The Devil Wears Prada Interview: Mike Hranica Sets the Record Straight
At Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival I had a chance to sit down with Mike Hranica, lead singer of one of metalcore's hardest working, and hardest rocking, bands - The Devil Wears Prada.
Their latest album, Dead Throne, ranked as one of the most anticipated records of 2011 by many music critics and it didn't disappoint. With heavy duty Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz helming production it's little wonder that the buzz soon became deafening. Dead Throne busted out of the gate, selling over 32,000 copies in its first week--not bad for a band who has never had radio support. It was interesting to get Mike's perspective on the evolution of Prada's studio work.
One of the other topics of discussion was the rush of younger bands to jump on major tours and sign record deals without doing the groundwork necessary to carry them up the ranks, and for many, without doing any work at all. It's a subject that I've heard resonating amongst many of the up and coming bands, a sudden shift that promotes bands who piggyback, and sometimes downright copy and steal from others who have had to work for their success.
While emulation may be construed as flattery, flat out copycatting cannot be. There's simply a line that must be drawn when the pariahs threaten to overrun the creative community. Unfortunately few are willing to discuss the ripple of discontent that's been building; a silence which leaves the ethically obtuse to grow like a plague.
The Devil Wears Prada - Interview - MIKE HRANICA
"To me it's sad that anyone should ever have any clue what a 'record deal' is when they start a band. I spoke about this in an interview the other day--we fall right in the generation gap of when you actually made money selling records and the 'new age.' And we're the 'new age,' unfortunately.
But we came in right at the beginning of that sort of inception to this era. To me it's sad that people can start bands and already... I don't know, it makes me sound so exhaustive to say, 'They shouldn't know anything about touring or the lifestyle or anything,' but... focusing on a record deal to me, when you just got some guys together? It's like... are you kidding me?
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