Interview With Hellevate Guitarist Josh Cole

By Mick Michaels

COSMICK VIEW: Hello Josh! Welcome to the Cosmick View. Thank you for taking some time out of your day to chat with me, it is greatly appreciated.

CV: What drives you to continue to create?

Josh Cole: It’s just kind of an unconscious feeling, a need to keep doing it. It makes me happy, it gives me purpose in life, and it gives a feeling of accomplishment. Life is hollow without it, so we keep going because it fills a hole in a way nothing can.

CV: Was music your first love? 

JC: Yeah, I suppose you could say that! My girlfriend sometimes jokes that music is my #1, but she understands how important it is to me. No matter what happens in life, music is there.

CV: Would you say music has made you the person you are today?

JC: Absolutely! Music is my main passion, playing music and being so involved in it has led me to the people I associate with, what I value in life, and what I do with my free time. If I didn’t decide to pick up guitar and really get into heavy metal, I’d be a completely different person living a very different life. I can’t imagine not doing it.

CV: Could you see yourself doing something completely different other than music? If so, what would that be?

JC: I CAN do other things, for example I have a huge interest in history, psychology, technology, and marketing, but none of them satisfy me like music does. If I didn’t play guitar, write music, and perform, then I’d probably focus on audio engineering, which is my other passion. So no, I guess not.

CV: Which artist has inspired you the most?

JC: It’s a tie between Exodus and Blind Guardian. They came at just the right times in my development as a music listener and musician. I first heard “Tempo of the Damned” when I was like 14, and it blew me away. I knew immediately that’s what I wanted to sound like. A year or two later, I heard “Imaginations from the Other Side”, and it had the same impact. These albums showed me what I wanted out of music, and what I wanted to sound like.

CV: Non artist…who has been your biggest influence?

JC: I’d have to say my late uncle. He was the one who inspired me to take up music in the first place. Granted, it was very different genres of music, but still. I have two of his guitars that are very dear to me; they don’t ever leave the house.

CV: Was/Is your family supportive with your musical pursuits?

JC: Absolutely. I think in a lot of ways they don’t quite understand aspects of it, but in the end they understand how important it is to me, and that’s really what matters. I’m extremely thankful for the support I get from my family, it means a lot to me.

CV: What do you find inspires your music the most as a songwriter?

JC: A lot of it is other bands’ music. A lot of concepts and ideas coalesce together in my brain over time to form new songs and riffs. It’s hard to really say, because inspiration tends to just strike me. I try to not force music out anymore, because I know it will eventually come to me, and those ideas are always better. A lot of the mood of my songs is set by non-music ideas, too. Years ago I would write lyrics, but I’ve gotten progressively worse at it to the point I don’t even bother. Nowadays, I’ll watch some true crime or serial killer documentary, read about some event in history, or some piece of art like Lovecraft, Wayne Barlowe’s Hell series of paintings, and other horror short stories that sort of sets a tone that turn into riffs to fit that material. I then also give that inspiration point to someone who is capable of writing lyrics.

CV: What's your go to album for motivation? Why that album?

JC: I think surprisingly, it’s Rage’s Black in Mind. There are a variety of bands that I prefer to Rage, but something about the way they write songs, particularly this album, seems to speak to me. It’s like they were operating on the same wavelength that I tend do when I’m writing. I always find moments and parts in it that inspire me to make something new.

CV: Some of your favorite artists... past and present, who are they?

JC: When I was first getting into Metal, my absolute favorite band was Metallica, like it was for many. I had to have listened to their first 5 albums every single day. Then I got into bands like Testament and Nuclear Assault, who I listened to almost as much for a while. A few years after that, I discovered Exodus and Heathen, who are still two of my absolute favorite bands. Towards the end of high school, I think, I discovered Power Metal, and bands like Rage and Blind Guardian blew me away. After them I discovered Running Wild, Queensryche, and Helloween, and that’s when I really started to find what it was that really liked in my music…aggressive, energetic riffs with great vocals and emphasis on catchy harmonies, hooks, and choruses. The past few years I’ve been getting into less heavy stuff (maybe mellowing out? Nah, probably not). I really love artists like Phil Collins, Hall & Oates, Huey Lewis & The News, Tom Petty, and Peter Gabriel.

CV: The one album you feel every Metalhead should own and why? 

JC: Well, all of the albums I’ve mentioned for sure, but one I’ll add is Queensryche’s Operation: Mindcrime. I know that’s not really a controversial or odd pick, but I mean, come on! It’s a perfect album… a master class in songwriting, setting tone, building an album, and telling stories through songwriting. This album BLEW ME AWAY when I first heard it. I don’t care if you only listen to slam, or don’t even like metal, this album is a necessary listen.

CV: What do you consider is a defining moment in Heavy Metal history and why is it significant… how did it impact the genre?

JC: Now that’s a question that made me think. There are a ton that you could talk about, aren’t there? It was interesting to think of one. One that interests me a lot due to the genres I really like as well as write in, and may be less obvious, is the release of Accept’s Fast as a Shark on Restless and Wild. I mean, when you think about it, that song kind of invented Speed and Power Metal, didn’t it? It also had a huge influence on thrash as well. It really set a benchmark for how fast the genre could go, and what could be done with this music. That harmony, while also being incredible, I think had a huge impact on guitar work. I’ve heard many songwriters refer to doing “the Fast as a Shark harmony” in their own songs, and in my opinion every speed/power metal band has to do a harmony like that at some point; it’s like an unwritten law or something.

CV: Who would you like to work with if given the opportunity?

