Roll of the Dice is a short interview format with a variable amount of questions. A pair of dice is rolled and the total, between 2 and 12, is the amount of questions we can ask. All questions are given to the interviewee(s) at once, and no follow-ups are allowed. The interview may be lightly edited for content and clarity.
Bay Area 5-piece Pure Hex have joined TGEFM for our latest Roll of the Dice interview. We discuss the new single “She Comes Up,” their influences and what’s next for Pure Hex.
Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview! Congrats on the release of the new single “She comes Up” What should our readers know about the members of Pure Hex, your history and your sound?
Zach: Pure Hex came to fruition through the same common goal: working together with our closest friends and bringing something real and honest to our local music scene.
The band first started as a three-piece (formerly known as Stranger) between myself on guitar/vocals, and former members Max Edelman and Ian Hodges on drums and bass. I had met Ian through mutual friends once I moved out to San Francisco some years back, while Max and I had met purely based on like-minded music tastes that led to a conversation in the coffee shop he was working in at the time. In this way, Stranger was formed based on a similar ethos as Pure Hex, but with a stronger focus on playing darker, moodier shoegaze/doom.
Flashforward five years and Pure Hex has an EP, a full-length record, and permanent members: Hussain Khan (guitar), Marta Alvarez (vocals), Luke Clingerman (bass), and Jon Annunziato (drums). To me, this was the pivotal moment in the band’s coming career; with the conglomeration of old friends years later, we were ready to take on something more mature, honest, and emotive.
There is definitely a darker undertone to the new single, so let’s talk a little bit about how “She Comes Up” and how it came into existence. What was going on at the time that helped kickstart the songwriting process?
Marta: “She Comes Up” is actually one of the oldest songs on the record. Luke joined Pure Hex as we were working on releasing Still Dark and this song was one of the first we wrote with him on bass. It’s been around two years now since we wrote it, but I remember when we finished writing we knew that Luke was a perfect fit. It’s really nice to finally be releasing this song.
How did the new record process compare to the process of recording and writing Still Dark?
Jon: Since we recorded with Corey Coffman again, we knew pretty much what to expect in the studio this time around. Even though our task was harder this time because of the relative difficulty and length of the album, Corey knew how to work with us to make it feel easier than when we recorded Still Dark. We also came in much more prepared. When it came to writing the songs, we felt slightly more pressed for time because we booked our recording dates prior to finishing the album. I like to think that the pressure helped us come up with something special and different from last time. In my experience, limiting yourself is a great way to fuel creativity.
What have been some of the most memorable moments or experiences with the band so far? What’s been the most unexpected? The weirdest?
Luke: One of my most memorable moments was our Moroccan Lounge Show in June last year. We were on tour with Ridgeway which is always a great time and had just come from a house show the night before that got shut down. Considering the recent speed bumps I was expecting to feel a little down and tired, but being around your homies in a fun city really helps snap you out of it. The venue was packed that night, every band was sounding amazing and being on stage just had this surreal feeling.
One of our obligatory questions in these interviews also tends to be the one I have found most important on a personal level. Who are some bands on your radar that TGEFM readers may not know about, but you think they should?
Some really cool bands to check out are Ridgeway, Soft Blue Shimmer, Hayday, Pop Free, Murdermart, Cage World, Prize Horse, and The Moondrops. There are so many really amazing musicians around us putting out killer music, it’s hard to choose only a few.
What’s next for Pure Hex?
Marta: We’re putting out this big record! It’s a double LP, and we’ve decided to put it out in two halves. Part one will be out in May, and part two will be out at the beginning of next year, along with a gatefold vinyl of the full album. We’re also hoping to tour the new music in some places we haven’t been yet! Get ready for a lot of new music this year.
Was there anything I missed that you’d like to share or dive deeper into with our readers?
Hussain: We’re just excited for our new release to come out and to start this next chapter as a band. We put a lot of thought into these songs and the order in which they go on the record. We each pulled tarot cards one night while we were in Colorado recording the album, and we all spent time dwelling on their relevance to our lives. After that night we decided to make one certain tarot card a major theme behind the meaning and content of this project. I think one of the most enjoyable aspects of putting this album together has been developing a lore behind it as well.
Bad Dad (occasionally called Ed) has been on the periphery of the punk and punk-adjacent scene for over twenty years. While many contributors to this site have musical experience and talent, Ed’s musical claim to fame comes from his time in arguably the most punk rock Blockbuster Video district in NJ where he worked alongside members of Blanks 77, Best Hit TV and Brian Fallon. He is more than just an awful father to his 2 daughters, he is also a dreadful husband, a subpar writer, a terrible dresser and has a severe deficiency in all things talent… but hey, at least he’s self-aware, amirite?
Check out the pathetic attempts at photography on his insta at https://www.instagram.com/bad_dad_photography/
