome man.

Cool! Thank you man, glad you like it!

My pleasure mate. Can you tell us how you approach writing a record when you’ve been at it (as a band) for so long?

It was weird because it’s been the easiest record to make in a way. We had such a lot of time off and before… when you’re in a band you tour, tour, tour and you have two choices when you get home. You go get a day job or you go and make a record and go back on tour.

With this record we’ve all had such a time away from it, even though we’ve been playing shows and doing stuff we didn’t have to make this record. We made this record because we had all these songs that we were so proud of so we said we should make a record and then we booked into a studio and it was just so easy… it just came out!

It definitely sounds really organic, you know. It sounds like the songs are there because you want them there and you dig them, not because a record company told you to put them on there.

Every song on that record is a labour of love. There’s no trying to write a hit single or trying to write a hardcore keep it real song. It’s all just natural music that came out of us.

Chad from New Found Glory produced your new record. What did he bring to the table that made you guys want to work with him?

Oh man, Chad’s amazing. The cool thing about Chad… it’s always been hard for us to find producers. There’s truckloads of people out there… there’s hardcore producers who don’t have the best idea of how to make records but they get hardcore. And then you have really great producers who can produce really well but they don’t have a background in hardcore… Chad as both!

Chad is a really great producer, he made suggestions for songs and he got the best performances and the best tones and he loves hardcore. He understood and he knew we wanted to make a hardcore record for everyone that’s ever loved H2O.

Do you think the record would have turned out differently if you hadn’t been working with someone like Chad, ie: someone who has that understanding of where you’re coming from and what your band is all about?

He definitely impacted the record a lot and made a lot of really helpful suggestions and we trusted him. We were willing to let go a lot and trust him and listen to him. Obviously he’s a very talented musician and he’s a really good producer and he loves H2O… he has an H2O tattoo, ha ha.

He would never want to see H2O make a record that wasn’t an H2O record. That sense of trust… if we make another record I can’t see not having Chad be a part of it.

Being that this was your first studio record in five years did you have any particular goals for the album or any themes that you wanted to write about?

Honestly we just wanted to make a hardcore record.

Easy as that, ha ha.

Exactly, ha ha. There was a certain amount of wanting to make a comeback record. We wanted to make a record that would make people think wow; these guys really came back with something strong.

We didn’t want to make a pop record. We didn’t want to make anything other than a good, heavy, melodic hardcore record.

Even though the album hasn’t been officially released yet it’s already getting a lot of positive feedback due to the songs on your MySpace. Did you expect “Nothing To Prove” to be received so well?

This is the first record we’ve ever made where everyone in the band actually wants to listen to it and you start to realise wow, we made a great record, ha ha. It’s weird and you start to realise I think this is a great record but I helped make this, so maybe I’m a little biased. Maybe I’m a little bit twisted, ha ha.

Your last couple of releases (Go and All We Want) were handled by MCA. Do you think dealing with a major label influenced how those records turned out?

Yeah. I mean, I don’t know for sure. I think the fact that we finished the final leg of the FTTW tour, which was our final record for Epitaph, and we signed to a major and they said, “make a record”. I think we weren’t in the place to make a record.

I stand by a lot of that record, I think a lot of that “Go” record is really good but I do think we should’ve taken a step back and thought about it a bit more. I think that… with this record we’ve taken a hell of a big step back and really taken our time.

We’re not a major label band. We’re not going to sell a million records you know, it’s not what we are… it’s not what we do. We’re a hardcore band and we’re very proud of that fact. If kids buy our record and love it then that’s amazing but we’re not going to be Blink 182. I fucking wish, ha ha, have you seen their houses? Ha ha

We’re a hardcore band that belongs on a hardcore label that plays hardcore shows to hardcore kids.

Good summation. Now that H2O are with Bridge 9 Records, do you feel more in control of your music again and if so, do you think that’s evident in “Nothing To Prove”?

I always thought we had a lot of control, no one at the label told us what to play, but Bridge 9 are the same people as us. They grew up with hardcore, they’re around the same age as us and they have really similar backgrounds so it’s just really comfortable.

They understand us ad they’ve been in bands and they’re definitely artists at the label. We can call the owner of Bridge 9 if we have a question whereas with MCA I didn’t even know who the owner was… and I doubt very much I could call him up and have him pick up the phone for me, ha ha.

Do you think being on Bridge 9 could potentially expose you to a younger crowd and a lot of kids who might have missed H2O the first time round?

I can’t wait for everyone to hear this record coz I’m so proud of it and I do think Bridge 9 can help us with that, but ultimately I can’t obsess over that. I think being on Bridge 9 isn’t going to hurt us coz I think a lot of people who like Bridge 9 bands are going to like H2O.

I think describing you guys as a positive band is kind of selling the message a bit short, but Toby’s lyrics have always helped set you guys apart from other bands. How do you rate his work on “Nothing To Prove” compared to your previous records?

Best ever by far. After all the life experiences that we’ve all gone through… him especially because having a son is huge… you have so much stuff that you want to sing about. When you’re in a band and all you do is tour then what are you going to sing about? Touring!

Do you write about touring or being in a band? Yes, coz that’s all you know. Now we all have so much going on in our lives that he had so much to draw from in a lyrical context and so much to get off his chest so I’m really proud of him, he really stepped it up.

Do you have a favourite song from the new album?

Oh man, it changes every day. I honestly don’t, it would be like having ten kids and picking one. I love them all in my own way.

It’s been a long time man, when can we expect you guys back in Australia?

The plan is maybe September or October this year. It’s something we want to do!

Who are some bands you’ve heard lately that you think kids should be checking out?

Let’s see. I’m really out of the loop. It’s weird, this band Fireworks that are friends of ours do really well. I don’t know, ha ha. It’s weird… I’m honestly out of the loop. Hopefully when I’m back on tour I’ll see what’s good out there.

That’s cool, we can just use this question to plug H2O, ha ha.

Ha ha. I kind of like it though because we made a record that wasn’t in any way touched by what’s cool at the moment.

That’s a good point man.

Yeah, it’s just what we wanted to make. We didn’t care if my bass was shit or the vocal was shit, ha ha.

We’re just going to finish up with our final five if that’s cool Adam?

Favourite place you’ve travelled to?

Australia man, come on! Ha ha

Favourite album at the moment apart from “Nothing To Prove”, ha ha?

Ha ha. Favourite at the moment is Siren Songs Of The Counter Culture by Rise Against.

That’s a good record man.

It’s a great fucking record. Holy shit, that’s so impressive shit!

Most embarrassing on stage experience?