If you’ve ever gone to any local shows in Central Florida over the past several months, chances are you’ve seen these guys perform live. Every Hand Revealed are an up-and-coming five piece metal outfit from Orlando, FL, and I was recently able to talk with them about upcoming music, their first out of state tour, as well as some of their favorite music releases. Check it out and more after the jump.
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Q – This past December, Every Hand Revealed went on their first out of state tour supporting Villains and Gift Giver for half of the dates. How was the overall experience for you guys as a band, and as individuals?
EHR – It was every bit of bizarre. Some of us had never even seen snow, let alone step foot outside of the state of Florida and before we knew it we were 2,000 miles away from home. A ton of photos and many bad jokes later, we were able to check many things of our band bucket list, as well as do a few things that we were never able to do outside of the band as individuals. We experienced our first few van breakdowns that eventually forced us to cut our half of the tour a bit earlier than expected, but all in all it was one hell of an experience and we are literally counting down the days until we are able to get back on the road and get the hell out of Florida.
Q – Back in September, Every Hand Revealed were banned from playing a show for the lyrical content of one of your songs. How did that personally affect you guys, and how do you think that will affect bands in the future, if this sort of censorship is holding their creativity back?
EHR – Personally, it was a bit nerve racking for all of us, but when we had the chance to step back and look at the entire situation, we tried our absolute best to have a full understanding about what was going on. It is a “Christian venue” owned by Christians. Being put on the show was surprising as is simply because we knew about the types of shows that they usually put on their, but we get asked to play church shows every so often, so we didn’t think anything of the lyrical content in one of our songs being an issue at all. As far as this type of censorship holding back the creativity of an artist or a band, it shouldn’t. As an public artist, you sign your material away to be critiqued at any time by absolutely anyone in any form. One thing that an artist or a band should realize is that not everyone will be into what they are doing and that you literally cannot please everyone no matter what you do or how hard you try. They shouldn’t let one person or in our case, one venue hold them back from creating exactly what they want to create. Nerve racking? Sure. Enough to detour the entire writing process of an artists material? Never.
Q – The song in question being entitled “Born Impious,” can you tell us about the lyrical themes behind the song?
EHR – To be born is to be brought into existence. To be impious is to not show respect or reverence for a god or duty. The beginning of the song describes the writer coming to peace with his demons because the life that he has lead and the path that he has chosen has been nothing short of a lie that he is simply coming to terms with. What seems to be the “positive and faith filled” path that he has been forced to live on for a good amount of time is just as corrupt as the “negative and unfaithful” path. As the song unfolds, the writer takes his anger out on the one and only person that he has been taught his entire life is the one to supposedly help cope with such situations, in which he soon comes to the realization that he simply isn’t there and never has been. This song is dedicated to the ones who have never opened their minds past what they have been told and to every false prophet who claims an answer to what they cannot show. “I gave my fair share of prayers to a vacant sky, but you will never be anything more than a child’s nursery rhyme.” The entire moral of the song? Open your mind past all of the bullshit that you are told your entire life. No matter if it’s dealing with religion or not.
Q – You guys have been able to open for touring bands such as Fit For An Autopsy, Kublai Khan and Legion. Do you prefer opening for bigger bands, or headlining/playing smaller shows?
EHR – As a band, one thing that we always make sure to incorporate in our live show is the participation of the crowd. If we play a 150 cap venue and they give us the same response and get just as in our face and crazy as a 400 cap venue, then we walk away with a smile on our faces either way. Playing with touring packages is great because we are able to meet and play with other musicians that are trying to make their dreams a reality and give this whole thing their absolute all just like we try our best to do. Tour package or all locals, a close up, more intimate show always makes for a better show. 100%.
Q – What goals have you set for yourselves as a band?
EHR – Constantly keeping our listeners on the edge of their seats by releasing as much as possible. Whether that’s new music, new merch or just playing shows in areas we have never been to. Seeking management and a label within agencies that we can both benefit from and tour as much as humanly possible to spread what we have to say around America and hopefully someday, the world. Not to take a shot in the dark with that answer or anything.
Q – What’s the best concert you’ve ever attended that you didn’t play?
EHR – I’m sure that we can all agree on that being anything including Slipknot. Festival, tour, anything. Their live performance is always nuts and their stage production is ridiculous.
Q – What are some of your favorite music releases from the last year, and are there any upcoming releases you’re anticipating?
EHR – Some of our favorite releases from 2013 definitely include “Abandon All Life” from NAILS, “In Tongues” from Dark Sermon, “Blinded” from Harms Way, “Labyrinth” from Fleshgod Apocalypse, “Woke” from Legion, “The Blackest Beautiful” from Letlive, “Strangers Only” from My Ticket Home, “8:18” from The Devil Wears Prada, “Sempiternal” from Bring Me The Horizon, “Youth” from Citizen. Many more albums by great artists were released in 2013. For 2014, we as a band are most definitely awaiting the new Suicide Silence album and “The Satanist” from Behemoth. A ton more, we will just have to see!
Q – You guys are hitting the studio with Kenny Gil from Reveal Renew to re-record all of your already released music, as well as record some brand new material. What can people expect from Every Hand Revealed in the coming weeks?
EHR – We are very excited to start working with Kenny. The work he does is every bit of what we have been looking for in an engineer for the longest. Before this point, we recorded ourselves, but with the music that we are currently writing, we hit a wall with what we were able to do for ourselves as far as self recording goes. The new Every Hand Revealed is every bit of unique and we are putting our absolute all into it to get just that in return. It’s heavier, it’s faster and it’s ten times more pissed off than anything that we have ever released. The lyrics will provoke thought and the music behind them will make you want to react. We are making sure to hit home and strike a few nerves with the new music to try and let every listener know exactly what Every Hand Revealed is all about. 2014 is going to be absurd. Keep your ears open and your eyes peeled.
Q – Thanks for taking the time to talk with us, is there any last thing you’d like to say to you friends and fans?
EHR – Of course! Thank every single one of you that have came out to a show, bought merch, talked and hung out with us or even given us a simple “like” on Facebook. Every single one of you are part of this big puzzle that we are making in hopes to one day make this dream a reality. It means the world. You mean the world. Keep doing exactly what you are doing and expect the same exact thing in return
