A Conversation with Hull's Jeff Stieber

If you read the Clock this week, you know how I feel about the new Hull record, so I'll keep the intro short here. Hull drummer Jeff Stieber was kind enough to take the time to answer some questions for The Clock, and I must say it's a good, hilarious read. Normally, interviews are cut down and edited to fit the specific needs of the publication, but Jeff is just such a good ranter I had to let him go. Read the review, read the interview, buy the record, go to a show, buy Jeff a beer. Got it? Good. Enjoy.

Please state your name, your role in the band and a brief history of HULL!

Name is Jeff Stieber. Friends generally call me by my last name pronounced Stee-burr, so you can call me that.  I am the drummer of HULL.  I was actually the last member to join the band.  Funny thing because this kind of falls into the next question.  I used to live in Long Island for 3 years, but I'm originally from outside Philly in Bucks County.  Anyway, while in Long Island I lived with Kellen Robson (of I Am the Avalanche) and a bunch of other dudes and a dudette at Huntington Station; the bad side of the tracks. It was good times, but that is another interview.  Kellen was at some point the bassist of Scraps And Heart Attacks with Travis (Reilly)who currently plays in This Is Hell. Long Island Hardcore!  So at some point S&HA had kicked out their drummer, and I ended up playing a few shows with them, back when American Nightmare was still called American Nightmare, and recorded some drums on their album Still Sick… If anyone remembers that. They eventually broke up and Kellen went on to play bass in I Am The Avalanche.  The drummer of IATA, Brett Romnes (AKA the Ratt), was at that time the drummer of HULL (He is the drummer on the Viking Funeral recording, I simply mixed it).  Brett went on to IATA, I tried out for HULL and there it is…drummer of HULL.  Luckily playing as hard as possible has gotten me close to the awesomeness that Brett brought to the band.  I think it worked out on both ends and now we're all good friends, brothas from anotha motha.

I remember talking with Vinnie from I Am the Avalanche years ago about a split you guys were working on. They were going to use their song "Polar Beast" and you guys had a similarly titled monster kind of song. Obviously, this never saw the light of day, but is it something we could see in the future?

Ah yes, our song was/is "Swamp Goat."  The idea was theirs, but it never came to fruition.  "Swamp Goat" is what we call our "radio friendly" song.  It's something not very HULL but also not very not HULL.  Think we wrote it before or while writing Sole Lord.  We ended up recording a demo of it.  I believe IATA also had their song "Polar Beast," so we figured why not throw them together on a split?  Two bands whose genres don't match, but both playing heavy songs: why the f**k not?  The conversation went on for a while.  We actually ended up recording bass and drums, maybe more pieces of the song again but timing just didn't work out.  This was right before HULL started recording Beyond The Lightless Sky and also right before I Am The Avalanche started recording Avalanche United. As to whether or not it could see the light of day; who knows?  I'm hoping we do a split with those songs or others at some point but they're touring, we're touring, they write albums, we write albums…I'm sure we'll find time for something, although something could turn into a drunken night of tall boys at Pearls Social & Billy Club or pickle backs at The Anchored Inn.  Who knows?

I'm super excited for your new album. Is there a big difference between the new one and Sole Lord? What was the writing process like for your new record as opposed to your old one?

I think there is a HUGE difference between Sole Lord and Beyond The Lightless Sky (which is out October 11^th, buy that s**t, haha).  When we put out Sole Lord we had just signed to The End Records and we wanted to put something out ASAP.  We had recorded the music for Sole Lord out in the Rockaway's and did overdubs and vocals at our practice space along with mixing.  We were seriously crunched for time, as we had to have it all at a certain date that we were determined to hit.  After all was said and done we were happy with the music, however we were not so happy with the sound of the album; lessoned learned.  With Beyond The Lightless Sky we put a lot of time into writing it and making sure it sounded as huge as possible.  We are always writing, so some of the music was already there, just sitting on the back shelf of our minds until we brought it out and blew off the dust.  We definitely spent a s**t load of time at our practice space just digging into riffs and figuring things out.  We'd jam, take s**t from this or that, put it together, change this and that, make some sort of transition and before we knew it, Beyond The Lightless Sky was born.  We'd demo vocal ideas daily and on top of that is the story.  We write stories for our albums so that while listening you can follow along its' path.  An album can be an album or it can be an endeavor; a story with a backing soundtrack, and we shot for the latter.  That story will at some point be revealed, so for now just close your eyes listen, and make one up.  We then went back to our friend Brett Romnes of IATA for tracking, who happens to be THE F*****G S**T!  After that we went to Billy Anderson who happens to be THE F*****G S**T! for mixing.  And then of course with Alan Douches at West West Side for mastering who also is THE F*****G S**T, apparently multiple people can share the same title. When we said "We want this album to sound HUGE" we weren't lying, and we accomplished that for sure. 

