Welcome back to our Independent Interviews.
Today I am very happy to be able to do my first interview with a full band!
I present to you a band that has just started to delight our ears: The Filthy Heathens.
Hi guys and thanks for your availability. I am really happy to be one of the first to interview you in this adventure that will be your career.
Tell us about yourselves: who is the band made up of, where are you from and when and how did you meet.
Thanks so much for having us!
As you’ve heard, we’re The Filthy Heathens from Ohio.
I’m Bronson Hetzer, the Heathen in Chief, I’m the lead singer and play rhythm guitar as well.
Ryan Palcic here is the bassist and backup vocalist, Cody Doench is on guitar and backup vocals, Cavin Kemble is our other guitarist, and “Captain” Craig Bishop here on the drums!
Myself (Bronson), Ryan and Craig founded the group and later added Cody Doench after he filled in for us in a pinch and loved what we were creating.
After some lineup adjustments, and Ryan moving from bass to guitar, and back to bass, we invited Cavin to join to fill out the sound and execute the vibe we were going for.
This idea started during the Covid lockdowns and slowly came into jam sessions in 2021.
Riddled with unexpected deaths in families and the aftermath of Covid on everyone’s personal businesses and lives, it took months to get going.
But, we knew early on we had something unique and that it was worth the push to come out on the other side.
What were your biggest influences? Are there any bands that are your reference?
We have a BIG list of influences, we’re all from different backgrounds.
From Bluegrass picking with our grandpas to touring metal/hardcore bands…
The common ground we all found ourselves on when this got going were bands like The Steel Woods, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Blackberry Smoke and ZZ Top.
But we are influenced by artists like The Georgia Thunderbolts, Waylon Jennings, Brent Cobb, Randy Rogers Band, Whitey Morgan, Them Dirty Roses and Whiskey Myers to name a few.
Our individual influences are literally all over the place.
Did you start out playing covers or did you start out with your own material?
Actually both. Before we ever linked up, when I reached out to Ryan about linking up he made it known he was not interested in doing “Mustang Sally” at the local bars and wanted to write and come up with a new vibe.
I had this alternative country thing in mind at the time, so we did start with some songs like “Let the Rain Come Down”, “Midnight in Montgomery”, and “I Ain’t the One”, but I had some previously written songs from a batch with my late longtime writing partner Etheridge Wilson, and those started the foundation of the originals, right away at the first jam.
Some of those songs are even going on the debut record we’re working on now.
The life of an independent musician is hard, we know this from the many testimonies we have had from legendary artists that I have interviewed here (Dallas Moore, Joe Stamm…), are you ready for this life of a musician? Are you already full time musicians?
Oh boy, that’s a loaded one, LOL. Is anyone ever “ready”?
Everyone in The Filthy Heathens has made huge movements in their personal situations to accommodate the upcoming schedule and opportunity in front of us.
We’re making sacrifices so we can handle the future.
That being said, this business is chaotic as you know and the target is always moving, circumstances are always changing, the future is always uncertain and the end is always near as Jim Morrison would put it.
We’re all grateful to see the hard work grow into what we have, we’re blessed to have Julee with Smokeshow Entertainment and Chris from Mountain View Talent believe in us, and we do not intend to let anyone down!
We plan to take it as far as we can go!
I discovered you through the many connections I have in the States, but above all thanks to the streaming of your second beautiful single «Devils Like Me».
Are you already working on a full album or an EP? How would you describe your music to someone who doesn’t know you?
We’re stoked to hear that!
We are indeed working on a full length album. We started with an EP but ultimately chose to push the release back and grow it into a full album.
Our 2 singles, “Tupelo Sun” and “Devils Like Me” will both be included on the album.
Describing ourselves to others has always been a task for us since we come from so many backgrounds, but at the end of the day we lend ourselves to Southern Rock the most, with threads of Outlaw Country.
Southern Rock and Outlaw Country would be our respective areas.
When we’re telling someone about it, we usually will say something like, “If you like The Steel Woods or Skynyrd, you’d dig what we’re doing”.
Have you already played in other cities or states? What are the places where you dream of playing one day?
We have branched out a bit into the surrounding regions in 2024, but 2025 is when the game will change for touring.
We’ve played down in Florida on the Gulf coast, we’ve been to Mississippi, Kentucky, Indiana.
We’re starting to get into some of the venues we’ve followed for a while now, so that’s been exciting to see.
Places like Duke’s Indy, and The Thirsty Beaver in North Carolina are exciting for us.
We just booked a headlining spot at Rock Coshocton Motor and Music Festival, which is in our native Ohio, but is a big deal for us and this genre, so we’re really really pumped about the coming schedule.
Another cool development is that we’ll be headed west this year, too. Details coming soon on that!
It’s a golden moment for independent music and I know that trying to help those who are just starting out is typical of this world, are there any artists who have impressed you in recent years and who you would like to invite you to open for them?
There’s a few, lol.
We would have LOVED to open for The Steel Woods, sadly that will not happen, at least at this point in time.
We’d love to get an invite from guys like Whiskey Myers, Blackberry Smoke, Whitey Morgan, Them Dirty Roses, Joe Stamm Band, The Georgia Thunderbolts, The Cadillac Three.
We just linked up with the up and comers Ace Monroe out of Nashville and those boys were a slammin’ class act.
They’re a little more straight forward rock than we are but we had a great time and would love to link up with them again on our way to the top!
Do you already have your own merchandising and a website where you can be found?
We do, there are some finishing touches coming to the store and our merch line but you can find us at http://www.thefilthyheathens.com.
We’ll be selling merch there soon but will also have exclusive show-only merch, so you gotta buy them tickets and come see us to get that!
Guys, I can tell you in advance that my little blog (in Italian and English) will award the best music of 2024 in December for fun and in the “New Up and Coming Artists” section there will be space for your nomination.
I hope with all my heart to bring you luck, I have the feeling that we will hear about you soon and for a long time. Thanks for this interview and a big good luck to all of you.
Thank you so much for having us.
We appreciate everything you’re doing for independant artists, especially in our wheelhouse, and we look forward to crossing paths again.
Julee keeps us busy behind the scenes and Chris keeps us busy on the road so we will surely see you again!
Trex
