+HIRS+

     Alright! After a long break and what has turned out to be a super slow start I'll be posting much more often now, and no better way to start 2012 than with my favorite discovery of 2011, +HIRS+! These people make some of the sickest grind I have ever heard, and are just plain great at cranking out jams that make you feel like you've just been repeatedly kicked in the head. There is really no way to describe this band and do it the justice it deserves, so just go check out their Band Camp and order everything they have from their website. On top of creating great music, the members in the band seem to sincerely have a love for what they are doing and the message behind it (they give their music away for free, and just check out the energy in their live shows). I contacted +HIRS+ and they found some time in their busy schedule to answer a few questions for me via e-mail:

How long have you been together as a band? I know your website is fairly new and your facebook doesn't go back very far.

I started fucking around and writing a few songs in February 2011 and then showed them to SM, my best friend, and we decided to turn this into a real band and played out first show in June 2011.

You've made a point to give your entire discography away for free download, what's the ideology/thoughts/reasoning behind this decision?

Basically we don't give a shit about making money and only make this music because it's what we love. The fact that some people are into is more than enough reason for them to have it for free online and if someone is into it enough to buy our records then that's awesome too.

What comes first, the sound byte or the song, and how do you go about finding your sound bytes?

The music comes first, then most times the sound byte and then the lyrics. I watch a lot of fucked up movies or just movies dealing with the same topics that I'm writing lyrics about, so that's pretty easy.

I know quite a few people who are interested in drum programming, who does the programming and what program/device do you use?

I do all the drum programming and I use Toontrack's Drumkit From Hell along with Garageband.

Was having an actual person do the drumming/bass ever a thought or did you know from the start that you would use a drum machine?

We had been trying to do a fast thrashy band for a while with a full lineup before +HIRS+ was even an idea but things tended to always fall apart. Then one day I started writing "WORSHIP" just for fun and we realized we had the band we had been trying to start. So yeah, we always knew it was gonna be just us with programmed drums.

I've noticed in the two videos I was able to find of you playing live, the singer/screamer/crazy person (Greg?) was wearing the same shiny floral print tank top and white spandex shorts. This makes me laugh, is it an every show thing or was this just a coincidence?

It is a usual thing but sometimes I don't have the time to get all pretty like I want before a show. I sometimes wear that stuff because 1. I really like to. Not just for +HIRS+, but whenever and 2. because I like destroying the idea of gender mostly because i dont subscribe to one. we also like to stray from looking like or being the tradition hardcore "tuff guys" or whatever. and if dressing the way we want to and singing about the things we want and using weird samples can make someone else question things, then that's pretty cool too. and if it makes people laugh, that's awesome, laughing rules!

Are there any plans to get a tour going that will take +HIRS+ outside of Philly so the rest of us can get a chance to experience the madness? 

We hope so. We're currently working on that stuff right now!


Generic question time, how did you come up with the name +HIRS+? What's the meaning behind it, and what are the significances of the +'s?

It's a gender neutral term that can be used instead of he/she and the +'s are meant to be upside down crosses and who doesn't like those?!

Who is the Dark Lord Dog, and how can we better serve him?

The Dark Lord Dog is better known as Sophie on the days she isn't drinking the blood of first borns. She loves peanut butter kongs and eating cops.

Anything else you would like to add?

no gods / no cops

      Thanks a lot to these guys for taking the time to do this and here's hoping for tons of more stuff from +HIRS+ this year! Go buy their shit now, or at least sacrifice a small animal to the Dark Lord Dog in their honor!

+HIRS+ Official Site
+HIRS+ Band Camp
+HIRS+ Facebook