Latest / HEAVY Music Interviews / Smelling The Flowers With MIKE HRANICA From THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA

Transcript

Smelling The Flowers With MIKE HRANICA From THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA · HEAVY Music Interviews

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: My name is Mike. I play in the Devil Worst Prada.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: We are putting out a new record later this year
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: called Flowers and coming back to Australia in October.
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: Fantastic Mike, thanks for joining us today.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah, pleasure, thank you, my pleasure as well.
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: As you say the Devil ways prior to release your
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: night studio album Flowers on I remember the fourteenth, so
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: I know it's a fair way up right, But how
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: are you feeling.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: Good? This one has been years and years in the works,
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: even since the record was finished being mixed and everything.
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: It feels like that was even years ago, though that's
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: an exaggeration. So yeah, we're just excited for folks to
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: hear it.
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: Nod. The press release says that it marks the start
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: of an incredibly epic cycle and phase of the band,
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: Like how.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: So uh yeah, I mean, in terms of looking at
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: the cycle, what we just did with Color de Cake
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: coming out of the Pandemic was certainly unprecedented compared to
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: the records we were the you know, seven other full
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: lengths we released over the years, so or six, I guess.
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: But yeah, we really look forward to the cycle. We
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: feel like we're really in in stride in terms of
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: the band and marking twenty years in and full steam ahead, Can.
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: You dive into playouts a bit date before us musically
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: and tell us what you're going for this summer at.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: I mean, there's a lot of pop sensibilities. I think
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: when you look at the genre or the label of metalcore,
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: you think of, you know, the heavy with the singing.
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: And when I think about what this record is, I
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: think it leans a little bit rocky at least from
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: the exterior, but there are certainly songs that by all
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: means fit the metalcore description. And yeah, I think it's
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: very coorious oriented and yeah, just really working in the
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: sort of pop sensibilities to the choruses and the theatrics
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: having more of a place and more intention than ever.
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and todight you've released the singles Ritual for You,
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: where the Flowers Never Grow and Waves, so I think
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: good sunny representation of the album as a whole.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: I don't think that for You and Waves so much
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: is Ritual, Yes, where the flowers never grow. Yes, I'd
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: say we haven't really unveiled so much of the heavier
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: side just yet, So in terms of like a sort
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: of all encompassing representation. I don't think that's that's public
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: just yet.
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Nice and Where the Flowers Never Grow. Also, it
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: comes with a short film, so can you run us
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: through that?
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a film directed by our buddy white Bluff.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: He's he's wonderful. He's worked with bear Tooth and Silverstein
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: for years and years and now he's, uh, he's working
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: for us as idiots. So it's been a lot of fun.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: He just did our Latin America tour with us, photographing
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: and whatnot, and we've got plenty more in the pipeline.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: Was Wired and Yeah, just in terms of releasing both
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: singles and bridging the treatments together. The short film was Yeah,
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: it was. It was something cool and something different than
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: anything PROD has done. We've done any kinds of any
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: number of live DVDs, documentaries, EPs and whatnot, But yeah,
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: I had a short film of the resume.
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: Nice Flowers opens with the track called That Same Place,
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: which starts with a bit of a haunting monologue and
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: then retreats into a beautiful piano and string arrangement. Like
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: it's not only a minute long to start the album off,
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: but it's quite effective. Like what was the thought process
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: going that?
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: I think better question for John who produced the album,
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: who plays keyboards in the band. But it kind of
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: feels pretty old school to me. You know, you're thinking
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: back to the early two thousands and whatnot. Every record
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: had some like epic kind of intro and whatnot. But
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: in this case, it's I find it deeply intimate. I
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: think it really hits the nail on the head in
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: terms of a lot of the album them's themes in
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: terms of getting everything you wanted but still feeling discontent.
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: But yeah, it feels wonderful to me. John has a
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: beautiful little piano he got in his basement studio where
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: he does so much of his work, and yeah, it's
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: lovely to hear it opening the album in such a way,
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: with again such an intimate string arrangement as well.
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: Continue run into the themes a bit more for us,
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: like what sort of things run through the album.
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: A lot of it I think is coming to terms
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: with being where you're at, coming to terms with what
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: you thought might be mean everything to you, doesn't. I
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: think it's reevaluating your expectations. I think it's the ability
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: to change your mind. I think it's the ability to
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: assess a person themself changing himself changing is like certainly
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: looking at us A as a band and over half
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: my life ago starting the band, you know, when I
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: was sixteen and whatnot, and much has changed in terms
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: of my opinions, my perspective, and the album touches on
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: that as well.
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: Cool, And I'm noticed there's no song actually called Flowers
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: on there, Like the closest you get is Where the
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: Flowers Never Grow, which indicates there's the greatest significance to
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: the title.
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, it was called Flowers at one point and
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: then it got expanded to where the Flowers Never Grow,
