Review Fix chats with Hands Like House guitarist Alexander Pearson who discusses the band’s upcoming album “Dissonants,†as well as their new single, “Colorblind.†Breaking down what makes them tick creatively and their goals for 2016, Pearson lets us know why they are set for a massive new year.
About Hands Like Houses:
Over the last several months, Hands Like Houses has teased fans with new tracks “I Am†and “New Romantics,†and with the release of “Colourblind†excitement for Dissonants will reach an unprecedented heights on a global scale.
Dissonants was produced by James Paul Wisner (Paramore, Underoath), and features twelve massive rock-radio anthems. Fans can pre-order the album now at iTunes (w/instant download of “Colourblindâ€) and http://handslikehouses.merchnow.com.
Follow the band at https://www.facebook.com/handslikehouses for additional updates.
Review Fix: How did you guys get together?
Alexander Pearson: We got together in a pretty typical way. A majority of the band had been childhood friends then started playing music together, that coupled with the music community in our home city (canberra) being quite small meant that after a few member changes we had our lineup cemented pretty early on.Â
Review Fix: What bands have played the biggest role in your creative process?
Pearson: This question is always changing and for the recent album it’s even harder to narrow it down. I’d actually say for this album in particular it was more centred around emotions – frustration, anxiety and longing then add to that the extensive touring we had been doing and what we saw connecting with our live shows and then that is more what inspired and motivated us. We will always have bands we look up-to though, Circa Survive, Thrice and The Receiving End Of Sirens – they will always hold a place in our hearts,
Review Fix: How was “Colourblind” written? Is there a story behind it?
Pearson: Colourblind started off as just a guitar riff and some chorus chords that I’d been playing over and over in dressing rooms, in vans and on buses as we toured. Then after warped tour 2015 we hit the studio and it really started taking shape, it was really exciting to see! In the early days of the song the pre-chorus vocals were actually the chorus vocals but then we eventually decided we needed it to be bigger and Trenton came back with what we have now. This process has become somewhat the norm for us now – start with a guitar riff or some chords and then it just quickly expands from there as each layer gets added.Â
Review Fix: What was it like to work with James Paul Wisner?
Pearson: James is one of a kind haha! He’s definitely a character. We worked with him on our previous album ‘Unimagine’ so we already had a fantastic relationship, we were really honest with each other as each song came to life and more ideas got added. He is always so blunt when refining songs for the album and its something we really need as we’re all so creative that sometimes we can go too far.Â
Review Fix: Bottom Line- what makes this album a special one?
Pearson: This album is by far the most intense experience we have ever had. The whole process was so constantly fueled with emotions, there were some really low points and some incredibly high ones as well. This is our album where we get to say “this is almost broke the band!”. It’s aggressive, raw, fragile and intense and we are dying for everyone to hear it!Â
Review Fix: What are your goals for 2016?
Pearson: We want to be known haha! We’re tired of always hearing “this band is so underrated,” “they deserve so much more recognition,” “how have I never heard of this band before.” We want everyone to know what we’re about, to not be able to put the record down and be dying to come out to our shows!
Review Fix: What’s next?
Pearson: Global domination haha we aren’t settling for anything less.
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