IAM:YOURHERO

Brighton has always bred some interesting, exciting bands and sounds, and currently it is having a time of excess in great artists. IAM:YOURHERO head this new wave or varied music and artists with their mature and intelligently creative indie-rock. Rock Pulse had the pleasure of grabbing hold of Jacko Hooper from the busy band and getting him to reveal all about the band.

Welcome guys, could you please introduce yourselves for our readers at Rock Pulse?

Hello! We are Jacko, (guitarist and lead vocalist), Josh (bass, vocals, electronic shenanigans) and Rudi (drums and vocals). We are IAM:YOURHERO.

You are all still very young  and started the band as kids can you give us a brief bio of the band?

Well me (Jacko) and Rudi met when I was about 12 and he was 10. He moved over from Ireland and moved onto my road and we ended up hanging out and making music almost instantly with a battered nylon stringed acoustic and a battered old drum kit in his living room. Nearly 7 years later and the noise is still pouring out. Josh joined the band at the start of 2010 when we had a couple of different bassists and when Josh joined everything finally clicked back into place and with the new name, new material and a much more exciting direction with Josh on board everything is set now.

It has been said more than once how mature your sound is and how many bands of a few years experience do not come close to that, how has that come about do you think, simply talent or hard work, both?

Erm. It’s always very flattering when people say that. I don’t think we really fall into any typical genre which I kind of like. We have supported metal bands but then also supported indie bands so we’re able to slot ourselves into quite a varied amount of situations, which is great.

I don’t think it was a conscious decision, we just write music as it comes to us and produce what we think will work and what feels natural. We never sat down and decided a set direction for the band or the style of music we want to play, we all love different sounds but all love good music, that’s what we’re trying to achieve I think.

I don’t think you can achieve anything without hard work and it certainly is that, but it’s an enjoyable thing to be doing and we relish the challenge, it’s all really exciting at the moment to not know what the future holds, but I think we’re in as good a place as possible as it stands to get where we think we could be…

How do you approach your song writing?

Well since Josh joined the band it has slightly changed. Before it was more a case where I was the songwriter and I would show the boys, we would work with it, fuck it up a bit and then come out with the finished product. These days me and Josh both write and we use different ideas in the band and we have started writing songs together now and using tracks that he has written, which is really exciting for us as we are coming up with some stuff we previously never would have. Rudi always manages to surprise us by doing something much better than we had in our heads for the drums and it’s very much a three way thing of chopping and changing and trying things out.

We have started demoing material at Josh’s house now too and working through tracks before even taking them into the studio and doing them live, which is such a great thing to be able to do as it allows us to really work on the material and get parts and sections down before heading into the studio.

There are also a lot more of electronic elements within the music now which is something we have been keen to  get involved for years, luckily Josh has a lot of musical toys on his computer for us to play with and the new EP in April will certainly surprise a few…

What are your individual influences past and current?

For me personally my strength is probably the underground rock scene and I love three piece bands, (surprise surprise). Bands such as Thrice, Idiot Pilot, The Xcerts, Circa Survive, Biffy Clyro, and Blood Brothers are all favourites. But then also love bands such as Efterklang and Sigur Ros, MaybeSheWill and This Will Destroy You which is something both me and Josh listen to a lot. Post-Rock is probably my most listened to genre of music and has started to creep into our music more and more recently. We had a part in our last demo of our last track ’Leaders’ where our influence of post rock crept in and I think that will only progress more. Rudi listens to all kinds of stuff and I’m always trying to keep up with what he’s listening to. Essentially we all listen to the same music but all have our own little nuggets of strength on different bands/genres! As cliché as it is, I could write an essay on the different types of music that influence us and the stuff we listen to so let’s leave it there.

You also perform acoustic music Jacko, is this part of the band or a different entity?

I think a bit of both to be honest. Acoustic music is something I love and some of my biggest influences are in that field, artists such as Jeff Buckley, Bon Iver, Thomas Dybdahl, Fink Etc. I do a fair few open mics and acoustic shows when they come up but don’t get too carried away with it as the band always has and always will be my main focus. I write the acoustic stuff for my own brain juice really and if people like it, that’s fantastic. But that’s certainly not why I write it.

I think I’m lucky in the situation  that I’m in as me and the boys are getting more and more acoustic opportunities these days with slots on BalconyTV and live acoustic sessions on JuiceFM and acoustic shows so I’m able to bring that side of what I love into the band environment, which is absolutely perfect. We all like acoustic music and I can tell you guys exclusively that there will in fact be an acoustic track on the new EP in April. Something we have never done before.

You Guys are still doing school studies how do you fit it all in and still have time for fun?

It’s busy! But yeah, me and Josh are in our third year of college and Rudi in his first so at times it can be a bit hectic with work and such. Luckily, all three of us are exceptionally good at procrastinating and avoiding doing college work so it’s not too much of an issue.

Coming from Brighton the pedigree of music is tremendous, has that helped or hindered in a time where everywhere bands struggle for gigs and attention?

I’ve always kind of seen Brighton as a victim of its own success in many ways. Brighton has a really unique problem in the sense that it’s actually drowning in bands. There are so many here that it is very hard to get noticed and be one of the bands that stand out. We have done hundreds of shows down here and learnt our trade playing on stages in Brighton (of which there are many) but it’s still difficult to get good shows and play in front of a good crowd because there are so many shows on every single night of the week. There is constant competition. So, I think if you’re a lover of music Brighton is a fantastic place to be as you can find free live music every night of the week without doubt, but if you’re in a band it can feel like you’re drowning in bands a bit. But as a whole it has definitely helped us, we have literally grown up playing in venues and learnt about gigging and the music industry from a very early age down to the fact that there are opportunities down here, just got to work your socks off.

Band promotion and airplay is difficult for bands how to you go about getting the band out there?

Working hard, as obvious as it sounds. Spending a lot of time finding sites online and uploading our music everywhere and anywhere we can to try and get some results. I wouldn’t be speaking to you guys now if we didn’t do it, so it does work. We just try and abuse the internet as much as we can and keep in touch with anyone who enjoys our stuff. I think getting to know fans on a personal level is crucial as it’s them who can help us progress further and get the name out there.

What is in the near future of IAM:YOURHERO?

EP In April, Festivals in May and July, lots of gigging, plans for tours in the summer…. Busy busy busy
Which is just what we like.

Thanks for letting us see who’s behind IAM:YOURHERO, have you a final word or thought for Rock Pulse fans?

Thanks for having us guys, been a pleasure to chat to you. I guess thank you very much to all of those people who have already checked us out and supported us, it means a lot and if you haven’t yet, why not have a listen and see what you think. Cheers gang!

 To hear more and find out more about  IAM:YOURHERO check out their official website @ www.iamyourhero.co.uk and hear them played on The Reputation Radio Show weekly@ www.reputationlabel.com

Pete Ringmaster 10/03/2011