Interview with Pete Devine of Pete’s Rock News and Views (https://petesrocknewsandviews.com)
PD: How would you describe yourself or your band as an artist?
H: Austin Cox (Guitar): Hexicon is an amalgamation of all the metal things we love. We mix all the styles of metal we love (thrash, doom, death metal, groove metal, etc.) into the music and pair it with the aesthetics of destruction, monsters/kaiju, dark anime-inspired visuals, and psychedelia.
PD: Can you tell us briefly about your background – i.e. where you’re from, how you came to make music, etc.
H: Austin: Hexicon formed in Pasadena, CA in 2018. Andrew Cox (drummer) and I are brothers so we’ve been making music together forever. Young Heller (vocals) is a long-time friend and he saw us play as an instrumental duo called Andraus. He enjoyed what we did, asked if he could jam with us, and when it was apparent the musical chemistry was there, Hexicon was born.
PD: Who and what inspires you to make music, both in terms of musical and other influences? What do you like to write about in your songs?
H: Austin: Creating music is an extremely cathartic process for me. Writing music allows me to capture and leave any negative feelings/life experiences behind within that song and keep moving forward as a person. Sonically, we’re inspired by bands like Metallica, Testament, Mastodon, Gojira, Lamb of God, Tool, Deftones, and Pink Floyd, just to name a small few. We also take influence from Anime like Neon Genesis Evangelion and Akira, comics and art, and video games.
PD: What are your aspirations as an artist?
H: Austin: We aspire to take Hexicon to the highest level possible. We’d love to be touring regularly and break into the European metal festival scene. We have a vision for a very ambitious stage show with psychedelic animations, projections, and lights. We hope to reach the level where we can work with the right people to bring this vision to life. Basically, we’d like to become an active and inspiring band in the metal community like our inspirations before us.
PD: What is the proudest moment in your music career so far?
H: Austin: Releasing our first album and completing our first tour. It took a very long time to finish our album due to covid. When it was finally done and released, it was a big relief and a symbolic moment that made me feel we were finally moving forward to the next chapter.
PD: Promoting one’s music is such a challenge these days, especially with so many new artists emerging from bedrooms
in the day of the home studio. How is that going?
H: Austin: It has been difficult to build traction and keep eyes on us, no doubt, but I feel there has been tangible progress in our trajectory as a band so we plan to keep working at it and keep releasing music that’s satisfying for us.
PD: And how do you book and promote your live shows and tours? Any performances coming up?
H: Austin: We’re lucky to be offered shows pretty regularly. We’ve put on a few of our own shows too, but we know some bands who have helped us out and social media has been a helpful tool for finding promoters/bookers. We’re mostly recording right now, but we will be playing The Redwood Bar in Los Angeles on 5/27!
PD: What do you think about downloading music online? What about streaming sites like Spotify?
H: Austin: I have conflicted feelings about it. On one hand, it’s never been easier to release music due to streaming, which is great, but at the same time, it’s never been harder to gain and keep people’s attention long enough to build a wider fanbase. The oversaturation due to anyone being able to release music at any time has made it extremely difficult to stand out. It’s a double-edged sword, but we work with the tools we’ve got.
PD: What song do you wish you’d written and why?
H: Austin: Master of Puppets. It’s a masterclass in epic metal songwriting and still relevant today, it’s impressive.
PD: Is there anything you don’t like about the music industry, which you would change if you could?
H: Austin: I don’t enjoy how difficult it is for artists to be compensated fairly for their music, touring efforts, etc. Especially for younger, independent bands trying to build themselves up. I often feel on the business side of things, financial well-being for artists is the last aspect to be considered within the business machine of the music industry.
PD: So, what are you working on at the moment?
H: Austin: Hexicon is very focused on recording more songs and making more music videos. We hope to be back out for some shows over the summer.
PD: Where can we learn more about you and buy your music/merch online?
H: Austin: The best places to support us are Bandcamp, Spotify, and Instagram.
https://hexiconmetal.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/hexiconband
Hexicon links:
Band/Artist location – Pasadena, California
Facebook – You Tube – Bandcamp – Merch –
Twitter – Instagram – Apple – Spotify – Deezer – Last Fm –
Check our page for Hexicon
