Cast Iron Hike – Watch It Burn – Interview

Cast Iron Hike

Watch It Burn (Victory)
An interview with vocalist Jacob Otis Brennan
by Tim Creter

In Cast Iron Hike‘s three years, I’ve seen them play their rural hometown in Massachusetts and clubs in Boston, all along gaining respect from more established bands. Now Chris, Mike, Jacob, Pete, and Dave have hit the big time, after only two 7″s, with a full-length out on Victory. Their signature sound is a mix of progressive rock and hardcore, almost like Cro-Mags and Quicksand, that does not disappoint even the toughest of fans. The band as a whole is one pounding, rock-solid rhythm section. Emotional vocals and lyrics set the mood over highly danceable and heavy guitar riffs. Cast Iron Hike is the hardcore equivalent of a band like AC/DC. Simplified, working class, rocking songs that you hum for days and play air guitar to. And if you get the chance, definitely catch them live (and watch Pete, the bass player), possibly at the Warped Tour if you’re in the Northeast. Cast Iron Hike is a grassroots hardcore band with a highly potent sound that is finally getting the attention it deserves.

So you guys are rock stars.
Yeah, I feel like a rock star. Still can’t pay my rent, though. People say we’re rock stars, so I guess we are.

Why was the release pushed back so far?
Well, basically we had a lot of questions we needed answers to from the label, and we weren’t going to hand over the masters until they were answered. Once they were answered to our satisfaction, we handed them over. At this point it had been so long that the label needed to sit on it for another month so they could re-evaluate and set up their marketing.

Is it just me, or do you also think a lot has happened to this band in a short time?
Well, it’s funny you say that. Today we were listening to this live tape, Dave (drums) and I, that we did in our first year. Listening to us play then, and knowing what we know now, it definitely feels like a long fucking time. There’s been a lot of time between then and now, and we’ve grown a lot as musicians and as people, too. For us, right now is the perfect time for this to be happening. We weren’t in a position, musically or creatively, for this to happen in our first or second year together.

It’s really noticeable how much tighter you guys have gotten.
Thanks, that’s one of the things we agonize over a lot. Being in a studio you’re under this gigantic magnifying glass all the time, and all the inconsistencies and differences have really shown through and made us take things a little more seriously.

Do still like playing in Clinton?
Yeah. We played there with Fugazi a couple of weeks ago. That was one of the biggest nights of my life, because not only did we play with Fugazi, but my mom and my stepfather were both at the show and they had never seen us before. They came up to us afterwards, and you expect your parents to give you the typical vote of confidence, but my mom said, “Wow, there’s so much energy in what you do.” That was better than “nice job, son.” I could tell that she really got it. Afterwards, loading up, I was talking with Ian MacKaye. He said he was watching my parents the whole time by the side of the stage and they were fuckin’ glowing. I thought that was so good, being affirmed not only by my parents but by one of my heroes. It was really a wonderful night.

While we’re talking about Clinton, from what I’ve read in the press release,Watch it Burn, the song and the album, is directed at the town.
Right. The lyrics to the record, in general, are specifically about my experiences, which are shared by Chris (guitar) and my friends who grew up there, about growing up in that town. It hasn’t always been the somewhat “juvenile/liberal” hotbed that it is now. It still is, in most cases, very conservative. They really did, and I’m sure they still do, try to stamp out any creativity and individualism in the kids. When I say “they” I mean it in the typical “Us vs. Them” fashion. Teachers and others would outright criticize you for your musical tastes. This was when punk rock wasn’t on MTV and neither was hardcore. You were even further outcast than you are now, then you were a real fuckin’ weirdo. We just did what we wanted to do and it’s weird now that Fugazi played there. The town, I think, is nothing different from what most people experience in any small town growing up. I happen to write about it, and we chose that song to be the title of our record. We built it around that theme, with the artwork, and a lot of my lyrics and the music having a real desperate undertone and sense of hopelessness that can be applied to growing up in a repressed environment like I think we did. I don’t want to sound like a bitchy, whiny, suburban white kid which I am (laughs). If you’re dissatisfied you’re dissatisfied.

With what bands have you played your best shows?
Our best shows have been really recent. Probably the best show I can remember was in the last month. It was after the tour, it was really far away, and all the bands were fucking horrible. We were really bummed out sitting around watching these bands who we didn’t like, and it made us down on ourselves and the whole scene. But it brought some life into our set, and we played really, really well, the best set we’ve played in a long time. That show in particular and the Fugazi show, because we really wanted to shine and leave an impression on people that have left impressions on us.

If G.G. Allin was alive today, would you tour with him?
No. He wouldn’t tour with us. He would hate us. He would hate our cover of his song (“Shoot, Knife, Strangle, Beat, and Crucify”). I don’t think he’d be into it and I don’t think we’d be into to it either because we’re kind of nerds on tour. The last tour we went crazy for the first few days and tried to pretend we were a rock band, and then we realized we’re not and we’re just into hanging out and being normal.

So you’re just waiting for the record to come out now?
Yeah, we’re going to tour with Snapcase in June and do thirteen dates. We’ve got stuff lined up for July and August and we’ll see what happens after that. Snapcase is actually very responsible for getting us on the label. Darryl was very supportive and really pushed Tony at Victory to come see us and eventually sign us.