Breakout Band: An Interview With The Hostile Redemption

Listen to interview excerpts here: Subscribe here: Apple | Android | Spotify | Google The Hostile Redemption is one of the Pop-Punk bands keeping the scene alive in Houston, Texas. Although they gained some traction as a cover band, their original music is what made them a band worth giving a listen too. Last month, following the release of The Hostile Redemption’s debut EP Reflections I got the chance to talk with lead singer Blake Hill.  We talked about the inspiration behind Reflections, who inspired the songs “Bait and Tackle” and “B.U.M.E.R”, and My Chemical Romance’s reunion. How did The Hostile Redemption come about? I played in an old band years before and left some of that content on YouTube. One of my two guitar players found it and reached out to me and pestered me for a couple of years to start a band with him. I finally gave in after about two years of endless “hey man we should start a band! We’re not getting any younger”. I figured let’s see where it goes! We found a drummer [Jacob] and he was really good and decided to start writing our own songs. It worked out a lot better than I anticipated that it would! Your music is really good! You enjoy [Reflections] then? Yeah, Like I was saying earlier my top song is probably still “B.U.M.E.R” right now. I listened to Reflections again and I liked “Bait [and Tackle].” “Bait and Tackle”! You want to hear a little fun fact? “Bait and Tackle” and “B.U.M.E.R” are actually about the same girl! She inspired a lot of moves back then, since I was eleven years old. That relationship did not work out during any of the many tries we given it, but I have to thank her for giving me the inspiration she did. Bait and Tackle are probably – in my own personal songs that I’ve written – my top five. That’s great. It’s always great that from the bad you can still get inspiration. Yes ma’am. I think the bad things that happen to us make the best songs. Totally, right with you on that! How has the reception to your Ep, Reflections, been so far? I have not heard one thing bad about the [Reflections] so far, which I was very pleasantly surprised to hear. [The songs] “B.U.M.E.R” and “Runaway” have been on Spotify and Apple Music for almost a year for “B.U.M.E.R” and over a year for “Runaway” when we released Reflections. Now all five of the songs on Reflections have gotten more plays than those two singles together. It’s wild to me! We’ve replaced our closing song “Runaway” with “Sins” now and it’s wild the amount of people that came out to our release party. It was amazing and I’m still living off of that high! It’s always cool to when your first playing [new music] how people perceive it! Exactly! When someone is actually enjoying what I’m doing and that’s the coolest thing ever! What is your favorite song to play live?   My favorite song to play live is probably “Sins” from the [Reflections] and “B.U.M.E.R”. “B.U.M.E.R” is so easy for people to sing along with the chorus and I get to hold my mic out to them and hear them sing out my own lyrics that I made was just, you know, the euphoria that comes from that feeling is just unexplainable. Then “Sins”, I’ve been working hard on learning how to do screaming vocals for about six years. And I didn’t get to tell my band members that I was trying that, so I randomly decided to it during “Sins”,