As Hell Retreats | Start The Climb…
s Hell Retreats played a date with us on Facedown’s Young & Wreckless Tour, where we found out that they’d signed to Strikefirst. After watching them play a tech, fast, extremely tight set, we all wondered why they didn’t get signed to Facedown. But then, at Waffle House, we found out that they were still in high school. DUDE! These kids are insane! Just wait… now that graduation is over, tour dates start piling up, and a few people start talking trash about bold, controversial lyrics (because that has to happen somewhere on YouTube to really get arguments flowing and boost the hype up, right?), AHR will get that momentum to start the climb…
This first question is for Jackson: Jackson, why in the world haven’t you dreaded that perfect, curly, fringy dreading hair yet? You’d better believe that I’m going to bug you about it until it happens, and encourage every one of our readers to do the same…
Jackson Greene: I actually busted out laughing when I heard this question. You are so determined about my hair getting dreaded. (Laughs) But the reason why I haven’t done it is because I just didn’t want to deal with the hassle of putting dreads in my hair. It’s pretty much a choice of laziness.
Congratulations on Strike First! I got the chance to see you play live in a really sketchy place in Indiana or something, and your set is tight. Very tight. Very well done, seriously. I can absolutely see why you’ve caught the attention of label’s ears. But I think everyone has that one band they’d just as soon forget about before they find their niche. You know, the godawful one that really shows their growth from the beginning… If you can tell me this without hurting anyone’s feelings… What were the names of your “wow I’m glad I’m not doing that anymore” bands? Please rag on yourselves as much as possible with the funny memories those thoughts bring to mind.
JG: Well, I personally have never been in any band before As Hell Retreats. I’ve been with this band since the beginning.
Trent, our drummer, has also been in the band since the beginning, but he’s got his fair share of having a band that literally changed their name like you change socks. Every week, his old band would have a new band name until it was officially A Tragedy Chosen in Flames. After that band played about 2 shows, they had some change ups and made As Hell Retreats, got me in the band, and the rest is history.
Blake, our guitarist, was in a Nu-metal band called Sevin. They even got to play with Korn back in the day. I don’t know what is more awesome than that. He’s also been in many other local bands that are just way too many to count. He was in this band called Stop Sweet Water County, and they were actually pretty cool. But man, Blake was secretly a “fan girl” for us back then and wanted to be in our band. Now, he is our best friend and a great freakin’ dude.
Taylor, our bassist, was in a band called When War Breaks Out playing the drums. Funny thing I mention that because his old band and AHR back with our old-lineup (Because AHR has literally had over 20 member changes), for some idiotic and pathetic reason, used to hate each other. I think it was just all out of jealousy or something dumb. In the end, we got everything resolved and now Taylor is a bro on the road with us. Tyler, our other guitarist, was never really in bands, just worship bands at different churches. We thought he was pretty good at his stuff, and then he mind-blew us, one solid dude.
What are your thoughts on this second-wave, Spirit-Filled Hardcore-esque thing that’s going on within the scene right now? Did you follow the first movement, and how do you think they compare? I know you’re not exactly a straight “hardcore” band, but it seems to be the culture that you’re diving into, whether you claim it or no, with a lot of heavier stuff nowadays…
JG: That’s a pretty good observation and question. Personally, we all love that kind of stuff. I know most of us have been huge fans of passion-filled hardcore stuff since we all have been in the music scene together. So my thoughts on it are that it is pretty rad to see all these kids now get into good hardcore stuff and finally realizing some awesome talented bands. I would say it’s golden. But everything has been a phase in this music scene, so it will all die down soon enough and some new trend will come into play. But I’m glad people are getting the time to hear this fair share of great hardcore stuff because we have great friends who have been doing this for a while and are now getting recognized for it. We were part of the first movement, if that’s what you want to call it.
We started around the time The Chariot, Norma Jean, Underoath, As Cities Burn, As I Lay Dying, and many other metalcore/post-hardcore was at such a high peak, like ‘04-’06. All the bands I listed were huge influences of music and faith when this band started. How do I think they compare though? Umm…depends. Back then, it was cool to have awesome stage presence and just go buck-wild on everyone, and then just say “we do this for the Lord”, and blah, blah, blah. (I felt like I was completely bagging on the old days of Christian music, which was totally NOT what I was attempting. (Laughs) But nowadays, all kids are just seeing all these sweet hardcore bands be filled with passion and spirit and then that gets the crowd moving and stuff. I mean, back in the day the crowd was sweet as well with its whole tight girl jeans and Youth Large shirts with the hair to the side. But now its tank tops, shorts, shaved head, and all that jazz. I’m not saying it’s bad; I’m just comparing it all. Who knows what the future will bring now. I have a feeling though that A Hope For Home’s new record Realis will bring some new influences and will bring back that post-hardcore feel…but like I said, who knows.
