Interview: Weeping Hour

Weeping Hour is a 5 piece progressive metalcore band from Monroe, Louisana. They recently released the deluxe edition of their 2019 debut album “In Hunger and Thirst“. Let’s have a chat with their frontman.

Introduce yourself and tell us your role in Weeping Hour?

– Hello, I’m Ethan Prudhomme and I’m the vocalist for Weeping Hour.

How are you guys doing, not being able to tour and all?

– It’s been a battle while not playing shows. I feel at first we had a spark of inspiration and were ready to shift our focus to write for our second release. However, when everything is so uncertain, it is easy to fall into complacency. We have since rekindled that drive and are working towards the next release. In the meantime, we will have another small supplemental release for “Hunger & Thirst”.

What is your musical background?

– I started playing bass guitar in sixth grade, as well as alto saxophone for the school band. I moved on to play tenor sax and percussion (tenor during football season). When in a small town, there aren’t many musicians. Of those few, my friends were adamant about playing metal. So I took on the guitar late in high school so that I could write my own music for metal.

What are some of your biggest musical and lyrical influences and what elements do you derive from them?

– Our musical influences are honestly all over the place. Our album influences are from metal bands like Meshuggah, Vildhjarta, Barrier, Oh, Sleeper, Structures to composers such as Ryuichi Sakamota, Johann Johannsson, and Has Zimmer. Each bandmate has their own unique tastes and influences from various genres.

Lyrically is hard to answer. A lot of the material that was on this record was written by Austin Knies (They Will Fall’s vocalist). I know he was influenced a lot by Micah Kinard from Oh, Sleeper, and Josiah Lyle from Mouth of the South/Rival Choir. He has a very unique style of almost writing out what feels like a confrontational conversation in his mind with his beliefs or society then answered in a very profound and almost college lecture feel. I’ve always admired his writing and style. I know that some of the vocal patterns were influenced by the Structures album “Life Through A Window”. The parts I brought to the table vocally were influenced by an early Northlane vibe and live a more progressive rock vibe.

For me, I notice I tend to take an idea then vaguely describe it or the scene in which it takes place. Then I expound upon the idea. It can seem random or sporadic. It’s odd because I can’t pinpoint exactly where that particular style comes from. I know which lyricists inspire me and push me to write more thought-provoking material. Those are people like Maynard James Keenan from Tool, Andy Hull from Manchester Orchestra, Bob Dylan, and Jordan Dreyer from La Dispute.

Where are you based out of and what is the local music scene like there?

– We are based out of Monroe, LA (Louisiana). The local music scene here is super small and has been reduced to a handful of bands in the last couple of years. There are some great bands just not a heavy scene or enough bands to keep it consistent. Honestly not a lot going on, which makes it a bit difficult when it comes to shows and growth.

Since you’ll be new to some of our readers, what is the history of the band?

– Most of us have known each other for years playing in bands around North Louisiana. Chris Shifflett (Drummer) and Corey McKnight (Guitarist) were in They Will Fall for years. McCall Metz (Guitarist) and myself were playing in a band together called Courier for the last couple of years. When They Will Fall had multiple lineup changes and Courier was ending, we joined together and brought in our friend, Hunter McBride (Bassist), to form Weeping Hour.

Usually, when bands go through lineup changes, they maintain their name. However, you guys took another route and started a new band under a new name. What was the reasoning behind this decision?

– They Will Fall had been discussing a rebranding because they wanted to refocus the band direction prior to all of the changes to the lineup. When we formed together we wanted to be a separate entity from They Will Fall and Courier. Some identify Weeping Hour as a continuation of They Will Fall but we feel this is an entirely different group and vibe.

Why did you guys choose the name, Weeping Hour?

– Weeping Hour was actually Austin Knies’ (Vocalist of They Will Fall) idea originally. It is about the universal truth that we as humans will undoubtedly suffer. The question is, “Are we willing to suffer more for the Gospel or remain in comfort for such a fleeting life?” Christ suffered for his people. Am I willing to do the same?

“For the Son of Man must suffer, how much less do I deserve to be exempt?”

How would you describe your overall sound, and how has it evolved since They Will Fall?

– Weeping Hour is essentially what They Will Fall was becoming, with or without changing the name. Despite the variety of influences between the members, there is a common vision of blending dark, aggressive chaos, with beautiful, elegant ambience. Both lyrically and musically. They Will Fall was striving for the same elements, but we feel Weeping Hour are those elements in the most mature form.

How was the writing & recording process for “Hunger & Thirst”? (Is there a main songwriter or is it a group effort? Who handles the lyrics?)

– The original vocalist, Austin Knies, wrote the lyrics to Outlier, Foreign Flame, A Rumor Of Wisdom, and In Hunger & Thirst. The title track “Weeping Hour” was the only song that had not been completed lyrically after Austin had left the band. He was very humble in letting his original lyrics remain in the other 4 tracks knowing they would be recorded by someone else. Our drummer Chris wrote most of the music as well as the hybrid orchestral interludes.

