Autumn Hour Interview

Autumn Hour is an act unlike any other that brings out the good in music. Having an aggressive style and sound wave that just hits you instantly dishing out all the good spots music has to offer. In this interview the band talks to me about their current release and upcoming plans.

1. Could you tell us more about the history of the band, how things started.

Alan Tecchio-Our guitarist Justin Jurman and I had recorded about twelve songs acoustically back around 2004. That was the genesis of Autumn Hour though we did not know it at the time. I joined Seven Witches in 2005 and had to put my project with Justin on hold. After doing two 7W cd's, Jack Frost (7W guitarist) was going out on tour with Joey Belladonna so I was looking at almost a year of downtime. With that in mind I called Justin up and we started working together again. Once we knew we wanted to put a band together I thought of the coolest guys I knew with the best chops and in came Dave Lescinsky and Clint Arent. I had previously worked with Dave in Hades and he and Clint had contributed to some of the 7W recordings as well.

2. What made you want to base this CD off the book entitled “The Singularity Is Near," by Ray Kurzweil.

Justin turned us on to that book. We are all tech geeks to some extent and the future of mankind is a pretty compelling topic in this uncertain day and age. Putting both of those ideas together and fuelling it with Ray's own forecast of the future, we wrote our own story which became our debut concept CD-dethroned.

3. You've recently released your new album "Dethroned," where did you record it, who produced it, and are you still satisfied with the songs, production and artwork? Can you tell us more about the recording process? How are the reactions on this one so far?

We recorded it with Jonny Rod up his facility in New City, NY. He and the band produced it and we are very psyched about how it came out. We tried to be as efficient as possible in the studio and I believe we were. Jon went above and beyond with the sounds and mixing. We are all very proud of the results. Drums and bass were tracked in one day-the same day! Guitars and vocals took a bit longer but overall we were awesome with regard to time management. Jon mixed it himself and then had us come in with our own notes to tweak it to what we felt was perfection. So far the reaction has been very good. I know that we are very stoked about it-that's for sure. The artwork was done by Monowasp from Sweden. He did the last two 7W CD's as well and I had such a good time doing those with him and was so impressed with his work that I knew I wanted to use him for this disc too. I think he went above and beyond to capture the essence of the tale we had written.

4. Who writes the lyrics, what are they about? Are the lyrics an important aspect of the band or are they just there to guide the music?

I write the lyrics and for this CD they tell the story of a post-apocalyptic world in which man-made machines (nanobots, etc...) save the remaining members of the human race from extinction. Each song's lyrics tell a part of that tale. I would say they are pretty important to the overall story.

5. How did you get in contact with "Rock Ridge Music?" Are you satisfied with their work? Why did you signed with them?

I have known one of Rock Ridge's founders since my days in Watchtower-Tom Derr. He is a dear friend and a great guy. I think that in today's changing musical landscape (both in terms of musical styles as well as the consumer end-ie: how people buy & listen to music today) Rock Ridge is totally up on things. They have been great to us so far and we are very psyched to be working with them.

6. When someone asks you what does Autumn Hour sound like, what do you tell them?

Heavy, dark rock.

7. What tours have you done in the past? What tours are going to take place or are there plans for a tour as a support for a "bigger" band?

This is the first CD for this band so we have not toured as yet. Plans are in the works for one-off shows at the moment but if the right bill comes along or if we can jump on some legs of existing tours that would be phenomenal.

8. Tell some of your experiences playing live.

Our first show is this Saturday in Clifton, NJ so I have no real stories yet. The only public performance was at a bar in NJ for their open mic night. We got up and played three songs and got a very good reaction from the crowd.

9. What are your expectations for "Autumn Hour" in the future?

Hopefully to sell enough music to do another CD. We want to play a lot and just keep the ball rolling.



10. What do you guys do when you're not out on the road? Do you guys work or schooling?

We all work a variety of jobs. I sell advertising and write two columns for Steppin Out Magazine here in NJ. (so-mag.com) I am also a part time motorcycle safety instructor. Justin is in management at ABC television. Clint is an undercover secret agent who also teaches at Rock School in Philadelphia. Dave owns a rehearsal studio and works in the computer field. He is also an ex-federal agent.

11. Are there any cool touring/recording experiences or other bizarre stories you would like to share with us?

Not yet. If we told you anything we would have to kill you. lol Seriously though, we have not had that many experiences yet as a band. I guess the strangest thing might have been how lucky we were when we shot our video for the song Fade Out. We did it in the freezing cold in an empty warehouse. Not having any electricity, we had to rely on the sunlight coming through the greenhouse style roof. It was so good that the video looks better than if we had lit it ourselves according to the guys who shot it. We are very happy with the results but we just totally lucked out.

12. Could you give me a top 5 of your favorite albums of all-time and a top 5 of your current favorite records?

That is really hard to do but I guess for me, I would say the all time faves include:

1-Physical Graffiti by Led Zep
2-Ride The Lightening by Metallica
3-Prone Mortal Form by Only Living Witness
4-Sabbath Bloody Sabbath by Black Sabbath
5-Age of Quarrel by The Cro Mags

Current Faves:
1-Viva Emptiness by Katatonia
2-Slip by Quicksand
3-Watershed by Opeth
4-Death To The Pixies-The Pixies
5-Electric by Broken Teeth

13. What's your opinion on the whole music industry scene right now? Like do you think they're trying their hardest to get albums out on shelves and not seek their way onto the net?

I guess it depends who you are talking about. As for our label they are totally dialed in to the trends and are very in touch with how people buy music these days. They still believe in the old school stores etc.... but they also work the music online. I have a special place in my heart for physical music stores but I think if you ignore the power of the internet and fan sites, etc.... you are an idiot.

14. How do you think the recession is affecting musicians like yourself? Is it at all?

I know it has negatively affected my sales numbers at the magazine. As for playing music, we will find out this Saturday if anyone has the ten bucks to come see us play! lol

15. What are your plans for the 09 year?

To play as many shows as possible and to turn on as many listeners as we can to our music. I think we will also be writing a whole new CD this year if all goes well.

16. What do you have currently playing on your iPod or CD Player?

Evergrey, Sade, Exodus, Shift, Mastadon, Tree, Killswitch Engage and tons more.... I just leave the pod on shuffle and let it pick the tunes for me. If something I do not like comes up I just click to the next track.

17. What do you think about all these different sub cultures such as "emo kids, scene kids, metal-heads, punks, goths, etc?"

I think it is interesting to see just how trendy Americans can be while the Euro fans stay true to what they love. As for sub genres of music, I think it is fine for there to be a wide variety. What I like seeing is the younger generation getting into all of the various fragments. It does not always happen but more and more I see kids who love all styles of music and I think that is extremely cool.


18. Thanks so much for taking the time to do this interview, any thoughts or comments?

Thank you for letting me do this interview. Cheers!