Review Fix Exclusive: Hank May Talks Origin in Music, ‘NBC’ And More

Review Fix chats with singer/songwriter Hank May, who discusses his origin in music and goals for the rest of 2021, as well as his new single, NBC. 

Review Fix: How did you get involved in music?

Hank May: I was a huge fan of rock music on the radio as a kid. A couple people in my life pushed me toward songwriting. My dad when he bought me my first electric guitar for my 9th birthday, my cousin when he stayed with my family and gave me indie rock CDs around the same time, and my friends at school who started writing and recording super early. Will from Baths was my first bandmate in 7th grade. I’ll never forget listening to a song he recorded with beats and everything when we were 13 and thinking, damn I really gotta get my shit together.

Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?

May: Sitting down at my computer with my guitar and working on demos in my DAW has been the songwriting process for me for years now, lyrics always in a jumble of text edit windows. 

Review Fix: What inspires you?

May: Other people’s music and the weather and my personal experiences. I’m very sensitive to the effects of music on my body and I know right away when I like something because I’ll cry, laugh, get the chills, or all three. When something makes me feel that way, I am compelled to try and make something that makes someone else feel that way. 

Review Fix: What does music mean to you?

May: Pure magic!

Review Fix: How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you?

May: This question always stumps me even though I get asked it all the time. I said “Kinda like a one man Weezer” at a wedding the other night and it was completely wrong but the best I could do at the time.

Review Fix: How are your live shows different from your studio work?

May: I have trouble getting a good vocal take in the studio. Live on stage, I nail it every time. But I will never watch a video of myself playing live, so I’m probably completely wrong about that too.

Review Fix: What inspired your latest single?

May: My new single is about loving music but hating what it sometimes does to people. There’s a fact checker in my family who thought I made a mistake because neither Nickelback nor Creed played Woodstock in 1999. So I want to let it be known here that Nickelback Creed is a poetic phrase that I made up. I know what it means to me, but I want my listeners to define what it means to them. 

Review Fix: What are your goals for 2021?

May: Be ready to record the next album by next spring. Make it amazing.

Review Fix: What’s next?

May: Playing shows, making albums, and praying that it’s all good enough to keep me out of the service industry for a whole ‘nother year.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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