interview with OPEN BURN
Have any of you played in other bands?
Dell - Yes, Lethal from 1983-1991 & 2016.
Glen - Yes, Lethal and also another band with Eric call Graves Road but that music has not yet been released.
Jerry - Yes, Lethal.
Eric - Simple Aggression, Chastian’s Southern Gentlemen and Human Cometh among other local area bands.
How is it that you started playing music?
Dell - My father was a music teacher so I have always been involved with music. I really became involved with guitar after discovering the Beatles as a kid in the mid 1970’s.
Glen - I always loved music and as a teenager finally got a bass guitar. My brother Eric, with whom we started the band Lethal, played guitar and inspired me a lot.
Jerry - I always loved music since I was very young so it was easy to get signed up at school for band.
What are your names? / Who plays what? / How old are you? Glen Cook - bass, Dell Hull - guitar, Jerry Hartman - drums, Eric Johns - vocals.
Did you make music even when you were young?
Dell - I played saxophone in school and picked up guitar around age 12 I think?
Jerry - I started playing in bands when I was 12 and playing in clubs when I was 14.
Where are you from?
Glen - I was born in Corbin Kentucky which is a small southern town close to the Tennessee border but have lived in the Cincinnati area most of my life.
Dell - I have lived in Hebron, in the Northern Kentucky area near Cincinnati, most of my life.
Jerry - Cincinnati, Ohio.
What year did the band form? Dell - Jerry and I first got together with Eric in mid 2015. Glen joined us in the spring of 2016.
What's your style of genre? Dell - I guess basically it is heavy metal.
What inspires you?
Glen - Peace, love and understanding.
Dell - Music of all sorts.
Jerry - Hanging with the guys and jamming at rehearsals.
How often and where do you rehearse? Dell - As often as we can. It can be tough getting 4 different schedules to meet up.
Do you have other interests of work outside the band?
Jerry - Motorcycles, catching reptiles and drinking beer!
Dell - Collecting music memorabilia and old military antiques.
Are you looking for a label, and what are your thoughts around that?
Glen - We are certainly interested in any opportunities that might come our way.
Dell - We haven’t actively looked yet since we just released our debut EP but are open to any opportunities that may come our way. We are definitely interested in finding a better way of getting our music out there.
What made you decide to make this music?
Dell - It just sort of happened. Haha
Glen - Love of music of course but anytime I can make music with my long time Lethal colleagues I’m in.
Jerry - I've been playing music so long I can't imagine not playing. It was the right time and place for us all to get together and make music.
Who does the composing and writes the lyrics? Dell - It’s pretty much a joint effort. So far I have been writing the music or musical ideas and then we all collaborate on it from there. Eric writes all the lyrics.
Do you start with the music or the lyrics? Dell - We have been starting with the music and then adding lyrics/vocal melodies and shaping it around that.
Do you compose in a certain inviroment? Dell - Not really. Just playing at home. Ideas come to me when I’m just playing without really thinking about it.
Have you done any covers live? Dell - We haven’t performed live yet as Open Burn.
What language do you sing in? Dell - It’s all been in English so far.
Where do you plan to gig the coming year? Dell - We will have to wait and see on that one but we do hope to begin playing live as soon as we can.
When did you start to sell merchandise, and what do you have for sale? Dell - Right now we just have our debut EP for sale. We just released it so we are waiting to see how it is accepted and we will move on from there.
Where can people buy your merchandise? Dell - Right now our EP is available at CDBaby.com, iTunes and Amazon.
What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records now a days?
Glen - There is a trade-off in quality but downloading music is incredibly convenient and makes the music available to a broader audience.
Dell - Personally I prefer something I can hold in my hands like a cd or vinyl LP but downloading is very convenient for a lot of people.
How do you think the music industry have changed because of this? Dell - It has really hurt the music industry and musicians in general in a lot of ways. Actual sales of product has dropped dramatically due to the easy of downloads and the availability of free sharing.
What do you think of my work? Dell - I think it’s great that you are giving a voice to so many new and upcoming bands that may not otherwise have such a wide platform.
How do you think and know that this interview will help you in the music business? Dell - We hope that a lot of people may see it and be interested in checking out our music.
Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands, or bands that are more active today? Dell - Inspiration can come from anywhere but I would say mostly older bands for me.
What advice would you give other bands or artists? Dell - Do what you love not what you think other people may love. If you are good at it and work hard you should be successful.
Do you have any new material? Dell - Yes, we have a lot of new material we are currently working on and hope to have more recorded as soon as possible this year.
What are your web sites? Dell - Right now you can check us out at facebook.com/openburn
How can people reach you? Dell - People can message us on Facebook or also at [email protected].
What are your plans for the future? Dell - Our immediate plans are to get more material recorded and begin doing live shows.
Do you have something to add? Dell - Thank you Robex and we wish you much success.
