House of Heroes at Icthus 2006
07-17-2006
by Lindsay Schoon

House of Heroes made an impact on audiences last fall opening for music powerhouses Relient K and MXPX based on their energetic stage show and ability to make raw, back-to-basics music sound like polished perfection. Their singles Serial Sleepers and Buckets have made waves on Christian Rock stations around the country. They have been touring constantly for the past few years, and recently released the album Say No More, a re-release of their 2005 self-titled album, with a few new tracks.

CMCentral.com sat down with the three-piece band before their performance at Ichthus Festival 2006. They discussed a variety of topics including what makes their band a Christian band, what their songs and metaphors represent, record company struggles and importance of band-member camaraderie.

CMCentral.com (Lindsay Schoon): Where did the name House of Heroes come from?

Tim Skipper: It doesn't mean anything. Colin came up with it one day, and we all voted on it.

There is so much debate about what makes a band a Christian band. What do you have to say about that, and what defines you as being a “Christian band”?

I was noticing that there’s this Christian magazine that has these new album ratings that have spiritual content rated between one and five or something

Colin Rigsby: I mean, that’s okay, I mean, write the lyrics, but

I know there are a lot of albums that don’t necessarily say the name of Jesus but have a lot of spiritual content. That's a long story, but anyway.

I see Serial Sleepers as being a very spiritual song, about the people that know the Truth but don’t speak about it, is that correct?

We don’t feel the need to go out there and preach to people hardcore, but we do feel the responsibility to share the truth and hope we have. So when we say “Serial sleepers slay with words unsaid,” its like you’re killing people by not saying anything if they are reaching out to you, if they’re asking for answers, you know? You’re exactly right.

In the song “Make a Face Like You Mean It (Vampires),” you sing “Vampires want your blood. You can’t always get what you want, but they do.” Who is this vampire you speak of?

All: Yeah, we’re talking about.. Dracula! Suck your blood!

No, the vampires we speak of are the “vampires“ in the music industry. We went through a time where all these labels were interested, saying, “we love the band, we love the music, but change.” They wanted everything to be formulaic. To be this way, that way, and we’ll sign you. We were like, well, what’s wrong with the way we are now? And they’d say, well, it’s just not going to work, we need.. this. You need to change this. They were basically telling us what they wanted. So we say the vampires want your blood because we said we wouldn’t do that, and they would say they wouldn’t work with us. It was like

They want your soul.

You can’t always get what you want, but they do. The truth is what they want to see, so. That’s basically it. It’s very sarcastic. It came from a point of frustration. I don’t know any band that is completely happy with the music industry, but at the same time, it isn’t worth compromising yourself to sell more records.

What is your writing process like?

When bands are at their best is when they’re at their most honest. Our second record , House of Heroes, is when we were at our most honest. The songs basically wrote themselves because we weren’t trying to write a certain way. And we’ve been chasing that ever since, and not quite getting there. When the songs write themselves, they are coming from such an honest place, and that’s the best kind of music.

Yeah, not when you have to force it.

Exactly.

I notice bass player/songwriter AJ Babcock isn’t here, but a new player, Jared Rigsby, is. Tell me about that. How long have you been playing with the band, Jared?

Jared Rigsby: A couple of months now.

Are you related to Colin?

Yeah, he’s my older brother.

It’s kind of a weird situation. AJ just hated the road. He has back problems, he wanted to get engaged and he just hated being away from home. And we respect that, because he was just miserable being out on the road. It was for the best that he isn’t touring anymore, but we’re gonna try to figure out how we’re gonna work it, as far as if he’s still gonna still write with us or not. Hopefully we’ll get together and talk about it soon, but having Jared on the road with us has just great. It’s his style to be a nomad, stay up until all hours of the morning, fly by the seat of your pants.

That sounds like fun

Yeah, it’s all right.

Sometimes, we stay up waaaay too late...

There was this one time we stayed up way past midnight.

