HANKER is a band from Québec formed in 1985, released a first demo in 1991 and a first album in 1994. In 2004, the quartet is back with a fourth album, Web Of Faith which is definitely an album that will please numerous metal fans. So here's an interview with Patrick Gravel, guitarist for the Quebecker act.

Patrick - OK, thank you!

Patrick - It's the ending result; it's what we wanted, great!

Patrick - It was super pleasant, we didn't think that there would be so many people yesterday, there were more than 300 persons approximately, there were co-workers, family and several people whom we did not know and who showed up further to the invitation of the newspaper or still on our website, and the people, at least the ones to whom I spoke to and of course, you're at a release party, the music is blasting in your ears, there's people talking, so people didn't really had the chance to hear it, but those who had listened to it told me that they were very very very thrilled by the product.

Patrick - Yes, I think that the songs follow up better. I completely agree with what you're saying.

Patrick - The Snakes And Ladders album was recorded during the spring of 1999. For a bunch of reasons that were just as bad, this album was only released in the fall of 2000. We had to shop for a new distributor and we had our chance with Metal Disk of Quebec, Martin Lafleur's label I do not know if you know him?

Patrick - That went on for a while and at a certain moment, Martin didn't have enough time to take charge of the marketing of a disc, we thus ended our association, there was no squabble, he simply told us: «I'm not able of taking you farther, but I took you this far», because he brought us to a good point Martin. It is him who made us open for Nightwish in Montreal. Further to that appearance, it is at this moment that the guy from BCI (Brave Concerts International) noticed us for the first time.

Patrick - ... Stéphane Mellul. At that period, in 2002, we prepared a new disc and began to compose some songs but without working really profoundly because we wanted to find a new label, a company with whom we would get along very well. We had other offers, but often they were businesses from outside and we didn't want to go with a company that would be on the other side of the world, we were looking for something close enough to us. That's why it took so much time. It wasn't a writing problem!

Rick - No, and I can understand with the quality of the new album!!! On the first title of the album, Empower, we note an influence à la Helloween notably on the guitar playing level. Did the fact that you opened for them on October 11, 2003 in Montreal influence you in some way?

Patrick - Helloween, I would say that it is way before October 11, 2003...

Patrick - ... It's not that we want to make a copy, anyway we are not reinventing the wheel, and anybody can realize that, we cannot say that we're a band that makes original music, because in this style, it can't be original anymore. But we're trying to make good materials, it's certain that we grew by listening to Maiden, Metallica, Helloween and others and it's obvious that it shows a bit in our influences. It's definitive that for Helloween, it's a band for which we devote a great admiration.

Patrick - It's the link that was unintentionally made.

Patrick - No, it's not a concept album but what happened is that you start working on some titles and certain subjects and as you move on in the writing process, because we always do the music before the lyrics and for us, we compose the track and once we get to the chorus, we take any word even if it's grammatically impossible then we repeat it ceaselessly to see if the chorus is finally kicking in. And it's afterwards that that we climb on the subjects.

Patrick - And Empower is one of the first songs written and obviously further to the September 11th events and in the song, we say where we are with all this and it seems like the other titles revolved around that. It wasn't intended to be a sort of concept, some will see a concept but it wasn't intentional.

Patrick - Oh yes.

Patrick - It's as clear as that?

Rick -

Patrick - I can say that it can be things that can be applied in the life of about everybody. For us, it could be a kind of reminder about some situations that we have already faced, yes. But it can be applied to the band, like it can apply to any of the band members. Meaning, one of these days, I will eventually win! But I didn't know that it was that obvious!

Rick - Well, it was the first thing that I noticed when I read the lyrics, I said to myself: «Oh, I think that it didn't go the way they wanted it».

Patrick - They have a grudge against somebody!

Rick - Yes! They haven't named anybody and that's about it! On the musical progression level of the band, what would distinguish Web Of Faith with the three other albums according to you?

Patrick - We've always categorized ourselves, when we began, as being a heavy metal band and at some point, we were labelled as power metal. I must admit that sometimes, I didn't know how we had to define ourselves. When we to began to work, that we came to an agreement with Skyscraper to make this album, we said to ourselves that we wanted to give it a heavy image, the traditional heavy metal, to get out of the power path, the dragons, the Vikings, the nymphs, the unicorns, you see the kind?

Patrick - Yes, that's right, like in Germany; they have a festival called Keep It True...

Patrick - ... meaning to say «keep it like that!». And we wanted it to sound much more malicious, much more aggressive and we downright set the keyboards aside for this one. From the beginning, we didn't say that we were going to leave them; we said to ourselves that if it sounds well without keyboards, we shall not add them. And as the production moved on, and the guy who produced it for us, the guy from Kataklysm, Jean-François Dagenais, it's a guy that is downright oriented heavy metal and he gave it the aspect that we wanted. My description is that it's spiteful and aggressive while preserving a good mark of melody.

Patrick - I find that it's much harder hitting than Snakes And Ladders...

Patrick - You listen to it and it bites right away!

