Belchertown, Massachusetts-based melodic power rockers HEART SHAPED LAKES have recently dropped their debut double EP “Good Grief: A Violent Dream & The Scenic Route” and it really does a good job representing various moods and styles from different moments of the history of punk rock, including emo, melodic punk, and nostalgic, indie punk rock.
The band is composed of Jackson Donovan on vocals and guitar, Tom Fisher on guitar, Dylan “Dino” Segatore on bass, and Jon Christina on drums, and all of the lads joined us today to give us some more details about their project and comment on the newly released offering “Good Grief: A Violent Dream & The Scenic Route“.
The record has been described as an emotional outburst in two acts, one focused on a darker sound, and the other bringing out more catchy pop punk hooks.
After this release, the band plans on finally unveiling their long awaited debut full length under the Heart Shaped Lakes name in the fall of 2022, which will be engineered by Zack Fiske (Never Coming Home, Twin Brook), and mixed by Koby Nelson (Of Mice & Men, We Came As Romans, Tonight Alive).
It’s clear that the rock scene is as resurgent as ever, and there’s a band based out of Belchertown, Massachusetts who are flying the flag to say the least. Heart Shaped Lakes have quickly arrived on the scene and don’t intend to go anywhere, with their storming debut in 2021 already gaining a lot of attention, they quickly followed that up with a debut self titled EP to high acclaim.
Garnering support from many and at the likes of Spotify, their sound is a unique crossover between heavy rock and metal with a fiery punk underbelly, making for a colossus offering. They now believe that 2022 is the year they fully take flight, with their double EP ‘Good Grief: A Violent Dream & The Scenic Route’ explores both sides of the band’s sound aforementioned.
First track ‘Going Down’ is a thundering beginning to the record. If you’re a fan of Bullet For My Valentine, then this track is everything you need and so much more. Scorching guitars from Tom Fischer and wonderful melodies from Jackson Donovan make for a hugely enthralling listen for fans of rock and beyond. ‘Give Me A Sign’ definitely follows suits of the latter genre, with a real new age punk aura immediately coming through. The diversity that Heart Shaped Lakes have shown already is staggering, and they switch between both so seamlessly and excellently too.
‘The Sickest Things’ feels like the perfect blend between the two, in an epic pop punk rock track that is underpinned with punky verses and metal bridges. This quartet have definitely seemed to have found their sound, indeed two, and audience. With a debut album on the horizon in Fall 2022, this year does seem like Heart Shaped Lakes for the taking.
Hey guys! Tell us how you ‘found your sound’?
I gotta be honest with you man I have no clue at all I kinda just write stuff that I like and if I write something I don’t like then we don’t use it. Really if I write something I don’t like it usually doesn’t leave my mind or my google drive in some cases. But in all seriousness I wanted to do less basic pop punk stuff and incorporate all the music I listen to, which is a lot more than just pop punk.
What’s so impressive about you is how you mould punk and metal together so well that you seem to have created your own genre entirely! Was this always the plan?
Thank you so much!!! This honestly wasn’t the plan at first. We were kinda tired of being labeled just a pop punk band so we started writing different kinds of songs for our new album, then after we started recording said album I started writing a lot darker songs, which then became this double EP.
What is your favourite track off the EP? (Each member please!)
Jackson: I think Going Down is probably my favorite that shit is ruthless as hell rock and roll buckaroo. A super close second would absolutely be Magnet I fucking love that song so much.
Tom: magnet is a smash hit , the chorus on that one goes so hard and i love the chord progression. second favorite on the ep is probably you get what you give by the new radicals
Dylan: Everything’s Great! is the sauciest of them all.
Jon: I like negatives because fuck those vibes. We’re all about positivity out here. But on a serious note the song is just kickass and the bridge goes hard.
You already seem to have a lot of material under your belt! What can be expected from the debut album?
I’d say to expect some of what you got on Good Grief, some 90s influences like Oasis and Third Eye Blind, some 2000s like Motion City Soundtrack and My Chem of course, and some 80s stuff like Mötley Crüe and Poison. I wrote over 40 songs for this record so there is a lot of variation but it all feels really consistent and flows nicely. There’s some weird stuff though, there’s some straight up hair metal guitar solos in places, there’s a song where the chorus stays on one chord and starts really quiet oh my godddd I love that song so much. Anyways yeah there’s a lot of different stuff on there and I’m so excited to get it out there soon I goddamn hope. Oh yeah also we wrapped tracking for a new EP the day before Good Grief came out so keep an eye out for that real soon ahaha.
What’s the live plan for Heart Shaped Lakes in 2022?
We have a small east tour planned for the beginning of august, we plan on touring as much as we can though, maybe doing a couple arenas and stadiums here and there ya know.
