Sprouting out of Chico, Calif., Hail the Sun is a progressive hard rock quartet that combines explosive high-energy instrumentation with melodic vocal intricacies to create their own brand of music. The group came through Houston Sept. 15, performing at Walter’s Downtown to support the release of their new album “Wake,” hitting stores Sept. 23. The Cougar sat down with Donovan Melero, lead singer of the group, to get the scoop on their newest release.
The Cougar: How has the tour been going?
Donovan Melero: The tour has been going great. We’ve been on the road now for eleven days. Anaheim was insane. San Antonio was insane.
TC: How did you pick the lineup of bands for tonight?
DM: Me and Sergio (of Stolas) had been talking about touring together since last March, and we decided now was the right time to do it, and Icarus the Owl are some great friends of mine, and they fit the bill to do it. They’re a band that I book as well.
TC: Can you tell me about the new Hail The Sun record coming out?
DM: The record is called “Wake.” There are 12 tracks. We’ve been writing songs for the last year and a half; it’s the first new music that we put out since “Elephantitis” in July of 2012, so we’ve been writing this for more than two years. It’s nice to have a full new length, I feel like it’s a little bit more mature musically and structurally.
TC: Parts of the “Elephantitis EP” consisted of making statements about different parts of culture. Are there any themes like that present on this album?
DM: It’s a reoccurring dark theme, pretty much the whole album. You never know when anything will end; there is nothing you can be sure about but that one day you will come to an end.
TC: Does this come from something you’re experiencing or just a personal choice to write about these topics?
DM: Both. We talked about doing a concept album, but in my personal opinion that whole thing is overdone. I think it’s boring, so we didn’t do a concept album. We wrote songs about stuff we wanted to write about.
TC: Did you do anything when recording this as opposed to when you recorded the “Elephantitis EP”?
DM: We had everything pretty much written before we went to the studio. With “Elephantitis” we had a lot of last-minute studio magic. We prepared a lot more for this album. It’s gotten way tighter.
TC: Is there anything you want to part on?
DM: I just want to say thanks to everyone, all of the fans. Me and Eric have been doing this for eight years and five years (as Hail the Sun.) It’s nice to see it grow some legs.
