Life is a journey that is not traveled without its trials, thankfully it is seasoned with its share of beauty as well. A Hope For Home assembles as a group of young men grafted together through tragedy and committed to pressing forward in pursuit of their dreams, a process that they invite others to share in through the medium of music. So, whether you are a dancy dude or not, I think you will find a sincerity and even a challenge in A Hope For Home that can be appreciated by all.

Is there any significance or story behind your name? What are the origins of A Hope For Home and how long have you been at it?

AHFH When we first started up, our guitar player, Kyle was dying of cancer. It was a rough time, and it was actually a name he came up with, that obviously had a lot of meaning to him. That was 3 years ago and while that hardship has come and passed, I think its a really cool reminder of him.

For those who are unfamiliar with your set, how would you describe yourself? What can we expect from a A Hope For Home concert?
AHFH Well, for starters we aren’t really a dancy band, which doesn’t really go over all that well sometimes when we play with a lot of the bands we do, haha. Nothing against that! Its just not really our thing. We try to convey a lot of emotion, I guess, and we actually have a really cool concept we might be trying to convey live with this record we are doing.

A Hope For Home is currently based out of Portland (Oregon), are you all natives? With your signing is the band discussing relocating or will you stay local?
AHFH We are actually technically from Vancouver [Washington], except for our guitar player Tanner, he lives in Portland. I (Matt) grew up in Portland though, and other than that, most of us have lived here in Portland for the greater part of our lives. We won’t be relocating, but we probably wont be home a lot!

You were signed earlier this year to Strike First Records and have recently signed over to Facedown Records, how have you enjoyed being a member of the Strike First and Facedown families? How has being signed benefited the band?
AHFH I can’t say enough good things about Facedown and Strike First. Since record sales have so violently plummeted over the past couple years some might see signing as a foolish thing to do, but it honestly has been such a blessing. They help keep us on the road and push us in ways we couldn’t do otherwise.

Strike First Records is a subsidiary of Facedown Records, is it not? In signing with Facedown are you working with a completely new team or is there some carryover from the relationships you’ve already established at Strike First?
AHFH Strike First is basically somewhat of a “training ground” for Facedown Bands. Its run by the same people. Its not at all that the bands aren’t as good as Facedown bands, its just that they are not as well known, so it becomes somewhat of a megaphone or stepping stone. All the bands on Strike First are really great at what they do.

A Hope For Home has worked the local and national scenes, gained a strong following and obviously the recognition of established indie labels, how often do you reflect on the process of getting to where you are?
AHFH It is quite humbling but to be honest I try to not think about that too much and just kindof live in the moment-focus on what is ahead of us and what we are currently working on.

As you move forward, what are some of the defining moments that have brought A Hope For Home to this point?
AHFH So many to count! Lots of days where things felt pointless and that we were accomplishing nothing, and I can definitely say its not the case. I don’t really think of us as at a different place than before we signed other than semantics like having an album ad in a magazine or getting better tours.

You have stated that your upcoming album will address the concepts of dealing with doubt and the search for meaning from a first person perspective of reconstructing reality from meaninglessness. Is this a reflection of where you are at as a band ideologically? Is your purpose to create a discussion platform or do you hope to inject some insight and/or experience into the conversation?
AHFH Well I can’t speak for everyone in the band and the things they go through, but we will all bring our perspectives to the table for this record. This concept is something that sort of sprouted from conversations with Nathan, our singer, and just emotions and things we have been feeling. We had been exposed to a lot of different kinds of bands and scenes as we toured this year, seeing a lot of different facets and faces to the idea of a “Christian band.” We have never been too comfortable with that label, because there are a lot of expectations that come along with it. I’m not denying faith, but I’m simply stating that I (and we) believe in what we do because we believe it, not because we are a part of this “Christian band” club. I also don’t really feel like I have some grand metaphysical truth that no one else understands, and that this record will be me telling people that they are wrong, or whatever. It comes from a point of trying to understand what is real, what I believe, which is something that, at least I think, anyone who claims a particular ideology should do. I hope we can reflect the emotions that go through peoples minds and the doubts people fear, but are too afraid to talk about when your favorite band might tell you you aren’t a “good” enough Christian if this, or that, or whatever. My goal is mostly just for us to express ourselves, and maybe it will resound with other people.

