Protest The Hero: Through Skill, Determination and Sheer Ignorance

The last few years have been a bit of a roller coaster for PROTEST THE HERO. They were nicely settling in to a tour commemorating the anniversary of their highly regarded Fortress album when frontman Rody Walker encountered issues with his voice. To avoid any lasting damage a string of gigs and festival dates were cancelled and there was unrest in the air, wondering whether this could be the end for the adored progressive metal outfit. Thankfully with a lot of care and dedication Rody has made a remarkable recovery.

“Singing feels like work which it never did before. I am super jealous of a former version of myself which could smoke and drink then go on stage and sing every day and now I have to work at it. I’ve got to care of my voice, I’ve got to drink water?!” quipps Rody. “I guess it just sort of comes with me growing up and getting older and all that stuff that I should be doing anyway but yeah, it was an arduous process. There were definitely moments where I was thinking ‘Well, I’m done, I best go get my broom and start sweeping in the back of bars because I’ve got to support my family somehow!”

Whilst the band were out of the spotlight they were studiously crafting the long awaited full length follow up to 2013’s Volition entitled Palimpsest. An album which is set to be a career defining moment. “This was definitely the most difficult record to produce that I’ve taken part of and in that respect I’m more proud of this than any other,” declares Rody. “A lot of our song writing was done by our drummer so that was completely different things we’ve done in the past. He is relatively new in the grand scheme of the band even though he’s been with us for nearly seven years. So having him as one of the principal songwriters really added a different flavour to the music in my opinion.”

“It’s not necessarily that we were intentionally doing something different but it was more of an introduction of a different player in the game. The record is a snapshot of important moments in American history from between 1919 until the United States entered the Second World War so I’ve taken moments of what I deem to be important parts of American history and compared them to our present. It’s been a minute, we obviously faded into the back of some people’s minds which is completely okay. This will bring us to the forefront again which might not be the best for everyone, it is slightly different to what we have done in the past. Succeed or fail, whatever. I want people to like it but if they don’t I don’t give a shit. There are more important things going on in the world than whether or not people like the art we create.”

Throughout their back catalogue PROTEST THE HERO have garnered a reputation for being adept at devising technical yet accessible material which contains impressive intricacy with alluring hooks. When asked how he goes about constructing lyrical patterns and melodies to fit with the accompanying complexity Rody jokingly responded with “through sheer ignorance! I don’t really know a lot about musical theory. Obviously through the 20 years of doing this I’ve acquired some knowledge but I really try and keep that on the back burner because it works best for me when I just hear the song and I don’t have to do counting in order to do anything. I just try and sing over it and sing whatever comes to mind. I’m not a very spiritual person, it’s just patience and seeing what feels right and trying to get the catchiest melody. One thing we’ve always strived to do is write technical music which doesn’t have to be difficult to listen to.”

In the earlier years of their career PROTEST THE HERO were renowned for being workhorses, spending vast periods of time on the road. Something which took an incredible toll on the band as the years went by. As they have progressed priorities have changed and for the well being of the band this is something that Rody is not prepared to revisit. “Our days of touring eight to ten months of the year are gone,” he explains. “We sacrificed members of our band to that touring cycle and if we should ever return to that I think it would kill us. We were kids when we went on our first tour and were still in high school. Now we have kids and are in our mid-thirties but feeling a lot older than that based on how we’ve lived our lives on tour. I don’t ever want to return to spending lots of time on the road away from my family. I like how PROPAGANDHI do it where they do like little two week trips here and there where you can tour the UK for a couple of weeks and come home, tour the East Coast of the United States and come home. Two weeks is all you ever need and two weeks is all I’m ever willing to put into it again.”

Palimpsest is out now via Spinefarm Records.

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