13 Questions (v2.0) with The Hell You Say

The Hell You Say is rowdy as fuck.  There it is.  I'm not sure how else to put it.  Rowdy. As. Fuck. Both their stage performance and recorded material are pure canned chaos.  At a The Hell You Say show, the current state of affairs doesn't mean a thing.  It's the spectacle that matters.  It's the sounds and the sights. It's the anger and the insistence and the movement.  Make no mistake, you ARE in danger.  But "danger" is relative, and subjective, and you're in danger just putting your fat foot on a wet bathroom floor in the morning, but you do it all the time.

The Hell You Say have things to scream about, and reasons to take rock'n'roll to ballistic levels of volume and intensity. They obviously have some existential shit they need to work out, and I think we should all feel lucky that music is their creative outlet. A The Hell You Say experience is one to give yourself up to completely.  Resistance is basically futile. Whether from the edge of the stage or the safety of your headphones, these masters of sequenced disorder are going to mess you up and make you consider what you're hearing.  Trust me, it won't take that long for you to realize that the only confusion here is yours.  You're thinking too hard.  Just. Fucking. Listen.  If you can handle it.

You can catch them on October 31st at Terrifying Tap-O-Ween with Bazookatooth (Nash), Louisiana Lot Lizards (IN), and Louisville favorites and 13 Questions alumni, Shi - 死 ('Ville). You can also pick up a disc copy of their newly released full length, A Lifetime Chasing Ghosts; a true-to-form representation of their live show packaged in a concise and thoughtful album format.  I'm honestly not sure how they pulled that off, but it's very well done.  Track 2, Cut In Half  is a standout for me, and has that new + old sound that always gets me revved up. 

The band's emissary and keeper of the low strings, Joshua Spriggs took the time to respond to a newly revised interview.

13 Questions with The Hell You Say:

1. What's the story with your band/artist name?

Our old bass player named us. We thought it was perfect for what we're doing. In the south it's commonly used as a sarcastic comeback, or as a lament of exasperation. Both make sense for us.

2. How long have you been performing in your current configuration?

In it's true form, with Beenee fronting us, exactly one year. I'd say when I joined the band is when we became THYS, which was in 2016.

We practice like we play, full volume, and almost completely in the dark.

3. Tell me about your practice space.

It's small, completely filled with amps and cabinets, as you'd imagine. Pirate flags back lit by those red night lights you put over bushes. I recently hung these weird fairy lights on the ceiling, that pulse, like a heart beat. We practice like we play, full volume, and almost completely in the dark.

4. Road dogs, or home with the dogs? Tour aspirations?

Both? Neither? We love playing, but being home is awesome. Tour is inevitable, I think. The idea of touring is always fun, until the logistics start getting hairy.

5. Would you rather fight a Grizzly bear size hamster, or 100 hamster-sized Grizzly bears?

As a big dude, I'll take the 100 hamster sized Grizzlies. Game plan is to lure them into a general area, then stop, drop, and roll... close em down, then open up shop.. They don't stand a chance.

6. Are you "classically trained" or self taught. Never or ever had a music lesson?

I studied to be a music teacher, so I'm classically trained, never took a guitar or bass lesson, though.



7. Stage rig rundown?

Me? Ibanez basses are a must, My number one is a SRMS800dtw.... that goes wireless, via a line6 relay system, cables are a liability on our stage. The signal that then goes into Geddy Lees' signature preamp (Tech21 GED-2112, if you're keeping score). The effects loop of that has an effect in it I have been calling my "proprietary tone module"... all that goes stereo out to a Crown XTI poweramp, and then those four signals feed two Ampeg svt810e, both ran stereo, to get 4 signals, each to its own 410... All of that is fed with a Furman dl-8, so I can keep an eye on voltage. Theres also a korg pitchblack rack mount. It all lives in a seismic audio rack case... jesus thats a lot.

8. If I needed a genre locker to compartmentalize my thoughts and feelings about your music what would I name it?

We made a shirt last year that simple has: Proper. Southern. Metal. across the front. We're happy with that.

We joke that we're not listened to as much as survived...

9. What do you feel is the function of your recorded material? Is it important that it represents your live-band experience?

We were most concerned with the record getting the anxiety and chaos of the live show. We joke that we're not listened to as much as survived, or at the very least, witnessed. If records don't give you a window into the live performance, then its not accurate.

10. What are your three favorite Louisville bands that you are not in?

Like ever? or current? I'll give you both.

Ever: Endpoint, Hedge, Enkindel
Current: Greyhaven, Batwizard, Grrlwood

11. A promoter books you on a 40 day tour thru the Nordic territories' heaviest metal hot-spots. All expenses are paid, and gigs with money guarantees are booked for the duration. However, you must abandon all your gear in exchange for functional toy instruments. Do you ford the fjords with plastic axes?

I hope they have backups of all the toy instruments, cause viva los norwegia

12. How awesome are the two people that stand and watch your entire set at an otherwise inattentive out-of-town venue?

They're the best. Playing in a town thats not your own is taxing, Playing to an empty room is rough. But seeing just one or two people that watch, either for the spectacle, or the love of music, or anything in between, thats rad. We, and all bands appreciate those people immensely.

13. What would most improve your segment of the Louisville music scene, or the music community at-large?

The answer is, and has always been, more decent places to play. We're lucky to have a bunch, but more DYI-all ages venues would be amazing. No noise ordinance would be cool...

FIN