I recently had the pleasure of chatting with Guitarist Sacha Laskow (ex-Divinity) of Every Hour Kills- one of metal’s new rising suns. An extremely talented musician of many years and a brilliant mixing engineer, Sacha and his fellow talented EHK members are sure to take the greater metal scene by storm. We talked about a multitude of things, ranging from all things Every Hour Kills-related to which animal he’d ride gloriously into his local grocery store.
Ouch That Hertz!: First off, tell us a little about yourself!
Sacha Laskow: Sure, I’m 6’2″, built like a Greek god and love puppies.
OTH: What was your earliest connection with metal music? What was it that you heard that made you realize that you wanted to pursue playing metal?
Sacha: Actually my older brother got me in to Metal when I was really young, like 8 or so. I just loved the power and emotion in it. Then later on I got into the virtuosity of the instrumentation when I wanted to play guitar, and also appreciated how you can blend and bend various genres into one cohesive thing.
OTH: Let’s talk for a minute about your debut release, Every Hour Kills EP. I really enjoy how your EP feels more like a series of strong singles –it retains a strong dedication to musicality in each track rather than the typical “filler track” feel that often plagues albums. Is this a trend that you will aim to continue in a future full-length release and how do you hope to maintain this standard?
Sacha: Absolutely, and thank you for noticing that, that was exactly the goal with the songwriting on the EP. Every song had to stand on it’s own as a single, all killer no filler!
OTH: Let’s delve into the writing process of the EP for a quick second. As far as the writing process goes, is each track written in more of a collaborative effort between all four of you or are there clearly defined roles as to who does the majority of writing for instrumentals and lyrics?
Sacha: I generally write the basic outlines for all the instruments and present that to the group as a fairly fleshed out demo. Then we work on it and tweak as needed. Once the music is solid Jerrod and I collaborate to come up with the vocal melodies and finalize the lyrics.
OTH: Sacha, I’m aware that you did all of the mixing and mastering for your EP and, I have to say, you did a fucking marvelous job. Did you have any background education in sound recording technology or did you learn purely through training/experience (or both)?
Sacha: Thanks very much! I don’t have any training or anything just a lot of time spent in the basement tweaking and polishing. I started with a cassette 4 track recorder and a drum machine. Hearing my own writing played back definitely fired up the passion for audio in me and I’ve been chasing that dragon ever since. I ended up producing for other bands as well since they liked what my band’s were putting out and wanted that sound themselves.
OTH: So, now that the EP is out, what does the rest of 2015 look like for EHK? Any upcoming tours or future releases at all?
Sacha: We’re holing up for the long cold Canadian winter and writing some new material.
OTH: What is your favorite song to play off of Every Hour Kills?
Sacha: Hmm I like playing all of them really, they are all fun in their own way, Almost Human seems to really get people pumped up so that’s always a good one live.
OTH: If you could collaborate with any artist on a future release, who would it be and why?
Sacha: So many! I’d love to collab with more producers like Ben Grosse or Kevin Churko, it’d be really cool to work with some EDM artists like Celldwellar as well.
OTH: What’s one place that you dream of Every Hour Kills playing at?
Sacha: I would love to play some big festivals some day like Prog Power or Wacken etc.!
OTH: I always like to make my last question a bit ridiculous. If you had to choose between a giant tortoise and a kangaroo to ride gloriously into your local grocery store, which would you pick and why?
Sacha: I would sew the kangaroo’s anus to the tortoise’ mouth and make a giant mammal centipede to ride in on while eating taquitos.
OTH: Thank you for taking the time to speak with me! Before I let you go, is there anything else you’d like to add?
Sacha: Thanks for your time and everyone should go check out the EP streaming on YouTube and Soundcloud, Metally cheers!
Pick Up A Copy of their debut EP Every Hour Kills on iTunes, Bandcamp, Amazon, or Big Cartel!
About Every Hour Kills
Inspired by an anonymous literary quote “Every hour wounds, but the last one kills.”, Every Hour Kills is a power house ensemble featuring ex-Divinityguitarist Sacha Laskow, bassist Brent Stutsky (ex-Breach of Trust, ex-Death Valley Dolls), drummer Rob Shawcross (ex- Out Of Your Mouth, ex-Autobody, ex-Kobra and The Lotus) along with vocalist Jerrod Maxwell-Lyster (Walk As Chaos, ex-Out of Your Mouth, ex-Autobody, ex-the R.A.C.E.). EHK’s birth began when drummer Rob Shawcross returned from a stint at the PIT in LA and approached Sacha Laskow after his departure fromNuclear Blast signed Divinity. From there, the duo worked together and recruited the best musicians they knew bassist Brent Stutsky and vocalist Jerrod Maxwell-Lyster to the line up. Progressing as a unit of epic, modern, melodic groove Metal with a twist of djent, Every Hour Kills has pushed forward in studio over the years with Sacha Laskow leading the pack’s song writing to collaborate and create an extreme sound for new fans that ranges from those familiar with heavy weights such as Soilwork, Sevendust, Meshuggah to electronic music and even rock radio friendly tunes. “The key is blending all those genres and influences into a cohesive style.” comments Laskow. “All the tracks we have completed at this time, are not written to ‘throwaway’ or do as filler tracks, every song has to have a ‘single’ quality for us to work on it and add it to our set.”With their debut self-titled EP due for release in summer 2015, EHK’s is excited to set their metal scene on fire performing shows in their home base of Calgary, AB and beyond.
Ouch That Hertz! 