JC: For one, the dudes in Exodus. They’ve had a huge impact on me in all aspects of my musicianship, and it’d be awesome to work with them in some capacity, really push myself and learn new stuff from them. I’d also say in a different capacity, Andy Sneap. I love his production style. Typically I’m kind of anal about the way my recordings sound, and I have a short list of people who I would trust to control that sound. But Sneap is the producer who I absolutely would work with and have no hang-ups about it. His sounds are incredible, I love his mixes, and it’d be awesome to witness his workflow first-hand.

CV: What do you feel are the top three things it takes to make it in the music business as an artist?

JC: Skill, stubbornness, and luck. You have to be a great musician in whatever capacity, but also have to be a great businessman and marketer. Managing booking, planning out events months if not years in advance, and trying to not go too into the red is hard and takes a lot of know-how. At the same time, as a business proposition, music is kind of awful. No sane businessman would get into this business. You gotta be stubborn, you gotta be willing to grind and grind and grind endlessly to eventually crawl up that damn ladder. Sadly though, a lot of it does seem to be luck, being in the right place at the right time. You can work your way through that, but it’s a lot harder.

CV: There has been a lot of remarks among established rockers these days regarding young, up and coming bands, that they don't stand a chance at making a career with music into today's industry... what do you think?  

JC: I think they’re wrong, but at the same time they have a very good point. The music business is very different from how it was in the 1970s and 80s, there actually was enough money in it for it not to be a Herculean task to make a modest living. It’s possible nowadays, but it’s much, much harder. It requires much more work, and more revenue streams. I think, and this may just be a naïve hope of mine, that we’re in the middle of a shift into a new business model. I think we’re just now transitioning into what the music industry looks like post-internet. As we sort-of establish the new standard, I hope that we begin to sort out the methods with which artists can make enough money to sustain themselves. It isn’t really even about being rich and famous; it’s about making enough to be able to focus on this in a full-time capacity. It’s stupid hard, and for many may not be worth the effort. I can’t say they’re wrong for that.

CV: As an artist, what do you feel are your strengths?

JC: Personally, I feel like my strengths lay in my songwriting. I’m comfortable with writing songs with cool main riffs, catchy choruses, and catchy harmonies. I’ve spent years sort of figuring out theory and songwriting, mostly on my own, and I generally know how good songs tick and how to structure one. My rhythm and lead playing are pretty good, I’m definitely not the best in either arena, but I can at least keep up well enough for any flaws to not be noticed…haha.

CV: What do you think separates bands of today from bands of the past?

JC: I think bands nowadays have all of the development of the 70s, 80s, and 90s Metal at their disposal, can look at them in a more academic sense, and pull from them as needed. The thrash and power metal dudes in the 80s didn’t really know what they were doing, the rules were still being written! New bands have the guidelines of what makes metal the music it is in a much more concrete manner. As such, we can sort of pull from the different sounds and what not from those bands. I mean, I’ve noticed power metal bands start putting blast beats and tremolo riffs into their songs! That’s not something that really used to happen. Hellevate is no exception, we’re generally thrash mixed with USPM, as a rough way to describe our sound, and we love using stuff like tremolo riffs, dissonance, blasts, and doom elements in our songs. There seems to be a lot of blending and blurring of genres, kind of returning metal back to how it was in the early 80s, but in a different, and perhaps more deliberate manner.

CV: With so many iconic women eligible for induction into the Rock n Roll Hall of fame, such as Cher, Stevie Nicks and Carly Simon many among others, why do you think they are being overlooked?

JC: It’s really a crime, isn’t it? Rock and metal is generally kind of weird about women, they seem to not be treated with the same level of respect that men are. The whole trend of “female-fronted” is odd to me, why do we treat it as a novelty? The Rock Hall of Fame has always been kind of a disaster, I mean, how long did it take Deep Purple to get inducted? That no doubt is a lot of the issue you’re talking about, but no doubt a lot of it is the other part, women are kind of treated as a novelty, and have to work much harder within the genre to reach the same level of respect men don’t even need to think about.

CV: We hear so much negative commentary regarding today's overall music industry. What's your take on it? Is Rock really dead?

JC: You know, I’m not as negative about it as a lot of people are. I could be totally wrong, but I think rock is in a downturn, but it’s just temporary. Music comes in cycles; everything is a response to everything before it. Glam came as a response to the roughness of rock and roll, Grunge came as response to the sleekness of Glam. Massive shifts from one sound to another are common throughout history, and yeah, EDM and Hip-Hop are the current focus, but I think there may be a shift back in popular music to something less processed and “real” as a result.

Regardless of that, I think the way music has fractured means that rock existing in its former form is mostly irrelevant. There are tons of new rock fans being formed every day, and the internet gives them a means with which to discover these bands regardless of what’s “popular”. The music still finds its audience. Maybe it won’t be as big as it used to, but hey, pretty much everyone is struggling nowadays. 

CV: What’s next for you?

JC: Hellevate is working on our third album, and hopefully soon we can really dig in and get to work. We’ve been dealing with lineup issues that hopefully get solved soon. From that point we’re gonna be rehearsing and booking shows like mad to make up for lost time. Hopefully the new album will be out at the end of the year. If not, we’ll make sure something is. I’ve also got another project I’m cooking up, but it’s too early in the process to say anything yet. This is looking to be a cool year for me, and I’m ready to rage!

CV: Thank you again Josh for spending some time talking and sharing with our readers. I wish you all the best and continued success with all your projects.

Check out Josh and Hellevate at:
https://www.facebook.com/hellevate/