Engine Hymns describe their brand of hardcore/post-hardcore as being most akin to Jawbox or Strikeforce Diablo, but I hear even more diverse nods to the early-mid-'90s: Shotmaker, Assfactor 4, Split Lip, and Samiam, along with intense, heartfelt French bands like Anomie and Jasmine from the same era.
Singer/guitarist John Farag says of their thing, “Even though we lean into some prog rock and shoegaze elements, we’re more at home with the fast stuff than the pretty stuff.” In previous lifetimes, Farag, bassist Chris Lopez, guitarist Jon Marotte, and drummer Mikey Horn) played in: Quantice Never Crashed, Den of Thieves, The Cable Car Theory, Mute Diaries, Dead Wrestlers, among others from the borough.
All proceeds from Engine Hymn's forthcoming debut album, Villains at the Fountain, will benefit our mutual friend Sean McCann (The Cable Car Theory, Most Precious Blood, The Dying Light, Celebrity Murders, Herjaza, Omega Glory) who is battling a rare variant of ALS. All 7 tracks will be released on April 30 on Dark Helmet Syndicate, which members of the band help run as a charity label specifically geared towards being a means of raising money for Sean’s medical bills.
Farag has been active in the NYC DIY hardcore scene since the early '90s. He came out of the gate weaving melody and aggression through his singing and riffing in such a proprietary way that I still can’t come up with anyone to compare him to. We first met in the mid-'90s New Brunswick basements and at [DIY venue] The Joint on Staten Isle.
I was struck by how close knit and filled with sincere, talented, wonderfully weird kids the SI scene was (and still is). Engine Hymns carry that time with them and bring forward seasoned musicianship and gritty, emotive jams.
Please enjoy the exclusive No Echo premiere of “Oh..I'm a Batman Villain Now,” a track from Villains at the Fountain, and my convo with true Shaolin original and brilliant, hilarious pain in the balls, John Farag.
I saw you play “Oh…I’m a Batman Villain Now” at one of your first shows, knowing something about your inner critic and the insights you gained in turning to face this part of you. It was heart-wrenching for me, but also hopeful because I’ve seen you fall prey and I’ve seen you shove back. My sense of this track is that it contains lamentations, but is not a lament. There’s a discernment to it and a recognition of the potential for a perspective shift. What can you tell us about it?
“Oh…I’m a Batman Villain Now” is about my own battles with mental health issues. As a person who suffers from severe depressive episodes and a ton of personal demons, I often find myself getting in my own way; breaking away from myself in ways I know I’ll regret. The last line of the song is a direct reference to a line in Crass’ “Poison in a Pretty Pill.” (“I want so gently to remove your mask.”)
While that song is more about beauty standards, gender and self worth, that line resonates with me on a bunch of levels. My use of that phrasing is also a reference to a friend who has helped me at these times. There have been some times when I needed a soft hand to help me get past things, and no one was around. I either isolated myself or pissed off those I care about.
When it came time to begin to heal I had to brutally break myself down in order to build myself back up. And it has never been easy. Thankfully, I have some good friends who, over time, have come to understand that part of me and give me the room to work it out while offering encouragement.
We’ve both retained many of the same values we had as '90s hardcore kids, but we’ve also talked about how there’s no perfect balance between youthful fervor and middle-aged misanthropy. Letting go of punk as a pre-packaged identity is probably a healthy move at a certain point, but the same all or nothing mindset can hit us with, “What if this is it for me?” “I can’t do it forever, so this has to count…” or “Is this even worth it/relevant anymore?” How did you decide to build this band and release this record for Sean?
The band started out like most of these things do. I found myself with the time, a luxury I did not have for many years as I didnt know how to be a present father and pursue my interests. It was a learning process. Mikey and Jon really hung in there with me as we figured it out. In the beginning, Ross from Prop Gun was actually playing bass. Then, I needed to step away.
When we got it back together, Prop Gun was a thing for him, so Lopez was the first call I made. We have a very familial relationship (Chris and I) He was super involved as part of the CCT crew, and then we did Den of Thieves. Playing with him has always felt like our conversations. We know how to give and take from each other’s perspectives. So, we just got to work as a unit.