AJ wrote a majority of the lyrics before, so who’s going to write them now that he isn’t here?

He’ll probably still write some with us, but we’ll all try to contribute. We’re not quite sure yet.

Yeah, we haven’t gotten that far

You guys are from Ohio, right?

Yes, Columbus.

Do you still live there, or do you now live wherever it is that you record?

Yeah, we’re still in Columbus. We’ve actually been there a lot lately. It’s nice. We’re there for like two weeks, and then we’re on the road for two weeks

We call them two week binges. Two week road binges.

In the album House of Heroes/Say No More, there are many references to blood, wounds, skin and bullets. Why all of the graphic references?

I think it kind of gets the point across more when you’re graphic like that. It isn’t like, ooh Band-Aids, first aid.

Hot Hot Heat has a song called Bandages!

Yeah, that’s a great song, they are a great band.

Who are your favorite bands to listen to?

Queen, the Beatles, Silverchair. I get a lot of vocal inspiration from Daniel Johns on Silverchair’s album Diorama.

(in sarcastic tone): wind chimes, sounds of the forest, jungle soundtracks, just to sit outside and listen to them. I personally like the sound of bowling pins being knocked down again and again and again. No, but seriously, I like to listen to classical stuff. opera, show-tunes, random singers from around the world that no one has ever heard of.

It’s really good to listen to a lot of classical stuff because it kind of fuels creativity, gets you out of the mundane. And they have these penetrating melodies.

It has sets good moods, good vibes

Who are your favorite bands to hang out with?

Relient K, The Showdown, Family Force

as of late, MXPX, Dropping Daylight, and there are several others.

What keeps you guys going?

The fear of getting a real job. Music is like the only thing we’re good at. Well, its not the only thing, but its the only thing we’re good at and enjoy doing.

I really enjoy playing music. I think I’d still play music on my own, but there’s something about playing with this group of guys, it’s just really cool. There is something different about it. Spend enough time and you develop this connection... this bond.

Bond, James Bond?

(laughter)

Recently there was this article in Rolling Stone about the Red Hot Chili Peppers, how they’re so close and they just enjoy playing music with each other. The guitarist said sometimes they go into a room to make music and the music is just there, that the music just kind of writes itself, and they connect with each other. And that is really attractive to me, that you can create something greater than the sum of your parts.

There was this journalist that said that the best thing a band can do in order to create good music is to stick together. It’s not true in every case, but you look at bands like U

and the Red Hot Chili Peppers who have been around for two decades or more, and they’re making great music.

What has God been teaching you guys lately?

I’ve just really had a cynical heart about a lot of things as far as Christianity and the church is concerned. You just see a lot of stuff that you’re not happy with and you think, “That’s not biblical.” You know, just certain things that Christians do, and the way some people have been hurt by the church and other Christians. I just went through this period of being cynical about it, not hopeful at all, thinking that things will never change, people will never change. I was frustrated with Christians and just didn’t want to deal with them, but the Lord has been convicting my heart lately. Yes, you do have to love have to love non-Christians, and that’s something that has been really powerful to me lately, but perhaps more powerful is the idea that you have to love people who are Christians that might frustrate you or have turned your friends off to church. Those people deserve just as much love as “sinners” who do things the church doesn’t necessarily agree with.

Where would you like to see your career go in the next two years?

Japan! We want to be the biggest band in the world in two years. Bigger than Angels and Airwaves, which are currently the champions of the world music scene.

Of course, you always want to see your band get bigger. That’s a sign of progress. There are two levels of it. There’s the level of connecting with more people, and then there is the other level of progressing as musicians and people. If any of that halts, that’s a bummer. Mono vs. Stereo, which works alongside the label we are signed to, Gotee, wanted to re-release our album in order to get it into more stores, but they failed at that. We don’t get it. At this point, we just have to control the things we can control, like playing as many shows as we can and selling records there.