Interview with Hike The Peak

What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?

My brother  is 12 years older than me so I had quite the impressionable young mind growing up with Frank Zappa, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Rainbow and that pretty much stuck me down the rock road until I ping ponged from that to metal then punk and that’s where I’ve pretty much stayed. I am here because of music and I’ve known nothing else.

What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?

I travel the world snowboarding when im not working and love to travel to see as much as I can. Watch movies and all that kinds stuff. My creativity is just trying to write catchy stuff. I want people to enjoy my stuff. Fundamentally that’s all we want to do as creative types is hope we make a connection with people.

How long has your band been around?

The project started during the early months of the Covid Lockdown in 2021 and were still plugging away.

Where are you based out of and how did that influence your music?

I live in Sheffield now but was born and bred in a small fishing town on the east coast called Grimsby. Pretty much that industry is now dead and the town subsequently followed suit so we needed something to do as youths and from out skateboarding community at that time a few of us decided to learn instruments. Start a punk band and off we went. No one was doing it at the time and it helped us get out and play all over the UK and meet some great people….gave me the taste to pretty much stay in the scene for what’s been over 25 years now.

How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you?

Im a snowboarder and have been for years. The name derives from riding off piste….if you want to get up higher past where the chairlift stops or youre on a mountain with no lifts you walk up to then ride all the way down. Hence you ‘Hike the Peak’

Tell me about your most memorable shows.

As this band is not a traditional band per se (were all in different countries) id have to look back at my older bands from supporting Lagwagon, The Vandals though to touring Europe 6 times with NO CONTEST (my last band) which culminated in being asked to play Punk Rock Holiday in Slovenia, that was amazing.

What is your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you have not already?

PRH for sure. Kunterbunt in Schwerte, Germany was always a great place to hit on tour as was Augsburg, Germany and Smocl in Lasko, Slovenia which was a brilliant spot. I always wanted to play the legendary Duchess Of York in Leeds before it closed but now its a fuckin Hugo Boss store so thats one ive missed.

If you could play any show with any lineup, who would be on the ticket?

A Wilhelm Scream, Comeback Kid, Face to Face, Converge…..thats eclectic enough

What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band and some advice that you would give to your younger self?

Don’t drink too much before playing. Always be nice to other people. Never turn up expecting to use other peoples gear. Enjoy it and not sweat the small stuff sometimes you’ll play places where people won’t enjoy you….it doesnt matter. Make friends, be genuine and gig swop all the time.

If you could go back in time and give yourselves advice, what would it be?

Practice guitar more. Put that beer down. Enjoy what you’re doing and appreciate life a little more.

Of your songs which one means the most to you and why?

For me, I wrote the song that turned out to be titled ‘Saviour’ with a mood/feeling trying to encompass depression and Hanne from FOR I AM who sings on that kinda hit the subject without any direction from me, which kinda says to me that that’s what the integral musical ideal was in the tune so that was cool. 

Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?

As we’ve never played live ill have to skip this one!

What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?

I write all the music in my home studio and then when someone is interested in providing vocals they do that….Myself and producer Danny Cummings from FAIR DO’s will go into his studio and record the guitar tracks from my original demo versions. He’ll mix it when the vocal stems come back and then we send it to Jesse Cannon in New York to master it….thats the process. I have a hard drive full of songs….sometimes the vocalist will want a change in chord structure in a part and that can easily be done in a digital home recording environment if you have the know how

What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?

The vocalists are responsible for their lyrical content. I don’t give them any direction whatsoever….I just want them to have ownership over the part of the song that they provide. Subjects covered include Alcohol abuse, Relationships, Bucking female social ideals and Petter from Swedish skate punks REBUKE wrote his song about killing your own children so they wouldn’t have to live on a planet that we as adults have fucked up. He’s a lovely bloke. But listens to too much black metal I think.

Do you ever have disagreements in your band, and how do you get past them?

The only disagreements are between me and myself when trying to nail a melody or something like that in the writing process…and I can’t nail what I want.

What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that is coming up?

The new ep is due out on Oct 21st 2022 and has 2 more songs. The guest vocalists for those two tracks are John Harcus from Scottish Skatepunk legends PMX and Ace from Japanese melodic punk band SHAMES. I can’t wait for people to hear it. Then the next one just before Christmas with any luck.

Each ep has 2 songs each song has a different singer. They’ve been coming out 7 weeks apart since September 2021. So the catalogue is building ill keep going until I run out of songs or people interested in collaborating with me.

Thanks for reading…it would mean the world to us if you could go listen to Hike The Peak and if you like it a simple follow would mean a lot. Thank you.