All four of us are goofballs who are intense about our playing and like being around each other. It helps that I’m a big fan of Mikey and John’s bands and of them as humans. Quantice Never Crashed are up there for me on the billboard of best from Shaolin (with Sleeper, CR, Muddfoot, and Enrage).
As for carrying the DIY stuff into everyday life…That never left me. It's such a part of me that unless I stop to dissect my thoughts I forget that it's not how most people handle things. Need a show for a friend's band? Just book it. Need a way to raise money for a family in need? Throw a show. Need a means for venting about what you see?? Write about it.
As for relevance… we were never relevant. I don't believe in such a thing anymore. When I quit Den of Thieves, I sold all of my guitars and abandoned music completely from the playing end. I had a weird conversation with Frank from Herjaza the night of our last show and I expressed some thoughts of disillusionment with all of it. The art of it and the chase of becoming a better guitar player had lost its luster and the world seemed doomed not to listen to us screaming about how we need to be better humans.
I don't believe in the premise of relevance anymore. What hardcore band has ever been “relevant?” And that's been liberating. I'd rather be in a room full of irrelevant weirdos and misfits who get that idea- that we just want to be better people and enjoy art and music and what little joy life has to offer- than be part of some movement. Movements come and go, but the people… It's always been so great to meet so many interesting and unique characters. That's always fascinated me. The people.
And that brings us to Sean. In a way, he exemplifies these ideas. He’s a mad genius and a musician of the highest caliber. He's also a god damn goofball. Quirky and silly and all heart and all sinner wrapped up in one. And we've seen a lot of highs and lows together since the 90s. The kinds of extremes they write books about.
So for Phil and I (my partner in Dark Helmet) It wasn't a choice to help Sean. We were compelled to because of that simple DIY ethos: We can do it ourselves, so we fucking should. Shout out to Frank for running Sean’s GoFundMe, BTW.
Here's Engine Hymn's contribution to The Grey Havens, a benefit compilation with all proceeds being donated to Sean McCann to support his battle with ALS:
I complimented Lopez on his bass playing on this record the other day, comparing him to John Entwistle. Unfortunately, he didn’t respond, “I slap-id that shit.” To me, he’s more of a bluesy rock player ala Geezer Butler than a hardcore bassist. Jon’s rhythm guitar meshes super well w/your style and adds a hard rock element, and Mikey’s drumming is smart and dynamic, but never so hectic that it compromises how hard he slams. What do you appreciate about this line-up of top shelf sizzlechests?
Mikey - watch his fucking legs! As I said before, these dudes are serious players. They get what I’m going for and it’s become a group effort which is a great situation for writing. CCT was me walking in the room having everything written and everyone interpreting that. Den of Thieves was getting to the point where we would write as a unit at the end, but Engine Hymns the whole is much larger than the sum of its parts.
Each one of these guys is so uniquely adept and come from a different “school” of punk and hardcore, but that gives them fuel for ideas that makes writing songs as much of a pleasure as a process. Jon loves some pretty obvious classic rock but he also has a love affair with street punk records. I always dug a lot of that stuff, but it wasn't what I wanted to play. He figures out a way to compliment my style of guitar playing with that stuff.
Chris is on another level. His attention to detail is unmatched. And Mikey… he’s so versatile it's crazy. His ability to lean into the pocket like he does in The Goddamn Wrecks and at the same time to have written those Quantice songs…. His abilities are up there for me with Donato Fornabio (Phallacy, Cattle Press) and Elway (C.R., Bastard Sapling). He can turn on and off the chaotic thing at his leisure but always stay in the pocket.
It’s a real compliment to how I hear things in my head. In addition to all that, I’m not a sole songwriter in any way. Everyone comes with whole songs and with parts to add to songs they didn't originate. The room is open to experimenting, too. It's a nice feeling to be back in the pursuit of better songs and better parts and playing at a level that's both fun and makes me want to be a better guitar player again.
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Villians at the Fountain will be out on May 6th via Dark Helmet Syndicate.
Engine Hymns on social media: Instagram
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