Hands Like Houses have stepped up and screamed; they are dissonant!
The Australian rock band are currently touring the UK in support of their latest record ‘Dissonants.’ If you haven’t yet listened to the album, you seriously need to check it out.
With powerful vocals and captivating lyrics, it’s pretty much impossible not to fall in love with the guitar-driven tracks. Whether it’s the significantly poignant ‘Momentary’ or the understandable frustrations referenced in ‘Perspectives’, the emotions conveyed in all twelve songs have certainly spoke to many people on a truly deep level.
We chatted to Trenton Woodley, the lead singer of Hands Like Houses, backstage in Manchester earlier this week. In our exclusive interview, he discussed: life on the road, the meaning behind ‘Dissonants’, the evolution of his band’s music and more.
You can read some highlights from the interview and listen to our chat in full below!
Are you excited to be playing shows over here in the UK again?
“Yeah, it’s great to get back here; especially with this tour having to be re-scheduled due to album scheduling and just the fact that we were so burnt out after recording an album and the intense touring we had last year. It was one of those things where it just made more sense to push it back and get everything done so we had chance to recharge. Yeah, so I mean the venues are pretty much all the same and tickets have been fantastic for both the originals and the re-scheduled dates. It’s all just worked out really well and I’m glad to have I The Mighty out – we were a little worried we might not be able to get them out when we pushed the dates but they’ve been able to fit it in perfectly; except for the last show when they go to join Pierce The Veil in the US. We’re really looking forward to watching those guys every night; we’ve toured with them before. It’s just great to get back to the UK; weather aside of course. It’s always sunny the day we land and the day we leave but shitty and grey in between.” (laughs)
Earlier this year, you released your new album ‘Dissonants.’ For people who haven’t yet heard the record, how would you describe your sound and style?
“We’re really bad at that question. It’s rock music at its simplest but it’s: loud, it’s heavy and we try to have that modern synthy sort of textured vibe. We try and have a really modern rock sound that’s still got plenty of interesting parts and depth and textures and tones. We just say: ‘it’s alternative rock, give it a listen and see what you think.’”
Visually, ‘Dissonants’ has its own logo and the title itself also speaks volumes. What message do you want people to take from the record?
“One of the core themes of the album is the idea that we’re all part of a collective whole. It’s easy to get caught up in this ‘us versus them’ mentality. While there is always an element of truth to that with the kind of fucked up people we have running the world, it’s still kind of important for us to just start seeing us as a collective group of people with: different priorities, different values and different beliefs. As soon as everyone kind of respects and understands that there is those points of difference, we can all find this common ground or common elements and appreciate those. That’s kind of where ‘Dissonants’ as an idea came from because it’s all the dissonant threads that make up a whole. We’re not a preachy band; we don’t really want to have a message per say but we’re very personal people and we try to write emotional and powerful music; part of that is that we have to inject who we are and what we believe in.”
As a whole, ‘Dissonants’ features lots of deep and meaningful lyrics. The line ‘A hopeless romantic; self-medicated on reality’ is one of our favourites. Are there any lyrics that you’re particularly proud of writing?
“It’s hard; especially to recap all of them in my head. I’m a big fan of ‘Momentary’; it’s definitely one of my favourites. I like that whole song because I really like the whole simplicity of just a bunch of ideas tied together to create this vibe. There’s no real narrative to it; it’s just questioning significance of anything really. So I really like that song; I’m glad we get to play it. I reckon probably one of my favourites would actually be from ‘Stillwater’ where it’s like: ‘How did we get so old and never notice? How did we gain the world and lose the moment?’ It’s just a simply phrased question that’s not particularly wordy or in-depth but it has this almost kind of romantic poetry to it. It’s one of those lines you kind of come back to and think: ‘yeah, that’s pretty cool, I like that.’ Not to toot my own horn but I suppose: toot, toot.” (laughs)
If you could leave a message for your fans, what would you say?
“Hey, thanks for sticking by us. I really hope you’ve had the chance to wrap your ears around ‘Dissonants’ – we’re incredibly proud of it; probably more so for all of the challenges that went into it. Yeah, come out to a show and please don’t be a stranger. Hopefully it’ll be a good time; see you all soon.”
‘Dissonants’ is currently available here on iTunes. The album features the group’s latest single ‘Degrees Of Separation’ and eleven other killer tracks. Make sure you listen to ‘Stillwater’ and ‘Division Symbols’; they’re two of our personal favourites.
Shortly after completing their UK tour, Hands Like Houses will be heading home to play some shows in Australia. You can view a list of their forthcoming gigs here online.
As mentioned in the interview, the ‘Colourblind’ rockers will also be returning to the UK later this year. Full details are yet to be revealed but we’ll post more information when it’s announced. Keep the band on your radar by following @HandsLikeHouses on Twitter.
After seeing Hands Like Houses live, we can certainly promise you one thing: they put on an incredible show. We’d definitely recommend that you buy tickets to see them in concert; you’ll be rocking out and singing at the top of your lungs all night long!
Which is your favourite Hands Like Houses song? Are you loving ‘Degrees of Separation’ as much as us? Let us know over on Twitter @CelebMix or leave a message below!