Deborah Remus
09/16/09, 06:14 PM
I recently sat down with Protest the Hero (http://www.myspace.com/protestthehero) vocalist Rody Walker for an interview while the band was touring with Killswitch Engage across Canada.
Let’s start off with the pleasantries. How is the tour going so far?
It’s been going quite smoothly. Everyone seems super nice, we’re sharing dressing rooms with the Between the Buried and Me guys and they’re fucking super nice. It’s wonderful, I hate to give you that kind of answer because I know every fucking douchebag gives that kind of answer, but I have no complaints.
Has anything memorable happened so far?
Not really, to be honest with you. I don’t really recall most of the nights. (Laughs) It’s been a lot of driving so it’s like, it hasn’t been a lot of partying and hanging out with the other bands or anything like that.
You’re touring with Killswitch Engage, and also In Flames who have been around for quite awhile. Are you big fans of them?
I wouldn’t say, like big fans. We certainly respect their musicianship and it’s a pleasure to tour with them. It’s certainly a scale we’re not accustomed to, you know, playing these sized rooms and things like that. It’s been fucking ridiculous.
Have their fans been good to you as the opening band?
Yeah, absolutely. Everyone’s been, you know, those who weren’t happy to see us were silent, you know? (Laughs) We haven’t had any eggs in the face yet. This week. (Laughs)
Which do your prefer more? Headlining or opening?
I think it’s the difference between pitching and catching, you know? There’s a certain level of control that you have when you’re a headliner. If something’s not going the way you like it, you can go out and be like ‘Please, change this.’ You know, obviously we aren’t tyrants or anything like that, but when you’re supporting, you have to be more understanding that not everything that happens is going to go your way, not everything that happens in going to cater necessarily to you. Because really, we’re just here to bring in a few extra people, you know?
Yeah, the first time I saw you guys you were opening as well. Opening for Sum 41. That’s like five years ago now, so I don’t know how clearly you’d remember it.
In Winnipeg, I’m trying to think if I remember that Winnipeg date. I remember the tour, but not the specific date. That’s funny. It’s a shame. (Laughs)
It must be cool to look back though. You’ve come a long way in five years.
We’ve certainly tried our hardest. (Laughs) We never expected this to happen. We were probably just a year out of high school. Wait, yeah, we’ve been out for six years. Getting older. Fucking scary.
You’ve already talked a lot about Fortress, so I figured we could touch on your new live CD/DVD that comes out soon.
Well, apparently it leaked today. (Laughs)
So what are your thoughts on leaks, since you’re bringing it up?
I don’t give a fuck, you know? Like a week before it comes out, that’s pretty good I think.
True, some leak a month in advance.
Yeah, we’ve been fortunate with that stuff. We don’t really care about downloading or anything like that. It is still kind of unfortunate to hear something leaks you know, because it’s like, you’d like to have that one big day when you hit the stores, but those days are over. It’s the past so we kind of have to move with the times and roll with the punches.
So you prefer digital downloads now anyway.
I do personally yeah. I don’t really give a fuck about compact discs. I am a pirate of the World Wide Web, so for all the music and movies I’ve stolen over the years, I deserve to have it done to me. (Laughs) So I can’t complain.
What is the significance of Gallop Meets the Earth as a title?
It’s just a lyric from one of the songs. It’s just about the sound of distant soldiers, their horses coming towards you and they’re going to bring on rape and pillage and all sorts of wonderful things. Like something terrifying is coming, it’s really terrifying and not so good. (Laughs) It’s just like, this is our live show. We had a little production added too, like it snows at some point.
[B]Did you find it hard to capture on film?
Not really. I didn’t really notice them, the cameras around. It was just like whatever. And I had nothing to do with the editing or anything to do with it, I just fucking played the show and then they put it on a DVD to sell. I didn’t find it too difficult, except for thousands of these fucking things. (Points to posters) We had to sign them all because we had to sign all the pre-order ones. I got really drunk while I was doing it, and really angry while I was doing it. Yeah, I think there are actually 500 posters here. That was a good night.
I’m guessing you chose Toronto because it’s kind of like a hometown show, even though you’re technically from Whitby.
Yeah, absolutely. I think it was on December 18 or something like that in Toronto, it was a one off show that we played.
