Interview by Rachel Jablonski
There are two bands from Orlando, Florida that seem to be in the limelight these days. One is Roadrunner Record's Trivium. The other is a band on Lifeforce Records that is well on their way called Hand to Hand. With their latest album A Perfect Way to Say Goodbye now in stores, I interviewed Hand to Hand guitarist Jay Vilardi about the band, their music, and their Christmassy sense of humor.
Rachel: A Perfect Way to Say Goodbye is your debut full length release on Lifeforce Records. How did the band’s career start and what sort of path did you take to get this opportunity?
Jay: We’ve all been in different bands here in the scene for years. Rob, Brock, and Steve played in bands for together for several years, but it wasn’t until Zach joined that they changed the name to Hand to Hand. I was added some time later when the band replaced their second guitarist, Jon. The motto has always been play play play! We got where we are by playing and just trying to maintain a professional work ethic. We’re always out to have fun, but we’ve always had huge goals for this. This in mind, we always try to make the best out of every opportunity we get. This was no different when it came time to put out a record.
Rachel: How did you get hooked up with Lifeforce Records? How has the experience been?
Jay: It seems like the most important part is getting your demo in the hands of someone important. In our case, the important person was Stefan Leudicke at Lifeforce. Trivium hooked this up for us. Since we’re both Orlando bands, and we’ve known each other for years they were kind enough to pass our demo on to Stefan. Lifeforce has such an amazing roster of some of our favorite bands. Plus, we’ve always heard nothing but good things about the label from the bands on the roster and industry people. For us, it was a no-brainer, and we’re really happy.
Rachel: Your band is from Orlando. I read that the album has been selling out in stores there as well as on your website. How did you gain so much support from the local scene? What clubs did you play at?
Jay: We’ve always just wanted to play. We’ll go anywhere. By networking with other bands and keeping the show interesting, we’ve been able to collect the following we have. We’re so thankful for the kids that come out to shows because it’s always cool to play for kids that genuinely want to be there. Here in Orlando, the venues range from places like The Hard Rock Live or House Of Blues to smaller places like The Social and Will’s Pub. We’ll play anywhere.
Rachel: I’m going to Orlando in July for the first time. What kinds of things or places should I see while I’m there? Any local bands I should try and see? What’s the music scene like?
Jay: There are so many bands to check out here in O-town as we call it. I hit the “downtown” area up. There’s always something happening. You won’t be disappointed and there’s always something to do especially if you’re a night person. Don’t forget to hit up Universal’s Island of Adventure. Those rides are ridiculous.
Rachel: How did you come up with your band name? What does it mean to you?
Jay: The idea behind our name was given to us by a friend in the local scene here in Florida. It’s an interesting name because it can describe so many interactions you can have with another person. Love and hate, friendship or fighting. As in “hand to hand combat” or holding hands. I think it describes our music in many ways. We can be soft/melodic, which usually communicates friendly vibes, or we can be heavy which can sometimes mean violence. We like to leave that up to the individual.
Rachel: Are you aware of the documentary called Hand to Hand, which is about “the amazing story of a British guy who got mixed up in American politics?” Have you seen it?
Jay: Not exactly. I stumbled upon it once on the internet while looking for things related to the band. To be honest, I had no idea what it was about until you said something.
Rachel: How did you get hooked up with produced James Paul Wisner (Further Seems Forever, 36 Crazyfists)? What was it like working with him?
Jay: Our drummer, Zach, has recorded several times in the past with him. So when it came time for us to get a recording together Zach knew exactly which studio to record in. Thankfully, James liked our material. We recorded a 5 song EP with him in 2003 and released it independently. When we signed with Lifeforce we entered into the studio again to record our debut LP.
Rachel: In one sentence how would you describe your band?
Jay: Metal band pretending to be emocore, pretending to be metalcore.
Rachel: What is with the horrible, unbearable singing of “O Holy Night” at the end of the album? Where did it come from? Who is singing? What possessed you to choose to close the album with it?
Jay: It was meant to be funny. After reading your review of our album, I can honestly say that you’re the first person we’ve come across that didn’t find it hilarious. Yeah the Christmas song has a story behind it. As anyone can imagine there are those days in the studio where everyone is stressed out and needs to take a break. The rumor is Steve, the drummer from Further Seems Forever, obtained that somehow. We have asked him about it and I am still not too sure how he got it. But I guess someone in his family recorded it. Anyway, at the end of a long day in the studio our producer called us into the control room as if he had something serious to show us. With us all gathered around he proceeded to play the Christmas song. It was one of the funniest things I had ever heard so we had to put it on the record.
Rachel: What do you think a perfect way to say goodbye would be?
Jay: Creating an album… that’s just me. We’re a band that enjoys touring, so we’ll be gone 10 months out of the year supporting this record. Farewell is definitely in order, at least for anyone that knows us here in Florida.
Rachel: What are your touring plans? Who will you tour with?
Jay: So far we have several confirmed shows all over Europe. Some stops include Germany, Italy, France, Spain, UK, and several other stops as well. We fly out late April and return in June. We’re excited because we’ll be doing some dates with Further Seems Forever on this one. After this, we’ll be hitting the US as hard as we can. There is talk of a Japan and Australia trip, but nothing has been confirmed yet.
Rachel: Anything else you would like to add?
Jay: Thanks so much for the interview! And thanks to everyone who bought our record! To thank you is not enough! We hope it means as much to you as it does to us!