File next to: Shotmaker, Unwound, Mach Tiver
Playing: WL629 Saturday, December 6th @ Soybomb
Hiera are a two piece raucous guitar and drums duo, featuring Adam Goodwin (guitars/vocals) and Scott Sjoholm (drums/sleeved shirts). They make their Wavelength debut as part of WL629 on December 6th. We caught up with Adam while the band were doing some recording to beef up their small but fearsome body of work.
Your bio mentions being “marooned in a small town” — first off, which small town we talking? Also, how small?
We are living in the rural area around Brighton, ON, about two hours east of Toronto. I grew up here and moved back from St. John’s a couple of years ago and Scott moved out here from Toronto around the same time.
What, if any, effect did being far from the city have on your musical preferences, style?
We have never really thought about that, we have both lived in large cities for a lot of our lives, so now I think being far away from the city has very little influence on preferences and style. But being outside the city has definitely influenced how and when we play. One of the best things about being far from the city is the ability to practice basically whenever we want. We have a pretty sweet set-up in my shed where we can play ridiculously loud.
Your catalog as of right now consists of two pounding guitar freakouts. What else is in the queue? Where can we hear more?
We are recording a demo this weekend (Nov. 29/30), which we will be released in some format in the near-ish future. We have a Soundcloud page at which you can find a recording of our first show.
Does Scott play in a tanktop? It sounds like he’s playing in a tanktop.
Sadly, no.
The two-piece guitar and drums combo is a configuration that’s seen a lot of success in the last 10 years – who are a few that are ok in your books?
I like the band Solids, from Montreal, quite a bit. And Cobalt is a pretty ripping two-piece. Shahman is pretty sweet too.
Who gives the two-piece guitar/drum combo a bad name?
We’re nice guys. We don’t want to drag anyone’s name through the mud.
Catch Hiera this Saturday (December 6th) at Soybomb alongside Surinam + The Dark Plains + Sailboats Are White + Toronto Homicide Squad + Watershed Hour
– Interview by Dean Williams