Josh Campio - Hand of Mercy (11/11/2013)
Ahead of the Vans Warped Tour Australia, we chat with Josh Campio of Hand of Mercy
Hey Josh! You guys must be excited to be playing on Warped?
Yeah it's unreal. It's been unfortunate that we haven't had it in so long. When I was growing up I missed out on the one that was last on and I was always hearing about the American one and how great it is. To be able to play it when it's coming back is phenomenal.
How did it come about for you to end up on the lineup?
I'm not really too sure. We were working towards getting on it and one day when we were overseas on tour we found out the day that it was announced that we were on it. It was pretty exciting.
You just returned from a tour of Europe with the likes of Emmure, Carnifex, Northlane and (I Killed The) Prom Queen. How was that?
It was great. That was our second time in Europe, we went about six months ago with Bleeding Through. To tour with Northlane who we're really good friends with and to like a lot of the bands on the bill it was really cool getting to see them all play. Having Northlane and Prom Queen over there as well made it feel like we were at home the entire time which was even better.
What was the response like from the crowds?
Yeah, it was good. Obviously the first time we went over there no one really knew who we were because we'd never been there before but there were a lot of people that were at the shows from the first time around. We were always playing to heaps of people every night because we were lucky enough that people in Europe like to get to shows early. It was far beyond anything we ever thought. We didn't know if we'd ever get back to Europe again so to do it again so close was unreal.
Some people may not have heard of Hand of Mercy so how did the band come about?
Funnily enough I was sixteen when I joined. I was at band practice for this other little shitty high school band I was in and on the cork board at the rehearsal spot there was this flyer that said do you like bands like Parkway Drive, As I Lay Dying, Prom Queen...stuff like that, that was our old drummer and our current guitarist Adam (who set that up) and so I called them up to jam with them. A little while later we were all at a Parkway gig I think it was our drummer asked Scott if he knew anyone who could sing and he said he could so he asked him to bring a bass player to the next practice and that was how it started basically.
And where did the name Hand of Mercy come from?
It was really just the best name we had at the time. We wanted to start playing shows and we needed a name so yeah, that was just the best name at the time.
Fair enough. When you were growing up what bands inspired you to want to be in a band yourself?
One of the first concerts I ever went to was the Foo Fighters and it was a free thing at Channel V, actually it might have been the first concert I ever went to. I was about twelve or thirteen and when I left I just had the thought that (playing in a band) is just something that I have to do. It was them and Queens of the Stone Age really. My older brother was into all that sort of stuff and once he found out that I was getting into that sort of music he started giving me more and more of his CD's.
What bands are you loving right now?
Balance and Composure and Hellions are the main two. Hellions are friends of ours from Sydney. I think their record is one of my top records of the year, if not my favourite one.
I wanna ask about Last Lights which came out last year. What's the response been to that one compared to your debut (The Fallout)?
It was a lot bigger than I thought it was gonna be. We released it through Unified and to be on a real label we didn't really know what to expect. The album actually charted at about forty eight I believe and we couldn't believe it, it was insane.
That would have been a pretty great feeling. You guys are also working on a new album is that right?
Yeah we are. We're in Cape Cod which is in Massachusetts, about an hour out of Boston where we recorded Last Lights two years ago. Funnily enough I'm currently sitting on the bed of the house that we're staying at at the moment.
What's it like to be in America for the second time recording an album? It must feel pretty surreal.
Yeah the even more surreal part is we came straight from Europe as well. The Europe tour ran about a month and we're here for about a month as well so that's the longest I've ever been away from home but to be here again definitely is surreal. It's just crazy. Hopefully we get to come back and do another one here.
When can we expect the new album to drop?
I think it's early, not too early, but earlyish next year.
When you're writing who writes the lyrics and what inspires them?
We all sort of pitch in, it's really a group effort. We all have our say and have our own input. I find we work really well that way, everyone bands together when it comes to that sort of stuff. What was the second part of the question sorry? What inspires you when writing? Well we're going through a real positive stage. It's really easy to write angry stuff because the music is quite aggressive but we're trying to put a different spin on that and make it positivity through an aggressive sound. That's what we're going for this time.