How has HULL been affected by declining album sales? Do you mind if your fans download your album, and how do you acquire music in your personal life? How do you plan on releasing music in the future (i.e. digitally, CD, vinyl, etc.)?

Well we actually haven't sold that many albums, haha, but thinking that will change with Beyond The Lightless Sky, fingers crossed.  We have never been a band in the non-digital age.  We have not truly been affected because the lack of people buying albums and just downloading them has always been there.  If we were from way long ago, I guess like 10 years ago then I could answer that question but we've always been in "the s**t".  I think because of this we all really don't have a choice if a fan, non-fan, brother, dog will download the album. So I say let them download it.  It gets the album out there, easily accessible to just about the entire planet, damn you Kim Jong-Il!  If people are into it I think they'll put out the effort to come to a show, buy a t-shirt, maybe even the CD and what not.  I personally will admit to doing the exact same thing.  It's the g*****n digital age or whatever you want to call it.  If I hear of so and so who could be the most obscure band ever how the s**t am I supposed to buy a CD of theirs? Actually, I probably wouldn't buy their CD, but vinyl: f****n' A I will.  I will generally find them online, download or stream and become a fan, or not.  If a fan, I will totally go check them out and buy their s**t for sure.  I realize while writing this that this makes me sound like I'm lazy but hey, one thing is I don't have all the time available on this planet to go to every g*****n show, and secondly I AM lazy.  I'm a g*****n American and as we all know we have all been genetically modified to be this way. 

We will continue putting out CD's as long as labels feel like it's necessary, although I feel its kind of pointless.  I think I know one person who actually still buys CD's, maybe 3.  I still really, really like physical things so I buy vinyl whenever I can so that is what we do.  We recently put out our 17-minute epic Viking Funeral via Science Of Silence Records.  If you are into collecting vinyl you should totally check it out, oxblood red with black center burst vinyl, etched on one side in a jacket then wrapped in poster and wax stamped.  You can buy from us if you are so inclined.  Only a limited amount of 200 with few left can be purchased at www.hullandhighwater.com.   Of course we will continue putting things out digitally.  Even though it's not the best sound quality we all realize there are people out there far lazier than I.

Lastly, What were you listening to growing up that made you want to play music? Do you remember a specific album or show that helped get you to where you are today?

What was I listening too?  Holy s**t, how long do you have?  I don't think I can keep peoples' attention long enough to go through that time line, you know; ADHD, ha. 

Growing up I listened to just about everything, honestly.  My father plays sax and bass, my brother played sax, I play the trombone for a good long while and still do occasionally; it's sitting on my windowsill.  I also had an awesome childhood friend whose parents were obsessed with music and the arts, so I literally was immersed in everything, from doo-wop to classic rock, opera to Zappa.  I went through phases, like I got new chest hairs during puberty.  But I definitely got into heavier stuff thanks to Sub-Pop and that whole era, Nirvana, Melvins, Butthole Surfers, Tad.  I think listening to that style, grunge I think they call it. At least back then "sub-genres" weren't even a thought. I got into heavier s**t.  It was a natural progression of heavy to heavier.  At one point I also worked at a Tower Records in Philly (Yes, I'm that old).  That opened my ears even more.  I think that whole sequence of bands helped out a lot in my progression in "metal" and in music as a whole.  As for anything specific I actually had a conversation about this at a bar recently.  A friend and I were talking about a specific Ozzfest VHS tape we both owned.  I believe it was '96.  Granted, I was 14 at this point and I think this was my Bloodlet and Strife phase.  It was the Ozzfest that Neurosis was on.  I think this video was a stepping stone for me.  Not that I didn't listen to heavy s**t then but all the VFW hall shows I would attend did not compare to this.  Neurosis was, and forever shall be THE F*****G SHIT. They had such power and emotion while playing, I'm quite sure the song on the VHS was "Locust Star."  I would watch that video again and again and it would just give me a mental boner.  I think that is when I realized how amazing it could be.  Now that I'm playing in HULL I think I've been able to find that "could be".   Playing with them is like nothing before.  It is a religious experience; every time we play a show or even practice my body is torn with emotion and that is what I feel music should be, pure human, straight from the heart emotion.  And that is exactly what it is.