by Chris Barnes
March 10, 2008

How's this for Southern Discomfort? Lock T. Roy from Sourvein, Dixie Dave from Weedeater,Vince Burke from Beaten Back To Pure and the ubiquitous Erik Larson from Alabama Thunderpussy, et al, into a room with amps, guitars, drums, mics, bass and more amps, some recording equipment (and a steady supply of cheap bourbon) and let them go apeshit. That's almost the story of Hail!Hornet (the real one is better) but the outcome is the same - Tinnitis. The debut from Hail!Hornet is one of the most viscerally heavy recordings I've ever heard, thanks in large part to the self-taught Vince Burke's studio mastery. If you guys like tar-pit sludge crawl sometimes propelled to dangerous tempos and grime-ridden groove with your crust-lathered crescendos, you gotta hear this album. Hellride gets Vince Burke to answer a few questions including the genesis of the band name, his DIY approach to learning the ropes of studio recording and how he and and T-roy got the band together.

Hellride Music: Vince, you're a good man taking a bit of your life time to bang on the keys a bit and give the Hellride readers the Hail!Hornet story. First off, there's no doubt that Hail!Hornet is a bit an all star project from the Dirty South - We have you, whose mainstay has been Beaten Back To Pure (I still have the 'Double Barrel Blasphemy' cassette in my desk drawer), T. Roy from Sourvein fame, Dixie from Weedeater/Buzzoven and Erik Larson from Alabama Thunderpussy/Birds of Prey/Axehandle/Parasytic, etc. That's a lot of dudes with some big fucking beards on one record. So how did this all go down, anyway? The band was called 'Vagabond' for awhile wasn't it? I know that Dixie Dave, a hornet's nest, and a shed were all behind the name change, but I don't know in what order or what the outcome was... help us out, if you can.

Vince Burke: First off, thanks for the review you did of the H!H record. I posted it on the MySpace site and folks seem to think you nailed it! We like good reviews. Now, to answer your questions, I guess that the whole idea of this thing started in the late nineties with T-roy and his idea for a band to be called Vagabond. T-roy was originally employing Brian Cox on drums (ATP's drummer) and Kirk Fisher on guitar (Buzzoven). I don't know if there was a bass player in mind, but it really don't matter much 'cause it never really came to be like that anyway. Back then I didn't even know T-roy, except that he was the guy that got Beaten Back To Pure on the South of Hellcompilation. It all came together when T-roy started talking to Will Sprague of Mugwart about coming up to VA to jam with him, Danny Luper (also Mugwart) & me. We recorded Souvein's Emerald Vulture and from there, talks resumed of Vagabond. T-roy got Dixie involved and I asked Erik if he would be interested in playin' the drums for this thing. Everybody agreed, and there you go. The name Vagabond soon got dismissed when Erik was pokin' around on the Internet and found about 200 other bands already using the same name. The shed in the background of the band photo contained the reason for the name. Dixie went inside and accidentally kicked a bald-faced hornet's nest... them fuckers came after all of us and got me and T-roy! T-roy is responsible for the actual naming of the band, but we were all pretty sold on the idea of a name including 'Hornet.' Now, we all have much respect for them bald-faced fuckers and their shed!


Hellride Music: HA! That's a great story...at least the band name actually has meaning for you guys, even if it's getting stung in the ass by hornets. Let's talk about the Vince Burke sound. I've long been a fan of your sound work and still maintain that best thing that ever happened to your main band, Beaten Back To Pure, is when the sound shifted over from Steve Austin (Today Is The Day) to you. It went from HEAVY to REALLY FUCKING HEAVY. I'll never forget putting Revelation... The Burning South in for the first time and scaring the shit out me and the cat because it's was so friggin' loud. Then I checked the volume, it was set pretty low. That's when I realized that's how you mix.. LOUD. You mix like most of us hear (or used to) heavy music. Now look at you... you have your own studio, you're in almost as many bands as Erik Larson and your producing stuff for other folks as well. I know we're talking about Hail!Hornet, but give Hellride the evolution of Vince Burke. We know you play guitar, but when did you get interested in producing recordings? Was it a gradual process, or had you always been interested in doing that type of thing? Now that it's been awhile and the album has soaked in, what are your thoughts on the sound? Still like it?