So once all the recording is done you'll be heading back to Australia for Warped. What's the plans for after Warped?
After Warped we have a few shows I think booked for the end of the year, maybe one or two more and then we're sorting something out at the moment for a tour for early next year. Hopefully early next year we'll be doing something.
What band would you say has been the most fun to tour with?
I'm trying to think....touring with Northlane and Hundreth on the Never Say Die tour last month was heaps of fun. Hellions. We did a tour and hung out with those boys. They were in The Bride so hanging out with them is always an insane amount of fun. Bleeding Through were actually sick....well not literally but you know, they were just phenomenal to tour with. We clicked with all of them day one.
What was it like to tour with Bleeding Through on their farewell tour through Europe?
It was our first time in Europe and it was their farewell tour and they've been to Europe so many times prior to that so it kinda felt like they were showing us the ropes. That was pretty special.
What would you say is the best and worst thing about being in a band?
The best and worst....wow, tough. The best thing is being able to tour the world with your best friends and doing something that you enjoy above anything else. Also getting to make friends with other bands, even those that you may look up to and be influenced by. The worst thing is never having any money. (laughs)
What one thing are you most proud of that Hand of Mercy have done?
The best thing that we've ever done, it's so tough. I'm pretty proud of a lot of stuff we've done, even the fact that we've persevered without following any trends or anything like that. We didn't tailor our music to try and get popular, we just kept doing us.
How do you continue with that attitude? Being a hardcore band in Australian mustn't be easy at times.
I really like our music and as cliché as this is going to sound, without the hardcore scene I wouldn't have met some of my closest friends that I have now. I never wanted to be in a band to get big or to be famous or anything like that I just learnt guitar to play music and I love hardcore so I wanna be in a hardcore band (laughs).
(laughs) Good answer. We'll make this the last question. When you get some time away from Hand of Mercy what do you like to get up to?
I like to paint heaps. Me and my friend paint. I like to do that because it's pretty relaxing. There's the other stock things like hang out with your friends and stuff like that but painting I guess is like a hobby that I have.
Cool we'll wrap it up there. Thanks very much for your time. Have fun on the Warped tour.
Thanks very much for your time. Bye.
Matt Barton
Hey Josh! You guys must be excited to be playing on Warped?
Yeah it's unreal. It's been unfortunate that we haven't had it in so long. When I was growing up I missed out on the one that was last on and I was always hearing about the American one and how great it is. To be able to play it when it's coming back is phenomenal.
How did it come about for you to end up on the lineup?
I'm not really too sure. We were working towards getting on it and one day when we were overseas on tour we found out the day that it was announced that we were on it. It was pretty exciting.
You just returned from a tour of Europe with the likes of Emmure, Carnifex, Northlane and (I Killed The) Prom Queen. How was that?
It was great. That was our second time in Europe, we went about six months ago with Bleeding Through. To tour with Northlane who we're really good friends with and to like a lot of the bands on the bill it was really cool getting to see them all play. Having Northlane and Prom Queen over there as well made it feel like we were at home the entire time which was even better.
What was the response like from the crowds?
Yeah, it was good. Obviously the first time we went over there no one really knew who we were because we'd never been there before but there were a lot of people that were at the shows from the first time around. We were always playing to heaps of people every night because we were lucky enough that people in Europe like to get to shows early. It was far beyond anything we ever thought. We didn't know if we'd ever get back to Europe again so to do it again so close was unreal.
Some people may not have heard of Hand of Mercy so how did the band come about?
Funnily enough I was sixteen when I joined. I was at band practice for this other little shitty high school band I was in and on the cork board at the rehearsal spot there was this flyer that said do you like bands like Parkway Drive, As I Lay Dying, Prom Queen...stuff like that, that was our old drummer and our current guitarist Adam (who set that up) and so I called them up to jam with them. A little while later we were all at a Parkway gig I think it was our drummer asked Scott if he knew anyone who could sing and he said he could so he asked him to bring a bass player to the next practice and that was how it started basically.
And where did the name Hand of Mercy come from?
It was really just the best name we had at the time. We wanted to start playing shows and we needed a name so yeah, that was just the best name at the time.
Fair enough. When you were growing up what bands inspired you to want to be in a band yourself?
