“It's a great album, it doesn’t deserve to be fuckin’ lost in the shuffle, and put aside; it needs to be heard by the masses.”

Seemingly Open Hand is the red-headed step child of Trustkill Records. The band just released a new album this year entitled You and Me. Unfortunately the effort remains buried amongst the band’s more high profiled labelmates. Join this passionate conversation with vocalist Justin Isham and drummer Paxton Pryor, as the album is discussed along side their frustration is highlighted as to why their album should not be over looked!

Karma: Thanks for doing the interview.

Justin: No, thank you for doing the interview.

Karma: Give the viewers a brief synopsis of Open Hand and how the band got started.

Justin: A quick synopsis of the band? Mike & I, our bass player, and I started it probably about five years ago and he had to leave, more for work purposes. So then I was kind of on my own for a while and then I kind of started putting it all together. Hope I'm not talking too quick or babbling.

Karma: No, you’re fine.

Justin: I started putting it all together, that took me about five years, I put out a couple of releases with various people. Sean, our guitar player, was in and out, Mike, was in and out, and Paxton and I been friends since I moved to the United States basically. 

Karma: Where are you from?

Justin: Germany, I was born in Frankfort. So him and I, been friends and in bands. He wasn't in a band till about a year and a half ago. Then, once he joined it kind of was all put together. Basically, a year ago is when the lineup solidified, that makes more sense probably. [Laughs]

Karma: [Chuckles] It does. Curious as to why you chose Open Hand?

Justin: The name?

Karma: Yeah.

Justin: It mostly came from my ex, ex, ex-girlfriend who came up with it. [Laughs] I liked it, she... [Shifts gears] Every band has that period where they go through a list of names and 99.9 of them suck. Hers was cool but, I won't say her name or give her anymore credit than I already have but that's where the name came from. [Chuckles] Yeah, it's based on the book 1984, the name. The name is derived from the language new speak.

Karma: How’s the tour going so far?

Justin: Good. It's fun, it's learning in process. I mean, some shows have been good, some been, whatever, you know. So, it's been fun.

Karma: Well you guys are getting a lot of press, Kerrang, Outburn, and Metal Hammer that’s pretty cool.

Justin: Yeah.

Karma: Your bio describes your sound as having a “sexy rock n' roll swagger”... [Chuckles]

Justin: Alright... now that you've met us, can you see how it's rock n' roll sexy swaggerish we really are? [Laughs] 

Karma: [Laughs] I can imagine. How best would you describe it?

Justin: How would I describe our sound?

Karma: Yes.

Justin: I dunno, how would you describe the sound, Paxton?

Paxton: Well, some would describe it as stoner pop. Some say we've fallen into stoner genres or like almost even...It kind of never really sits in one genre at all.

Justin: That was our whole purpose.

Paxton: If anybody listens to the album, and takes an honest listen to the whole album, it never sits in one genre at all. So anybody that says we're stoner pop or stoner anything like that like they're just probably going off of two songs off the album. So, basically it doesn't really fit into any genre at all. [Starts warming up on pads] Rock, hard rock.

Karma: Again, according to your bio: “The band has made an album that seems poised to unite the world's hipsters, metalheads, stoners, record freaks, guitar geeks, rockers and emo kids.” Again, I guess you can attribute that to not fitting into one genre...

Justin: Probably yeah.

Karma: I mean that's really cool that you can bring all that together.

Justin: No, I would rather be that way for sure. I would rather be that way instead of being just one trick pony, you know be one type kind of group and eventually they get bored of that and that'll end so. I'd rather be something for everyone and it will last a lot longer, hopefully.

Karma: Your latest CD, You And Me, tell your fans something about the production of the album that they may not have known previously.

Justin: I dunno, half the album was made at my house; the other half was made back in Colorado. So, like there wasn't too much difference except the first half was made at my house very low budget, the second half we did at a real studio, and they kind of fixed my songs and made them better. I dunno, besides that, we lived in a studio for three months and we recorded the other half, we stunk a lot and we were there for a long time, we didn't have a shower in the studio, by the way. [Laughs]

Karma: Oh no. [Chuckles]

Paxton: Now they do.

Justin: Well they put one in right when we were done recording, we couldn't take it.

Paxton: It was pretty bad!

Karma: Wow, so what's your favorite song off You And Me?

Justin: “Her Song”, track 2.

Paxton: Even though we don't fuckin' play it.

Justin: We don't play it live because I suck but that's my favorite song on there. 

Karma: How about you Paxton?

Paxton: My favorite song will probably be "Hard Night" or "Take No Action" because they're both similar in vibe, style, and beats and it's very much like classic rock, Bonham. It's straight forward, two, and four. It's just huge, heavy, and loud, I like it. It's like the end of the set, I don't think that's supposed to happen at the end of the set. [All of a sudden the rest of band whom are sitting at an adjacent table starts to yell, "Oh, Yahtzee!"] [We all laugh at the ironic timing of the outburst]

Karma: How did the songwriting differ from You And Me from the previous release, The Dream? Seemingly, the common lyrical theme of everyday life is prevalent.