Your song “Contradiction” is a very bold song, lyrically, based around the issue dubbed “American Christianity” – with specific reference towards spending on violence and blatantly ignoring those in need, going as far as to call these issues “contradictions sending us straight to hell”. While I applaud your convictions, these are pretty harsh words. Was there a particular instance or occurrence that spurred those words, or is it a generality? Is it aimed at individuals? Governments? Political parties? What is the solution? How are you being the solution, practically?
JG: Good question. I have seen this song be thrown around out of context on certain websites and blown out of proportion, and I’m glad I’m getting my fair share of what this song really means to me. I wrote this song based on all the crazy stuff that’s been going down in politics and stuff. I’ve been raised in a political household all my life, so I know too much about politics and all the crazy stuff happening in Washington D.C. and such. I mainly wrote this for those who are the so called “Christians” in politics, but yet they go against the morals of it all and love to bring up war in random countries and/or be filled with the greed and lust for power.
It has always been a sick thought to me, and I know of friends who have turned away from religion just because of these kinds of issues. I even come so close every day with believing in a God that has let all of this happen, I’m not going to lie. But then, I talk about this problem in a song off our record called “Poor God”. I’ll leave it at that, since that is a whole different story. Back to the song…I practically spitted out the words at a show “…that’s sending us straight to Hell”, and I kind of like how crazy it sounded, so I put it in the song. But I will say this: with any lyrics, you’re not always going to have the same opinion that you wrote for a song. I say this because since I have written lyrics for AHR, I have not always kept the same beliefs as my past lyrics because I change, just like everyone else in this world. Its reality, we need to deal with it. I mention that whole thing because I sometimes believe that it may or may not send us to Hell. Heck, I sometimes don’t even want to think about Heaven or Hell. I just want to think of the present and think of loving and giving and not think of the outcomes of it all. I realized I just rambled on about that, so I do apologize for taking this question so crazy-like. (Laughs)
How long have you guys been together? Did you petition your record to labels other than Strike First? Did you have to do a showcase or something? What did the whole process look like? What are you most excited about with where you’re at right now?
JG: We’ve been together for about five years now and it has been a long five years. We have always looked up to Strike First/Facedown since we started because some of my personal favorite bands back then were A Love For Enemies and War of Ages. We didn’t really shop out our stuff to anybody, though. Jason just randomly messaged us after we have been messaging him for God knows how long, and he really dug our studio blogs and what we were recording. So… we were like “Of course!” and the deal was done. It has been phenomenal ever since. We are super excited about working with Strike First Records and having them release our full-length. We are super stoked about touring a whole lot now because I’ve been in Middle/High School since this band has started, so I’ve been the reason why we haven’t toured so much. But now I’m graduating and we are hitting the road hard with great opportunities.
What does a writing process look like for you guys? Do you just get together and make it happen, or are there sporadic instances where something happens in life that sparks that burning in your chest that’s like, “Man! I’m pissed! I need to write!” or “Man! I’m so pumped right now! I’ve got to play what I’m feeling!”
JG: Oh man. It’s been lately just Tyler and Blake writing on Garage Band for Macbook and us just learning the stuff. I just write lyrics whenever I do have that “Man! I’m pissed” thought (laughs). But now… we are trying something new for the new stuff we will be writing. But that is something that will be a freakin’ novel if I write out what we are doing for the new stuff.
How is it working with Andy Atkins and Lost Legend Entertainment. He’s obviously got experience within the industry through his time with APFP and knows a lot about the road life. I see that he’s listed as both a manager and a booking contact. Tell me about it.
JG: Working with Andy has been such a phenomenal pleasure. He has done so much stuff for us already that it is unbelievable to me. He’s managing everything quite well and he’s got so many connections with booking that it’s been a help. We do though have our connections as well in booking, so we can always do it ourselves if Andy is unable to at certain times.
At some of the local shows I go to, people pick up metal chairs and through them into walls and such, with a million people standing in the way. It is literally miraculous that someone hasn’t died. What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever seen at a show?
JG: This question is tough. The scariest thing would probably have to be… gosh, I can’t think of anything right now. Nothing really has happened to me to where I thought I was in fear. Oh well, I guess we always have fun at whatever venue we play at.
“Music is the key to the female heart.” – Johann G. Seume (German Theologist). What do you think, boys? Is death metal the key to the female heart?
JG: Dude, Death metal is every girls dream (laughs). But in all seriousness, if a girl can stand death metal, that is the coolest thing ever. Props to those girls.
So there’s this crazy thing in life that says it could end at any minute. I know you guys are on the up-and-coming end of things, but if you were swept away tomorrow, what is the one thing that you’d want your band to have left people with? What can we be expecting from your full length, and are you going to stay out as much as possible to share it with us all?
JG: With this record, it’s been a collection of old and new songs we have had as a band. To me, it shows that patience is truly a virtue. I like to share that to those bands who we play with every time we play a venue. But lyrically, we want to show that we have had enough of religion and want to stop all the corruption that’s happening in it. We also want to show that there is love and hope out there and we need to stop ignoring it and start using it in our hearts and share it to those who deserve it, which is everybody. No matter what you believe in, what you stand for, we will love you and give you all the hope you deserve. Nothing will stop us from doing that. Ever.
