This Is Hell bassist Pieter Vandenberg insists that last fall’s run supporting Bring Me The Horizon and August Burns Red wasn’t just any kind of tour — it was a rock spectacle.
“[Vocalist Travis Reilly] would get up on the mic… and would go ‘where are all my metalheads?!,’ then [have] all these kids throw up the metal horns. Sometimes you would get a good reaction, but other times the whole place would do it! It’s like ‘I feel like I’m in Metallica right now,'” he laughs.
Original guitarist Rick Jimenez affirms that no matter how large the shows or level of success This Is Hell achieves, the band will maintain its strong DIY work ethic, and stay true to its hardcore values.
Says Jimenez, “There is no such thing as what a hardcore band shouldn’t or should do. As long as you don’t have that I’m better than you attitude or this rockstar bullshit…then there are no rules.”
With the band’s fourth studio album expected out in October through Rise Records, This Is Hell says that its “no rules” and “don’t give a fuck” attitude shines through with the upcoming effort. “It’s so cool to write a record without having the mindset of it [needing to fit into a particular genre],” Jimenez stated.
This Is Hell came over to Bonnerhaus, the Ryan’s Rock Show headquarters in North Hollywood, for a candid conversation on their forthcoming album, tour stories, and Jimenez’s side project Soldiers.
A few things to note about this interview: This Is Hell will head out with Underoath, Comeback Kid, and The Chariot on a North American trek this fall. Bassist Pieter Vandenberg also plays bass in a band called Endwell, who hope to hit the road again later in the year after being forced to cancel their summer touring plans. Lastly, vocalist Travis Reilly is the brother of Nightmare of You singer (and former The Movielife guitarist) Brandon Reilly — they came to Bonnerhaus for a Ryan’s Rock Show interview two years ago to the month.
From left to right: Rick Jimenez, Pieter Vandenberg.
Front page & article photos by Dorothy Gilbert
The interview begins with Vandenberg reminiscing on the band’s tour last year with Bring Me The Horizon and August Burns Red.