Protest The Hero is currently on a head lining tour through North America. At a recent stop at The Knitting Factory in Hollywood, CA I got a chance to talk to their front man Rody Walker.

Gauntlet’s Colette Claire: So how’s the tour been going so far?

Rody: It’s been really great. We actually get along with all of the other bands on the tour and that’s like the first time that’s happened. Everyone is really cool.

The Gauntlet: I heard you guys had some trouble in getting to Salt Lake City?

Rody: Yeah there is just really bad luck every time we go to Salt Lake City. We have a theory that Joseph Smith has cursed us because we have had trouble the last three times we’ve tried to go there. The first time we dropped off the tour because we weren’t happy with who we were touring with, the second time our van broke down and then this third time the weather stopped us from driving there.

The Gauntlet: Yeah I saw that video on you’re MySpace page, the one that said ‘this is what we were doing instead of being in Salt Lake’, and you were doing this funny choreographed dance to this weird techno music. What prompted that, sheer boredom and insanity?

Rody: That was actually from the second time we tried to go there and our van broke down. We were waiting on the side of the highway and Lucas was like ‘hey you guys wanna do a choreographed dance’ and we were like ‘sure why not’? We actually won a Revolver Golden God award for best viral video for that one.

The Gauntlet: I noticed you guys have a pretty good sense of humor, and I think a lot of metal bands take things too seriously, I mean you take your music seriously of course, but do you think it’s important to maintain a sense of humor?

Rody: My philosophy is take your craft seriously but never take yourself seriously. We just like to get along with everyone but there are bands that take themselves too serious and they are just douche bags.

The Gauntlet: You guys play what I would describe as a very intelligent style of music, and I see a lot of newer metal bands coming out that seem to have this complicated, intelligent style too. Like The Human Abstract for example and The Devil Wears Prada-

Rody: No not the Devil Wear Prada, they are not intelligent guys. They are the douche bags I was talking about that take themselves too seriously. And when I was talking about how we dropped off that tour because we weren’t happy with who we were touring with that who I was talking about.

The Gauntlet: They were really that bad?

Rody: Yeah they were.

The Gauntlet: [laughing] Ok well maybe they are a bad example. I‘m just wondering if you think that the younger generation of metal is bringing a bit more intellectualism to the table, not that metal hasn’t always been intellectual but people have stereo typed metal heads as beer drinking morons over the years and maybe we are finally moving away from that?

Rody: I think there’s the more beer chugging all American types of metal heads and there there’s the more progressive end of it and that is where you get the scrawny fucks like us playing metal. Although I do listen to a lot of that beer drinking American metal too.

The Gauntlet: I ask a lot of bands this because I have a personal interest in chicks in the metal scene; do you see a lot of chicks at your shows?

Rody: I haven’t noticed that many but I haven’t really been looking to be honest with you. I think our type of music attracts an older demographic, which is often times primarily male, we’re not exactly the Jonas Brothers so that doesn’t always attract a lot of ladies.

The Gauntlet: So you guys have been together for ten years right, and you’re not that old now, how old were you when the band formed?

Rody: We were 12, but it wasn’t always a serious thing. We just dicking around playing punk songs for a few years first.

The Gauntlet: So when did it get serious?

Rody: When we were like 14.

The Gauntlet: When you were 14? You made it sound like you guys dicked around for awhile, two years is not that long, 14 is still pretty young!

Rody: [laughing] I guess it is

The Gauntlet: So you have had the same line up this entire time?

Rody: Yep it’s been the same five assholes since the beginning.

The Gauntlet: How do you guys manage that, most metal bands rotate members all the time.

Rody: Well we grew up together; we’ve known each other since 2nd grade so we’re like closer than friends but not as close as family. I think a lot of bands are just trying to get the best players and don’t care about them as friends, and that’s how they end up with some douche bag they have to fire and the cycle starts again. I mean that’s what I would guess anyway.

(Rody then bust out with what I thought was a weed pipe at first. Some people may have heard of this already but I found it fascinating. It looked like a cigarette and he puffed on it and blew out what looked like smoke but it was actually water vapor. He explained to me that this pipe has these nicotine cartridges that you put into it and it vaporizes the nicotine and you get no carbon monoxide and tar. The nicotine is still bad for your heart, etc but its way better for your lungs. It’s electronic and charges in a USB port on your computer. I knew they had things like this for weed but not for cigarettes. Plus you can technically smoke it inside so ha ha on the California smoking regulations at the club.)

The Gauntlet: So have there been any pranks on this tour?

Rody: We’re not really a prank oriented band. I know there’s like those bands were its like the end of the tour and they put honey on someone’s drums sticks or something. It’s just stupid, I mean we’ve been through that and it can go too far and it turns out that it’s kind of more malicious than anything. We’ve lost friends that way, not that I really care I have enough fuckin friends anyway.

The Gauntlet: Why do you say that?

Rody: I just do, I mean I don’t care about trying to make friends with people.

(At that moment we here a toilet flush, apparently there is a bathroom on the other side of the wall of the green room we are in.)

The Gauntlet: [laughing] That’s a lovely punctuation mark on the end of that sentence. So how awesome is it being Canadian?

Rody: [laughing] you know what, it is pretty awesome. People don’t hate you when you go to Europe. But we’re we are just another shit stain on the North American continent, another fart in this shit storm. I don’t know what’s with all these fecal references it must be the bathroom next to us. But yeah Canada’s awesome. You know there’s like no Christian bands in Canada or straight edge bands. We don’t believe in God or sobriety in Canada. I asked one of the guys in Misery Signals [whose on this tour with us] if he drinks and he was like ‘Do I drink? I’m Canadian what the fuck do you think?’

(Ha had a pack of matches in his hand that say ‘freedom lights this way’)

Rody: Yeah see we don’t have shit like this in Canada.

(Another toilet flushes)

Rody: [to the guy coming out of the bathroom]: Dude it stinks in here. Did you take a shit?

Dude: Yeah I did but it doesn’t stink.

Rody: Yeah it does because the last guy just took a urine. I heard him urinating through the wall while we were talking

Dude: He took a urine?

Rody: [laughing] Yeah he took urine, you can say take a shit why not take a urine?

Dude: So he still could have taken a shit too. Are you saying you can’t poo when you pee?

Rody: Not in the same time frame no. Plus there was no smell when he left.

Dude: Yeah there was

Rody: Maybe it was just lingering from the guy before him. Like that Cranberries song (sings “do you have to let it linger, do you have to, do you have to, do you have to let it linger”)

The Gauntlet: Well I think we can end it on that note.

Rody: Are you putting all that in the interview?

The Gauntlet: Of course!