Protest the Hero chats to Jen again after 14 years!

Hi, the last time I interviewed was back in 2014, Seems like a lifetime ago . I thought it would be great to catch up again as you guys are still writing and releasing great music and touring the world making your diehard fans happy and picking up new ones on the way.

If readers would like to check out the 2014 interview you can do so at the end of the article.

JEN: It’s been over 14 years since we last spoke. When you think back to that interview, what stands out to you about who you were as musicians then compared to now? 

TIM: Holy heck! That’s been a minute. 14 years ago I was 26 and it was just after Scurrilous came out. Then we were still learning a lot about writing and performing but had done a good bit of that. We were getting comfortable and it seemed more laid back. Personally, I was a lot more carefree and more open to any opportunities that presented themselves, even if they might not have been the best ones. 

JEN:   Has your definition of success changed over the years? 

TIM: Not really. For me, playing music and get to write, record and perform it is success. The fact that people want to listen to our music and come to our shows is a result of what we’ve done over the years and I’m very grateful for that. 

The main successes would be surviving writing and recording and album and being stoked on the final results. Or making it through a tour and feeling like you played your best and made memories with your pals. 

JEN: When you look back over the last 14 years, what are you most proud of as a band? 

TIM: Making music that resonates with people. You meet people at the merch table that tell you our music has got them through a hard time or a trip to see us was an awesome trip with friends. 

You see this in the digital world to some extent, but just to know that something I love doing is actually helping people is something to be proud of. 

JEN: Was there ever a point where you wondered if Protest the Hero might not continue? 

TIM:Yeah, for sure. Volition was a turning point. We thought Scurrilous was a low point at least commercially. Our original drummer left the band and morale was low. 

We did the crowdfunding and hit our album budget goal of $125k in under 24 hours. That was a huge lift. 

JEN:  That is incredible support from your fans!

TIM:  Also, after Covid it seemed bleak. We released Palimpsest in the middle of the pandemic and couldn’t tour it. Luke (or OG guitarist) decided to stop playing live and we had to rebuild the live line up. It was rocky with a partially new band and entering this phase but we are hitting a rhythm now and with the new album it seems like we are building momentum. 

JEN: Yeah, Covid made a lot of things bleak that’s for sure. Be honest, did you ever imagine you’d still be making music together this many years later? A few changes of members, with 3 original members remaining I believe.

Luke: As a naive youngster, I think I assumed the five original members would be making music together forever.  Obviously, that’s not realistic as people’s lives progress, tastes change, and the desire to try other things develops.  As a 40-year-old, I look back and am very proud of what the five of us accomplished together.  The amount of things we endured together was wild, and we’ll always have that in common.  I am very pleasantly surprised that the three original members are still intact, though.  Making decisions with three people vs five is a little easier!

JEN: I was surprised to read that it took over 6 years to write and release it as it seems to be very cohesive.  Were there many rewrites or did you just take it easy?

Luke: The real reason it took so long to write was that it was “past time writing” vs “full time”.  It took us a long time to come to terms with it, but being in Protest the Hero simply can’t be a full-time job. There just isn’t enough to go around when you play music this niche, not to mention doing so in an industry that largely works against the artist rather than for the artist.  So, we all have other full-time commitments these days and write music as more of a hobby than a career.  But this newfound scenario works out okay in my opinion – we write music now because we want to, not because we have to.

Yep – there were many rewrites.  Many conversations about “what the album needed still” over the years.  A lot of work and though goes into that cohesion you mention, so we are grateful that you think that!

JEN: Your European tour has now started (See Dates Below); the songs are so complex musically is there a particular song that is you think you might stuff up or have you already? Not that it matters!

TIM: Oh it’s a miracle if I don’t mess up something in every song. We like to have fun on stage and tho we want to play our best, I would take a cool stage move over playing something perfect anyday. 

JEN: Yes, I don’t think crowds care at all! At the time of writing this you have done shows in London and Glascow, how have the crowds been reacting to the new music live?

TIM: It’s been great. We’ve always had a great audience in the UK and it was very nice to come back and have a solid crowd for both shows. We haven’t been over since we released Pacific Myth so there’s 2 albums worth of music that they haven’t seen the band. 

