Chris Epting of Noisecreep sat down with The Devil Wears Prada’s lead vocalist Mike Hranica before a recent show in Pomona, Calif., to talk some hockey [he’s a Penguins and Blackhawks fan], faith, politics, tattoos and the early records changed his life. Hranica is an intense, thoughtful artist who seems to relish a serious conversation. The video can be seen below.
You’ve gotten into a bit of branding since we last spoke on Warped tour last year.
[Laughs] We came up with this logo for our band, this triangle, and the number of tattoos we’ve been seeing on fans is extraordinary. We love that. Way more than buying a t-shirt, when we see something like that, that’s a serious commitment from fans and we really like that. We don’t really care too much about fads and trends – we want to be with our fans for a long time.
This summer you’re joining the Mayhem tour – and it’s already one of the hottest tickets of the year. Are you looking forward to it?
When we started touring, we’d always joke about how much we’d want to tour with Slipknot. So when Mayhem got announced, apparently more people than we knew had heard about this because all these people were calling to congratulate us: “You’re going on the road with Slipknot!” And a few of the members were at our Des Moines show a few days ago. I think [festival founder] Kevin Lyman is a genius in how he structures festivals like Warped and Mayhem. The way he weaves younger bands and older bands together is incredible, so we love what he is doing on Mayhem. I’ll be nervous though, it’s an older crowd, we talk about Jesus in our shows, that’s not going to change, and only now it will be in front of a lot of Slayer fans who may not be too enthused to hear a lot of that and that makes me a little a it nervous, but no compromises – that’s how we are.
As a musician, thinking back, what were some of the records that inspired you to go this route?
I never sought be a musician, I still do not consider myself a musician. I just like to write and put it to song. But I’m a not a musician by any means [laughs]. I can’t read sheet music, I can’t structure a song, but I will say that I do like to play a little guitar these days. To your question, sometimes we’ll be sitting on the bus, having a few beers, then we’ll turn on the iPod and start going through all those records and a certain song will come on and everyone will go, “Awwwww… this song is the one that really did it to us!”
We did that less than a week ago. ‘Pass the Flask’ by The Bled came on and I thought, I will listen to this record forever. Anything like that nowadays, all of this post-hardcore, or pseudo-metalcore – none of it has that emotion or sincerity or angst. The sound of that record really influenced our band. Also, I’ve gone back recently to listen to some 80s hardcore to get more in touch with things, like Black Flag or Minor Threat and Fugazi, just to remember where all of this stuff came from.
The Devil Wears Prada, Every Time I Die, Oh, Sleeper and letlive. tour dates:
03/20 Austin, TX – Emo’s East
03/21 Tulsa, OK – Cain’s Ballroom
03/23 Nashville, TN – Rocketown
03/24 Myrtle Beach, SC – House Of Blues
03/25 Raleigh, NC – Lincoln Theatre
03/27 Norfolk, VA – The Norva
03/28 Allentown, PA – Crocodile Rock
03/30 Providence, RI – Lupo’s
03/31 Buffalo, NY – Town Ballroom
04/01 Indianapolis, IN – Egyptian Ballroom
Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival tour dates:
Jun 30 San Manuel Amphitheater San Bernardino, CA
Jul 01 Shoreline Amphitheatre Mountain View, CA
Jul 03 White River Amphitheatre Auburn, WA
Jul 04 TBD Boise, ID
Jul 06 Ashley Furniture HomeStore Pavilion Phoenix, AZ
Jul 07 Hard Rock Pavilion Albuquerque, NM
Jul 08 Comfort Dental Amphitheatre Englewood, CO
Jul 10 Gexa Energy Pavilion Dallas, TX
Jul 11 The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion Spring, TX
Jul 13 1-800-ASK-GARY Amphitheatre At the Florida State Fairgrounds Tampa, FL
Jul 14 Aaron’s Amphitheatre at Lakewood Atlanta, GA
Jul 15 Klipsch Music Center Noblesville, IN
Jul 18 TBD Oklahoma City, OK
Jul 20 Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Maryland Heights, MO
Jul 21 First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre Tinley Park, IL
Jul 22 DTE Energy Music Theatre Clarkston, MI
Jul 24 Riverbend Music Center Cincinnati, OH
Jul 25 Blossom Music Center Cuyahoga Falls, OH
Jul 27 Susquehanna Bank Center Camden, NJ
Jul 28 First Niagara Pavilion Burgettstown, PA
Jul 29 Jiffy Lube Live Bristow, VA
Jul 31 Saratoga Performing Arts Center Saratoga Springs, NY
Aug 01 Darien Lake Performing Arts Center Darien Center, NY
Aug 03 Comcast Center Mansfield, MA
Aug 04 Toyota Pavilion At Montage Mountain Moosic, PA
Aug 05 Comcast Theatre Hartford, CT
Related articles:‘
‘ The Devil Wears Prada’s’ ‘Jeremy Depoyster’ Interviewed On ‘KASC The Blaze’ 1330 AM [Audio] [Oct. 2011]
‘Chris Rubey’ [TDWP] ’Metal And God Can Go Hand In Hand’ [North American ‘Dead Throne’ Tour Dates] [Nov. 2011]
‘The Devil Wears Prada’ Release ‘Dead Throne’ Video [Feb. 2012]
‘As I Lay Dying’ Confirm Mainstage Slot On ‘Mayhem Festival 2012′ [Feb. 2012]
‘The Devil Wears Prada’ Release ‘Dead Throne’ Video [Feb. 2012]
‘The Devil Wears Prada’ Parts Ways With Keyboardist [Feb.2012]
‘The Devil Wears Prada’ To Release Live CD/DVD, Video Premiere Of ‘Vengeance’ [Live] [March 2012]