One of the first concerts I ever went to was the Foo Fighters and it was a free thing at Channel V, actually it might have been the first concert I ever went to. I was about twelve or thirteen and when I left I just had the thought that (playing in a band) is just something that I have to do. It was them and Queens of the Stone Age really. My older brother was into all that sort of stuff and once he found out that I was getting into that sort of music he started giving me more and more of his CD's.
What bands are you loving right now?
Balance and Composure and Hellions are the main two. Hellions are friends of ours from Sydney. I think their record is one of my top records of the year, if not my favourite one.
I wanna ask about Last Lights which came out last year. What's the response been to that one compared to your debut (The Fallout)?
It was a lot bigger than I thought it was gonna be. We released it through Unified and to be on a real label we didn't really know what to expect. The album actually charted at about forty eight I believe and we couldn't believe it, it was insane.
That would have been a pretty great feeling. You guys are also working on a new album is that right?
Yeah we are. We're in Cape Cod which is in Massachusetts, about an hour out of Boston where we recorded Last Lights two years ago. Funnily enough I'm currently sitting on the bed of the house that we're staying at at the moment.
What's it like to be in America for the second time recording an album? It must feel pretty surreal.
Yeah the even more surreal part is we came straight from Europe as well. The Europe tour ran about a month and we're here for about a month as well so that's the longest I've ever been away from home but to be here again definitely is surreal. It's just crazy. Hopefully we get to come back and do another one here.
When can we expect the new album to drop?
I think it's early, not too early, but earlyish next year.
When you're writing who writes the lyrics and what inspires them?
We all sort of pitch in, it's really a group effort. We all have our say and have our own input. I find we work really well that way, everyone bands together when it comes to that sort of stuff. What was the second part of the question sorry? What inspires you when writing? Well we're going through a real positive stage. It's really easy to write angry stuff because the music is quite aggressive but we're trying to put a different spin on that and make it positivity through an aggressive sound. That's what we're going for this time.
So once all the recording is done you'll be heading back to Australia for Warped. What's the plans for after Warped?
After Warped we have a few shows I think booked for the end of the year, maybe one or two more and then we're sorting something out at the moment for a tour for early next year. Hopefully early next year we'll be doing something.
What band would you say has been the most fun to tour with?
I'm trying to think....touring with Northlane and Hundreth on the Never Say Die tour last month was heaps of fun. Hellions. We did a tour and hung out with those boys. They were in The Bride so hanging out with them is always an insane amount of fun. Bleeding Through were actually sick....well not literally but you know, they were just phenomenal to tour with. We clicked with all of them day one.
What was it like to tour with Bleeding Through on their farewell tour through Europe?
It was our first time in Europe and it was their farewell tour and they've been to Europe so many times prior to that so it kinda felt like they were showing us the ropes. That was pretty special.
What would you say is the best and worst thing about being in a band?
The best and worst....wow, tough. The best thing is being able to tour the world with your best friends and doing something that you enjoy above anything else. Also getting to make friends with other bands, even those that you may look up to and be influenced by. The worst thing is never having any money. (laughs)
What one thing are you most proud of that Hand of Mercy have done?
The best thing that we've ever done, it's so tough. I'm pretty proud of a lot of stuff we've done, even the fact that we've persevered without following any trends or anything like that. We didn't tailor our music to try and get popular, we just kept doing us.
How do you continue with that attitude? Being a hardcore band in Australian mustn't be easy at times.
I really like our music and as cliché as this is going to sound, without the hardcore scene I wouldn't have met some of my closest friends that I have now. I never wanted to be in a band to get big or to be famous or anything like that I just learnt guitar to play music and I love hardcore so I wanna be in a hardcore band (laughs).
(laughs) Good answer. We'll make this the last question. When you get some time away from Hand of Mercy what do you like to get up to?
I like to paint heaps. Me and my friend paint. I like to do that because it's pretty relaxing. There's the other stock things like hang out with your friends and stuff like that but painting I guess is like a hobby that I have.
Cool we'll wrap it up there. Thanks very much for your time. Have fun on the Warped tour.
Thanks very much for your time. Bye.
Matt Barton