Hands Like Houses Interview - Warped Tour Pomona 2013

Hands Like Houses are a very interesting band for many reasons. The fact that they are from Australia, yet still managed to make themselves well-known over here in the States, should be enough to make them stand out, but there's more to it than that. In some circles, they're known by the bands they've played with, such as We Came as Romans, Sleeping with Sirens, and Pierce the Veil. They have so many different fans, those who are into harder music, those who like the softer elements HLH has to offer, and those who have tripped over them merely by accident. It seems like most of the fans they have gathered, however, are very loyal. Their diverse style and sound leaves a lot of room for different listeners to enjoy them.

They were totally awesome and down-to-earth, sweet guys, who I would take the opportunity to talk with again in the heartbeat. You can tell they're really making music because they love it. If you enjoy the interview with Trenton Woodley [vocalist] and Alex Pearson [guitar], please check out their links below and the video of their latest song!

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What has it been like starting off in Australia?

It's certainly been a challenge and a very extensive exercise to get ourselves over here. America bands doing
what we do, would probably be doing very well by now. But we're just kind of breaking even and making things work. Which is good, because it means we're not dipping into our life savings that we've already spent. [laugh]

Coming from Australia and being able to travel all over the world, like we got to go to America and the UK, it's everything we've wanted. It's what you dream of when you decide to join a band.

What have been some difficult moments that you've overcome?

Endless moments. We don't want to get onto that stuff. The positive way outweighs the negative.

Post-interview

Awesome, anything about the positive moments you want to talk about?

Warped Tour. We were just on tour with PTV in the UK, so we got to see the UK. We toured with them here in America as well.

We made a lot of friends everywhere, so it's kind of cool with Warped Tour, we pretty much know someone from everywhere. You don't feel so far from home when you're seeing familiar faces now and then.

It gives you the opportunity to inspire people and do something different. Express your views, not necessarily in a forcing it down people's throats way, but in a more delicate way.

It's a very cool thing to be able to meet new people, experience new things, and go new places, so you can broaden your understanding of the world around you.

Have you had a specific favorite moment?

You always have favorite shows.

Favorite moment recently, last night when we played in San Diego. Everyone just got on stage, and it was awesome. You could feel the vibe. That was one of the best live moments we've had so far. Just finding out that we were on Warped Tour. Getting signed. We've had so many shows and non-specific moments that have happened. The catering today was awesome! [laughs] And it's not raining!

What was it like to go from a lesser known place to touring with huge bands?

You sort of take it in stride. While it's something we have always dreamed of and we get excited by it, you kind of just accept it. We're not taking it for granted, but it's all happened in a way that's so surreal and happened so quickly, we haven't really stopped long enough to think about what we've actually been doing. At the end of the day, because of the difficulties that come with being a band from overseas, we have to keep doing that sort of stuff. We are ambitious in the most optimistic and enjoyable sense. [laughs] We've come a long, every opportunity is better than the the last and we're loving every minute of it.

Are there any woes of touring?


Myself and the drummer are both engaged, and the keyboardist is in a serious relationship, so being away for 5 or 6 months of the year gets really tough. Home cooked meals. Up til this tour with the catering, being able to sit down and eat a meal in a kitchen, around a table. Normal things. Sleeping in a normal bed. The most mundane things about being at home is what you miss on tour. You miss cooking, having a shower for as long as I want instead of having to keep it short because everyone wants to shower. [laughs]


Where did the name of your band come from?

We love good movies. There's this movie called The Science of Sleep by Michel Gondry, who guy who directed Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, as I recall. He also directed a Foo Fighter's clip a long time ago, and both of which featured a nightmare he had as a kid where he had giant, giant hands. And there was just a conversation in that movie that we thought was really cool, so we did it as a reference to that. As we've moved on, people have kind of added on another meaning. Like safe hands, holding onto the things that mean a lot to you, to keep them safe. Which is something we're all about as well. So it works both ways. It's something that people have attached to it that we've become attached to. People can make their own meaning. We try to make everything we do grow on its own and give it its own character in life.

What is your dream collaboration?

Both: Dave Grohl. I love his mindset. Especially after we watched the Sound City documentary recently. It's just incredible. His mindset and mentality are phenomenal. So having the opportunity to do something with him in a musical sense would be amazing.

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Check out Hands Like Houses on Facebook and Twitter, and get excited for their new album by checking out the video below!

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Photos by Talia Farber.