Merch was great and we had some vinyl shipped over from Sheet Happens and it sold out halfway into the London show. 

JEN: Now you are more mature in age is it harder to tour? Not saying you are old, just older ☺ 

TIM: Yes and no. I often wonder how I travelled around the world hung over and sleep deprived. Now, you have to take care of yourself more. Try to eat better, get decent sleep, stretch and warm up more before the show. It’s a lot more calmer for me and I enjoy getting up earlier than the other band members and having some peace and quiet opposed to staying up late. 

JEN: I particularly like Liberty Spike – an expression of asking why you are feeling those emotions and how life just keeps on moving on after a death perhaps suicide, (well that is my interpretation, ) I think I like it as it is about mental health, particularly coming from a man’s perspective. What are your thoughts on the song?  Am I on the same wavelength here?

TIM: I won’t speak for Rody but I do think men talking about mental health is very important. People see it as a vulnerability or weakness but people that can share their experience, struggles and triumphs with mental health are amongst the strong. 

I’ve had many challenges here and there is a lot of shame, however, when I open up to others often times there’s a lot of compassion, understanding and something people can relate to. Some men have been conditioned to push down their feelings and not be emotional but this is part of the macho generation that is affecting the world in a negative way in my opinion.

JEN: Agreed. I hope the world keeps moving in this direction with men’s mental health.

The album cover is amazing, a complete contrast to the last one, yet you used the same artist who painted this amazing image with so much to look at, each time I look I see something else. Is there a story behind why the album cover is what it is?

LUKE: Album artwork is still incredibly important to us, so we’re glad you dig the cover art! There’s lots more to discover in the liner notes and full art layout when you have a copy of the vinyl in your hands. We can’t wait for people to finally experience it that way.

Yes, there is a story (or stories) behind why the artwork is what it is, but I think divulging those details would be kind of fruitless. The beauty of album art, and how it connects to the music, should be in the eye of the beholder. Who are we to tell you how the songs, lyrics, and artwork connect?

That’s for you to dream up, and the best part is that there are no wrong interpretations.

JEN: Nice answer as each listen can make their own connection from your work. Also the more we listen, we can change our opinions.

Outside of music, how have you changed as people over the last decade? 

TIM:  The big changes are moving from being in your carefree twenties to the thirties. Personally, I now have a family and a relatively normal life than how things used to be. Also, it’s been a challenge pursuing a career in music full time and I’ve had to have side hustles (or maybe music was the side hustle) to make it all work. 

Physically, older, less hair on the head more hair on the body and no longer in good enough shape to rip it in the mosh pit. 

JEN: oh yeah I can’t do the mosh pit anymore, Covid put me in a wheelchair so I am up on the platforms.

Seeing I asked about the past, let me ask this. If I were interviewing you again in another 14 years, what would you hope we’d be talking about?

LUKE:
Oh boy – if we are talking about Protest the Hero in fourteen years, I don’t know.  I don’t see how it would be still be possible to “have something to say” by that point.  But who knows, I thought we would have run out of ideas by now, and here we are!

JEN: Great answer! I hope there is still something to say!  Thanks guys for taking the time out of your busy touring schedule to reconnect.

See you in Australia some time!

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TOUR DATES

PROTEST THE HERO

09.04.26 Kelowna, BC @ Anarchy In The OK (Kelowna Events Center)

09.12.26 Hamilton, ON @ Supercrawl festival

11.12.26 Moncton, NB @ Tide & Boar

11.13.26 Halifax, NS @ Marquee

11.14.26 Fredericton, NB @ Fredericton Farmers’ Market

11.17.26 Quebec City, QC @ Salle Montaigne

11.18.26 Montreal, QC @ Fairmount Theatre

11.20.26 Ottawa, ON @ The Bronson

11.21.26 Toronto, ON @ The Opera House

11.22.26 London, ON @ London Music Hall

11.25.26 Thunder Bay, ON @ eVents Centre

11.26.26 Winnipeg, MB @ The Park Theatre

11.27.26 Saskatoon, SK @ Louis’

11.29.26 Edmonton, AB @ Pawn Shop Live

11.30.26 Calgary, AB @ Arrowhead

12.03.26 Vancouver, BC @ The Pearl

12.04.26 Victoria, BC @ Wicket