Vince: Thanks man, very cool of you to say. I was interested in doing the studio thing since I was real young. I believe that the recording we did with Steve Austin was ultimately what made me decide that I really needed to man the knobs for my own band. Not talkin' shit about Steve, but I just felt like I could do it better if I wasn't worried about time and money constraints. We received money from Retribute Records to record the next record (The Last Refuge...) and I asked the guys if it would be cool to use it to go towards getting studio gear. I, basically, explained that they would never have to spend a dollar for studio time again. They liked that idea, so I went to the music store. Of course, I found out quickly that two thousand dollars doesn't go very far in purchasing recording equipment. I spent everything I had, plus I racked up a whole shit-load of credit card debt. I guinea-pigged a few local bands, kept reading books and experimenting with shit, then tried to get ready for my own band. I did not master The Last Refuge... record, I sent it to Matt Washburn at Ledbelly in GA. (Mastodon early stuff) I had only been recording for a matter of months when I did that record. After I sent it to Ledbelly, I got a phone call from Matt Washburn. He told me that he thought it sounded so much better than Southern Apocalypse, which was recorded by Steve. He had also mastered that one for us, so that was definitely a good feeling. Of course, looking back on old projects, I hear things that bother me or that I feel I could do better now, but I don't think I could've done any better at the time...having so little experience.


Hellride Music: Dude, the fact that you went out and bought a shit-load of equipment and taught yourself basically how to engineer a record is a pretty extraordinary thing. Good for you, man. The sound, as I say, is phenomenal. As I mentioned in the review, the sound for Hail!Hornet's self-title debut is crushing... you definitely mixed for maximum velocity and impact. Its got to be an odd position for you, as both the producer and a member of the band. Does everyone have input... or want to give input... into how the mix sounds, or do you guys just record and then they hand it over to you? I'd imagine given the first scenario, there might be some hurt feelings if, say, the T.Roy felt the vocals were too far in the mix, or Erik felt the snare sounded like shit. In short, is Hail!Hornet a democracy or a fascist regime? You know, like Mussolini of the Mixing Board?

Vince: That seems to be a common thought, in that it would be difficult to be in a band you are also recording. I guess since I started off doing that, it really doesn't change much for me. The guys in H!H all had input on various things, but I think everybody trusts my judgement on this stuff and no one felt the need to take the wheel. I did promise the guys that it would be HEAVY, so hopefully, I came through. On the other hand, Ben Hogg does maintain that I am the band DICK, hah! Every band has one I guess...


Hellride Music: Let's discuss the H!H approach to music for a sec... H!H encompass a lot of styles... we've got turgid slo-mo doom crawls going hand in hand with crusty grinds and mosh-pit malevolence... but H!H still manages to make it a cohesive flow of songs. Did you guys have a particular sound in mind from the start or did the H!H material just evolve? How did you guys go about writing for this record?

Vince: It's really all of our interests combined. I think we all come from a similar school of thought... which is basically everything DIRTY. T-roy and Dixie were probably the most out of their element, but they had done shit like this in the past. Erik is a metal-head, as well as I, so that was easy. I threw together the riffs and had Erik come out to the studio, then we hammered 'em down to the songs they are now. Can't say enough about that dude...a real workhorse of a musician and a stand-up kinda fella. Everything else is like you would imagine after that. Dixie and T-roy came up to the studio and filled in the holes. Neither one of those guys knew what they were getting into until they walked in the door and heard it for the first time. So, they really pulled it together nicely. I'm sure you can imagine, but not much of this record was performed sober, that's for sure! On the same note, don't get in a bourbon drinkin' contest with this band... you'll LOSE!!


