PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
Rising Brit post-hardcorers THE HIDING PLACE are set to take on the UK with their engulfing sound, which calls to mind the likes of Underoath and Funereal For A Friend. The band reveal a new track ‘Are You Even There’ on Friday 15th September. We had a sit-on with the boys and asked them to fill us in on their background:
What is the full band lineup, who plays what?
Dominic Webber – Vocals,
Jonny Wood – Guitar,
Phil Ward – Guitar,
Ant Hulme – Bass,
Joe Barber – Drums.
How and when did the band form?
About 7 years ago, Dominic Jonny and Joe started writing music together – over the years they self-recorded a few demos and rotated a few band members before focusing their sound and starting to push the band more seriously back in 2014 with the release of ‘So This Is Home’ EP.
Tell us anything interesting about your hometown.
We all come from the areas surrounding Stoke on Trent, which in itself is a pretty weird city. It’s actually made up of five little towns that come together to make it a city so it doesn’t really have a fully developed city centre, just one town that’s a big bigger than all the others. Obvious talking points about Stoke are that Robbie Williams, Slash (Guns n Roses) and Lemmy were all born here.
When and how did the band really start gelling and solidifying?
Phil joined the band early 2014 and the band wrote the ‘So This Is Home’ EP which was a big step up for the band – at this point we decided we wanted to take it more seriously – so we recorded the EP with Oz Craggs (Feed The Rhino) at Hidden Track Studio. From the EP we released our first single ‘Guts’ which was our first experience doing a proper music video. Then for the next couple of years we tried to tour the UK as much as possible off the back of this. At the beginning of 2017 we decided it was time to start looking at releasing more music – we recorded ‘Are You Even There?’
with Jonny Remshaw( Devil Sold His Soul) at Bandit Studios, and feel it’s our most accomplished work to date. We shot a video for the song, then recruited Ant as our new bassist – ready to release the single to the world, as well as preparing to record further songs at Bandit.
What are your musical influences?
The band has a really diverse set of influences. The main ones everyone agrees on have to be Circa Survive, Thrice, He Is Legend and Underoath.
Where did the name of band come from?
Dominic is a fan of the poet William Blake and loves his work ‘Songs Of Innocence And Of Experience’ – particularly how there are poems that directly contrast each other from a point of view of innocence or something more sinister in the experience side of the work. So the idea came about to have a name that could be viewed from either point of view and be interpreted differently – hence The Hiding Place. It must also be said that we liked the name because, certainly at the time we picked the name, we felt that being a ‘The’ band subverted what bands playing similar post-hardcore music to us were doing as ‘The’ bands were usually playing indie or garage rock.
How far back does your history with each other (the band members) extend? Are you friends from school or any family relations?
Dominic and Joe were next door neighbours as little kids. Joe and Phil went through school together. Then everyone kind of came together through working and being involved in the local music scene.
Where have you played or toured?
Since releasing So This Is Home in 2014 we’ve continually toured throughout the UK from Scotland to the south coast.
Please name all countries / regions and recognised bands that you have played with.
As well as playing headlining tours, and touring with bands including Dream State, Falling With Style, Chapter & Verse and Vera Grace, the band has also played shows with the likes of letlive, Mallory Knox, Funeral For A Friend, We Are The Ocean, Inme, He Is Legend, No Devotion, Milk Teeth and Feed The Rhino.
In your opinion, how is your band different from all the other bands out there?
As a band we’ve always wanted to provide a powerful and honest experience to the listener. We’re not interested in following trends or bandwagons and we certainly never want to pigeon-hole ourselves. We just try to connect with our audience and encourage them to feel something when they hear our music.
If a deaf person were to ask you to describe the sound of your music, how would you describe it?
Loud but melodic, catchy but intense, emotive music that treads the lines between post-hardcore, gloomy punk, grunge and old-school emo.
Where can we find your social media sites?
www.facebook.com/thehidingplace
www.instagram.com/thehidingplace
www.twitter.com/wearethehidingplace
https://www.youtube.com/user/wearethehidingplace