Justin: Well the songwriting's different more because... [Pauses and looks at Paxton]

Paxton: I dunno, you try to explain it...

Justin: I dunno, The Dream was written...a lot of that stuff was written five years ago. So, and I was in a different mindset then again on my own. At that time, just joined the band, then [to] have the band go, toured off that for a while and have everyone went their own way. So, this album's different for me again you know on my own, in a different mindset and then him [pointing to Paxton] coming in as a different drummer. I dunno, half the songs on this album were written before the first one. Yeah, I had a lot of this stuff going...

Karma: Would you say a lot of your songs are like based on everyday situations?

Justin: Right, right, right. Lyrically, yeah, but the songwriting changed because times had changed...

Karma: Exactly. So, I understand that your previous bassist quit the band abruptly shortly after the release of The Dream, sounds more like a nightmare to me. What happened there?

Justin: [Laughs] Yeah, it was. I dunno, we got back from tour and everyone had to figure out how to make money and figure out how to survive as a human being not as a band member cause we were on tour for a while and without being on tour because there's no income. It was like, "Do I just sit around and hope there's more to come or do I go back to work and kick ass..." So everyone was more in that mindset so, until something more productive comes along or whatever else. It's just more of a matter like trying to keep people motivated all the time and it's very difficult. [Chuckles]

Karma: Very hard, very very hard. No matter how much you love it. You need to somehow tie in making money with your passions…

Justin: It is. [Laughs] Yeah, no matter how much you love playing music and love to do it, you have to still make a living, you know so...it is what it is.

Karma: That's true, very true. The poster that your friend created, did you come up with the concept and is based on a real life woman or…

Justin: It was half and half of all those things. I mean a lot of the songs are definitely based on one individual person, I won't say whom. I explained to Don, who did the artwork, Don Clark is his name, he did the album cover, the poster and all that shit. He asked what the album was about, he listened to the album, I gave him like a really rough picture of what I wanted that he evolved into something way crazier but the original idea I gave him, like the original concept I gave him he just went off. I explained to him what the lyrics were about, hence why he put the hand with the knife in the heart and all the other shit. So, he did a great job; he's pretty amazing.

Karma: That's very cool. Well, if you could commission your favorite band to do an Open Hand cover, which song would it be and who would do it?

Justin: Interesting question. I can get someone else to do a cover of ours?

Karma: Yep.

Justin: Everyone would say something different. I would say...let's see Aerosmith doing a cover of like fuckin' "Tough Girl" or something like that. I want to see Peter Gabriel do a cover of "Hard Night", switch it all around.

Paxton: Oh yeah!

Justin: That's what I'd want. [Laughs]

Karma: Very interesting. So, if you could host the ultimate Open Hand Fest, who would open for you?

Justin: Who would open for us? High On Fire, Clutch...we couldn't physically open...

Paxton: We're opening for them...

Justin: We'd have to open for them, Slayer... This would be my list, everyone’s would be different, we'd have to open though

Paxton:  We'd come on before; those bands won't open for us.

Justin: We'd have to open for my dream, Clutch, Slayer, and High On Fire. That would be my dream show right now. I could change, I could say something like Peter Gabriel and could invent things and say I wanna play with Cat Stevens before the end of my life, but that's never gonna happen.

Karma: We're actually gonna be interviewing with Clutch in a couple of weeks...

Paxton: Oh fuck!

Karma: Yes, do you have any questions for them?

Justin: Can we PLEASE tour with you?

Paxton: Why the fuck we're not touring with you and have you heard our album?

Karma: So, you want to know why you're not touring with them.

Paxton: Can you do our album?

Justin: I second that.

Karma: Okay, got it.

Paxton: Please can you do our album and please take us on tour. I'm not asking the question, I'm begging. Continuous begging on my hands and knees.

Karma: [Laughs] Okay, any final words?

Justin: Please buy our album.

Paxton: Buy our album; it will save your record collection, how about that.

Justin: Yeah, I'll say buy our album because you'll find something, at least one thing that will make it worthwhile.

Paxton: That's five of your life.

Karma: Thank you very much guys. 

Justin: Oh, thank you.

[A little later Paxton caught up with us by the bar just before their set]

Paxton: We were on Trustkill before I got in the band so, Open Hand signed with Trustkill about three and a half years ago or something like that, off the first two EP's. Then Trustkill combined the two EP's and made a release of The Dream. Justin recorded both of these things initially so you can tell the recording quality is not that good…anyway. One sounds different, one sounds better so the two are combined.

