Allout Helter Takes on Riot Fest, Talks State of Band
by Tim Wenger
Allout Helter has been creating a nice wave in the Denver punk scene lately. They represented our scene at Riot Fest Denver this year, following gigs alongside bands like Propagandhi, Pennywise and handfuls of touring acts that cover the full spectrum on punk. On December 30, they will be sharing the stage with the Bouncing Souls and PEARS at the Bluebird Theatre, closing out what could be considered their best year to date. CMB caught up with vocalist Ross Hostage and guitarist Fred Bear after their set at Riot Fest to capture the feelings of the moment and pry from their souls the “business” techniques that have put Allout Helter near the top tier of Rocky Mountain punk bands.
CMB: How were the emotions coming offstage?
RH: It was great! I think we played really well. The crowd was super fun. We couldn’t have asked for a better experience for our first time at Riot Fest.
CMB: How does Riot Fest compare to some other stuff you’ve done? How does this compare to playing with Propagandhi or Pennywise?
FB: It seems like lately everything we’ve done have been really fun. We’re playing with some really cool bands. Whether it’s big bands or small bands, I just love doing this. A lot of people just saw us do that. I don’t think we’ve hit the top of the mountain yet. We’re having a great time with it and playing with a lot of bands that we really respect.
RH: Yeah. Strung Out just played right after us. The fact that people could back bounce and forth after seeing us play that technical style of punk rock, then see Strung Out who were doing this years before us. We don’t look at it too much in terms of ‘This is going to be a big show for us to sell a lot of merch, or there’s lots of people there’ it’s more that we keep getting to play with these bands on the underground regional touring circuit. We’re hard workers at what we do and we do our best to put forward as tight of a musical set as we can and push forward the style of music that we’re playing. Being professional and nice will go a lot farther than schmoozing and ass kissing.
CMB: You have your name around town and have been getting on a lot of big shows. What is the next level to push it to? When are you going to get on the road?
FB: We’ve got our roots down here pretty good, a couple of us. We’ll do it a little when we can. There are plenty of people that would want to come to see us. It’s something that we’re going to try to start doing on a small scale.
RH: We’re working on it. We’re going to be heading into the studio pretty soon. At the end of October we’re starting tracking for our next EP, we’ve got a bunch of tracks that are ready to record. Beyond that, just keep playing shows. We’re playing with some really cool independent touring bands in November at Seventh Circle Music Collective, we’ll be there twice in November.
CMB: What do you feel the band is doing right? Why are you being asked to play these shows?
RH: You don’t have to be the most original of a band. It’s about being respectful. If you’re going to get out of the basement, you’re going to have to talk to someone about money, you’re going to have to talk to somebody about drink tickets. Will the venue print flyers? These are questions that bands should always be on top of because in the end being able to handle that side of the professional part of it, they’re going to keep booking you. If you’re a cool person and you handle your shit and respond to emails promptly and show up on time, that goes a long way. Riot Fest was one of the biggest logistical things I’ve dealt with with this band. Everybody was super great. We’re a little lower on the food chain so maybe the emails don’t come out as fast, but everybody got back to me and told me where we needed to be and what they were going to provide for us.
Keep posted on what’s brewing in the Helter Shelter at facebook.com/allouthelter
Category: Buzzworthy
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