Hembree & The Satan Sisters – Interview
Interview with Pete Devine of Pete’s Rock News and Views (http://petesrocknewsandviews.com)
PD: What type of artist are you
Hembree: If we had to pick a genre, I guess the most fitting would be Heavy/Hard Rock or Punk Rock. But I prefer to put us in our own genre and call what we do “Fuck You Rock ‘n’ Roll.”
PD: Tell us the brief history of yourself.
Hembree: I grew up in two households up until my mid-teens, when I moved out on my own. Both households were artistic you could say. My Dad’s side was very musical and religious, and my Mom’s side was artistic in the way of painting, sculpting, and writing.
I began playing in bands when I was thirteen. I dropped out of school when I was fifteen and moved out on my own.
At seventeen, I was a founding member of a band called Music Hates You.
I remained a member for 10 years, touring extensively and releasing several albums.
I played in several projects in the past few years ranging from acoustic country to full on metal. I am the original singer for Atlanta metal band TORO. I was a member from 2015 to 2017, but I felt the need to start the type of band I am in now, so I stepped down.
PD: Who are your musical and non-musical influences?
Hembree: Like many songwriters, my influences are all over the spectrum. I am equally a devotee of Charlie Daniels Band as I am Black Sabbath. I have a massive love for Rock ‘n’ Roll and that umbrellas so many artists and bands. I am influenced by everything I am sure, even the music I don’t like has to be an influence on me on some level.
As far as non musical influences, the answer is virtually the same. Everything is an influence. Occasionally a horror movie may inspire me, but more often than not it’s just life in general.
PD: What are your dreams and goals?
Hembree: I am in a way living my adolescent dreams now. I am not on a massively funded touring circuit, and I am not a big shit Rock Star, but I write and record music that I enjoy with people that I enjoy playing with. I have been fortunate enough to meet and much of time become friends with people I idolized as a teenager. I have had the pleasure of working with engineers and producers that have legendary resumes. None of this is meant to come off as braggadocious, I am very grateful.
PD: Who writes your songs, what are they about?
Hembree: Well, I wrote the majority of the songs for our first album and our guitarist Ash and I fleshed them out as unit. The songs on the album are about different scenarios but are inspired by a common theme. I used to shy away from explaining the meaning of lyrics in the past but feel a bit different about this batch of songs. The current that runs through the lyrics of these songs all deal with disgust for human hypocrisy.
PD: How do you promote your band and shows?
Hembree: Since the birth of the band, I have taken on the management and promotional roles. I do all the booking and the majority of the promotion. My method is simple, I shove it down everyone’s throat on 
social media. Some think that method is cheesy, but it has worked well for HSS. Also, our label Rusty Knuckles promotes our shows pretty heavily. Our fans are never shy about promoting us on Facebook, which is awesome.
PD: What do you think about downloading music online?
Hembree: Lars was right! I am halfway joking. You can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube, you know? At this point, it’s just the way it is, and I don’t have any really issue with it now because downloading music is not anything remotely new anymore.
PD: What’s your outlook on the record industry today?
Hembree: I am not really a fan of Frank Zappa’s music, but I will quote him here as my response: “One thing that did happen in the 60’s is that some music of an unusual or experimental nature did get recorded and did get released. Now look at who the executives were in those companies at those times. Not hip young guys, these were cigar chomping old guys who looked at the product that came and said: ‘I don’t know, who knows what it is? Record it, stick it out, if it sells alright’. We were better off with those guys than we are now with the supposedly hip, young executives who are making the decisions of what people should see and hear in the marketplace. The young guys are more conservative and more dangerous to the art form than the old guys with the cigars ever were. And you know how these young guys got in there? The old guy with cigar goes one day ‘Well, I took a chance, it went out and we sold a few million units! I don’t know what it is but we gotta do more of it! I need some advice. Lets get a hippie in here.’ So they hire a hippie. They bring in the guy with long hair. Now, they are not gonna trust him to do anything except carry coffee. He starts carrying the coffee, ‘Well, he brought the coffee the 4th time on time. Let’s give the hippie a real job’. Okay, he becomes an A&R man. From there moving up, next thing you know he’s got his feet on the desk and saying ‘Well we can’t take a chance on this because it’s simply not what the kids want, and I know!’ The day you get rid of that attitude and get back to ‘Who knows, take a chance!’ That entrepreneurial spirit that even if you don’t understand what the record is that’s coming in the door, the person that is in the executive chair may not be the final arbiter of taste for the entire population.”
PD: What song do you wish you’d written and why?
Hembree: “Freebird.” Don’t need a reason other than it is “Freebird.”
PD: What are some of your pet peeves?
Hembree: Overly sensitive people in the Rock ‘n’ Roll scenes. Well, maybe I like them now that I think about it. It’s fun offending them.
PD: What is your proudest moment in music?
Hembree: Hopefully, I have not experienced that yet.
PD: Tell us about your next shows and why we should be there
Hembree: We have several shows coming up that we are excited about. Up next, we play Slaughter Que on Sept. 21st at the Masquerade in Atlanta. Exodus, Kataklysm, Exhorder, Krisiun, and several other legendary heavyweights are on the bill, along with our good pals in Guillotine and Dayglo Mourning.
Oct. 5th, we celebrate the release of our debut album “F.Y.F” In Athens, Ga. with Casket Creatures,
Donkey Punch, Die 985 and Taped Fist.
Dec. 6th, we play with ANTiSEEN and the Independents at Ground Zero in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
You should be there because you don’t want to risk missing out on Rock ‘n’ Roll history. It happens every time we hit the motherfuckin’ stage!
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