The DVD also has bonus material, which is your favourite?
We danced at the Revolver Golden God Awards and it was live. I don’t think it actually made the television broadcast but we have the actual television camera footage of it. I haven’t seen it and I don’t really remember it because we were pretty fucking out of our minds at that point, which sucks to constantly be promoting something like that, but I am most interested to see that. I haven’t seen it so I don’t know how it goes.
Is it like the dance you posted on YouTube awhile back?
Yeah. It was supposed to be that dance but then we changed it and wore fucked up costumes, stuff like that.
What type of costumes?
We wore like golden women’s bathing suits with silver tights underneath them. And silver wigs and sunglasses, it was just awful. We looked like an American Apparel ad.
Interesting. I was also going through some recent interviews and you said you didn’t think you’d be doing this band past the age of 30. Why?
Well, I know a lot of dudes who have been doing this a long time and I see them. At one point they were in a successful band but something would happen where they’d no longer be as successful. So they’d do a new band and kind of poke at the ribs of that dead horse. It’s a sad fucking story. I know this shit isn’t going to last forever, no one is going to like us by the time we put out a sixth record. By the sixth record, people will be like ‘I’m sick of this shit.’ I’m just trying to be realistic about it.
So you don’t think any band is good after the sixth record?
Well no. They are bands that do have shelf lives that are a lot longer, and there are bands that have shelf lives that are a lot shorter than ours has been so far too, you know? But I don’t think we’re the kind of band that is around forever. I wouldn’t compare us to the Rolling Stones, I wouldn’t even compare use to Dream Theater. I think Dream Theater have the staying power of the Beatles for some people. But I just don’t know how we could achieve that kind of success. It would be wonderful. It would be a wonderful situation but I just think that realistically speaking, in the next few years I’m going to be looking for some new work. And I don’t want it to happen.
Well, it’s cool you’re so upfront about it. What is your back up plan then? Will you finally go to university or something?
Yeah, that’s a scary thing. I think I’m going to try and do hair on a cruise ship. Like I’m not overly interested in cutting hair or anything like that, but I think it would be wicked to get a job on a cruise. So something stupid like that. (Laughs)
After this tour, you have no more shows. Does that mean you’re working on a follow-up to Fortress?
Yes, we’re five songs deep. They’re still instrumental. I haven’t done a fucking thing. (Laughs) So they have five instrumental songs, I’m going to start laying vocals and lyrics over that when we get home. Other than that, we’re not really going to do anything. Yeah, we’ll do that five days a week and then on the weekend, Tim [Millar, Protest the Hero guitarist] and I will go out and play shows in our silly new band. It’s called Cheddar Cheese and the Mousetrap. It’s a complete joke but we’ve played shows already and it's fun.
Do you already have a MySpace for it or something?
Yeah, I think its called myspace.com/cheddarcheeseband and it has absolutely no fans yet. I just like registered it the other day. (Laughs) But we’re going to do that and we’re going to record that when we get home. It’s just like, I don’t know, we covered that Stereos [Summer Girl] song. We just do terrible things like that and try to make it funny.
You try to do terribly funny things on stage with Protest the Hero so I’m intrigued.
Yeah, I do it because it gives me an opportunity to actually talk in a microphone. You’ll see tonight. They cut me back, they gave me one spot to talk and I fucking fill it with shit.
I’m assuming you don’t plan what to say.
Yeah, I just go out there and talk. So many bands are like ‘I want to see a fucking circle pit’ and personally, I think that’s really fucking lame. I just want to go up there and talk to people because A, I think it’s kind of funny, B, shows I’m not taking myself too seriously and C, I just don’t really give a fuck. (Laughs) There’s sheer apathy inside me, moving out.
Have you made anyone angry with what you’ve said recently?
I’m trying to think. I made a joke in Toronto that a couple of people didn’t get.
What was it, if you care to share to end the interview?
It was like, I said something like ‘You know, you’ve got to be careful making fun of the French into a microphone because there’s always some French people in the room.’ And then everyone was like ‘Oh, OK’ and then I was like ‘Last night in Montreal, I was going off on them’ and people were just like ‘What?’ And I was like, ‘It’s a fucking joke, of course there was French people in the room’ and then everyone in Toronto who was French was like ‘Fuck you!’ (Laughs) Take a joke. It wasn’t the most overly funny joke, but it was a joke nonetheless.
