One of my most anticipated releases is coming from the Michigan/Ohio, high-energy rock band, Hour 24. With their most recent EP release, “One Step At A Time”, and their single “Take Me Away”, they’ve solidified their place at the top, among many rock bands. Boasting a fantastic vocal range from the energetic Rachel Mayer, emotional and powerful guitar solos and riffs from Dan Quigley and Cody Sizemore, an unheard and but highly anticipated new bassist Chris Salazar, and a talented and high-energy drummer, Mike Neumann, Hour 24 has all the key ingredients that make them one band you’ll definitely hear great things from in the near future. I caught up with Cody Sizemore and asked him a few questions about the band, their new untitled release, and his opinion on a number of subjects from online promoting, to modern-day legends. Before you check it out below, follow this link to hear Hour 24’s latest single off their new album “Take Me Away”.
Q – How much preparation do you put into an album before actually going to record it?
Cody – What we did is we went up into a remote cabin in a national forest and wrote our album for 3 weeks. After that we practiced the songs for about a month. Now we’re in the studio recording demos for our producer before we actually go in and record the album. It’s been a lot of work, actually a lot more than I expected, but it’s all going to be well worth it in the end!
Q – What do you do in your free-time while on tour?
Cody – It depends on the location. If we’re in a coastal place we will go to the beach, in the Rocky Mountain states we would go rock climbing up mountains. Other than that, we generally mess around and act like total goons everywhere we go haha
Q – How’s the new bassist?
Cody – Chris is doing great! He’s been such a fast learner and is fitting in really well.
Q – If you could create a tour, which bands would you include, and where would you go?
Cody – My dream tour would probably be with Anberlin and Hands Like Houses. Europe would be so sick with these guys I think.
Q – What guitar tuning do you like best?
Cody – I like playing in Drop C the best.
What band/artist is your guilty pleasure?
Cody – I actually like the new T Swift a lot. Not even ashamed to say it!
Q – Do you have any unexpected musical influences?
Cody – Dream Theater, Guns N Roses, Avenged Sevenfold, Being As An Ocean
Q – What do you think of the current state of Rock music?
Cody – I think that it definitely hit it’s low, but it’s slowly but surely coming back. I see a lot of people who generally listen to mainstream music get into independent bands, a lot more than visa versa.
Q – Do you believe there is a modern-day Led Zeppelin/Beatles in today’s music industry? If so who is it, if not, why isn’t there one?
Cody – Hands Like Houses has done some of the most beautiful jams I’ve ever heard. They’re severely underrated and won’t reach that stature, but they definitely deserve to.
Q – I’m going to ask it, where does the name Hour 24 come from?
Cody – The dreaded question! We actually had a name before and we made all of our social media accounts to later find out there was 6 other bands out there with the same name. We decided we needed to change it within the next 24 hours, hence, Hour 24.
Q – Before MySpace, Facebook and other social networks, bands had to spread their music physically, through CD’s and by playing shows at new venues, with new bands. Do you think the change to online has helped or hurt local and big name bands?
Cody – A little of both. It’s become so easy for a band to be heard today, but it’s a double edge sword. There is so much more competition nowadays because bands are so accessible.
Q – What do you think of Facebook charging pages to reach all of their fans?
Cody – Not a fan. I understand the purpose behind it, and business-minded thinking, it’s just paid advertisement. I just think the organic reach has gotten way too low.
Q – Mainstream music has changed a lot in the past few decades. Do you think rock or metal will make it’s way back onto the mainstream radio anytime soon?
Cody – It’s definitely on its way.
Q – Which label are you following closest for new bands?
Cody – Fearless Records, Epitaph, UNFD, Sumerian, Rise, Equal Vision. I generally like finding unsigned bands that are really good and watching them grow, more often than not they eventually will get signed.
Q – What has been your favorite music release from 2014 to now?
Cody – That’s so tough to narrow it down to one, but I can tell you I’ve played Miss Fortune’s, A Spark To Believe album so many times that it drives half of my band insane when I play it.
Q – Has there ever been a moment where Hour 24 considered calling it quits?
Cody – I don’t think that we’ve ever reached a point where breaking up was a serious consideration. I know that we have hit some rough patches, as every band does, but we all have the same vision and goal in mind and we aren’t too keen on the idea of giving up.
Q – If you could go back to your first EP, would you change anything, and if so what?
Cody – Haha, there are a couple of songs on the EP that I’m not fond of anymore, but that happens through self-criticism and time passing. I’m proud of the songs: Awakening, The Truth, Solstice still though.
Q – What are the chances of getting that acoustic song/EP you talked about back in February?
Cody – I through out that post to see what kind of interest we would get from it. Turns out, our fans want something acoustic by us much more than I expected. I will say that on the album, there is an acoustic song, so you’ll be getting one no matter what. Whether or not we release an acoustic EP before the album just depends on our workload and funding of other projects we have in the works.
Q – You put out a single after your EP called “Take Me Away”. What was the concept behind it, and can we expect similar sounding songs on your new album?
Cody – Take Me Away was definitely a transition into the type of band/sound we are today. The song has done us really well, but I’m definitely ready to get some new material out there for our fans. The album will have songs that have the same mood as Take Me Away, but again, it’s a really versatile album as a whole.
Q – What can you tell us about your new album?
Cody – This album is much more mature compared to our EP. It has 10 tracks and it’s got some of our heaviest songs, our most chill songs, and our most poppy songs as well. It’s really versatile and I’m super excited to show people it.
Q – Speaking of your new album, do you have a release date, and will it be independently released?
Cody – No release date yet, we’re actually working out the booking times to go record with our producer now, so we won’t have a release date for a while. At this point, whether it’s going to be released independently is up in the air as well, so stay tuned!
Q – Is there anything else you’d like to tell your fans or potential fans that they may not know?
Cody – Nothing that we can talk about yet ;)
There you have it! Hour 24’s guitarist Cody Sizemore. Be sure to follow Hour 24 on Facebook, and if you liked this interview, check out The New Fury’s other articles and interviews and consider donating to help support both Hour 24, and The New Fury!
