Photo Credit: Angela Owens
I spoke with Spencer Hazard, who plays guitar in Full of Hell, about their latest release (Full of Hell & Merzbow), touring, maturing as a band, and their recently completed collaborative album with experimental duo The Body.
- How long have you been a band?
This coming February we will have been a band for 7 years.
- How did you form the relationship with Merzbow that led to your recent collaboration?
It was all due to his drummer Balazs Pandi from Hungary. We met randomly at a Phobia show we played in NYC. His was impressed with our performance so we kept in touch. Years later, he suggested we do a collab with Merzbow because he had shown us to Masami and ran the idea for the collab by him and he was totally into it. We had the Merzbow material almost for a year before we actually began working on it. We only ever exchanged emails until our performance together in Tokyo this past spring.
- Could you describe the live performance that you were able to put on with Merzbow? Did you play any of the Sister Fawn tracks together, or was it more free-form?
The performance was 100% improvised. We discussed briefly backstage a concept for the performance but there was still a language barrier, but we were able to pull it off. We wouldn't been able to pull off Sister Fawn live just because those tracks were basically put together on the spot at the studio. Plus, Masami's contributions were very manipulated from the initial tracks he had sent us. It would have been impossible unless computers were used during the show.
- On your recent tour with the Body, I noticed that your set list had changed significantly from previous tours. How do you decide what songs to play on a given tour?
We do tour a decent amount so we want our sets to be fresh for us and our audience. Some of our older material we have played so much we just have to lay it to rest, or we cannot relate to the material anymore. We are constantly trying to push ourselves musically so some of the older material feels out of place in our sets these days.
- The guys from The Body seem like pretty cool dudes. How much fun was touring with them? Any tour antics to report?
They are some of the coolest guys we have ever shared the road with. No antics to report, but we did eat alot of unhealthy food together almost every single day.
Photo Credit: Angela Owens
It's very shocking to me personally. I was so stressed releasing that LP since it was our first. I am still surprised today that that record means so much to certain people and that it's still being talked about however many years later.
- How has your relationship with A389 helped to further your art?
Working with Dom has very been a very good experience on the business side and musical side of things. We loved Pulling Teeth so we very much respect his opinions and he has always been there pushing us.
- Full of Hell is in the very top tier of current bands, lyrically. Your whole catalog features highly literate and evocative writing that reads sometimes like ripped pages from a madman's diary. Where does the inspiration for that come from? Do you read a lot, while on tour, etc?
I personally don't write any of the lyrics, but I know everyone in the band likes to read at home or on tour. From my understanding, most of the lyrics Dylan write come from a personal place, but he puts his own twist on them with inspiration from other artists we enjoy.
- In a scene of bands who don't venture beyond the given boundaries of hardcore, metal, etc. Full of Hell is one of a handful of bands actually pushing the boundaries outward. Did you decide one day that you wanted to be pioneers, or is your sound just the sound that you wanted to create?
I don't think any band ever really sets out to be pioneers and I don't consider us pioneers in the least bit. I feel like bands try to push boundries because they are making music they want to hear or they want to challenge themselves artistically. Since we started as a band I looked up to more aggressive/experimental bands and I wanted to put those influences into a hardcore spectrum. I still feel like we are connected to hardcore but even at this point I think we have pushed ourselves beyond that and are just trying to challenge ourselves as much as possible.
I think from being on the road so much and being in so many different bad and good situations we have learned a lot. We have always tried to carry ourselves as professionally as possible, but everyday with the band is a new learning experience and has made us wise up on how we handle situations much easier.
- It seems like early on, Full of Hell took that crucial step in creating more than the sum of your influences. I play in a hardcore band and had someone tell me at a show after our set that we reminded them of Full of Hell. How does it feel to have reached the point of influencing other bands so early in your career?
I personally think it's cool that we can be a stepping stone band for other kids. I like being able to wear our influences on our sleeves and help other people learn about different genres or bands. I just want people to take those influences from either us or bands they discover from listening to us and put their own spin on it, and not just be a clone.
- Where do you think you are headed sonically in 1, 2, 5 years, etc.?
I'm not sure. It's something I try to think about, but I'm sure it will come naturally. The newer material we have been writing has more of a metal spin to it, but I also don't want to lose focus on where we came from or not have room to experiment. Hopefully with the years we will just keep getting more experimental as well as more sonically devastating.
- Would you like to add anything about your upcoming collaboration with The Body?
With this collab I feel as though you can feel more of an imprint from both bands compared to some of the negativity we heard from the Merzbow record. I think both bands took aspects we liked from each other, combined them, but also had fun with it since it's a one-off recording project. I can say it's very industrial and there are a lot of electronic elements.