Let’s start off with the pleasantries. How is the tour going so far?
It’s been going quite smoothly. Everyone seems super nice, we’re sharing dressing rooms with the Between the Buried and Me guys and they’re fucking super nice. It’s wonderful, I hate to give you that kind of answer because I know every fucking douchebag gives that kind of answer, but I have no complaints.
Has anything memorable happened so far?
Not really, to be honest with you. I don’t really recall most of the nights. (Laughs) It’s been a lot of driving so it’s like, it hasn’t been a lot of partying and hanging out with the other bands or anything like that.
You’re touring with Killswitch Engage, and also In Flames who have been around for quite awhile. Are you big fans of them?
I wouldn’t say, like big fans. We certainly respect their musicianship and it’s a pleasure to tour with them. It’s certainly a scale we’re not accustomed to, you know, playing these sized rooms and things like that. It’s been fucking ridiculous.
Have their fans been good to you as the opening band?
Yeah, absolutely. Everyone’s been, you know, those who weren’t happy to see us were silent, you know? (Laughs) We haven’t had any eggs in the face yet. This week. (Laughs)
Which do your prefer more? Headlining or opening?
I think it’s the difference between pitching and catching, you know? There’s a certain level of control that you have when you’re a headliner. If something’s not going the way you like it, you can go out and be like ‘Please, change this.’ You know, obviously we aren’t tyrants or anything like that, but when you’re supporting, you have to be more understanding that not everything that happens is going to go your way, not everything that happens in going to cater necessarily to you. Because really, we’re just here to bring in a few extra people, you know?
Yeah, the first time I saw you guys you were opening as well. Opening for Sum 41. That’s like five years ago now, so I don’t know how clearly you’d remember it.
In Winnipeg, I’m trying to think if I remember that Winnipeg date. I remember the tour, but not the specific date. That’s funny. It’s a shame. (Laughs)
It must be cool to look back though. You’ve come a long way in five years.
We’ve certainly tried our hardest. (Laughs) We never expected this to happen. We were probably just a year out of high school. Wait, yeah, we’ve been out for six years. Getting older. Fucking scary.
You’ve already talked a lot about Fortress, so I figured we could touch on your new live CD/DVD that comes out soon.
Well, apparently it leaked today. (Laughs)
So what are your thoughts on leaks, since you’re bringing it up?
I don’t give a fuck, you know? Like a week before it comes out, that’s pretty good I think.
True, some leak a month in advance.
Yeah, we’ve been fortunate with that stuff. We don’t really care about downloading or anything like that. It is still kind of unfortunate to hear something leaks you know, because it’s like, you’d like to have that one big day when you hit the stores, but those days are over. It’s the past so we kind of have to move with the times and roll with the punches.
So you prefer digital downloads now anyway.
I do personally yeah. I don’t really give a fuck about compact discs. I am a pirate of the World Wide Web, so for all the music and movies I’ve stolen over the years, I deserve to have it done to me. (Laughs) So I can’t complain.
What is the significance of Gallop Meets the Earth as a title?
It’s just a lyric from one of the songs. It’s just about the sound of distant soldiers, their horses coming towards you and they’re going to bring on rape and pillage and all sorts of wonderful things. Like something terrifying is coming, it’s really terrifying and not so good. (Laughs) It’s just like, this is our live show. We had a little production added too, like it snows at some point.
[B]Did you find it hard to capture on film?
Not really. I didn’t really notice them, the cameras around. It was just like whatever. And I had nothing to do with the editing or anything to do with it, I just fucking played the show and then they put it on a DVD to sell. I didn’t find it too difficult, except for thousands of these fucking things. (Points to posters) We had to sign them all because we had to sign all the pre-order ones. I got really drunk while I was doing it, and really angry while I was doing it. Yeah, I think there are actually 500 posters here. That was a good night.
I’m guessing you chose Toronto because it’s kind of like a hometown show, even though you’re technically from Whitby.
Yeah, absolutely. I think it was on December 18 or something like that in Toronto, it was a one off show that we played.
The DVD also has bonus material, which is your favourite?