What are some of your early influences that got you into music? Who were some of the influences that helped you launch A Hope For Home?
AHFH I think all of us can safely say that the mid 2000′s bands like Thrice and Thursday are the bands that really got us heavily into music. For me anyway, those two bands have had the most effect on my life and I don’t think I would be doing what I am now were it not for them.

Where are you currently grabbing inspiration from and how has this been affecting your music?
AHFH I got really burnt out on heavy music touring this year, just playing and listening to it every night. Everyone else in my band is probably going to hate me for bringing this up but I really heavily got into Pink Floyd this year and honestly probably spent the better part of the year really digesting their album concepts and music, which is definitely and inspiration for making this concept. Bands like Sigur Ros, Isis, This Will Destroy You, and of course the mainstays are probably what I can say for the rest of the guys.

Where can those interested best connect with you to find out about news, releases and tours?
AHFH We always have dates posted on our myspace and keep it updated with info. Recently we have been using twitter a lot (twitter.com/ahopeforhome) and started up a blog (ahopeforhome.tumblr.com) that we will be updating during this process. A facebook page too. So definitely check those out!

What do you enjoy most about the local music scene? Who have been some of the funnest bands and venues to play with locally?
AHFH It definitely comes in waves in Portland, and we are gone a lot so I can’t speak with the best authority. I know that we always have some good friends to come home and jam with like Something About Airplanes and Fallstar. Recently some awesome new bands have propped up like The Sky Electric from Seattle and this amazing new band called Amos Val that you need to check out now. They are all on our top friends so go check them out!

What have you tasted of the national scenes? What have been some of your best experiences on the road?
AHFH Southern California is nuts. The midwest has some pretty rad scenes too. We recently did a tour with our label mates in Hands and every show had a really solid group of kids, and that was in like the midwest/north area of the country. It was a lot of fun.

What are the weapons (insturments) of choice for A Hope For Home?
AHFH We’ve been experimenting with a lot of different things recently! So other than the usual guitars and keyboards we’ll see what ends up being used on the record.

Favorite place to eat in Portland? Craziest thing you’ve eaten on the road?
AHFHThis is difficult! Chipotle is always good but I feel like a tool plugging a national chain. I might have to say the Montage. Get the spold mac!! Craziest thing on the road…there is this gas station somewhere on I-90 in Washington, I forget where, and they sell pickled eggs…which, seriously who eats pickled eggs? One of our friends pretty much told us we had to try it and I seriously wanted to puke, it was awful.

What have been some of the most important lessons for you as an aspiring artist? Any words of wisdom for those wanting to pursue their dreams of music stardom?
AHFH Umm….just work really hard, play music because you like it, not because you A) look cool on stage doing it or B) can get really famous and popular. I mean, I guess if you really want do to that, go ahead, but I don’t see much worth in that.

Any funny and/or scary stories from recent shows or tours?
AHFH We aren’t too crazy, but every touring band has had their share of stories. Driving the van off the road in a snowstorm in Montana, getting stuck on a hill about 34 times when it rained at Cornerstone while everyone walked past and laughed, meeting interesting people at gas stations in rural America at 4:00 AM, the like. Mostly weather for me. I’m dead scared of driving in snow. hah!

A Hope For Home is currently in the studio, look for them to explode onto the local and national scenes again soon and an album ready for listening pleasure! *All pictures taken from A Hope For Home’s Myspace album – give credit where due to these talented photographers!

Tags: Portland, Rock

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 8th, 2009 at 4:36 pm and is filed under Interviews, Oregon. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.