Interview with Hydrogyn lead singer Julie

A new band starting to cause a lot of hype goes by the name of Hydrogyn. In less than five years since forming, the band has caught the attention of several high profile music industry people as well as a strong following of fans through some hard work on the road. Led by the talented and stunning lead singer only known as Julie, the band has just released their latest album titled Deadly Passions which is the follow up to the band’s debut release Bombshell. To get the word out about Deadly Passions, Hydrogyn is currently out on the road, touring around Middle American small towns and winning over fans the old fashioned way. Recently we spoke to the group’s lead singer Julie to find out a little more about what this band is all about.

The band that we now know as Hydrogyn started to manifest itself about five years ago. Can you offer some more details on how the band actually came together?
Julie: The band actually started with Jeff Westlake and former guitarist Jeff Boggs. At the time they were playing for me in a country band. They really didn’t want to but they did it for me. So when it came time, and they needed a vocalist, I told them I would try. We started out as a cover band, slowly writing original tunes for an album, and then after a couple years into it decided to move away from the bar band to a more original touring band. And here we are.

How did you come up with the band name Hydrogyn? Is there a story behind it?
Julie: There really isn’t anything cool about how we came up with the name. Jeff Boggs actually came up with the name several years ago for a band he had at the time. And so when we started thinking about what to call the band, he mentioned it, and we said ok, sounds good.

Success came quite early for Hydrogyn as the release of your debut disc Best Served With Volume landed you a sponsorship from Pepsi whom then in turn helped you land a huge gig in front of thousands of people at a NASCAR event. How did this huge opportunity all come about in the first place?
Julie: A Pepsi rep in our area happened to have a friend who had a copy of the album, and I guess they had been wanting to get involved with a new band, and so he called us up and we met with him, and they offered us a sponsorship. We then went on to do the Nascar race in Richmond VA. That was really cool. There was a ton of people and a lot of exposure for the band.

Thinking back to that day, what was the crowd reaction like towards the band and your music?
Julie: It was really good. At that time, we didn’t have a lot of our own original material, so we played a lot of really popular cover tunes. Also, a lot of the songs we played had never really been done by a female vocalist, so people thought it was really cool. People have really taken to this band from the beginning, and it has helped us so much.

Not only did the sponsorship from Pepsi help catapult the band’s popularity but since then you’ve also landed sponsorship deals with the likes of Off The Rim, Eagle Distributing and Pearl Drums. With the record industry on life support, do you think you’re providing a good example for how other up and coming bands can get their music out to the people?
Julie: Well, I hope that we are, but I feel we got really lucky with the endorsements and support we have received. Not every band can fall into it like we did, but it was also a lot of hard work. The endorsers are not going to support just anyone. They want to see the potential of the band they are putting their money into, and we took things very seriously from the beginning, and we are very pro-active about how we handled things.

Let’s talk a little bit about your latest release Deadly Passions which just came out last month. Now that it has dropped after months of writing and recording, how do you feel about the album?
Julie: I love it. Michael Wagener, who recorded Bombshell, wasn’t available to record the new album, and so we did it ourselves. Jeff Westlake produced this album, and we recorded at a local studio called Smash hits Studio. So we are very proud about how this album turned out. We were able to try anything we wanted to, and we really feel that this album truly represents the band the way we wanted.

What was the writing and recording process like for Deadly Passions? How many songs did you write, how long did it take to record, who did you work with, etc…?
Julie: We took our time writing this album. Pretty much, we’ve been working on this album since we finished up Bombshell. We had probably close to thirty songs going into it. Not all the songs were full songs, but basic ideas. And then we just went through and picked out what we thought were the strongest riffs to work off of. So after working on these songs for over a year while we were touring Bombshell, we really knew the songs we wanted to do. So when we finally got to the studio, we were well prepared. So we were recording for about five weeks, so it didn’t take long. We worked in a small studio in West Virginia. The vibe was cool and relaxed. It was the band, engineer Steve Riley, and sound man Dave Chandler. It was really a lot of fun.

Speaking of writing, what is the process like? Does the entire band write together or is it more the efforts of one members of the group?
Julie: Jeff Westlake writes a majority of the riffs that we take in to the group. But we also get ideas from Chris and Dave as well. Normally though, we have a general idea worked up before getting together to work on it. I then take the song and begin working on the vocals and lyrics.

Not too long ago, you signed a record deal with UK indie label Demolition Records. What attracted you to signing with Demolition in the first place?
Julie: We’ve had a lot of offers from labels over the last few years, but this one seemed right for us. We wanted to find a smaller label, who would focus on Hydrogyn. We didn’t want to be a small fish in a big pond so to speak. We met with the guys, and talked about what their game plan was for the band, and really liked what we heard.

We’re actually a Canadian based publication located in Toronto, Ontario. Has the band had the chance to visit or tour Canada yet? If so, what has the reaction been like towards your music?
Julie: We actually haven’t had the chance to tour there yet. We would love to though.

What are Hydrogyn’s plans for the rest of 2008 and in to 2009?
Julie: Busy Busy Busy. We just really want to tour as much as we can. We love touring and getting out there and meeting all our fans. Of course we are going to be writing for the next album during this time too, but mainly we want to tour.