We danced at the Revolver Golden God Awards and it was live. I don’t think it actually made the television broadcast but we have the actual television camera footage of it. I haven’t seen it and I don’t really remember it because we were pretty fucking out of our minds at that point, which sucks to constantly be promoting something like that, but I am most interested to see that. I haven’t seen it so I don’t know how it goes.
Is it like the dance you posted on YouTube awhile back?
Yeah. It was supposed to be that dance but then we changed it and wore fucked up costumes, stuff like that.
What type of costumes?
We wore like golden women’s bathing suits with silver tights underneath them. And silver wigs and sunglasses, it was just awful. We looked like an American Apparel ad.
Interesting. I was also going through some recent interviews and you said you didn’t think you’d be doing this band past the age of 30. Why?
Well, I know a lot of dudes who have been doing this a long time and I see them. At one point they were in a successful band but something would happen where they’d no longer be as successful. So they’d do a new band and kind of poke at the ribs of that dead horse. It’s a sad fucking story. I know this shit isn’t going to last forever, no one is going to like us by the time we put out a sixth record. By the sixth record, people will be like ‘I’m sick of this shit.’ I’m just trying to be realistic about it.
So you don’t think any band is good after the sixth record?
Well no. They are bands that do have shelf lives that are a lot longer, and there are bands that have shelf lives that are a lot shorter than ours has been so far too, you know? But I don’t think we’re the kind of band that is around forever. I wouldn’t compare us to the Rolling Stones, I wouldn’t even compare use to Dream Theater. I think Dream Theater have the staying power of the Beatles for some people. But I just don’t know how we could achieve that kind of success. It would be wonderful. It would be a wonderful situation but I just think that realistically speaking, in the next few years I’m going to be looking for some new work. And I don’t want it to happen.
Well, it’s cool you’re so upfront about it. What is your back up plan then? Will you finally go to university or something?
Yeah, that’s a scary thing. I think I’m going to try and do hair on a cruise ship. Like I’m not overly interested in cutting hair or anything like that, but I think it would be wicked to get a job on a cruise. So something stupid like that. (Laughs)
After this tour, you have no more shows. Does that mean you’re working on a follow-up to Fortress?
Yes, we’re five songs deep. They’re still instrumental. I haven’t done a fucking thing. (Laughs) So they have five instrumental songs, I’m going to start laying vocals and lyrics over that when we get home. Other than that, we’re not really going to do anything. Yeah, we’ll do that five days a week and then on the weekend, Tim [Millar, Protest the Hero guitarist] and I will go out and play shows in our silly new band. It’s called Cheddar Cheese and the Mousetrap. It’s a complete joke but we’ve played shows already and it's fun.
Do you already have a MySpace for it or something?
Yeah, I think its called myspace.com/cheddarcheeseband and it has absolutely no fans yet. I just like registered it the other day. (Laughs) But we’re going to do that and we’re going to record that when we get home. It’s just like, I don’t know, we covered that Stereos [Summer Girl] song. We just do terrible things like that and try to make it funny.
You try to do terribly funny things on stage with Protest the Hero so I’m intrigued.
Yeah, I do it because it gives me an opportunity to actually talk in a microphone. You’ll see tonight. They cut me back, they gave me one spot to talk and I fucking fill it with shit.
I’m assuming you don’t plan what to say.
Yeah, I just go out there and talk. So many bands are like ‘I want to see a fucking circle pit’ and personally, I think that’s really fucking lame. I just want to go up there and talk to people because A, I think it’s kind of funny, B, shows I’m not taking myself too seriously and C, I just don’t really give a fuck. (Laughs) There’s sheer apathy inside me, moving out.
Have you made anyone angry with what you’ve said recently?
I’m trying to think. I made a joke in Toronto that a couple of people didn’t get.
What was it, if you care to share to end the interview?
It was like, I said something like ‘You know, you’ve got to be careful making fun of the French into a microphone because there’s always some French people in the room.’ And then everyone was like ‘Oh, OK’ and then I was like ‘Last night in Montreal, I was going off on them’ and people were just like ‘What?’ And I was like, ‘It’s a fucking joke, of course there was French people in the room’ and then everyone in Toronto who was French was like ‘Fuck you!’ (Laughs) Take a joke. It wasn’t the most overly funny joke, but it was a joke nonetheless.