Well, we’re on this label. Essentially, like you know when Open Hand started, they were very much a different band nonetheless; being on a label amongst all the metal bands but they still had that metal quality that everybody could appeal to. Years later, nobody expects the band to grow up and become something more musical or different… You know like whatever the fuck it changes into, change has got to happen, otherwise you stay the same. The same people come to your shows; the same boring shit happens in your fuckin' life.

We’ve been sayin' since day one, me and Justin would record it ourselves with Paul. The songs we picked for this album specifically does not belong on Trustkill… We're in a market where kids are basing [our sound] off the old original name off Trustkill. So a lot of people are asking for original songs from The Dream and stuff like that. We play a couple here and there but within the set of the new album it doesn't sound right and it doesn't feel right either so. It's kind of like we're stuck in this thing...

Karma: In the future, which direction do you see the band going in and what your dream label be?

Paxton: Between Justin, and me we wanted this album to be like a landmark-fuckin' album where people go, "These two mother fuckers and this whole band are the shit and we should be paying attention to these guys!" We're not gonna get that shit! Instead, they're with the Every Time I Dies' and the fuckin' when It Dies Today and the fuckin' I shat on the fuckin' log in the toilet today. I hate the fuckin' [those] names, and you're recording this and I'm like some asshole that doesn't belong in the fuckin' scene of talking this shit, but I'm a motherfucker and I don't fuckin' give a fuck! 

Karma: I hear what you’re saying.

Paxton: I've played rock n' roll all my life, I've never had a genre that I really fit in other than when me and Justin were in a band together. When we started, we were young and in high school; it was like grindcore. Then it became hardcore, and then all of a sudden it was hardcore forever and then all of a sudden straightedge. We split up then ‘cause he went straightedge and I didn't. It was like natural that way.

Years later, we comeback together, we were always friends talkin', ‘what are you up to? Oh that shit sucked! That shit's cool, that shit sucks’. Then it develops and at this point we're starting to get out of that because that shit's boring, that shit's, “Like a one trick pony” like he said. Eventually all these kids will grow up and they realize life is kind of fuckin’ here to stay until you die.

Karma: Exactly.

Paxton: What's the point of being one way and not changing your mind? He did that, he decided to fuckin' start opening his mind, expanding his shit, and fuckin' seeing life, drinkin' and stuff like that. You know enjoying life a little bit. And in that, it opens your parameters. Like shit, when you smoke a joint for the first time and you actually hear some music, it's completely different from the time you heard it a second ago. Before you smoked that joint, it's completely different and that's what happened to him. He embraced it more, he embraced the songs, he embraced the sound of it, and so he changed and now is the natural progression of it.

On Trustkill it's just weird because all these other bands are not like us so we're like a sore thumb, we stick out. We don't want our album that we fuckin' spent so many years like tryin' to fuckin’ succeed and people that fuckin' hear it and make it like, “Wow, this is one of the fuckin' albums that's pinnacle, I want this album in my record collection! This is the album that changed my life!”

The dream label... Interscope. I wanna be on that label; it's the biggest independent label that's actually doing something and fuckin' doing something for their artists. The fucked up thing is we don't want our album that we fuckin' spent so many years like tryin' to fuckin' succeed and people that fuckin' hear it and make it. It's not gonna do that because here in America, it can't sell past 50,000 records for us to move on. I dunno, it's just like... [Pauses]

Karma: That's a horrible catch-22.

Paxton: It's very much a catch-22, but in a situation... I care about this album so much that I would love if Trustkill got behind it and say fuck it let's make this the biggest selling album that the label’s ever fuckin' made cause this is not like everything else, let's be different for once in our lives, lets be adventurous. Kids are kids, they haven’t grown up just yet to embrace what we sound like, and eventually they will honestly. People move on like, "Damn, I actually bought that album and I didn't like it at first but now...” I mean there's tons of albums that I bought that I fuckin' hated at first and then I went back and I was like, "Well fuck, this is a genius album", you know. But It's unfortunate it's what we ran into, what we landed into with this album, so I hope for the best but I can only hope for so much when we got what we got behind us.

Well it's a great album it doesn't deserve to be lost in the shuffle. It's like a lot of hard work that we put in to it. Years of like dwelling, "Whoa, is this gonna be a good enough song to be on or off to represent a whole entire album." Each individual song and all the songs, the whole album originally went from fuckin' thirty songs to around fourteen of fifteen songs. We narrowed it down to what was the best, what we’re fuckin thinking as a unit together, and what we fuckin' want to put out. What we love, what one of us would play, you know? This album does not deserve to be lost in the shuffle or fuckin' undersold by any means. It should be marketed just on the fact that it is different in a label that doesn't put out a lot of different artists from what is the norm. It's a great album, it doesn’t deserve to be fuckin’ lost in the shuffle, and put aside; it needs to be heard by the masses.

I'd like to thank Justin and Paxton for being so forthcoming and to Chaniga at Warm Fuzzy PR for setting the interview up.

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