This Is Hell

Here's an old interview I did with Travis from TIH just after they had started. We used to post on the same messageboard and I wanted to do an interview with them after listening to their demo because I thought it was bad ass. It's a terrible interview.
J

First of all, could you just introduce yourself and tell us what you do in the band... and what everyone else does... and give us some info of previous bands you guys have been in...
I'm Travis and I sing for This Is Hell, Jeff plays bass and he also sings for The Backup Plan, Joe plays guitar in This Is Hell and The Backup Plan, Andrew plays drums in This Is Hell and bass in The Backup Plan, and we are still working on a second guitar player.

When did you guys start and how did you all meet?
Um we started about 2 months ago roughly. I used to sing for a band called Scraps and Heart Attacks and we played tons of shows with The Backup Plan, so me and the dudes had always talked about doing a band together, and we finally did it.

Ok cool. So how come you left Scraps And Heart Attacks?
The dudes in SAHA were in school and couldn't tour full time, and didn't want to commit to it, so I wanted to start something new with people that were on the same page.

What does This is Hell mean? Why did you go with it...
This Is Hell is the name of a Elvis Costello song, and I think This Is Hell can describe almost anything in life when shit isn't going well.

What are some of your influences?
Um lyrically I'm mostly influenced by non hardcore bands like The Old 97's and Jawbreaker.... but on the hardcore tip I think Jeff from Modern Life Is War and Daniel from Instilled wrote some great lyrics.

What do you think of your own music?
I'm into it Haha.

Yeah? What's your favourite TIH song?
On the demo I would say 'Double Grave'.

Why is that?
Musically I like it a lot, and it means a lot to me - it's about my girlfriend.... that's so emo.

Haha, nah it's not. When and where did you record the demo? Did you record more than four songs?
Um, we recorded the demo in mid June at our bass players house... we just recorded the four demo songs.

So he did all the recording and shit on his computer?
Yup pretty much, he's got a mini studio in his basement...

That's awesome, it sounds really good. How did you guys hook up with Run For Cover?
Word, thank you... umm Jeff from RFC heard our demo and wanted to put something out for us, so we are having him press our demo on vinyl, so we have something to sell on tour, I'm stoked Jeff is a good dude and runs a rad label.

What do you think about the state of hardcore today?
I think the state of hardcore today is great and horrible at the same time, and I don't care enough to type out a long explanation, because I'm sure there are tons of people that agree with me and tons that don't, whatever... who's to say what is and what isn't hardcore?

Although This Is Hell has just started up recently what has been your best achievement or moment so far...
Haha I don't know... We are about to go on a 2 month full US tour that I'm booking myself, and I think that is pretty big, a lot of bands that have been around for a while don't even try to tour, so we are doing our thing, and going for it.

What do you want people to come away with after seeing you guys?
I just want people to appreciate bands that give up everything, quit school, work and embrace debt to go out on tour and play music, regardless of what it sounds like.

Do This Is Hell have any plans to record again anytime soon? Have you got much more stuff written, other than the demo?
We have a few more song's written, when we get back from tour we are going to demo like 2 new songs and send them to labels and see what happens, hopefully record a LP in the new year.

Well, I'll be stoked to hear that when it's done. How have people reacted to you guys so far? Whether that's been live... or on the demo...
We have been getting a lot of good feedback from the demo, we have only played like 2 live shows, and they were gooood.

Are there any lesser known hardcore bands around right now that you are stoked about?
Fine Print from Long Island, New York, Another Breath from Syracuse, New York.

What have you been listening to recently?
Modern Life is War, Against Me, Nightmare Of You, Sex Positions, Atmosphere, Old 97's.

The Sex Positions record is awesome. Staying with the subject of other bands...what are your top five records of all time?
I don't think I could answer that off the top of my head, but I will give you a few quickly.

Haha ok...
- Jawbreaker "Dear you"
- Killing Time "Brightside"
- Elvis Costello "This Years Model"
- CIV "Set Your Goals"
- Refused "Shape of Punk To Come"
...If you asked me tomorrow I'd probably list five different ones Haha.

That's it for now Travis. Do you have any shows coming up or anything like that you want to mention? Shows? Shout outs? Websites? Etc...
Umm check out our website haha - www.thisishell.org - and order our 7 inch @ www.runforcoverrecords.com

Thanks a lot. I'm seriously stoked on your band and I hope more people get into you guys by reading this interview and then checking you out.
Thank you very much dude