Dead Rhetoric: Describe Hellevate’s philosophy and general approach to live performance versus studio recordings? Do you have a preference of one over the other or enjoy both equally for different reasons?
Josh: Our goal with live performances is to just sound good and give an energetic performance. We don’t really have a “schtick” or theme we can rely on, so we just have to go out and kill ’em. We put a lot of thought in ways to improve the performance, such as “moves” to do on stage (for example, when we bring out the song “Eat Fear, Shit Victory” from the 2012 album, we have a part where we play each others’ guitars), or ways to interact on stage. A lot of it comes naturally from playing, getting comfortable with both the stage and each other.
As an engineer, I love recording, and getting everything sounding as good as possible. But there’s no denying that the feeling of playing live is incredible. We really can’t prioritize one over the other; we try to make sure both are as solid as possible. It’s our goal to give the whole package.
Dead Rhetoric: What can you tell us about the Missouri/Kansas local scenes for metal as far as bands, clubs, promoters, and overall support? What are some of your favorite shows that Hellevate has done over its career?
Josh: The Kansas City scene is definitely interesting for sure. The bands are typically geared towards extreme metal, you’ll find primarily death metal bands, the best being Troglodyte and Marasmus. There are a few more melodic bands, such as the band Vanlade, who are incredible, and in my opinion, the best band out of KC right now. There’s also the bands Alsatia, and Ealo, which is my other group (totally shameless). Bands primarily play at a venue called The Riot Room. It’s a bit small, but a very comfortable and welcoming place. There’s also the Aftershock, and bigger bands play at The Granada in Lawrence, which is about 30 minutes out from KC.
The crowds are very discerning. It can seem difficult for a new group around here to win over the audience. You just gotta deliver hard, and you’ll eventually get them. There are a lot of very great and nice people who will go to space and back for a band. It’s very welcoming.
Some of our favorites is the time they opened for Kreator and Accept in 2012, both times we opened for Exodus (my personal favorites), when we played with Primal Fear, and I think the biggest was when we opened for Danzig, definitely the biggest venue we’ve ever played.
Dead Rhetoric: How does the band handle the current business model of promoting your efforts through social media and digital downloads/ streaming? Are you personally a fan of physical product (vinyl, cassette, CD) or do you just adapt to the times?
Josh: We’re definitely aware of the times. I myself prefer physical copies over streaming and downloading, it’s obvious that you have to do exactly that to get anywhere. We have all of our stuff available on our Bandcamp to stream and buy, and we’re looking at other methods such as streaming, and online stores too. We make CD’s primarily to sell. Vinyl and cassettes are cool and all, but they’re an investment for sure. Maybe if we find demand for it we’d look into it.
Dead Rhetoric: Has there been any interest in Hellevate on the label front – or are you content at this point to steer the ship the way you want independently? Are you afraid that a lot of label people won’t understand the cross-pollination or styles between speed, thrash, death, and power against a traditional platform that you guys incorporate?
Josh: We’re interested in getting on a label, for sure. This is the first release we’ve had that goes past the areas we’ve played, so we’re probably not quite at that point yet. We were initially in talks to release this album on Stormspell Records, but the timing didn’t work out, nothing against them! I don’t know how a label would feel about our style, to be honest. We’re not in any rush to get on a label, Dan and I have been learning and working on how to run the band from a business perspective for a while now, so if a label doesn’t quite get what we’re going for, we’ll just say no. But you may see the next album out on a label, we’re sort of making that up as we go at this point.
Dead Rhetoric: Who are some of the bands and musicians that made you want to get involved in heavy metal first as a fan, and eventually as a musician yourselves? Have you had the chance to meet some of your personal heroes in the business, and how were those interactions?
Josh: We all have very different influences and “heroes” so to speak, which really lends to our collective sound. In general, we love Bay Area thrash, German speed/power metal, old school heavy metal, and a little bit of death metal too. Bands like Exodus, Heathen, Manowar, Queensryche, Savatage, Overkill, and of course, a lot lot more. We’ve met a couple of them, such as Ralf from Primal Fear, and last year we hung with Exodus. All very cool, chill guys.
Dead Rhetoric: How do you handle the work/life/band juggling act that occurs as you try to establish more of a foothold on the international landscape? Do you have understanding families/significant others who are supportive of your metal endeavors?
Josh: It’s hard, to be sure. We do our best to make our schedules and lives work around the band, and plan for the future around it. That’s very hard to do though. All of our families and significant others support our endeavors; they’re aware of our passion and drive and are proud of it. It takes communication and understanding.
Dead Rhetoric: How would you describe the personalities of each band member – and what set of skills does each person bring to the table to make Hellevate the special entity that it is?
Josh: We’ve spent a while working with each other and getting to know each other, and we’ve found roles to settle into for sure. Dan does the majority of the writing, and a lot of the business and planning work. I do a lot of the business work and writing. Drew helps with a lot of advice, both in writing and business, and helps out a lot when we need it all. RJ is a great creative tool, he comes up with a lot of the little stuff in songs that take them over the top, and has come up with a lot of good ideas for promotion and merch. Zack proudly accepts the job of drinking and playing bass.
We’re all pretty driven, and we’re the types of people who want to get the work done and get to the fun parts. It takes time to figure out your role in a group, but it’s essential.
Dead Rhetoric: Where do you see Hellevate going over the next 6 to 12 months – touring endeavors, possible video shoots, more songwriting sessions and recording on the horizon for the follow up effort?
Josh: Here in the next week and a half we’ll be embarking on a short tour in support the record, we’ll being headed through the northern Midwest. I believe we’ll be compiling footage from the tour for a music video. We’ve already started composing for the third record, and we’ll be writing it throughout the fall. We’re thinking of doing another tour for the album this winter, as well as weekend runs. Sometime next year we should begin recording the new album.