Not that "being serious" is the most important thing for a band, but when you meet folks who really are serious about their music and are putting everything they have into it, it certainly helps you respect them and their willingness to walk the walk.
To be clear: I'm not saying that all bands need to be serious or that they shouldn't have a good time or be goofy, but that a "serious" band has a work ethic. And Bad Hex's work ethic is pretty damn serious. Spokane's Jason Wolpert is Bad Hex, and he's put out 9 releases in like 2 or 3 years- with plans for more on the way! Read about him and his band:
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| (The hex is only being able to dress in black shirts and ball caps) |
Bad Hex is ______________?
I'm assuming you're asking about members here.. Bad Hex is me (Jason Wolpert). I write all the songs myself and play all the instruments on record. For live shows I get friends to play in the rhythm section. Ideally the live band is a 3 piece including a bassist and drummer but it doesn't always work out that way. Currently Joel May is playing drums on tour with me.
I'm assuming you're asking about members here.. Bad Hex is me (Jason Wolpert). I write all the songs myself and play all the instruments on record. For live shows I get friends to play in the rhythm section. Ideally the live band is a 3 piece including a bassist and drummer but it doesn't always work out that way. Currently Joel May is playing drums on tour with me.
Since you are straight edge and identify as queer, I assume those are topics and themes that crop up in your music. ...Or maybe not? I've written a lot of songs about a lot of different things. A lot of the songs we're playing right now are songs I've written about being queer. I write to process, and in my situation there is a lot to think about, and therefor sing about.
What are some other recurring themes found in your songs?
I'll write about anything that's going on in my life that I need to write about. I've written a lot of songs about being queer and the struggles that go along with that. Being straight edge, being abused, dealing with the death of a friend are other recurring topics. Most of the time when I write a song I feel isolated, abandoned or lost in some way.
For being an entity for like 2 years, you certainly have a lot of releases. Do you write songs pretty consistently or did you have a back-log of material piling up that you found an outlet for?
There was no preceding back log. I started writing songs that became the first couple Bad Hex releases in August of 2011, and the first record came out in March of 2012. The idea was to put out as much material as possible in a short period of time, so that I wouldn't have to play the same songs all the time and get burnt out on them. I'm definitely influenced by the noise and grind scenes with bands that have huge discographies and splits with every band you can think of. I guess I'm trying to do that sort of thing but with emo. and it helps that I've pretty much always got releases upcoming to throw songs at. This band is a very important outlet to me, so it makes sense that I'm continuously releasing things.
You are currently on a month-long tour with Billings' own Idaho Green. Where are you at this very moment and how have things been going? Any highlights/lowlights you'd like to share with us?
We're in Nashville, Tennessee right now. Tour has been great. Took me a while to get re accustomed to the lifestyle. I never like being on the road at first, but I get used to it after a couple weeks. It helps when the shows are good, which they have been lately. We had some holes in the Southwest and a couple lackluster dates in Louisiana. New Orleans made up for that, however. We had an amazing time there and played 2 great shows in the city. Chico, California was surprisingly another great place. We met a bunch of cool straight edge kids and had a great time hanging out there. There are a lot of stories to tell, but one of my favorites happened in Phoenix, Arizona. I was wandering around the venue after the show eating a can of chili beans. Some teenage kid walked up to me and said "Are you eating beans? Why are you eating a can of beans? Are you on tour? That must be a hard life." Guess I never thought about it that way, kid. I dropped out of college and here I am now, eating a can of beans.
Having just traveled through Spokane, I am wondering what sort of scene exists there. I was able to find a good vegan restaurant and a co-op on the same block, but didn't really see a lot of a bohemian/punk/weirdo element.
The scene comes and goes. Generally we've got one house hosting at a time, and the scene changes with each house. There will be a group of kids that come to one house, but stop going to shows when the scene gets moved to another house. And then there's the group of us that have been participating for years and will go wherever we can to play shows. Summers are when shows happen the most, partly because of our harsh winters and partly because most college kids basically refuse to play shows during the school year. A couple all ages venues just opened up, and there's another that has been around for a few years. The scene mostly lies in metalcore and EDM, and I'm not really interested in those scenes so I can't tell you much about them. There are a handful of great death metal/grind bands around, and a few good punk bands. Then there's a revolving cast of bands that last a year or a summer. Most people give up after a couple years and move to Seattle or Portland, which is fair; you don't have to try to keep those scenes alive. Those places will probably always have thriving scenes. Spokane requires a few people to work hard and get burnt out and get replaced by a few other people every so often.
Have you been to the Mobius Kids museum (that is just as fun for adults as it is for kids)?
Haha, I've never actually been there, but I walk by it every day when I walk to work.
Hopefully this is not an offensive or goofy question to ask someone who is straight edge, but if you were to lose your marbles and try a recreational drug, what do you think you'd go for?
Mountain Dew. I've never even considered drinking or smoking or anything. It's not for me. But fuck I miss Mountain Dew. I have been caffeine free for the last 3 or 4 years so I haven't had any since then. They make caffeine free Mountain Dew but it's like impossible to find. I even had a grocery store call the dealer for the entire Northwest and they couldn't get it. I've been looking for it every stop on tour but haven't found it. I'll just start calling distributors around the country to get some when I get home.
What would an absolutely ideal day be like for you?
This is a great question. It would probably involve sleeping a lot and waking up only for pizza. I fucking love pizza.
After tour winds down, what are your plans?
The first thing I'm gonna do after tour is take a shower. Then I'm going to spend a day doing nothing but hanging out with my girlfriend and my cat and enjoying the time with them that I've missed so much this past month. I'll only be home for a few days before taking off again for various things, but after the summer I'm going to try and lay low, work a lot and start recording my next full length and some splits.
Do you have any plugs or last words for the readers?
I met a drunk guy in New Orleans, and we talked about straight edge hardcore. He told me to be myself and do what I believe. I guess I'll pass that on to all of you. Thanks for having me! Stoked for Dreyfest!
That drunk guy knew his shit! ...And hopefully for you, doing what you believe includes attending their show at Richard Dreyfest 2014, readers!
For some Bad Hex tunes:
See you at Dreyfest!
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