Vocalist Joshua Gilbert of Minneapolis, Minnesota’s HOUSEHOLD has teamed up with IDIOTEQ to talk about the band’s debut full length, Time Spent, due out September 25th via Blood & Ink Records, punk music and their influences. Scroll down to read the full interview now!
HOUSEHOLD have just premiered the final single from their upcoming debut full length, Time Spent, due out September 25th from Blood & Ink Records. “Try Hard” demonstrates that, despite taking a more melodic approach to writing Time Spent, the band hasn’t lost their sonic bite. Between HOUSEHOLD’s impressive growth as a band and the always-spot-on production of Jay Maas, it’s easy to see why Lambgoat magazine called Time Spent, “a passionate blend of progressive punk with hardcore aggression, filling the sonic gaps between bands like Touche Amore, Turnstile, and Such Gold.”
HOUSEHOLD have also announced a lengthy run of U.S. tour dates in support of Time Spent that will see the band hitting the road at the send of September.
Hey guys! What’s up in Minnesota? How are you?
Hey! Thanks for having me. I’m doing very well.
What are you working on now? How do you spend these last couple of weeks before the premiere of your new record?
The last few weeks have been rare weeks for us. We get to spend it off tour with family. Each of us has spent time at home. Me(Josh G) in Kansas City, MO, Abby and Nathanael (both guitar, also brother and sister) are in International Falls, MN, Josh C (bass) in Neenah, WI and Matt (drums) in Du Bois, WI. It’s been great having a full month off after touring 9 months since September of 2014.
Alright, so let’s start from the very beginning. Can you tell us a little bit about your background and what inspired you to start a band? Did you launch any other musical projects before HOUSEHOLD?
HOUSEHOLD was actually the first serious project for all of us. Nathanael, Abby and I had hoped to start some sort of band since we were kids. I grew up playing with Matt and asked him to move from California to join the summer of 2013. We met Josh at Cornerstone Music Fest the summer of 2012 and asked him to join shortly after.
What experiences pulled you into punk rock and hardcore related music? What’s there in punk that makes it the world’s most thriving and exciting community?
Cornerstone Fest is where I found my love for punk rock/hardcore. It was there I was introduced to the thriving scene called ‘the underground’. As a band it wasn’t difficult to realize that this strong community was what we wanted to start our band in. I suppose what makes this scene in specific so well-connected is the acceptance that everyone talks about. It’s not shown in every kid or every band, but what that openess is found, it’s contagious. Kids want to be a part of something that allows them to belong, as they are. Punk and hardcore can offer something special. And we’re excited to be a part of whatever that is.
Ok, so how do you approach the writing process? Are there parts of yourselves that you try to keep out of composing?
For me, it’s all about saying what’s closest to me. And that just means that I like to write about what I actually think about, talk about and struggle with. Our songs are about what’s really going on in our lives. Whether that’s struggling to scream on tour, or enjoy myself on the road or love the people I’m closest to, I really like speaking to what’s actually a part of my life. Honesty, in short is what I value. And that’s not going to hit home for everyone. But it’s us and it’s real.
What takes precedence in your creation process: the content or the form?
I’d say the content is the important part for me.
Your debut LP “Time Spent” will be out on September 25th via Blood & Ink records. How did you team up with the label? Why B&I?
Blood & Ink is the best independent label I know of. Daniel, the owner, came to a show of ours in March of 2014 on a tour with our now label mates, Comrades. At that point we were on our first tour and had hardly any idea of what we were doing. Signing with Blood & Ink was a great first step for us. They’ve allowed us to tour by supporting this upcoming release. I don’t think any of us would say we could be happier with B&I.
Photo by Steadfast Media.
Your music video for “Purpose” was probably one of the coolest punk videos released in early 2015. Are there plans to give us more visuals for the tunes from the new record?
Yes, actually. I just saw the first cut of our next video. It will be coming out when the album drops on Sept. 25th. I’m stoked on this one for sure.
You’ll be hitting the road shortly after the premiere of the album, but there are only a handful of dates announced. Will there be more? Can we expect you guys hitting European roads sometime soon?
Yes, we will be announcing the complete album release tour shortly. We don’t have any European plans thus far. But hey, I’d love to do that. We’ll see what happens in the next year.
What did you think of European hardcore scene? Do you have any favorite bands located here?
Honestly, I can’t say I’ve listened to much. I’ve only heard good things about the scene in Europe though. I’d love to see that first hand!
Would you agree that there are some characteristics or maybe nuances that set a European hardcore track in a native language (let’s say Swedish, Russian or French) apart from its English or American counterpart? Here in Europe we know exactly how it is to listen to hundreds of bands writing in English. How does it feel to be American and listen to tracks like these – 1, 2, 3?
Yah, I’d agree with that. After listening to the tracks, I think there is definitely something that sets that apart. I don’t know if I could say exactly what it is. I don’t even know if I could give a counterpart to that second band. Neat stuff.
Photo by JDM Photography.
Ok buddies, will you say something about other bands in general that influenced your records? Do you have your own heroes?
TAKE IT BACK has always been a band that we love and draw influence from. I wouldn’t say we’re much like THE STORY SO FAR, but I like what Parker does with his phrasing and overall tone. Some of us listen to CODE ORANGE or SUPERHEAVEN or TURNOVER. Really so many things influence us. We appreciate where the music scene is right now. There’s so much to draw from and be inspired by.
How do you see your inspirations come across in your music: evidently or rather abstractly? Considering the vast amount of new offerings, is it even possible to blur the influence of other recordings over a single album of a defined subgenre?
I’d say for this next record, our inspirations would come across more so on the abstract side. Like I said above, our influences are all over and I think every artist every could say that. There was a time in the recording process that I thought a song had a POD influence, which of course is far from what we sound like. But music is great like that, melodies and tones can be so wide ranging.
Ok guys. I guess that would be it for our first interrogation :) Thanks so much for your time and feel free to wrap it up with your final words. Cheers from Poland!
Thanks for the chat. I loved the questions. Hope to see you soon!
