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The Hostile Redemption is one of the Pop-Punk bands keeping the scene alive in Houston, Texas. Although they gained some traction as a cover band, their original music is what made them a band worth giving a listen too. Last month, following the release of The Hostile Redemption’s debut EP Reflections I got the chance to talk with lead singer Blake Hill. We talked about the inspiration behind Reflections, who inspired the songs “Bait and Tackle” and “B.U.M.E.R”, and My Chemical Romance’s reunion.
How did The Hostile Redemption come about?
I played in an old band years before and left some of that content on YouTube. One of my two guitar players found it and reached out to me and pestered me for a couple of years to start a band with him. I finally gave in after about two years of endless “hey man we should start a band! We’re not getting any younger”. I figured let’s see where it goes! We found a drummer [Jacob] and he was really good and decided to start writing our own songs. It worked out a lot better than I anticipated that it would!
Your music is really good!
You enjoy [Reflections] then?
Yeah, Like I was saying earlier my top song is probably still “B.U.M.E.R” right now. I listened to Reflections again and I liked “Bait [and Tackle].”
“Bait and Tackle”! You want to hear a little fun fact? “Bait and Tackle” and “B.U.M.E.R” are actually about the same girl! She inspired a lot of moves back then, since I was eleven years old. That relationship did not work out during any of the many tries we given it, but I have to thank her for giving me the inspiration she did. Bait and Tackle are probably – in my own personal songs that I’ve written – my top five.
That’s great. It’s always great that from the bad you can still get inspiration.
Yes ma’am. I think the bad things that happen to us make the best songs.
Totally, right with you on that!
How has the reception to your Ep, Reflections, been so far?
I have not heard one thing bad about the [Reflections] so far, which I was very pleasantly surprised to hear. [The songs] “B.U.M.E.R” and “Runaway” have been on Spotify and Apple Music for almost a year for “B.U.M.E.R” and over a year for “Runaway” when we released Reflections. Now all five of the songs on Reflections have gotten more plays than those two singles together. It’s wild to me! We’ve replaced our closing song “Runaway” with “Sins” now and it’s wild the amount of people that came out to our release party. It was amazing and I’m still living off of that high!
It’s always cool to when your first playing [new music] how people perceive it!
Exactly! When someone is actually enjoying what I’m doing and that’s the coolest thing ever!
What is your favorite song to play live?
My favorite song to play live is probably “Sins” from the [Reflections] and “B.U.M.E.R”. “B.U.M.E.R” is so easy for people to sing along with the chorus and I get to hold my mic out to them and hear them sing out my own lyrics that I made was just, you know, the euphoria that comes from that feeling is just unexplainable. Then “Sins”, I’ve been working hard on learning how to do screaming vocals for about six years. And I didn’t get to tell my band members that I was trying that, so I randomly decided to it during “Sins”, the screaming line during the second to last verse. And being able to do that live and watch the people’s reactions is really cool. So you’ll hear a bit more of those screams, not in every song, but a little bit more presently in our follow up to Reflections.
What music inspired the sound of your band?
We all have different artist that inspire us individually. Blink 182, Yellowcard, and I would honestly say The Cure were my main influences. Jose, our lead guitar player is very heavily influenced by Green Day and the more punker of the Pop Punk I listen to. Our drummer Jacob is a big fan of the newer Pop Punk music, like State Champs and Mayday Parade. Our other guitar player Adrian, he likes Simple Plan, Blink-182, Yellowcard, the older Pop-Punk artist and Kevin, our bass player, he probably has the widest range out of all of us. His favorite band is American Football, but he also likes Blink-182, Green Day and Taking Back Sunday. When we put it all together it makes a cool sound I think!
What are your future plans for the band?
We started writing again! We’re working on a song called “Beautiful and Blue”, which is probably the heaviest song we’ve ever written both musically and lyrically.
Any plans to play or tour outside of the Houston area?
I would love to! We played in Austin [Texas] once last year. I would love to get back to Austin, it has an awesome vibe. We don’t have anything set in stone; I hope that that changes in the near future. If anybody wants to give us a chance, just let us know!
My Chemical Romance Reunion – here for it? Yay or nay?
Oh my God, yes! The best show that I have ever seen in my life was in September 2011. Co-headlined by My Chemical Romance and Blink 182 with Tom DeLonge. I have not ever seen a better show than that, My Chemical Romance blew me away with their performance. I fell in love with their song “Summertime” that I had never heard, and I still listen to that song every day. When they got back together, I was literally screaming and jumping up and down. The band is learning the song “I’m Not Okay” and “Helena” right now, we’re supposed to go over that for the first time tomorrow at band practice. If My Chemical Romance by any chance see’s this interview and wants to have a random opener, we are so down for the job!
What do you hope The Hostile Redemption will add to the music scene?
We hope to be the band that makes someone’s day better by listening to our music and hope our experiences will show people they’re not alone. We hope to bring unity to the music scene: The Hostile Redemption redeeming what it truly means to be united through music. We’ve got a song for everyone to relate to.
The Hostile Redemption music can be streamed here, bought here, and stalked here!
The interview has been edited for clarity and longevity.