Patrick - I would be very surprised that somebody would tell me that he doesn't see a lot of difference between the Snakes compos and this one. I think that there is a net difference and I would see that more as an improvement. Because there are bands that often, as they move on, in heavy metal, it seems like they decrease in intensity. And for us, I believe that we are increasing!

Patrick - At first, we had prepared a set because we thought that our album was going to be available over there, in July. We thus had a set that made a bit more place for our new material and when we learned, in the last weeks, that the album wouldn't have been out at this moment in Europe, we thus re-orientated our set by going more with what had made us known in Germany, In Our World, Dead Ringer then Snakes And Ladders. On the first evening, we played two songs from the new one and the second evening in a club called the Ballroom, we played two others. I would tell you that the reaction was good. Of course for the people there, it's their first listening but after that we went to meet people in the crowd and they said to us that as a first listen, without having heard it on CD, the reaction was frankly good especially in the club where we played the song Do Or Die, this last one had a good reception. I would have loved doing the same show, but with the album released a month before and adding more titles. We were re-invited to make other shows next year.

Patrick - We have been selling discs since 1994 over there and when we arrived, we were sure that people were going to recognize us but that it would not be madness. It wasn't madness in the sense that there was no crowd like for Beatles to jump over us...

Rick - ... ...

Patrick - ... but when we got there on Wednesday, we had a walk on the campsite that was just next to the stage. There were already some people that were installed on Wednesday in anticipation of the beginning of the festival on Friday. When we got there, we took some pictures of the site and there were people that ran up to us asking for autographs and pictures and who just wanted to talk. I jumped because I said to myself: «My God, they recognize us», and it is something that we are not used to over here whereas over there they treat us like; I'm going to say the word, a bit like stars.

Patrick - There were some French who came from Toulouse who came to see us play and they told us: «us, our mentality here, whether you are Maiden or you, if you make good stuff, we dedicate the same respect». So the local scene over there, I saw local bands, they are well supported by the rather big media. Here it's different, it's really necessary to obtain some recognition somewhere else before having some support.

Patrick - Oh yes, definitively. But that's how it is, we can't be shocked about it, we're a bit disappointed of this fact there but we tell ourselves that at some point, if it continues to go well on the other side that maybe there will be a rebound over here. Especially that we're beginning to have quite a lot of bands from Quebec that are making great performances on the heavy level, I think of Forgotten Tales, I think of Blinded By Faith and I'm forgetting some and in Montreal there are more but it seems like we do not have the recognition that foreign bands have when they come here.

Patrick - Some more time but I would tell you that it's going well. I believe that it's going better than we think... Look, when BCI produces sold out shows in Montreal and that you never hear about it at Musique Plus, that nobody knows. I work with people who tell me: «eh, heavy metal is still alive?», and I tell them that in Montreal, on a regular basis there are shows that attract a lot more than the shows that you see almost everywhere on TV, those ones, there's about them, whereas metal shows, there's no talk about them. Besides for media like yourself or still like Sang Frais in Montreal, there's too little talk about it, in the big commercial media, we don't hear about it.

But as for our experience in Germany, it was really fun. We had an autograph session at a record store, that was special. There are people taking pictures of you and they are quite proud to be standing next to you. It's almost embarrassing at time because we're not used to that. But it was pleasant, at least we say to ourselves that we pleased some people, it's quite pleasant!

Patrick - You want the set list?

Rick - No, no, I want it to remain a surprise!

Patrick - We will have some surprises. There comes a time where you do shows and you get used to always play the same songs except for the new ones, so we're going to plug songs that we've never played in Montreal. For me, when I go see a band like Maiden, Run To The Hills, I like it very much but sometimes I would like them to play another one that we don't hear too often. So we're going to add some like that. Of course, we don't have 1 hour and a half; we have 45 minutes so we want to balance it good between the new and the old stuff. So we're going to play some from In Our World, songs that we would have never played in Montreal. It should be different, people won't have the same set list that we had in the past shows.

Patrick - There's the one of September 25th at the Kashmir in Quebec with a band from Quebec called Aquarian. Then the shows will be added as the album will appear on the tablets. It will be BCI, Stéphane Mellul, who is going to organize the shows for the greater part.

Patrick - That they take the care of listening to our new disc with great attention because I really think that we have taken a step forward with a sound that is going to please much more those who are discovering the metal of the past years. There are bands that arrive with a big sound, with double kicks that strikes with the trig and everything and that's what we used. If you have noticed, the drum sound is much heavier...

Patrick - ... the bass is more present. We played the bass with distortion so that it sounds much rougher, we have increased the sound of the guitars and we handled the voice as if it was an instrument, we didn't put it too much up front, as if it was a fifth instrument and it brings a certain wealth to this new disc. So what I would say to the fans of the Metal's Den, come to our shows and we're going to give them the maximum of energy that we can give!

Rick - Excellent!!!

Patrick - And that they visit our website, I do not know if you went there?

Patrick - That's right, the guy that works on it makes updates practically every day...

Patrick - The webmaster, Pierre Bégin, really makes one hell of a job.

Patrick - I thank you very much for your interest!

Copyright © 2004 The Metal's Den

Rick

Source: The Metal's Den, Interview with Patrick Gravel, September 2004

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