Dell - Yes, Lethal from 1983-1991 & 2016.
Glen - Yes, Lethal and also another band with Eric call Graves Road but that music has not yet been released.
Jerry - Yes, Lethal.
Eric - Simple Aggression, Chastian’s Southern Gentlemen and Human Cometh among other local area bands.
How is it that you started playing music?
Dell - My father was a music teacher so I have always been involved with music. I really became involved with guitar after discovering the Beatles as a kid in the mid 1970’s.
Glen - I always loved music and as a teenager finally got a bass guitar. My brother Eric, with whom we started the band Lethal, played guitar and inspired me a lot.
Jerry - I always loved music since I was very young so it was easy to get signed up at school for band.
What are your names? / Who plays what? / How old are you? Glen Cook - bass, Dell Hull - guitar, Jerry Hartman - drums, Eric Johns - vocals.
Did you make music even when you were young?
Dell - I played saxophone in school and picked up guitar around age 12 I think?
Jerry - I started playing in bands when I was 12 and playing in clubs when I was 14.
Where are you from?
Glen - I was born in Corbin Kentucky which is a small southern town close to the Tennessee border but have lived in the Cincinnati area most of my life.
Dell - I have lived in Hebron, in the Northern Kentucky area near Cincinnati, most of my life.
Jerry - Cincinnati, Ohio.
What year did the band form? Dell - Jerry and I first got together with Eric in mid 2015. Glen joined us in the spring of 2016.
What's your style of genre? Dell - I guess basically it is heavy metal.
What inspires you?
Glen - Peace, love and understanding.
Dell - Music of all sorts.
Jerry - Hanging with the guys and jamming at rehearsals.
How often and where do you rehearse? Dell - As often as we can. It can be tough getting 4 different schedules to meet up.
Do you have other interests of work outside the band?
Jerry - Motorcycles, catching reptiles and drinking beer!
Dell - Collecting music memorabilia and old military antiques.
Are you looking for a label, and what are your thoughts around that?
Glen - We are certainly interested in any opportunities that might come our way.
Dell - We haven’t actively looked yet since we just released our debut EP but are open to any opportunities that may come our way. We are definitely interested in finding a better way of getting our music out there.
What made you decide to make this music?
Dell - It just sort of happened. Haha
Glen - Love of music of course but anytime I can make music with my long time Lethal colleagues I’m in.
Jerry - I've been playing music so long I can't imagine not playing. It was the right time and place for us all to get together and make music.
Who does the composing and writes the lyrics? Dell - It’s pretty much a joint effort. So far I have been writing the music or musical ideas and then we all collaborate on it from there. Eric writes all the lyrics.
Do you start with the music or the lyrics? Dell - We have been starting with the music and then adding lyrics/vocal melodies and shaping it around that.
Do you compose in a certain inviroment? Dell - Not really. Just playing at home. Ideas come to me when I’m just playing without really thinking about it.
Have you done any covers live? Dell - We haven’t performed live yet as Open Burn.
What language do you sing in? Dell - It’s all been in English so far.
Where do you plan to gig the coming year? Dell - We will have to wait and see on that one but we do hope to begin playing live as soon as we can.
When did you start to sell merchandise, and what do you have for sale? Dell - Right now we just have our debut EP for sale. We just released it so we are waiting to see how it is accepted and we will move on from there.
Where can people buy your merchandise? Dell - Right now our EP is available at CDBaby.com, iTunes and Amazon.
What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records now a days?
Glen - There is a trade-off in quality but downloading music is incredibly convenient and makes the music available to a broader audience.
Dell - Personally I prefer something I can hold in my hands like a cd or vinyl LP but downloading is very convenient for a lot of people.
How do you think the music industry have changed because of this? Dell - It has really hurt the music industry and musicians in general in a lot of ways. Actual sales of product has dropped dramatically due to the easy of downloads and the availability of free sharing.
What do you think of my work? Dell - I think it’s great that you are giving a voice to so many new and upcoming bands that may not otherwise have such a wide platform.
How do you think and know that this interview will help you in the music business? Dell - We hope that a lot of people may see it and be interested in checking out our music.
Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands, or bands that are more active today? Dell - Inspiration can come from anywhere but I would say mostly older bands for me.
What advice would you give other bands or artists? Dell - Do what you love not what you think other people may love. If you are good at it and work hard you should be successful.
Do you have any new material? Dell - Yes, we have a lot of new material we are currently working on and hope to have more recorded as soon as possible this year.
What are your web sites? Dell - Right now you can check us out at facebook.com/openburn
How can people reach you? Dell - People can message us on Facebook or also at [email protected].
What are your plans for the future? Dell - Our immediate plans are to get more material recorded and begin doing live shows.
Do you have something to add? Dell - Thank you Robex and we wish you much success.