ZapTown

Embedded deep within the city is a house occupied by four individuals. On the outside, the house may look like any other, engulfed by a metropolitan setting. But inside, there is nothing normal.

This is the Hex Haus, home to four unique musicians who gravitated from beyond the outer reaches of Indianapolis to become bound by the forces of creative musicianship. This is the home of We Are Hex.

 

And not only is this house a residence to the band, it doubles as their recording studio where their debut release Gloom Bloom (due out April 7 on their own label with the entire album streamable on their website http://www.wearehex.com) was conceived.

“When we decided to make Gloom Bloom we actually found a studio space,” said drummer Brandon Beaver. “It had this amazing 15-foot ceiling and was an old classroom this lady was leasing as an arts studio. We wanted to be more serious as a band so a recording studio seemed like a logical step. But it did not work out, and Gloom Bloom was done throughout our little three-bedroom house.”

 

Staying at home proved to be the best option, capturing the essence and aura of what the group is about more so than they could have imagined. And unlike the basic principles of the lo-fi home studio movement, Gloom Bloom is something different, something more. The frenetic atmosphere of the songs and how they morph and transition with each other is something the band could not have captured elsewhere.

“Brandon wanted to make the album feel like a mix tape with pieces flowing in between songs,” said vocalist and keyboardist Jilly Weiss. “Everyone sings and plays various instruments that they normally would not play. One thing I don’t ever want to lose is that feeling and edge of the punk rock influences I grew up on. In the end, I feel like we captured that immediacy because these songs are super honest.”

 

This honesty in the music comes from a group who spends just as much time understanding their capabilities with the equipment they own, as much as capitalizing on their limitations. When it comes to outtakes, the band knows exactly how to use them to their advantage. And by this, you get a depth and experience you normally could not get on a linear, static release.

“We knew we wanted to do it our way,” said Beaver. “We wanted the bad mic placements. We wanted to have that feeling that the listener is right there with us. It’s good as an artist to keep producing and not working too hard to make one guitar part or one beat too perfect.”

And all of this worked to their advantage as everything on Gloom Bloom feels necessary, from the tracking to the interludes, the contemplations and the wild effects — everything was mic’ed up. It’s what makes this album a true concept of the identity of the band.

“The creative process tended to be a lot closer to improv and the way jazz guys construct their songs,” said Matt Hagan, guitarist, keyboardist, and vocals for the band. “What I really like about this band is that there is not a leader. We are all in it together as an equal.”

They all agree that this is the single most important factor to what makes We Are Hex tick.

“This band has no individual ego,” said Trevor Wathen, bass, keyboards, and vocals. “It really helps that we all generally get along.”

However, this was not always the case. Before Wathen and Hagan joined the band, We Are Hex was comprised of a different amalgamation. It begins with a 45-minute drive north to Muncie where Beaver and Weiss met. Beaver was living up there while Weiss was going to school. During that brief moment, Weiss started up a band called Days And Nights In The Skeleton Crew with Hagan. After that became a short-lived experiment, she tried it again with Ari Ari. Both Beaver and Weiss had no restraints to stay in Muncie. Ari Ari was their way out of the college town. When they came down to Indianapolis to play shows, they felt like they were getting more support from the capital city than the transient environment around Ball State.

After Ari Ari split up, they decided to form We Are Hex as a three piece with their friend Mark.

“It just did not work,” said Beaver. “No one was 100 percent behind it. The three of us just could not work together. If you heard what we sounded like then versus what we sound like now, it’s apparent how different it was back then.”

But they tried to make it work, long enough to record a full-length album. But then Mark left the band, and they scrapped the album, never seeing the light of day that Brandon admits to remaining buried somewhere inside a desk drawer.

But if that failed experience taught him one thing, it was to record everything, which is an important part of the band’s psyche, to get that documentation as Wathen boasts to having about two-and-a half albums worth of material during the making of Gloom Bloom.

As Beaver and Weiss were trying to re-group and determine the band’s direction, they ran into Hagan at a show one night. Hagan who played in several bands after Days and Nights — including Life After Bed, Black Panel Van, and Big Bang Static — had migrated to Indianapolis thanks to a job on the south side. The two had been contemplating a guitarist for a while, and Hagan fit right into the profile.

Then there was Wathen, a Southern Indiana resident who was burnt out on school and wanted to just create music. He had been in several bands, but knew that if he wanted to do what he wanted and do it right, Indianapolis was his next move. He was introduced to Weiss, and they began hanging out. When Mark left the band, he was asked to complete the lineup on bass.

“Originally we were super drony, no guitar, just bass and keyboards,” said Weiss. “And the keyboards were on loops. There is only so much you can do with that. Now that we have four people constantly writing and being involved, we can take our sound to so many levels.”

 

Now that Gloom Bloom has shown what they are capable of, the band is setting out to see just how far they can take their sound. The next project, an EP titled Various Songs, Sounds and Furs, was a process of writing songs that was completely new to the band and tends to drift towards a soundtrack-style of layered composing.

“Unlike just creating a song from scratch as a whole, we wanted to try a different approach, take an instrument like a drum part and build off of that particular instrument,” said Wathen.

For Hagen, he has never been in a band that has had such a diverse and creative atmosphere. “The idea that we developed together as a band is that we want to constantly keep doing things different.”

“We want to challenge ourselves,” added Weiss. “We make music we like because we have to play it. The goal is to better ourselves. I don’t care if it’s louder, quieter, experimental, I just want to make it a step up every time.”

Whatever direction the band takes, you can bet they will be putting forth every effort to do it all themselves and continue working at it as a group and not as individuals, because when it comes down to it, what they have is each other.

 

 

“We Are Hex is not a band that is ‘out to make it,’ said Beaver. “We’d love to make enough money to eat off from this band, but we play music because its all we have. We are kind of the outcasts from most of the scene here because we don’t ask for much help, and we tend to just do our own thing.

“In some way or another that has worked against us. The truth being it’s just really hard for us to think that anyone around Indianapolis would work harder for our music than ourselves.”

The band will be embarking on an East Coast tour in April and the Midwest in May. By July, they will reach out to the West Coast to complete one of their first major cross-country outings as a band. You can find specific dates on the band’s website or follow their blog at http://hexhaus.blogspot.com/. 

For a ZapTown critique on Gloom Bloom, visit our review here: www.zaptownmag.com/?p=1050.