Higher Power

Higher Power definitely released the record of the year; ’27 Miles Underwater’ is next to Turnstile’s ‘Time and Space’ a scene sound-changing record. I follow the band since its early stages and they always surprise me with how good is the stuff that they deliver to the scene. Having signed to Roadrunner Records, they still remain true to the hardcore ethics, while touring the globe. I talked with Max (one of the 2 guitarists that play in HP), who I know since he used to run the Leeds based hardcore label Neutral Words Records, about HP, social change and the future.

Interview conducted in mid April 2020. Pictures by Nat Wood. Design by J Town.

www.higherpowerleeds.com www.instagram.com/higherpowerleeds

Hey guys! Hope you are doing fine! How’s life without shows and tours?

Life is weird right now. Obviously, the world being on lockdown has put all plans to tour on hold for everybody. We are trying to stay productive though and write music and come up with other ideas to engage with our fans during this weird time.

The last years have been super busy for Higher Power; non-stop touring around the globe and an amazing new record. It seems that the band exploded and is getting bigger and bigger when days pass by. How do you feel for all this? What’s the ultimate goal you want to accomplish with Higher Power?

Ultimately Higher Powers goal to begin with was to just be a recording project for Jimmy and Alex. So with everything that has been going on and

all the tours we’ve done it’s already surpassed the expectation. I think this has made it a really exciting band to be in though because we’re all so open to new opportunities and offers we get. I guess we just want to try and achieve as much as we can, while we can.

What about your other bands / activities? Is there time for anything non-band related? What do you like to do in your free time?

Louis and Alex play in Big Cheese; which is probably my favourite current UKHC band. Louis also makes beats / raps and other music as well. Me and Ethan have a few other projects that are dormant too, it’s just really hard to find the time in between everything HP has going on. In terms of other things we all like to do... I screen print and make merch in between touring when I can, as well as gaming. Jimmy tattoos and makes clothes and goes on walks with his dog Harley. Ethan is a bad ass designer so he is busy working on stuff for HP or other bands; if he ain’t doing that then he’s gaming as well. Louis, like I said, loves to make music of all type so he’s always working on something new. And Alex loves to cook food, walk his dogs and play FIFA.

You come from Leeds, one of the best places for hardcore in the UK right now. You have lots of cool bands, the Outbreak festival, etc. Higher Power is the 2nd band coming Cheese is the other one). You still live there? How did you manage to create such a strong scene?

We have been very blessed for a while with regards to the scene in Leeds. I think we all moved here around the same time around 2011-12 amongst a bunch of other friends. As well as that we had an amazing DIY practice space come venue pop up and we also were lucky to have an amazing recording studio very local to Leeds around that time run by our friend James Atkinson. On top of that we also had ‘The Flex’ house, which was actually 3 different houses over about 6/7 years. We all used to practice, play shows and hang out here and single handily I think that gave us the scene that we had for so long.

Your last record is a blast. Give us some more info about it. How’s the feedback till now? How is it working with a major label, like Roadrunner Records, and how demanding is it? What has changed in your opinion on the perspective of the band since you left the DIY part of the industry?

The differences would be... We have somebody willing to invest and help us create the best music and albums we can. We had access to things we never thought imaginable (preproduction time / studio / engineer and producer) which all benefited us more than we ever could have imagined. I honestly don’t think we ever left the DIY mindset behind though. We were all so hands on and invested in the music,

from Leeds that I interview in this issue (Big

from the writing to the recording... everything

people hear is literally everything we had within us in the studio. You hear horror stories of labels interfering with the sound and direction of the record, but honestly Roadrunner just put 100% of the trust in us and our music, they just helped us make sure it sounded the best it could!

You tour a lot; have you ever felt that constant touring will wear you off? What’s a day in the van or nightliner for Higher Power? Any funny stories or bad incidents?

We tour so much that we literally never leave any stone unturned. We talk to each other about everything and anything because if we didn’t, we’d all go insane. Some of those conversations are about the wear and tear of touring so much and the effect we notice it has on other bands. I think that I’m very lucky, and as a band we are lucky, because we do vocalise everything and one thing I noticed is when there is friction between members of bands it shows on tour. We don’t ever want it to be something awkward or something none of us look forward to cause it sucks for everybody else to be around. And besides why the fuck would you do something if you didn’t love every minute of it?

What’s the main difference between touring in UK / Europe and outside of it? Do you think that Brexit is gonna affect in any way Higher Power?

The U.K is our home so we love it and it loves us. Europe has the best hospitality but shows can be hit or miss. America is insane, I love touring there but it is so wild. Canada I think collectively was our favourite place we’ve ever toured. It had all the craziness of America but not everyone was a psycho. It had all the nice bits of Europe and the hospitality but not so much of a language barrier. And to be honest some of those drives were the best I’ve ever been on for the views and things to stop and see. Brexit will indefinitely effect all musicians from the UK who aim to tour or travel in Europe. Fuck Brexit.

It seems that thanks to bands like you, Turnstile and the likes, there’s a big change in today’s hardcore scene. More and more bands aren’t afraid to mellow down, experiment or add more commercial elements to their music. What do you have to say on this? What are your main influences musically? Top5 of the records you’ve listened to lately?

Hardcore has been a wide open spectrum in terms of sound and approach pretty much from the get go, but especially the 90’s. Bands like Quicksand, Leeway, 108 or Snapcase, all sonically sound very different to Merauder, Breakdown or Madball you know? But they are all hardcore. Expanding your sound doesn’t always mean going commercial, sometimes you just aren’t as angry when you’re writing songs. My top 5 musical influences but for now... (no order)

Alice In Chains - Dirt Rage Against The Machine – s/t Deftones - Around The Fur Leeway - Open Mouth Kiss Metallica - And Justice For All

Are lyrics still important to hardcore? Can social change come through music? What topics do you like to cover in your lyrics? More personal stuff as far as I can figure out, right?

Jimmy was very introspective in this album and a lot of the lyrical content addresses change, disconnection, ending of relationships and a lot about change and the 7 year cycle (a theory by Rudolf Steiner). I didn’t contribute directly to the writing of the lyrics but Jimmy goes over

them before and while recording so we are all pretty involved and clue up about what he is trying to say. In terms of being political and the lyrics being important? I think now more than ever that people need to be stood up shouting and addressing all the craziness going on in the world. Naturally, I think, when the political landscape globally is as hostile as it is now, it breeds more politically minded people to come out of the wood work and stand up for what they believe. Lyrically all that matters is if it is real and has substance and truth.

I definitely dig your artwork and merch designs. Who are your favorite graphic designers in the scene right now? I strongly believe that art goes hand to hand with music in the hardcore scene. How important is art for you?

We do a lot of the artwork and designs ourselves as Jimmy is a painter and me and Ethan can do graphic design easy. In the scene though my personal favourites are @palithekid, @chrism.wilson, @nicky.rat, @simonerl, @ franknaddocks, @hoseayway. There are so many other amazing artists and designers involved but these are people who I’ve worked with and loved their work for years.

Any plans after the pandemic is over? More touring? New record?

ALWAYS WANT MORE TOURINNG. ALWAYS WANT TO WRITE MORE MUSIC. Honestly once this is all over I’m never gonna want to sit on a house ever again.

Thanks for your time, stay safe! Last words are yours!

Stay positive and reach out to people if you’re struggling and do the same for others. Don’t suffer in silence.