Hellride Music: Let's not beat around the bush, you guys look like four fucks who have seen and done a bit of damage in their collective lives. I know, because I sort of look that way too, but way less hair. I could be totally wrong, and if I am, I'm sorry in advance. But you have that look, and I think you guys are aware of that. How much of H!H's music reflect your own experiences both in sound and in lyrics? Does "the look" ever trigger calls to the police, moms with kids crossing the streets to avoid you and startled liquor store clerks wide-eyed and sweating as they hand you your change? In other words, how much of H!H is the real deal and how much of it is a work of fiction? I don't see you at all relaxing at home with a mint julep and listening to Brahms, you know?

Vince: Hah, that's funny shit! I think everyone in this band could tell a story or three, but mostly, we are a laid back sort. I say that, but at my last birthday I had Weedeater play in the studio for me and some of my friends. My neighbor came over and was like, "you guys party too hard!" I guess it's all in how you look at it. I suppose the guy in prison for homicide looks at the guy beside him locked up for credit card fraud as though he's a pussy. They're both still fuck-ups, either way. By the way, what the hell is a mint Julep?


Hellride Music: You're from the South, you should be telling me what a mint julep is. Back to the album, there's one song in particular that I want to talk about and that is "He Who Walks Behind The Rose Brothers". It's got Dixie (for some reason, I thought T.Roy handled all the vox at first) doing a bit of what sounds like stream-of-consciousness spoken word. Did Dixie just wing it on this or did he actually have this written out beforehand? I love that track, trips me out every time I hear it.

Vince: No one can rant like Dixie, hah! A lot of that song is his own twisted brain sputtering and knocking like an old V8 with a couple thrown rods and his mouth being the tailpipe. Some of the other shit is actually stuff that he accumulated from this crazy-ass dude who lives behind the "Rose Brothers" furniture store, which is close to where Dixie works at his day job. Dixie told me that the guy comes into the Head Shop where he works fairly often. The guy will stand there by the counter eating the business cards on the counter and ramble on about some truly psychotic shit! I'm sure they have a lot to talk about...now that I think about it.


Hellride Music: HA!! That's great! What about live H!H? You guys playing out much? Or planning to?

Vince: No shows yet, but we are workin' on it. I'm sure you know that some of these guys 'main' bands are very active and it is gonna be tough getting everybody on the same page. I really want it to happen, because I love jammin' with these hooligans.


Hellride Music: That opens up another question... from where the band stands today, do you guys think that H!H will be a continuing project going forward, or was it just a one off thing with friends? I mean, collectively as you said, you guys are in a shitload of bands. How do you pick what gets priority?

Vince: This is definitely not a one time thing. Even if we never play a show, I will keep it alive as long as I can. I have too many unused riffs, man. As a matter of fact, there are two splits coming out in the near future. One will be a 10" split with Deadbird (Arkansas) and the other will be a three way split with Fistula (Ohio) and -16- (California). More crap to come...that's a definite!


Hellride Music: That's great to hear. Vince, thanks again, I appreciate the time you put into this. Congrats on the debut, it's a great record of unexpurgated, full-on gale force sonic violence and general motherfuckery. Hopefully H!H will carry on - any last words for us?

Vince: Thanks! Much thanks to you, Chris, and Hellride for y'all's time, as well. You are too kind, sir. Last words, hmmm... buy our shit, I guess, and check the stupid MySpace page for upcoming split release dates and all that. "General Motherfuckery," huh? That will no doubtedly be on the back of the shirt. Cheers Chris,



Purchase Hail!Hornet at the Hellride Music Superstore

Listen to a MP3 of Foxy Fuck/No Solution

Read the Hellride review of Hail!Hornet

Visit the Hail!Hornet website at www.MySpace.com/2hailhornet