Tear Out The Heart's Isaac Etter Gets his Violence Out!

Tear Out The Heart are a 5-piece metalcore band who hail from St. Louis, Missouri. Since their inception a little under 2 years ago, Tear Out The Heart have pushed and fought there way from the bottom of the local music pile typifying that sort of tenacity that is required in today’s scene in order to ‘make it’.

While they left St. Louis with little change in their pocket, it was their appetite for success and desire to succeed that ultimately paved the way for their signing to Victory Records. Flying the metalcore flag in the name of “to get our music heard to as many people as humanly possible”, it’s this type of attitude that immediately sets them apart from the throes of others looking for that ‘quick win’.

Now two releases later Tear Out The Heart have got a lot going for them so there is no stopping them now. Bassist Isaac Etter, discusses their latest album "Violence".


1. How do you think being in LA changes your sound?

Isaac: Currently we aren't based in LA. We wrote the majority of our new album "Violence" in our hometown of St. Louis MO.

2. Were you satisfied with how everything turned out with this album?

Isaac: The album has exceeded my expectations in every way. While you're writing and recording you never quite know how it's going to play but after that first listen through we were all blown away with how it turned out.

3. Was there anything that didn't make the cut on this album, that we could possibly see in the future?

Isaac: We only cut one song and that was because it didn't quite fit with the others. We only demoed it so there's no chance of releasing that song but it was so different I don't think we would have released it anyway.

4. How does your EP "Hell Is Empty" and your full-length "Violence" differ and compare to one another?

Isaac: "Violence" is more how we wanted "Hell Is Empty" to sound. When we wrote it our drummer Matt and I had just joined so we were still getting used to how we write together. That and trying to cram all of our ideas into 4 songs is never really an ideal way to write. While we still all like "Hell is Empty" our new album "Violence" is a much more complete and fulfilling album.

5. Did the band have any definitive goals they were shooting for before the recording process began for this album?

Isaac: We just wanted to make the best album we possibly could and make it be something we'd all be proud of and want to listen to if it wasn't our band.

6. Are you using any new instrumentation you've never used in the recording process before?

Isaac: There's only thing that's really different on this album and that's the song "Closure" which is slower, more intimate and uses clean guitars which is something we hadn't done yet on a record.

7. What inspired the album title? Is it a concept album?

Isaac: It's not a concept album per say, but it does touch base with topics that people can relate to. The album is loud, aggressive, and nothing that can be easily ignored, just like Violence.

8. How would you describe the overall sound of the new album?

Isaac: It's really aggressive and never lets up even during choruses or build ups.

9. Did you feel any pressure whatsoever?

Isaac: The only pressure we felt was the pressure we put on ourselves to make the best album we could. In my opinion if you don't make music you're not proud of you shouldn't do it and definitely proud of what we did on this album.

10. You shot a video for the song "Infamous Last Words" where did the idea come for the video? Was it something you came up with yourself or was it brought to you?

Isaac: We're all big fans of old horror movies so we tried to bring that vibe to the music video. We worked on the concept with our director Eric Richter and I think it turned out great.

11. What are your expectations for the CD?

Isaac: We just want it to reach as many people as it can and have as many people enjoy it as possible. So far the response has been overwhelmingly positive and we're all super grateful to the people who have heard it and let us know how much they enjoy it so far.

12. What are your upcoming plans for this year?

Isaac: Just a lot of touring and trying to spread our name out there as much as possible. And of course have a great time doing it.


13. What do you hope for in 2013?

Isaac: We just want to play as much as possible and get this album out there.

14. If I were to introduce someone to your music, what would be the song that you think really shows your band sound the best?

Isaac: I think our first single "Infamous Last Words" would be the best song to introduce someone to us. It's got all the best elements of what we do.