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: And obviously the word play was that same place to
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: introduce the album. But yeah, you know, I I would
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: probably I might change my mind if you asked me
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: at a different hour of every day or upon a
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: different day. But I think Where the Flowers Never Grow
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: really does a good job encompassing the idea of flowers
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: and where the visual comes from. Paradise kind of does
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: the same towards the end of the album as well.
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so overall, would you say it's an album of
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: hope or an album of despair?
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: Oof? Uh? I tend to be long winded, and I
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: relish my time in the gray area. So when anything
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: is perceived as so black and white, I have a
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: hard time. No, no, don't apologize. I don't know. I
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: never really perceive things in terms of hopefulness. I find
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: that matters of despair are very drawing, specifically in terms
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: of music and film and literature. So I guess if
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: I had to pick, it might be a little more
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: towards despair. If you were blindly going into it, I
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: doubt you would listen to it and be like, wow,
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: I feel full of hope. So I guess if it
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: was flipping the coin, it'd have to land on despair.
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: The Devil Way is prouder of the god Ride, which
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: twenty is now. As you said before, but you still
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: experiment musically a little bit with each album. So is
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: that more a taste of the band still searching for
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: be a musical identity in a way, or is it
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: more seeing out by you can push yourselves.
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: You know, I think our identity is exactly what it
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: is that we do. I never I never feel that
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: we're ever experimenting. I feel like if you're making something
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: and you're experimenting, and if you're masks producing something, you're
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: not experimenting, and if you're mass producing something, I don't
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: think music is the right field, or at least not
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: according to my taste. So I think that specifically with
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: John producing the albums, and John's depths and span in
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: terms of what he listens to and what musically he
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: likes to create, and then you know that's serving as
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: a foundation under Jeremy and I's voices. I think that's
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: what the Devorce brought is. That's the Devilorce prod is identity,
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: and I think experimenting is just making.
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: Now you mentioned before, but you're returning to it in
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: October the three shows, Who's pull Off My Valanchine and
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: Watch He Sleeps? So I have an epic lineup, bro,
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: it's three great bands.
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: To Yeah, I can't wait, huge, huge rooms we haven't done.
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: We've only done some of these rooms twice in our
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: career over these twenty years, so it'll be it'll be
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: amazing to come back. And we have never played with
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: Bullet before, and I think their fan base is a
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: little bit different than ours, and we're always eager to
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: play in front of anyone, So we're grateful for the opportunity.
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: So just say someone that's gone long to say Bullet,
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: and then I know too much about devil Ways pridut,
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: what three songs of yours should they listen to? You
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: get to know the band a bit better before the show.
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: I'd say Sacrifice, I would say Chemical. I don't want
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: to fudge something that isn't on our set list because
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: I don't know what our set list is. Yeah, I
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: don't know. Bullet's a pretty metal oriented band, so maybe
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: watch Tower and if not watch Tower, maybe Ritual being
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: one of the newer songs. Too nice.
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: Now got back. I got a little segment I've introduced
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: called fighto Bombs. So basically before you chatted up, scrolled
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: three of social media and I've found a few photos
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: I want to talk a bit more about. So one
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: of them is this one, Like where was this taken? There?
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: Looks like a lot of history in that place.
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: Right, God damn, I think that's a house of That
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: is a house of blues. It's a house of blues
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: on tour, I don't know unless it's see we bring
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: photographers photographers with us on tour now, so we have
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: to take photos every day. And from there, I just
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: completely lose track. But based on the artwork, specifically the
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: blue shirt they're on the right side, I'm going to
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: say it's a house of blues, maybe Anaheim, but I
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: can't be too sure. They a share similar to Core.
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: It looks like there's a lot of history to him.
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: I like some of those fighters just look ancient.
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: So I'm a lot of footstools too. They just chucked
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: those in.
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: The Other one I've found was this because the doing
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: what I think he's doing airline, that didn't make a
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: hell of a bang.
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: Uh. That would be me bored. And if someone throws
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: something on stage, I Jeremy has laughed about it before
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: that I have a separate identity on stage, and I
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: think he's right. My adrenaline tends to get the better
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: of me, so if someone gives me a balloon, I'm
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: going to put it somewhere. And it seems that I
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: chose Jeppe's high hat there, so I probably failed in
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: actually attaching it. I'll say that.
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: I'd like to hear what it sounds like when he
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: smashes it with his stick.
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: And you know, you got to mix it up. Can't
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: do the same thing over and over and over.
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: They did all right, Michael, Thanks you, Tom Bro. It's
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: been the presure speaking with you. Flowers is out November fourteenth,
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: and I had to listen before the interview and she's
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: a cracker an album. Bro, really well done, so congratulations
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: and we'll see you in October.
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Hav a good one, Thank you
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: for thank you for having me.
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: Chris