The idea of interviewing a musician never really crossed my mind until I received an e-mail one day from Jasun Tipton, guitarist of the California-based prog metal band Zero Hour, thanking me for a complimentary bulletin board post I made about the band’s self-titled debut CD. After exchanging a handful of e-mails with him, I realized there was much about the state of Zero Hour, and of the prog metal universe in general, I could learn from somebody who was actively participating within it. He and his twin brother, Troy (bass), generously entertained my questions...and even the band’s singer, Erik Rosvold, joined in when it came time to discuss the band’s lyrics.

Steve: First of all, I want to congratulate you and the other members of Zero Hour for being named Best Independent Release of 1998 by the Heady Metal website this past January. You also finished first in the "’Rookie’ Band of the Year" balloting and third in the "Band Most Deserving of a Major Label" balloting by the Perpetual Motion Message Board in December of ’98. That’s fairly good recognition for a band that has only four recorded songs.
Jasun:We are really pleased with the response that we have been receiving from the web-zines, mags, labels and of course the listeners. Hearing and seeing all this just makes the band want to work harder to keep putting out good material.

Steve: The four songs on your EP were copyrighted back in ’97. I suspect you guys have not been practicing the same four songs since then.
Troy: We recently finished writing the music for the next release. Our approach this time around is different from the S/T demo CD.
Jasun: We wanted to make the music darker, heavier and more technical. The band feels we achieved this.

Steve: What was the band’s reasoning for making those adjustments to the new music?
Jasun: The reason is due to the frustrations of the music business. When we did the first CD, we had many labels say they wanted to do something with the S/T demo disc. We even had a few contracts sent to us, but when negotiations would prolong the labels would second guess everything. So our frustrations really poured into our music and you can hear it and feel it.

Steve: Sounds as if there’s words of wisdom (or, words of warning!) that Zero Hour could pass along to a younger band.
Jasun: Words of warning!!! Never give your publishing away. At least get fifty percent because you’re the ones who wrote the music, not the label. Read terms very carefully and just remember everything is negotiable.

Steve: Zero Hour music is no doubt well thought out. Tell me about any compositional process that you might employ to write this music.
Jasun: We take it in parts like a soundtrack to a movie. It will have its haunting, powerful and uplifting periods. Drama!!!

Steve: More than once, I’ve seen Zero Hour referred to as a technical prog metal band, right alongside bands like Power of Omens, and especially Watchtower. How do you feel about being placed within that genre?
Troy: We feel honored!!! Both Watchtower and PoO are incredible bands. We are very good friends with the guys in PoO. Doug Keyser (bassist of Watchtower) is one of my favirote bass players. I feel all three bands sound different but all three bands play with alot of conviction.

"There were many clubs and it always seemed there was a good musical event going on. Now it's rare to see a cool artist or band come around and play."

Steve: I read an interesting thread a while back, about what might happen if metal, or one of its sub-genres like technical prog metal, was to somehow attain the "in" sound status, similar to what Alternative and Hip-Hop currently enjoy. How do you feel this would strengthen, or dilute, what you guys currently recognize as metal?
Jasun: It would all depend on the bands who come out at the time. If the bands do it because they love the music it would be strengthened. If they do it to fatten the wallet it will be very weak.
Troy: I personally don’t think it will ever become a mainstream type of music. I feel progressive metal definitely has room to grow, but I honestly feel that Prog-Metal will always be a underground fav.

Steve: What influence do you envision Zero Hour will have on prog metal’s growth?
Jasun: I hope it will influence other bands to take chances and play the music they love. If there’s any growth due to us, that would be great.

Steve: Where do you get your ideas and inspiration for lyrics?
Erik: My ideas are first sparked by the mood of the music. I always relate the lyrics to the particular mood of any one part of a song. I usually work out something that is structurally interesting; not just the typical introduction-climax-resolve framework. Of course, if a basic structure works than it works. I also lean towards using a science-fiction or fantasy style approach to writing. For instance, in our forth coming CD the main theme is the struggle between the have and the have-nots and the cost of progress that keeps evolving for its own sake. But instead of using a dry "newstory" or "scientific" approach I take these ideas into a world that is pure fabrication. For the most part I'm drawn to the notion of dissecting reality and putting a poetic spin on it.

Steve: What kind of story lines or themes would you like to see Zero Hour becoming synonymous with?
Erik: Unpredictable ones.

Steve: The band’s bio mentioned a five-song demo tape called Discovery that you guys recorded in 1995.
Jasun: The "95" demo really open our eyes to the direction we were striving for. I don’t even have a copy of that demo anymore. All I can say is that demo was a eye opener for the band.

Steve: I went to the Zero Hour home page to order one of the band’s T-shirts. It was curious to see that, not only were your sisters modeling the shirts, even your dad was helping out! I take it that you two received some good solid family support during the early evolution of your music careers.
Jasun: Our family RULES!! Our dad is our biggest supporter and best friend. When we were growing up my dad would play nothing but Elvis and my mom would play Pat Metheny (who is my all time favorite guitarist!!). Our sisters are very talented singers and very supportive. On our dad's side my Grandpa is a bass player for a big band and my Grandma was a touring lounge singer.

"Music is our only plan!! When we turn sixty we will be playing Jazz!!!"

Steve: You currently live in Pleasanton, California. From looking through their web site, it seems too much of a contemporary Suburbia environment to support progressive metal musicians.
Troy: You can say that again!!! The scene for Metal & Prog-Metal is almost non-exsitant.

Steve: So, how (or, why) did you guys end up going in the prog metal direction?
Jasun: Troy and I love Jazz music for its technicalities and its dynamics.
Troy: We love Metal for the heaviness and crunch. So it’s like combining the two together.

Steve: I suspect that being less than 35 miles from such a diverse and open-minded city like San Francisco influenced your musical development and direction to some extent.
Troy: Yes it did influence us!! There was alot of variety and was a great scene for many different styles of music. There were many clubs and it always seemed there was a good musical event going on. Now its rare to see a cool artist or band come around and play.

Steve: In the demo CD liner notes, you two thank Brian’s Book for keeping you employed. Sounds to me as if you two have---excuse me while my body convulses---"real" jobs.
Troy: Yeah, we need to pay for those recordings one way or another.
Jasun: I give guitar lessons as well and like anything if you love something enough you'll find time for it.

Steve: A number of musicians might intentionally or subconsciously avoid striving for a "profession" because it may interfere with their art. What kind of "career" plans, if any, do you have for yourselves in addition to music?...or, as a replacement for music when you walk off the stage for the last time?
Troy: Music is our only plan!! When we turn sixty we will be playing Jazz!!!

Steve: This opportunity for an interview began when you responded to a positive message I posted on the Perpetual Motion bulletin board about your debut CD. Needless to say, I was excited that a musician would take the time to respond personally to one of my posts, but it wasn’t the first time it’s happened to me. It seems to me that prog and prog metal musicians of today are more eager to interact with their fans than what most of us remember from the 70s and 80s.
Jasun: I can’t speak for all bands but I feel the music we play you put alot of heart and soul into it. When you work so hard on your music you love and you hear or see people say they dig it. Its the greatest compliment and I want our listeners know we appreciate it.

	The Zero Hour Web Site
	Read my 2001 interview with the band!
	Feedback, dammit!

[ UofD > Interviews > Zero Hour ]       Feedback from speakers...BAD! Feedback from my web site...GOOD! Steve "Dr. Crankenstein" Husk [ Copyright Info ]