INTERVIEW: Hellripper

HELLRIPPER are the first victim of me interviewing after a couple years of writing reviews. Let’s get right to it!

1. First up you recently announced signing to Peaceville, with this you mentioned that you will continue to record from home. What makes this such an integral part of the Hellripper sound / process?

Recording and doing everything from home just allows me to have more creativity and allows me to work at my own pace whenever I want to. I am able to take ages and do 60 takes of a guitar solo without spending a lot of money in a studio haha! I also enjoy the recording and mixing side of things so it means I can handle that part of it too.

2. Do you find being from a location such as Scotland holds you back in terms of activity compared to living in say London? Or perhaps this is advantageous? 

It definitely makes it harder to travel for sure! If I were to be based in a larger Scottish city where there’s actually stuff going on (like Glasgow or Edinburgh), then it would probably help quite a bit. But being up in the Highlands, and the fact that all of us live in cities throughout the UK does mean we have to be more selective with the shows we play. I think that it can also be seen as an advantage too however, as it means that when we do play, it’s more “exclusive” and more people tend to come see us. We don’t burn ourselves either by playing too much.

3. As a solo musician, do you find having live members reliable for touring or do you often face lineup changes?

I have had a few line-up changes over the past couple of years but the guys I have right now have been with me for just over a year now and things are going very well! It’s been surprisingly easier than I thought to find members for the band actually! I prefer to try and keep a steady line-up as opposed to changing every time I have something planned. It just makes things a lot easier!

4. “Black Art And Alchemy” was certainly very popular in the underground, perhaps more so than the first full length? Both were certainly killer but do you prefer one?

It was received very well! It was definitely released to a wider audience than the first full-length was, and has since helped the band gain a lot of fans and has opened us up to some great opportunities! Musically, I think the EP would be my favourite release to date, but the feeling of finally releasing the first album was great. Everything was still somewhat new to me and it was great to have something so well-received.

5. I should probably ask a more generic question that everyone wants to know, what can we expect from album 2? A continuation, an evolution or both?

Both I think. It’s still definitely a Hellripper album, but I have expanded on some elements of the sound in places. Some songs are more straight-forward and some are a little more “complex” with some things that I haven’t tried before.

6. With Hellripper having an old school sound and feel do you enjoy bands with more of a nostalgic and old school feel or those doing something new and perhaps more innovative?

I enjoy both. It’s great when bands are doing something new and interesting but music is music, and innovative doesn’t always mean it’s good.

7. After playing with Midnight and equally as impressive, doing European appearances, do you think Hellripper will push into new territories with the new record? Additionally what are you dream locations to play?

We will definitely be playing more shows throughout Europe and hopefully get to places that we haven’t played yet. I think the majority of the shows for the near future will be in Europe, simply for logistical reasons. Whenever we get the right opportunity then we will play elsewhere! I would love to get to the US finally and have had a lot of people asking us about it. But anywhere we haven’t played is a goal for me! I would love to get up to Scandinavia shortly too.

8. You clearly have supportive fans who you value a lot, what do you think attracts them to Hellripper? 

I do! The fans of the band are absolutely amazing and incredibly supportive. I appreciate every one of them! I couldn’t tell you what they like about the band. I would hope that it’s mainly because of the music haha! I do try to have a “community” feel around the band and enjoy talking to the fans about music and getting/giving recommendations or what merch they would like etc. so I think that helps too!

9. Finally is there anything you wish to add for anybody reading this interview?

Thank you for taking the time out to talk to me! And thank you to anyone still reading! Check out Hellripper on Facebook/Bandcamp/Spotify and all the other usual places!

So there it is, my first interview! Thanks to James for answering some questions, I will definitely be following HELLRIPPER into battle with the new album and I hope this has been insightful for fans or turned some of you readers onto a new band!