We want every song to tell a story
Hoth
Hello!! Please tell us something about yourself and your bandmate…
Hello! We are Eric and David of the band Hoth. We hail from Seattle, WA. We both enjoy metal and craft beer. We also own one sword, two hatchets, a mace, and leather bracers. So were about LVL. 13.
As much as i know Hoth is a fictional ice planet that appears in the Star Wars fictional universe and your lyrical themes were also based on Star Wars. So can you explain the connection between Star Wars and Hoth the band or it doesn’t have to do anything with it?
Bands always have such silly stories for how they got their names, and I suppose ours is no different
We were talking, probably after watching Star Wars, and thinking something like Wouldnt Hoth be a great name for a band? It is all covered with ice and snow and that is very metal and brutal. And from there we had our name. So yes, Star Wars was the inspiration for the name, but it is more the fact that Hoth is a cold, icy, inhospitable place rather than any connection to specific events that occur in The Empire Strikes Back.
Many says you are a melodic death metal band and i found you to be a black metal band. In your words how would you justify your genre to be?
People have said some widely varying things about our genre. I suppose we are a bit of both, we have a love for a great melody, but are also drawn to the darkness of black metal. However, at the end of the day, we are playing heavy metal we enjoy.
Major influencing bands behind the sound of yours?
We both love Windir, Dissection, Moonsorrow, Drudkh, Opeth, Mare Cognitum, Mykgrav, and Immortal among many others.
Can you describe your music making process?
It usually all starts with a single idea or melody and grows from there. We want every song to tell a story. So as our melody grows into a song we begin to add different thematic elements. Lyrics are generally done last. Every part of a song must fit into the song, and by extension, the album as a whole.
We plan our albums around an outline, so they have a narrative both musically- and lyrically. Each time you listen to the album, our intent is for it to be start-to-finish. Like a movie. At each stage in production we have to make sure each song sounds good on its own, but also in the context of the other songs. I cant record any of my solos without drinking an entire pot of coffee, and most of our lyrics sound the best after a Cascadian Dark Ale.
Is it hard to survive as a black/death metal band nowadays?
No, it is easy. We make millions of dollars and live in a mansion on Miami beach.
But really, there is no money in metal. We both work day jobs. Album and merch sales do not cover the costs of recording new material so that difference needs to come out of our pockets. It is a labor of love, but we would not have it any other way.
‘Oathbreaker’ was well accepted in major parts of the globe. Are you satisfied or still think that it could have been much better to be a trademark album of the band?
We are very pleased with Oathbreaker and flattered by the reception it has gotten. An artist is always his own worst critic and it is easy to be harsh on yourself. However, we are proud of our work and look forward to continuing to hone our craft in future releases.
Have you performed or will perform in any major festivals?
No plans to. We prefer to create music, instead of preform it. That is not to say we wouldnt ever.
What’s your ultimate direction for your band? Few words describing the upcoming project if you have any?
Hard to say what our final destination is
We enjoy making music and will continue to do so for as long as it seems right for Hoth. We are currently working on a new album, we dont have any concrete details to share yet, but we are excited for its eventual release. I will say were about halfway done with writing the instrumentation at this point, which honestly gives no indication of when our fans will hear anything.
Few words for our readers…
Thanks for reading! Please recycle. Hold the door open for people. Eat a navel orange. Keep supporting independent music and local record shops. Buy directly when you can, bands appreciate that. Check out Hoth at hothmetal.com, hothmusic.bandcamp.com, and facebook.com/hothmetal
-Hoth
http://hothmetal.com
http://hothmusic.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/hothmetal