Who produced Hunger & Thirst and what was it like working with them?

– Jonathan Dolese of KonKrete Studios recorded and mixed Hunger & Thirst. Jonathan is a great up and coming producer who has worked with most of Louisiana’s rock and metal scene. While this was our first time working with him as Weeping Hour, he quickly understood and endorsed the band’s vision. We look forward to working with him on future Weeping Hour releases.

What’s the main concept behind the album and what do you hope fans would take away from it?

– The album tackles the universal experience of suffering and how, as believers, we are to see suffering. One cannot deny that the early Church endured much suffering through religious persecution as well as hardships that we all face today and are probably facing right now. “Woe To Those At Ease” is the theme lyric of the album. The phrase is both a warning and a calling. A warning to not let this world become ‘home.’ To not get comfortable, to not become complacent. It is a calling to a life of meaning and substance through following Christ and seeking to live by His example.

There is a ton of thought-provoking and theologically oriented lyrics on the album. Some that particularly stood out to me was on the song, In Hunger and Thirst, “Take the family religion away / Let my worldview change / Call me an apostate”. Could you explain the meaning behind this song?

– This song in particular is very much inspired by many of the Apostle Paul’s writings in scripture. The title “In Hunger And Thirst” is derived from many of Paul’s accounts of enduring many hardships for the sake of The Gospel. Whether it be persecution or literally going without physical needs such as food and drink. That particular lyric suggests a frustration with what we call “Christianity” in our culture. We are saying to strip away the version of Christianity that we have invented and to exchange it for what God intended it to be. It is essentially denouncing what we have turned what it means to follow Christ to be.

How did you come to faith in Jesus and how do you stay grounded in your faith while touring?

– I grew up in a church and lived with a very moralistic approach to Christianity. I had a couple of years where it just didn’t seem to matter to me as much honestly. I was “decent”, so I was good. I was struggling at a time in my life when I was working as a correctional officer at an Immigration Detention Facility. I had some internal struggles with what I was doing and frustrated at the sudden changes in personal life. I found a New Testament Bible there in my desk. It was Chinese on one side of the page and English on the other. I thought that was intriguing. As I was looking at it, I had realized I had never read it in its entirety. Then I realized I never really knew the true nature of Christ and didn’t have solid beliefs. I just knew the generic Southern Christian responses to questions. I began to read and read it multiple times while I was there. Due to me to trying to get away from everything when I wasn’t working, I spent a lot of time driving to Monroe and growing my friendship with multiple people who really had an impact on my faith. A few of these people I’m now in a band with. I would say that’s where my true belief began. I was later baptized by Chris’ father and I just remember the joy I felt in that moment.

As for how I stay grounded, I would say community. These guys hold me accountable and I’m beyond grateful for that. They are life-giving people and I’ve learned a lot from them.

What is your mission as a band and do you consider Weeping Hour a ministry or just a band made up of Christians?

— While we all have different upbringings and Church backgrounds, we all claim to be Christians in Weeping Hour. We don’t necessarily announce that we are a “Christain band” every time we are on stage, but we have no problem sharing our beliefs and hope to have as many Gospel-centered conversations as possible. We want to be approachable. We don’t want people with different beliefs and skepticisms to be hesitant to talk to us because they may feel judged or belittled. We love talking through difficult topics whether we have the answers or not (most likely we don’t have the answers) At the end of [the] day, we want to be genuine people without compromising our convictions.

What are some of your hobbies besides music and what do you do full-time?

– All of us have regular full-time jobs. Three of us (Corey, McCall, and myself) are baristas, Chris does landscaping work, and Hunter is a librarian.

A few of us are really into gaming, others could care less. Since we are mostly baristas we always like to stop at the local shops while we are traveling. It’s honestly one of my favorite parts.

I’m the only sports fan in the group. I’m a big hockey fan and try to make it out to a couple Dallas Stars games every year.

Our hobbies range but we all meet in the middle with music and films. Discussing/analyzing well-written music and great films is one of our favorite past-times.

We all have our side outlets and all try to stay creative/busy with music-related things. Corey leads worship at church (Chris and McCall play in the band as well), Chris works on score compositions, Hunter is learning a lot about music production, and I’m working on some garage/indie rock music.

What is next for Weeping Hour?

– We are currently working on new material as well as additional content related to Hunger & Thirst. This writing process is particularly exciting since this will be the first time material is written from the ground up with this line-up.

Lastly, what’s going on with Courier, is it on the back-burner?

– Yes. Courier is done at this point. Weeping Hour has become our focus.

Thanks for taking the time to do this. It’s been an honor to interview one of my favorite bands. Anything else you’d like to share?

– First off, I’d like to say thank you for reaching out to us and we appreciate you giving our music a listen. Secondly, I just want to say to everyone who supports us to bear with us as we go into this next phase of writing and that we desperately miss seeing you all. Stay safe and show compassion during these odd times.